Blessed and Happy

The Second Sunday of Pascha (the First Sunday after Pascha) is called Thomas Sunday because, on this day, we read from the Gospel of John the story of the Apostle Thomas’ encounter with the Risen Lord a week after the Resurrection–a story about belief (and the difficulty of believing).  In his homily, below, Fr James Graham suggests that this story does not condemn those who have trouble believing, but in fact shows Jesus’ special concern for them.

Join us at 9:30 this Sunday morning to celebrate the Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, and stay after the service for food and fellowship with the community.

BLESSED AND HAPPY

Homily for Thomas Sunday

John 20:19-31

     A recent conversation completely reversed how I understand today’s Gospel reading.  My friend was telling me about the difficulty of believing and the anguish of not being able to believe.  I realized that I probably had misunderstood this story for at least 70 years.

     We know it as the story of “Doubting Thomas.”  Notice how this label sets us up to look down on Thomas and at the same time reinforces our negative opinion of him.  We pretty much think that this passage shows Jesus calling Thomas a loser for not believing in Jesus’ resurrection.  We may even think of it as teaching us to believe without asking questions.  It’s not hard to see how awful this message must make someone feel who has trouble believing.

    After I re-read this Gospel selection in light of that conversation, though, I came to understand that it means to encourage people who have a hard time believing, not to put them down.

     We should also stop talking about “Doubting Thomas” and instead talk about “Cautious Thomas” or “Curious Thomas.”  After all, does anyone find it easy to believe something without evidence or proof?  Aren’t we always warned, “Don’t believe everything you hear”?  Aren’t we taught to back up our arguments with evidence?

     Anyway, the Gospel tells us that the other disciples did see Jesus.  He appeared to them when they were hiding in fear, and He showed them the wounds in his hands and his side.  They believed in his resurrection because they saw him.  They were glad, and of course they shared this wonderful experience with their friend Thomas, who unfortunately missed it.  We don’t know why Thomas was not with them that first night, and no one in the story criticizes him for his absence.  Because it’s not mentioned, we can assume it’s not important.

     When his friends tell Thomas, “We have seen the Lord,” naturally he’s skeptical.  After all, nobody comes back from the dead.  So he declares that he won’t believe it without proof.  Probably all of us would react in the same way to such incredible news.

     When Jesus again appears to the disciples and Thomas is there with them, He gives Thomas the same proof that He gave the others eight days earlier:  “Touch my hands and my side and believe that I really have risen from the dead.”  Seeing Jesus convinces Thomas; he doesn’t after all need to touch the wounds.

     At this point, Jesus says what we usually hear as a rebuke to Thomas:  “You believe because you have seen me; blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”  But Jesus does not scold or condemn Thomas, and He doesn’t call Thomas a loser.  Maybe Jesus is just stating the fact—as we’ve noted, the other disciples believed because they saw Jesus—and then stating another fact that will be true for just about everyone else in the future, who will not have that privilege of direct contact with the Lord.

     The word translated as “blessed” can also mean “happy,” and this changes the meaning.  If Jesus means, “Happy are those who have not seen but still believe,” then He’s acknowledging how hard it is to believe without evidence, while “Blessed are those who have not seen but still believe” almost sounds like He’s cursing those who need evidence.  And the text doesn’t support that interpretation.

     It is a blessing if we can believe without evidence, but few of us are blessed in that way.  The disciples—even Thomas—did not have to believe without evidence; they lived with Jesus; they saw him and heard him and touched him before and after his death and resurrection.  We don’t have that privilege, that blessing.  If we want to believe—and we do want to believe—we have to do it without direct evidence.

     Knowing this, and knowing how hard it is, Jesus has provided evidence for us, as St John says.  Not the direct physical evidence that He provided the disciples, but the testimony of those who did have the blessing of knowing Jesus, “written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.”

     We also have the experiences and the belief of our parents and ancestors, our sisters and brothers in faith, stretching back 2000 years, documented in writing as well as told in stories.  Do we disregard the witness of their lives and words and belief?  Do we think that they were just fooled into believing fantastic tales?

     And we have the evidence, all around us in the natural world, of God at work in Creation.  As we say—and have said for possibly 3000 years—in Psalm 103:  “How great are your works, O Lord; in wisdom you have made them all.”

     So, even if we struggle to believe, we are not alone.  Even if we doubt or feel unsure or want to proceed with caution, we are not alone.  If we want to believe, we can choose to believe.  We can choose to accept the evidence God has provided for us:  the world, the words, the experiences.  We need to work at it.  Not many of us can believe once and never again have questions or doubts, but we are both happy and blessed because we can come to believe without seeing direct evidence, and “believing, we may have life” in Jesus’ name.

     So let us joyfully proclaim that “Christ is risen!”  And let us glorify Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and ever and to ages of ages.