John 20: 19-29
On the evening
of the first day after the Sabbath, the disciples were together with the doors
locked for fear of the authorities. Jesus came and stood in their midst and
said,
“Peace be with you!”
And while he said this, he showed them his hands
and his side.
Full of joy the disciples
recognized the Lord. And again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has
sent me, so I am sending you.”
And when he said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive Holy
Spirit through
which the world will receive healing. From now on you shall work in human destinies
with spiritual power, so that they shall have the strength to wrest themselves
free from the load of sin, and at the same time to bear the consequences of
their offences.”
Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not there with them
when Jesus came. Later the disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”
But he replied, “If I do not see in his hand the marks of the nails, and
do not put my finger in the place where the nails were, and place my hand in
his side, I cannot believe it.”
Eight days later, the disciples were again gathered in the inner room
and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood in
their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”
Then he said to Thomas, “Stretch out your finger and see my hands, and
stretch out your hand and put it into my side. Be not rigid in your heart, but
rather feel and trust in my power in your heart.”
Then Thomas said to him, “You are the Lord of my soul; you are the God
whom I serve.”
And Jesus said to him, “Have you found my power in yourself because you
have seen me? Blessed are those who find my power in their hearts, even when
their eye does not yet see me.”
2nd
Sunday of Easter
John 20: 19-29
At first the
blossom is enclosed in a hard, green bud. But slowly the warmth and light of
the sun coax it open, until it unfurls its fragrance and beauty before the sun
and the world.
Thomas was absent
on the first Easter evening when Jesus appeared resurrected to His disciples.
Thomas remained in the pain and despair over the loss of his beloved friend for
a full week longer than the others. His heart shut down in grief. He refused to
believe in rumors. He refused to jump to conclusions based on someone else’s
experience. He needed to recognize and experience the Risen One for himself,
face to face and hand to hand.
On the one hand,
this is an admirable quality, this refusing to fall for rumors. On the other
hand, once he is presented with the reality of the Risen One, Christ encourages
him to overcome his heart’s rigidity, and to instead allow trust in the Christ
power to enter his heart.
Trusting in the
Risen One is also a dilemma for us moderns. Deep in our hearts, too, there lies
a yearning for substantial evidence, for proof. We, too, long for an encounter,
for overwhelming evidence. But Christ’s comment to Thomas indicates to us a
hidden pathway: “Blessed are those who find my power in their hearts, even when
their eye does not yet see me.” John 20: 29
To find His power
in our hearts is the goal of our existence. And what is His power in our
hearts?
It is the power
that rises to life in the face of all loss.
It is the power of love that sacrifices self-interest for the
furtherance of others. It is the power
of love that overcomes death. In the words of Meister Eckhart:
Divine love will be eternally true to its own being,
And its being is giving all it can,
Moment.
And the greatest gift
God can give is His own experience.
…and it is the destiny of all,
to see as God sees, to know as God knows,
to feel as God feels, to Be
as God
is.[1]
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