Happy Day of Resurrection! Our gospel reading this morning brings us to the evening of the day Mary Magdalene discovered that Jesus had risen from the dead. Because Mark ends his good news about Jesus with the empty tomb and no post-resurrection encounters with Jesus, we are jumping into John (and a little Luke) for the next few weeks.
These 50 days between Easter and Ascension are called Eastertide.
Eastertide is a time of transition. Jesus is Jesus, but he is different after dying and coming back to life again. His relationship with his followers has changed. Nostalgically, he remains their beloved teacher, although he acts more like a mentor now. He encourages and coaches them to reflect on their faith, empowers and encourages them in their various gifts, and more overtly prepares them to continue bearing witness to the Good News.
Last week we talked about the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection. How miracles defy rational explanation. How they imply divine interaction. Believing in miracles requires equal measures of disbelief and awe. As followers of Jesus, we lean into and bear witness to that mix of skepticism and hope.
In John’s telling of the Good News, seeing is believing. John often uses language about sight and seeing to express belief in Jesus’ divine connection. Just a few weeks ago, we read from chapter 12 where some Greeks came and told Jesus’ disciples, ‘We want to SEE Jesus.’ In the verse preceding today’s gospel reading, Mary Magdalene tells the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord.’ When Jesus appears in the locked room and shows the disciples the wounds from his crucifixion, John says, “The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.” Thomas, who missed dinner that day, says, “Unless I SEE the mark of the nails…”
Upon seeing Jesus, Thomas exclaims, “My Lord and my God!” (Jn 20:28) Jesus asks, “Have you believed because you have SEEN me? Blessed are those who have not yet seen and yet have come to believe.”
Jesus shifts our attention from disbelief and skepticism to bearing witness to hope and peace in a world that is wracked by chaos and fear. Remember that Jesus’ disciples met in a locked room because they were afraid of violence against them for following Jesus. With that one sentence, Jesus challenges his disciples to share the good news. To go out and share what they have seen, and invite others to believe that a community of love and justice and peace IS possible.
And that’s it for John. In one more paragraph, John wraps up his account of the Good News of Jesus, the Word made flesh, who came to dwell among humanity, to show us how much God loves us and how to love one another until we are reunited with God and Jesus for all eternity.
We believe today because we have learned to see Jesus. And believing today is as confusing as it was for the first disciples. Just when we think we have Jesus figured out, something shifts and we are confused and angry and afraid all over again. Like Jesus’ first followers, we look to the past with nostalgia that makes it look steadier than it was because the present and future seem uncertain.
The future looked mighty uncertain for the women and men gathered in that locked room. And Jesus showed up. His first words to them? “Peace be with you.” After they recognize him, believe it’s him, he breathes on them with the Holy Spirit.
Jesus shows up for us in our uncertainty too. We glimpse Jesus in community that loves and cares for one another and for our neighbors. In the ways we share nourishment of Eucharist, meals, music, listening, empathy. In bearing witness to the kingdom of God as a place that celebrates that all people exercise their gifts fully, where no one is told they can’t because of their sex or gender, height or weight, wealth or social status, first language, who they love, or where they were born. In our desire to know more about our neighbors, to hear and share our deepest hopes and dreams, and to work together.
Uncertainty walks with us all the time. Questions about the future of our life, our health, our families, our church, our country, our finances. The list of future things that we cannot know is endless and anxiety-inducing. Jesus breathed peace on his frightened and confused disciples.
Holy breath didn’t erase their skepticism or change the world outside their doors. Seeing and knowing Jesus, breathing in peace, re-focused them, us, on bearing witness to the love of God they had seen. Because they proclaimed what they knew, using the gifts they had, the hope of God’s love and forgiveness passed from generation to generation. Bearing witness to God’s presence in the world, spreading from community to community, bringing hope and peace in the midst of chaos and fear. By the breath of God, we see and believe today. Bearing witness to the Holy Spirit working in and among us and our world proclaims the irrational and unshakeable love of God.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
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