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Wrong Place at The Wrong Time?
We find this in John 19:19When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." 24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe." 26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." 28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
"You should have been here yesterday!" How often have we heard that about something or someone that we missed because we were a day late? "You just missed him!" That's another phrase we have heard, isn't it? "If only I had been here then!" Is one of regret when we realize our timing was terrible and we missed seeing or experiencing the important visit or event we wanted to see.
John's Gospel has the disciples believing in what Mary Magdalene has shared with the disciples. Remember they were locked up in the Upper Room filled with fear. Their doors were locked and their greatest fear was that the Jews would come for them next. It is the first day of the week and already evening and there Jesus appears to them. His greeting? "Peace be with you." And as scared as they were, He was able to show them his wounds as evidence that this dead man is now alive. Their fear subsides and turns to joy and again, Jesus says, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." Jesus is sharing evidence and a command for them. He then breathes on them and says, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." And so, with the blessing of believing comes responsibility; Easter is not just about rejoicing, it is about going and continuing the work of Jesus Christ.
Yet, someone was missing. Thomas, then called the Twin, now called by some (forever) "Doubting Thomas," was not there. He is the one who did use the three opening statements about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. We don't know where or what Thomas was doing, we just know that he missed Jesus' appearance. So, what's the first thing his fellow disciples say when he joins them? "We have seen the Lord!" His response is why he is called the Doubter, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe." What are you really thinking, Thomas boy?
One week later, Jesus visits again, but this time Thomas is there. Jesus opens with His "Peace be with you" greeting and comes right to Thomas and offers him the request he had made; Here touch my wounds. And more strongly says to him, "Do not doubt but believe." Thomas makes a declaration of faith, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus says what can apply to me and you, "Don't believe just because you have seen; believe even with those who have not seen!"
Yesterday, Nellie, our four daughters and their families, and I worshipped with my dad at his church. It is like most churches filled with the elderly, but I saw Jesus. My dad has been in a wheelchair now for many years and the love and ownership of his fellow members, also elderly, and they way they help him out of his wheelchair onto his pew and later as he asked to go to the bathroom; I saw Jesus. As the sermon was being preached, my faith was being strengthened; I saw Jesus. And as the last song, one of my favorite, "He Lives," I saw a woman raising her hand joyously at the refrain. On the other side of the aisle a man joyously raising two hands; I saw Jesus. These, along with you and me, have not physically seen Jesus, but they, like us, believe. May Jesus be seen in us today and all days.
PRAYER: Father, take away my doubt and bring me to a deeper faith, not just in worship but outside of worship in the world, so that more may see Jesus in me and in those praying this prayer with me. We pray in His precious name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
