Readings: Acts 4: 32 – 35; Psalm 133; 1 John1 – 2: 2; John 20: 19 – end.
There are moments in life that change everything. After such moments the whole course of life runs differently. We can probably all think of examples of this – a birth, a death, a job interview, an exam passed or failed, a proposal of marriage…… These can be the pivots on which life turns into a whole new direction. It will never be the same again. Some of these moments, such as, for example, the birth of a child, or death after a long illness, are expected, others may only be suspected or guessed at; still others come completely out of the blue. All are life-changing.
I think the Resurrection is one of those moments. As the Apostle Paul puts it, ‘If Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain’ (1 Corinthians 15: 14). The whole of our faith rests on the Resurrection and its transforming power for those who witnessed it. In John’s Gospel, immediately preceding our reading today, we have the account of Mary Magdalene’s meeting with the risen Jesus. She has told the disciples about it, but it seems to have made no impression on them. After all, she’s only a woman! And the testimony of a woman had no legal validity at that time. But when the disciples do meet Jesus for themselves their fear quickly turns to joy and they receive a commissioning from Him. “As the Father has sent me,” He says, “so I send you” (John 20: 21). From this moment they are transformed. Suddenly their lives have purpose again; that purpose centres on Christ just as it did while He was alive.
Thomas misses the moment, and just as the rest of the disciples won’t believe Mary Magdalene’s story, so he refuses to believe them until he has not only seen, but also touched Jesus. But when he does meet with the risen Jesus, he responds with an immediate and profound confession of faith ‘My Lord and my God’ (John 20:28).
By the way in which he narrates these events the Gospel writer draws us with him into a deepening experience of the risen Christ. His intention is that we too may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah (John 20:31).
It doesn’t seem possible for any of the disciples to believe that Jesus has been raised until they have encountered Him themselves. Until they have seen or touched him. It’s not surprising really. They have just been through the most traumatic experience of seeing their beloved leader, who they hoped might usher in a new golden age for Israel, brutally put to death on trumped up charges after a mockery of a trial. We have the benefit of hindsight. As the first Christians soon began to do we can trace the whole story of God’s dealings with humanity right back to the Creation story. We do this in our service of nine lessons and carols at Christmas and often at the Easter vigil too. But it still isn’t easy to believe in the Resurrection. So why is this? Partly because it is completely outside our normal experience. After all, it has only ever happened once.
However, there’s another reason which relates to our whole mindset. Since Descartes and the subsequent 18th century Enlightenment we have elevated the scientific method of reason, observation and experiment until it has become a god in itself. It was Descartes, who devised his method of doubt ‘rejecting everything in which one can imagine the least doubt’, as he put it. Anything which appears to contradict the laws of nature or which can’t be empirically proved is automatically suspect. The Enlightenment view also fostered a tendency to distrust authority and tradition. As heirs of this way of thinking we therefore tend to have problems with the miraculous. Anything which defies the laws of nature is definitely to be suspected. The Resurrection may even become something of an embarrassment. We feel we need to explain away or to justify it. We’re definitely with Thomas here!
But fortunately for us we too encounter the risen Jesus – not in the same way as Mary, Thomas and the other disciples, and not in the same way as each other either. For some of us Christ draws close to us in moments of quiet; we become aware of His presence in our prayers, or as we read the Bible. For some He’s discovered in music or in works of art. I’ve found Him while looking at a beautiful view across a valley in Germany. Sometimes we see Him in another person. Supremely, as long as we don’t allow ourselves to become distracted, we meet Him in the Eucharist. And it’s because, like millions of other Christians all over the world, we experience Jesus as our risen Lord, that we know that the Resurrection is true. And once we have discovered this our lives can never be the same again either. We too receive a commission from Christ. He sends us out to be His body in the world. I chose to use the Alternative Collect for today because I think it encapsulates this so well. As the risen Christ enters our hearts so we’re precipitated out to bring life to others. I’m going to finish by reading it to you again –
Risen Christ,
For whom no door is locked, no entrance barred:
Open the doors of our hearts,
That we may seek the good of others
And walk the joyful road of sacrifice and peace,
To the praise of God the Father.
Amen