Unless I See
The Second Sunday of Easter
7 April 2024
The Rev. Robert J. Kossler
But he replied, "Unless I see the wounds from the nails in his hands, and put my finger into the wounds from the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe it!" (Jn. 20:25, NRSV)
Today, we celebrate the Second Sunday after Easter, often referred to as Low Sunday or Quasimodo Sunday, and in some churches, Thomas Sunday. The origins of the name "Low Sunday" are obscure and lost in history. We know the newly baptized officially joined the church community for the first time on Low Sunday without their white baptismal robes. It is also called "Low" to distinguish it from the Great Easter Day celebration. Finally, this Sunday calls to mind our renewal through the Resurrection.
When I think about Low Sunday, I remember how tired I am, the number of services held, and the effort we put into Holy Week – one service on Maundy Thursday, two on Good Friday, two on Saturday, and two more on Sunday, leaving the clergy and the choir are worn out, with everything left on the proverbial pitch. Although the liturgically responsible are recovering, this service is still essential, reconfirming the Easter proclamation, "Alleluia, Christ is Risen!"
I did not preach at the Great Vigil last Saturday evening but did on Easter Sunday. In that sermon, I highlighted that John's story of Mary Magdalene at the Tomb stands out, with expectations inverted. God used the women of the Gospel, historically considered unreliable, to be the first witnesses of the Resurrection. And the men were the "doubting Thomas" of the story.
Doubt plays a significant role in the Resurrection stories. We sometimes miss it because we jump from Evangelist to Evangelist. In John's telling, Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb early that first day, and she finds the tomb empty. She immediately runs off and tells Peter. Peter and John run back to the grave and find it empty. Mary returns, staying after Peter and John left. According to John, she was the first to see Jesus, and later, she told the apostles that she saw Jesus. Alas, John says nothing about how the disciples received her second message.
In Luke's account, the women return from the tomb, frightened. They explain what they saw to the eleven disciples and the others gathered. They are met with skepticism, bordering on ridicule. Peter runs off to see for himself and leaves the tomb, wondering what happened.
In Mark's version, three women brought aromatic spices to Jesus' tomb at sunrise. They find the tomb empty, but a young man dressed in white is sitting inside. Like the two mysterious men in Luke's Gospel, this young man tells them of Jesus' Resurrection. However, unlike Luke's version, the women leave in terror and do not tell the disciples what they witnessed. In Mark's extended version, Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene.She tells the others, but they do not believe her.
In Matthew's account, Jesus also appears first to Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" after they went to the tomb. Like John, Matthew doesn't comment on how the disciples received the women's news.
My point is simple. Thomas is not the only disciple who doubted. Doubt pervades these Gospel versions until those who doubt actually see the "Risen Lord"! Yet Thomas bears the brunt of historical and ecclesiastical scrutiny – “Don't be a "Doubting Thomas."
Let's examine another critical point - the arc of the Resurrection. The Evangelists are consistent. Early in the morning, women leave for the tomb. Their goal is properly to dress their crucified Lord, redoing what they did in haste the day before. In each telling, they encounter an empty tomb and one or two mysterious beings inside. These "men" tell them that Jesus is not there. He has risen. They are frightened and dumbfounded for the most part. Stories diverge at this point, but it seems clear these women become the first believers and, in some cases, the first witnesses of Jesus' Resurrection.
The disciples, especially Peter, are the second wave. Although the Evangelists again diverge, Peter rushes to the tomb after hearing the women's stories and finds it empty. He does not encounter the "Risen Christ" and leaves wondering.
Despite the women's witness, the disciples doubt the veracity of their stories. Only later in the day do the disciples experience the resurrected Jesus, which starts the third wave.
According to today's lesson, Jesus enters a locked room and greets his frightened followers. He shows them his wounds, and they believe, casting away all doubt. The disciples receive the Holy Spirit and a command to move beyond their locked doors and back into the community. Thomas, however, was not there, which set up a fourth wave.
Like the others before him, Thomas doubts the stories of the women and dismisses the disciples' encounter with the “Risen One.” He must see for himself, which makes me wonder about role reversal. Would the others believe him if he had seen Jesus first? Eight days later, Jesus again appears in the locked room. He specifically calls on Thomas to look, to feel, and to believe. Thomas, shocked at seeing Jesus, exclaims, "My Lord and my God."
The arc of doubt transformed to belief shifts from receiving the Resurrection message from mysterious strangers to one or two seeing Jesus depending on the Evangelist, to the disciples interacting with Jesus in a locked room and ending with Thomas believing. After the Resurrection, certainty finally overcame doubt.
For millennia, Christianity has faced the tension between doubt and the need for certainty. Although unrelated, Pontius Pilot asks, "What is truth?" Faith has doubt at one end and certainty at the other. We seek truth, yet how? We are like the first women who went to the tomb—do we accept the stranger's message and let others know, or do we leave terrorized and say nothing?
We know that we do not have the same opportunity Jesus' followers had those many centuries ago. We do have Richard Hooker's Three-Legged stool to sustain our faith – Scripture, Tradition, and Reason.
Scripture is the source of God's revelation and the source for all Christian teaching and reflection. Tradition passes down from generation to generation the church's ongoing experience of God's presence and activity. Reason includes our capacity to discern the truth in both rational and intuitive ways. Each of the three sources must be perceived and interpreted in light of the other two, which gives our belief strength.
We are blessed as Episcopalians. We do not have to rely on Thomas's certainty or an inerrant view of scripture. We are not subjected to the blinders of fundamentalism in its various forms. We have tools to increase our faith and help us traverse the arc from doubt to belief.
Jesus tells Thomas, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are the people who have not seen and yet have believed." We are those people. Let us rejoice in the great mystery of Easter. Alleluia, Christ is Risen!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.