Tuesday, April 2, 2013

SOME DOUBTED

John 20: 24-25
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

   MICHAEL WAS A GUIDE ON MY FIRST trip to Israel. He was Jewish, but it was obvious he knew more about Jesus than the average Christian. As Michael described the various places we went, he assumed more New Testament knowledge than some of our people had, and I would have to stop and explain what he had just said. Michael was more like a professor of New Testament than a Holy Land guide.

   At one point, away from the rest of my group, I asked him, “Michael, you genuinely seem to love Jesus, yet you are not a Christian. Tell me about this.” He said, “I do love him. I love what he taught. I love what he did. I love the way he cared for the sick and the broken. I grieve the tragedy of his death and believe he gave his life to demonstrate the path of love, and to show God’s love.” I said, “Michael, it sounds like you are a Christ-follower.” He responded, “My only problem is that I can’t find the faith to believe in the Resurrection.”

   Michael was not the first to struggle with the concept of Jesus’ resurrection. In Luke’s gospel, the women were the first to meet the risen Christ, but when they told the disciples that he was risen, “these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them” (Luke 24: 11 NRSV). When Jesus finally appeared to the disciples, Thomas was not with them, so he did not believe. In fact, ten disciples told him they had seen Christ risen, and still he refused to believe. His skepticism earned him the nickname “Doubting Thomas.” Matthew, in his account, depicts the disciples seeing the resurrected Christ for the first time in Galilee when he gave the great commission. Matthew notes, “When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted” (Matthew 28: 17 NRSV).

   I think Jesus had great empathy for doubters. He knew the Resurrection would be hard to believe, which is why, after appearing to Thomas he said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed” (John 20: 29 NIV).

   The first time I read Matthew and Mark’s Gospels I was not yet a Christian. I, too, found the Resurrection difficult to believe. Finally, as I read Luke’s account, it began to make sense. I asked myself, “What would be different if the Resurrection had not occurred?” Jesus would have died on the cross, just the same. But this death would be a defeat, not the prelude to a victory. Evil would have won. Hate, fear, and bigotry would have been the victors. The apostles would have returned to fishing. Paul would never have met the risen Christ. The Great Commission would never have been given. The great message of redemption, forgiveness, and hope would not be known throughout the world.

   It finally hit me that the story had to end with the Resurrection if in fact it was God’s story. Evil could not have the last word. Death could not have the final say. I came to trust that God, who called forth the universe through his creative power, also had the power to bring about Christ’s resurrection from the grave. Realizing this, I came to trust that the tomb was empty and that the women, the disciples, and Paul had in fact seen the risen Christ.

   God raised his son from the dead. I not only believe this, I’m counting on it. But I still have empathy for those, such as Michael, who struggle with doubt. I assured Michael that he was in good company— that the earliest disciples of Jesus struggled with the Resurrection, too. I invited him to keep following Jesus’ way and to continue pondering the meaning of the Resurrection. I suggested that one day he, too, might come to see the logic, and power, of the Resurrection.

"Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief."  Thank you for your patience with doubters such as Thomas. Help me to trust in the Easter Story and to that because you live I will live also. Amen.