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The Reading
Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.
Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.
And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:
But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
Scripture quotations are from: New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
The Sermon
Prepared by The Revd Canon Dr Alan Billings.
Before I finally retired from full time work last year, I was the Police and Crime
Commissioner for South Yorkshire. I spent time with officers involved in the
different types of policing. But I found particularly interesting the work of the
Major Crime Unit.
These detectives deal with the most serious crimes - such as murder. They
would go through with me what they were working on, explaining how they
built a case in order to get a guilty verdict. The case had to be strong,
because it’s a serious business getting someone convicted of a grave crime
and put away for, quite possibly, the rest of their natural life.
Different sorts of evidence had to be brought together and assessed: CCTV,
DNA, fingerprints, footprints, tyre tracks – and statements from witnesses.
Each individual piece of evidence pointed towards a suspect but was never
enough on its own to remove all doubt. Only when it all came together would
the team feel confident enough to say they had proved their case beyond
reasonable doubt.
Beyond reasonable doubt. That phrase kept popping into my head as I read
today’s gospel. Beyond reasonable doubt.
It’s the evening of the first day of the week. The Risen Jesus has made
himself known to Mary in the Garden that morning and he now appears to his
disciples who are meeting behind locked doors, for fear of the authorities. He
greets them, showing them his hands and his side, his wounds, so they can
be in no doubt that it is indeed he, the one who was crucified, who is risen
and with them.
But one of the disciples, Thomas, is not there, and when they tell him later,
‘We have seen the Lord’, he can’t accept what they say. He has reasonable
doubts.
Reasonable, because he is being asked to set aside, suddenly and out of the
blue, so much of normal experience.
Thomas knows that people do not survive death. And there was a death. A
very public death. Brutal and final, on a cross. He knows that before the
bodies were taken down, the Roman soldiers made sure that Jesus had died.
He knows that a lifeless body was placed in a tomb.
But now he is being asked to consider different evidence. And he weighs it
up. How is it to be interpreted? An empty tomb. But surely bodies can be
stolen? The witness of Mary Magdalene. But wasn’t it still dark when she
went to the tomb? And didn’t she have tears in her eyes? And now the other
disciples who say they have seen the Lord. But weren’t they in an emotional
state?
Thomas does not find the evidence convincing. His doubts are not
unreasonable. So what would persuade him?
He thinks that if he could see and touch the wounds for himself, that would be
the final piece of evidence that would enable him to bring everything together
and believe.
Thomas says he must touch – not just see – as if the evidence of his eyes
would not be as compelling as the evidence of his fingers. I find that
interesting.
Eight days later this is what happens. But it is eight days later. A whole week
goes by during which, surely, Thomas continues thinking deeply again and
again about what has happened. The tomb is still empty. No body is
produced. Mary and the disciples remain certain that the Lord has risen. He
can see the conviction in their faces, in their changed attitude to life. No
longer beaten down but full of hope. No longer simply left mourning for a lost
past, but daring to look forward to a different future, one with new
possibilities.
Now, the disciples are again in the house. This time Thomas is with them.
The Risen Jesus comes and invites Thomas to reach out and touch his
wounded hands and side. And Thomas is then able to say, beyond
reasonable doubt, ‘My Lord and my God’.
Reaching out and touching.
What is important for Thomas is surely important for us as well, the ones who
come after, who do not see, yet believe.
Before he died Jesus told us to go on breaking bread to remember him. And
the bread we break, he said, is his wounded body, broken on the cross.
When we extend our hands in the communion to take the bread, we do what
Thomas did. We reach out. We touch. We touch the bread which is his body.
We touch the wounds of the Risen Lord.
And with Thomas we too can say, beyond reasonable doubt, ‘My Lord and my
God.’
The Prayers
Prepared by Barbara W.
Common Worship: Times and Seasons, material from which is used here is copyright (c) 2010 The Archbishops' Council