Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe. Many of us who are involved in the theatre may appreciate what we might call the stage directions we find in the Gospel according to John. When John set the scene for last Sunday’s Gospel of the empty tomb of Jesus, the directions are clear: Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark… The gospel reading we heard today involves similar stage directions: When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house were locked for fear… Both scenes are set in the dark, the dark before dawn and the dark after sunset. Both scenes are strategically set in the dark so we might see the coming of the light into this darkness.
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe. We know that this darkness symbolizes being in the dark with a relationship, the relationship with Jesus. We who endured two major episodes of gun violence can relate to the trauma suffered by the disciples. Those disciples hoped that Jesus would realize their hope for a new Israel, an Israel free from Roman occupation, a free Israel where they could relate to God and other persons with liberty.
Those hopes crashed with the brutal crucifixion of Jesus. Little wonder the disciples retreat in hiding because they are afraid that what happened to Jesus will happen to them. Fear has a way of snuffing out faith, especially when we need a deep and strong faith to face of devastating loss. Out of nowhere, Jesus appears in the midst of the disciples. He senses their fear and calms their anxiety with the words: Peace be with you. When the disciples see the wounded hands and side of Jesus, they realize it is their beloved teacher. They are overcome with joy. Jesus again says: Peace be with you. We can see these disciples surrender their fear for faith, faith in the Risen Jesus, standing in their midst.
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe. Every year we hear the story of Thomas on this Second Sunday of Easter. The story invites us to go deeper into the mystery of the Risen Christ. Every year we come to this Sunday with our faith battered yet again by the pains and losses of our lives. Every year, our faith skirts on the edge of doubt. We all know this trauma. Perhaps some terrible tragedy hits home and you wonder how a loving God can allow such pain to come your way. Perhaps you are content as a pig in mud with your Christian lives and then you question how you can believe in God when all you sense is darkness, how you can believe in Jesus when all you feel in indifference, how you can believe in the Spirit when people just seem to intentionally hurt one another. Those words of the Creed feel empty and without meaning. You find yourself in a crisis of faith.
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe. If you have not yet experienced a crisis of faith, then know that one day it will happen to you. It may feel as if everything you held dear about God seems empty and without meaning. You may feel as if God has abandoned you. At that very moment, Jesus is the one pulling the rug of your faith out from under your feet. Jesus is bringing you to a deeper faith. Jesus continually draws you into yet deeper dimensions of your faith because the old faith does not work.
When he has taken away one level of faith, it feels as if you don’t believe in anything at all. All the familiar feeling of faith has fled like the air out of a helium balloon and you are left with a deflated piece of rubber.
At that moment, Jesus speaks to you: Peace be with you. Jesus draws you into a deeper relationship with him, a new form of friendship, a closer intimacy. But to move to that new depth, you have to surrender the familiarity of your old familiar faith. You see Thomas exactly at that moment. Jesus comes to Thomas as he comes to you, in the darkness of doubt, and brings you to a new relationship with him. These Thomas moments will come upon you without warning and without planning. You know that you have in Jesus a friend who will never abandon you. He draws you into yet deeper faith. Trust Jesus when you enter into the crisis of faith. He is drawing you deeper into the mystery.
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.