St. Michael’s, Vaucluse

Thomas 24.4.22 based on John 20:

2. I am speaking about 3 things. The disciples, Thomas and us.

Disciples. It was the next day after the resurrection and they were in a locked

room. Jesus suddenly appears: In Luke it records that they thought they were

seeing a ghost which is why Jesus shows them the holes in this hands and side.

Note that once they recognised Jesus straight away he was giving them a job

to do and he “breathed” on them the Holy Spirit to help them with it. Note

that “Pneuma” in Greek means wind, breath or spirit. This was to occur 50 days

before Pentecost

4. Thomas

Who is Thomas? I asked 2 of my cycling friends yesterday. The one with

the good Catholic education told me this story pretty well. The other just

said “doubting Thomas”. Why doubting Thomas? As one cartoon on the

internet said you don’t get denying Peter or run away naked Mark.

1. 1. One of the 12 apostles

The context of this was that Jesus wanted to go and see Lazarus who

had already died but the disciples were worried about the danger of

going back to Judea. So in John 11:16 Thomas said “Let us also go

that we may die with him” I think that showed courage

2. Asks Jesus in John 14:5 “How can we know the way?” when Jesus was

telling his disciples that he will prepare a place for them. He could be

asking an intelligent question or it could be everyone understood

what Jesus was saying and it was only Thomas that was dumb. I favour

the former.

3. After this episode he saw Jesus again on the beach for the fish BBQ

appearance

4.

5. In Acts he is mentioned as living with the other apostles in Jerusalem

6. Legend has it that he took the gospel to India and died there.

Thomas in this story. I think most assessments of him are unfair. He

wanted to see Jesus and missed out. The enthusiasm and the joy of the

others was not going to convince him. But he seemed very hard hearted

and rigid about his own questions. he demanded to see what his fellow

disciples got shown voluntarily and got a mild rebuke from Jesus as a result

2.

Thomas and Jesus. Once Jesus appeared a second time there was

absolutely no question and no feeling of holes. Thomas knew and declared

who Jesus really is. “My Lord and my God.”

3.

5. What about us?

Resurrection appearances are important as the resurrection of Jesus is the

keystone of Christian faith. I Cor 15:14 “if Christ has not been raised, our

preaching is useless and so is your faith” That means if the Resurrection

didn’t happen, you are wasting your time coming here and I have wasted

my time preparing this sermon. The Resurrection is important because it

shows that Jesus is God and not just some religious leader being martyred.

Doubting is not sinning but we must deal with our doubts. It is best to

do that in the church context with non judgemental people. Talking to

others, reading the bible and participate in a home group. Note that

Thomas was not with the group when Jesus first appeared. Why? was

it he wanted to process Jesus’ death and the disappointment and grief

that came with that by himself? It would have been better for him to

be with the disciples.

1. If you are not sure that Jesus did rise from the dead, have a chat to

me later. The proofs of the resurrection are the major reason why I

became a Christian so many years ago.

2. John the apostle probably realised that he was writing for many

generations and I’m so glad he did. Right at the end of our passage in

John 20:31. It says “But these are written that you may believe that

Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may

have life in his name.” These is referring to signs: miracles that pointed

to who Jesus is.

3. As I finish, it is Anzac Day tomorrow. We remember those who returned

like my Father Allan Russell and those who didn’t return and didn’t get a

chance to live out their lives. Anzac Day is a good time to communicate to

our fellow Aussies about Easter and the Christian Faith. They have the

same themes: death and sacrifice. Someone dies so that you can live. And

you can believe and follow that person because they have risen from the

dead. Let’s come to the same conclusion as Thomas “My Lord and my God”.