Lord of Love Lutheran Church ELCA – Omaha, NE

Don’t you think it’s interesting when a writer or a movie maker chooses to tell the end of the story first?  The opening scene introduces us to some part of the story that the writer wants us to have knowledge of and then we get a little tag line that says …three years earlier…

Knowing where the story ends up changes what we get out of the story itself.  We interact differently with the characters.  Instead of being along for the ride, we wish we could speak to the characters and say, ‘oh, that’s a bad decision – I know where this ends up.’  Or, ‘how can you not see what’s right in front of you!!’ Or, ‘how is this part of the story going to take us to the ending we saw?’  We get invested in seeing how the unfolding of the story opens our eyes to the truth of the ending.

In today’s text we are hearing the end of John’s gospel and what I believe to be the high point of the narrative.  Now, I know that Easter is a big deal and very climactic for us in our faith lives.  It is in fact the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ in which we rest our faith and understanding of God’s way of redemption for us.

In John’s gospel, though, it seems to me that he wants to drive us beyond the resurrection to really get at the point of his gospel.  Today we read that the disciples are gathered together in a room somewhere, locking themselves away from the things they fear.  Last week our text ended with Mary testifying to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” but the disciples are still fearing and hiding away.  Then they have an encounter with Jesus themselves.  Jesus enters into the room, despite the locked door, despite their fear, and frankly despite their unbelief and offers them peace.  It is this encounter that prompts them to testify to Thomas saying, “We have seen the Lord!” 

We’re not told why Thomas is not present with the disciples when Jesus came to them the first time, but only that Jesus returns again when he is with them and offers them peace again.  It is in this encounter with Christ that Thomas comes to believe and we finally hit the peak of John’s narrative.  Even without needing to actually touch Jesus, Thomas believes and makes the greatest confession of all the disciples.  “My Lord and my God!”

When I hear this testimony of Thomas, I am driven right back to the very first chapter of this gospel.  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without Him not one thing came into being.  What has come into being in Him was life, and the life was the light of all people. This light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it.”  This is John’s testimony about our Lord Jesus and once he has told us where his story will resolve, he begins to tell us the story of Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God.

As we read John’s gospel, which we have had the privilege of doing throughout this Lenten season, we read it knowing who this Jesus is.  John told us right in the first sentence.  We get to watch as Nicodemus comes to Jesus in the dark and seemingly goes away still not understanding who Jesus is.  We may ask, ‘how is this encounter going to lead us to the powerful confession we have in our text today?’ 

Then we get to watch as Jesus comes to a Samaritan woman at a well and in that strange encounter we see her believe and through her testimony others in Samaria believe and then they themselves encounter Christ leading them to confess, “This is truly the Savior of the world.”  And the disciples don’t get it.  And it’s to them we want to say, ‘how can you not see what’s right in front of you!!’

Then we read about the man born blind.  One of my favorites.  We know that he comes to believe, but is it because of his healing?  No.  He testifies that Jesus is a prophet when questioned by the Pharisees.  But later in the story, after this healed man was driven out of the temple, Jesus goes and finds him.  It is in this encounter with Jesus that He comes to believe and worships him. 

I am seeing a pattern here.  Believing follows an encounter with Christ.  And not from our seeking him out but just the opposite.  It is when Christ comes to us.

I suppose this is most true with Lazarus, since Lazarus was no longer able to seek out the Lord himself.  While Jesus was sent for in this story, it is when Jesus enters into the situation that belief comes.  First Mary and Martha declare their belief; even in the midst of their grief, though we may be able to argue that their faith is weak.  Still it is Lazarus who hears when Christ comes to him, even despite being dead, and believes that the resurrection – that life – is for him, despite his situation.  The result being that many Jews came to believe.  As a reader, we might want to say to Jesus, ‘oh, are you sure you want to do that? – I know where this ends up.’  since Jesus’ death is planned from that day on.

But for John, he is driving us to the end of the story.  Look at who this Jesus is!!  He preaches, he knows you, he heals, he raises the dead, he has come to you.  This life is the testimony of who our God is.  Jesus says in this gospel, “If you know me, you will know my Father also.  From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.”  My Lord, and my God!

Do you think maybe Thomas gets a bad rap?  When someone mentions Thomas, we think…DOUBT!  But it is not doubt that we should remember him for.  The gospel writer has given him a much greater role than that.  All of the disciples did not believe that Jesus had risen from the dead.  But through his encounter with Jesus, it is Thomas who makes the earth shattering confession of faith.  “My Lord, and my God.” Not teacher. Not Messiah. Not just Lord. But God!  It is the only place where Jesus is called God without qualification of any kind.  It is uttered with conviction as if Thomas was simply recognizing a fact, just as 2 + 2 = 4, and the sun is in the sky.  You are my Lord and my God!

And we see where John has been taking us in this narrative about Jesus.  From verse one to the very end.  And some of us may have gotten here and say, what did I miss?  Well then, Thomas’s confession drives us right back into the gospel to look again at who this Jesus is and Jesus comes to us in these words and encounters us where we are so that we, too, might believe. 

Jesus still enters in despite our fears and our unbelief.    And where is it that we encounter him?  Well, we encounter Him in the preaching of this Word.  We encounter him in one another.  We encounter him at Baptism and the Lords’ Supper.  And we still encounter Him in the testimony of this gospel writer.  John says, I have written these things to you so that you might believe, and that through believing you may have life in his name.  And hear what Jesus has to say, “Do not be unbelieving, but believe!  Blessed are you who do not see and yet believe.”  Are you still unsure?  Let this ending drive you right back to the beginning to hear again who this Jesus Christ is and watch with awe as it is revealed to you again and again.  Christ has come to you that you may encounter Him and confess Him as Lord and God and live.  Amen.

Paula Lawhead
Seminarian