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 Easter
John 20: 19-29
Our breathing is a two-sided process. With each in-breath,
we take in something of the world. And with each exhalation, we breathe
something of ourselves out into the world. But modern life, with its stresses
and anxieties, makes our breathing too shallow—we often take in too little,
give out too little of ourselves.
In today’s reading, the disciples are locked in a room
together for fear of what the world may do to them. Christ enters this anxious
space and He breathes onto them and asks them to receive His breath. He wants
to breathe into them His holy, healing spirit-breath. He wants to fill their
lungs with His life, fill their souls with His peaceful courage, and His love.
He wants to breathe into them His power to overcome. They will inhale His
breath, the fresh breath of spring and new life, His resuscitating power. They
in turn will be able to breathe His healing spirit out into the world. They
will breathe out peace and love, courage, strength and comfort.
We too have the opportunity to be breathed into, to be ‘inspired’,
by Christ. We have come together in a room into which we invite His spirit. We
ask that His grace-bearing spirit breathe down onto us, into us, as we breathe
out the offering of our souls’ devotion. We receive His peace, along with the
bread and wine of His transformed body. Bread and wine become for us the
touchstone of His transforming power. Like Thomas we will be able to say to
Him, ‘You are the Lord of my soul; you are the God whom I serve.’
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