Hello friends,
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Monk in Docs.
Welcoming you to day 47 of our Lenten journey and into Easter as we sit now here on Easter Sunday.
And today we'll be contemplating the text from John chapter 20 verses 24 to 29.
Before we do,
I invite you just to stop and to be still,
To surrender yourself into this moment.
To allow God to open our ears,
Our minds and our hearts to what the Spirit might speak to us today that good fruit and true life,
Resurrection life,
Would lift from us as a result of our contemplation and meditation today.
We read from John 20 beginning at verse 24.
Now Thomas,
Called Didymus,
One of the twelve,
Was not with the disciples when Jesus came.
So the other disciples told him,
We have seen the Lord.
But he said to them,
Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were and put my hand into his side,
I will not believe it.
A week later his disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them.
And though the doors were locked,
Jesus came and stood among them and said,
Peace be with you.
Then he said to Thomas,
Put your finger here,
See my hands,
Reach out your hands and put it into my side,
Stop doubting and believe.
Thomas said to him,
My Lord and my God.
And then Jesus told him,
Because you have seen me,
You have believed.
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.
Thomas wasn't there the first time.
While the others were gathered,
While peace was spoken,
While joy began to rise again,
Thomas was somewhere else.
And when he returns,
The others tell him,
We've seen the Lord,
But Thomas can't receive it.
Well,
Not yet.
Because Thomas is carrying something real.
Grief,
Disappointment,
The memory of hope that seemed to collapse.
And so he says what many of us have felt,
Even if we've not said it out loud,
I need something more.
I need to touch this,
I need to know that this is real.
And here's where the beauty of Easter begins to unfold in a beautiful and yet unexpected way.
See,
Don't hear Jesus' words to Thomas in the wrong tone.
Jesus isn't rejecting Thomas,
He's not shaming Thomas.
He never is saying you should have believed.
Instead,
He comes back a second time.
And then this time he comes for Thomas.
He stands among them again and says,
Peace be with you.
So Thomas gets it firsthand.
And then he turns directly towards the one who's struggling,
The one who couldn't quite believe,
The one who needed more.
And he says,
Put your finger here,
See my hands,
Bring your hand,
Place it in my side.
This isn't keeping at a distance.
This is not hesitation and there's no withholding here.
This is giving the all.
This is the invitation.
And this,
My friend,
Is the heart of Easter.
The risen Christ meets us exactly where we are.
Not where we think we should be or where others are,
But where we actually are with all our questions,
With all our weariness,
With our fragile hope.
And he never,
Ever asks us to pretend.
He doesn't chastise.
He just offers himself.
Even his wounds,
Especially his wounds,
Because those wounds don't signify failure.
They're places where love remained faithful.
And now,
In the resurrection,
Those wounds are still visible.
Did you think about that?
This is a resurrected body and yet it still carries scars.
Why?
Well,
They're obviously not scars of pain.
Perhaps,
My friend,
They are open doors of mercy.
Places where we're allowed to come close.
To place our finger,
Our hand.
Places where we are allowed to rest.
And Thomas reaches the point where words fall away and all he's got is my Lord and my God.
But notice the whole thing never began with certainty for Thomas.
It began with Jesus offering peace.
It began with Jesus coming near.
It began with Jesus saying,
In effect,
You're allowed to be here,
Thomas.
You're allowed to feel this.
And even in your being in this place,
And even with your feeling this,
I am still with you.
And this is why Easter can feel like relief.
Because it tells us we don't have to hold everything together.
We don't have to force belief or push away our questions.
We are met right where we are.
Gently,
Patiently and lovingly.
And as we spend time there in that space with that gentleness,
That patience,
That love and that presence,
Something begins to soften.
Something opens and we begin to trust again.
And that trust doesn't come from having figured it all out or solved everything.
But because we've encountered someone.
Someone who has not and will not let go of us.
So today,
Easter Resurrection Sunday doesn't ask you to be certain.
It simply invites you to receive peace.
To let yourself be found.
To let yourself be held.
And to know that even in the places that still feel tender,
Even in the places that still carry questions,
Christ is already there.
Alive,
Present and gently saying,
Peace be with you.
And may that peace,
Grace and love envelop you,
Wrap you,
Hold you gently today and every day.
Amen.
And until tomorrow,
Yes tomorrow,
My friend.
Peace be with you.
