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19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." 22 And 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; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." 24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, 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 in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe." 26 Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but 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; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing." 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 believe." 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:19-31 RSV)
"No way!" Have you ever heard that after you said something that you experienced or saw and no one believes you? When I was in seminary I was in a record store in Dallas when I saw a crowd gathered around a gentleman with long black hair. I thought he was Frank Zappa, but it turned out he was the store manager and the crowd was for Robert Plant, the singer for the rock group Led Zeppelin who was in town for a concert that night. Naturally I asked for and received his autograph. No way! was what I heard from those with whom i shared news. I think I also heard that from my grandmother when I shared news that I was getting married. If it wasn't "No Way!" it was certainly "Finally!
Friend, I trust your Easter was blessed and time with family was good. We watched our pastor on YouTube early morning, then I barbecued a meal which was followed by an ages old tradition of cracking cascarones in the back yard. It certainly was different from Easters past; and our hope is that next year we can once again have Easters like before; but as was shared throughout this weekend, our churches may be empty but so is the tomb! Indeed! Christ is risen; He is risen indeed.
Thomas wasn't on the He is Risen train. I thought about how Saturday must have been for the disciples. I thought about how fear and silence are not good companions. If the disciples were anything that weekend, they were scared; and the silence of the Sabbath made it worse for them. The majority of the disciples had no other place to hide but in the Upper Room. It was an upstairs room and it had a lock. Locked safely away from the ground floor, the 11 and the women who traveled with them, could feel a bit safer, though having seen what they saw, they knew there would be few places of safety. The anger convinced the Jews that they could get away with anything since they counted the death of Jesus as a success. And it was on the evening of that first Easter that while locked in the Upper Room, Jesus entered the room and shared a word of peace. He also shared with them the obvious proof of His suffering, and again shared a word of peace. Then Jesus breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." And guess who was not there? The man known for his doubts, Thomas. Where he was is anybody's guess, but the sad thing was he was not there to see the risen Jesus and to receive the Holy Spirit shared by Jesus. It's not until he gets back that he hears the news and reacts with doubt. No Way! could be hard on the street below.
It was eight days later that the group is gathered back in the room and this time Thomas is there. Interesting is that after he said, "No Way!" he shared what he needed to see and touch before he would believe. Jesus' first words on this return visit were the same as the week before, "Peace be with you." Then He addresses Thomas; "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing." Gulp. Thomas declares, "My Lord and my God!" His declaration was a foundational one, for from that moment on, his faith was one of action and belief. As I love to share, Thomas' ministry took place mainly in the land of India, where believers in Jesus took the name Thomas as their surname because of the new faith and life they received from the apostle. Danny Thomas is perhaps the most well-known of these believers. Danny was an actor who when he needed blessings in his life, prayed to St. Jude and his prayers were answered; and as a result, Danny started the world famous children's hospital named for his patron saint. The thousands of children helped at no charge for years now are a direct result of Thomas' faith. Not bad for a doubter, right?
It is not bad to doubt; in fact many believers visit doubt and leave stronger and better than their arrival there. Doubt can help us believe even more as we pray and reflect on whatever doubt we may have in our minds at certain times. Remember the prophet who requested to die because of the struggles he had? He left that place of doubt and despair a stronger, better man. And so can we if we happen to have doubts about this crisis or any situation we may be facing. Doubts are free to visit us, but serve us better when we dispatch it away with answered prayers and signs that we receive. One never knows the impact we may have on future recipients of our faith.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, as we pray, we pray for those who are feeling down and maybe even doubtful because of this crisis or sadness from being away from family members. May the visits of doubt not take root in our spirits; instead, may we emerge as victors over that which torments us now. This we pray in faith in the name of Jesus our Lord, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Radiate a strong faith in some way today.
Receive my blessings of love and comfort,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
