Second Sunday of Easter, April 7, 2024 – Acts 4:32-35; 1 John 5:1-6; John 20:19-31

Arguably the greatest mystery writer of the twentieth century was probably Agatha Christie but she only had eight stories. Just about eight. I looked them up on the internet. They’re in  such a terrible typeface that I have to hold the paper like this to read them to you. But she used the Discredited Witness, the Big Reveal, the Disguise, the Least Likely Suspect, the Red Herring, and, most popular of all, the Locked Room. And she was so clever that she built more than forty stories around those eight plot devices, using them over and over again so cleverly that you didn't even notice that you heard the story before. 

We have two sets of stories about the risen Christ. One group of stories is called the Empty Tomb stories. The other group of stories is called Appearances of the Risen Christ stories. And they have the same elements. In all the Empty Tomb stories, a bunch of people go to the tomb and, no matter what story you read, the anchor of the story is Mary Magdalene. She is always there, although the other women sometimes change and sometimes it’s some of the apostles instead. When they get to the tomb, they find it empty. And, always, somebody announces good news to them. Sometimes it's an angel, sometimes a young man robed in white, but angel simply means, in Greek, a messenger. 

The Appearances of the Risen Christ stories always have these elements in them. Jesus shows up someplace. At first, people don’t recognize him. He does something, and then they do. The something he does is almost always physical. Frequently it has to do with showing his wounds and very often has to do with sharing a meal. And very often that meal involves the symbolic breaking of bread. When that appearance is understood, in every story, Jesus gives the people present a commission - a job to do for ever after.

There are seven of those stories across the four gospels. We just heard one of them. That’s why I asked you if you thought it was two stories or one. It seems like two because there’s a week separating the two stories. But it’s really only one. It’s what we call a diptych - two pictures that mirror each other. And the way you can tell is because the beginning of each picture is the same. “Although the doors were locked, Jesus came, stood in their midst and said, ‘Peace be with you.’” That anchors the two stories to each other like magnets. Like that. 

In the first story, Jesus shows his hands and his side, and the disciples rejoice. He gives them a commission. Then there’s this awkward bridge between the two stories. The first story was full of peace and joy. The bridge is filled with controversy and anger. What happens? The ten apostles, filled with joy and filled with themselves, say to Thomas, “We have seen the Lord.” And Thomas is what? Thomas is angry. He is angry at himself for not having been there and angry at them for rubbing his nose in it. And he’s disappointed and bitter. He expresses his disappointment and bitterness in angry words. “I won’t believe unless I put my finger in the nail marks.” Then the second half of the diptych begins. And, after the same words, the next thing Jesus does is say, “Thomas come here. Take your finger and put it in the nail marks; they’re still healing.” And then Jesus does the most unthinkable thing for a Jewish male in a public place. He opens his garment and reveals his flesh. You never ever remove your chiton in front of other people. And he says, “Now, put your hand here and see.” And then he gives Thomas a commission. “Don’t be a non-believer. Be a believer.” And then he says something else to Thomas that finishes the first story. He says to Thomas, in the hearing of everybody else, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen me and yet have believed. He is telling everybody in the room that sometimes the work he gave them to do will not succeed and sometimes it will.

When the story is over, the storyteller breaks into the story and says, “This is just one of the great stories I could tell. There are lots more. But you are invited to use this story to believe.”

So, I asked you to be in touch with your feelings as you heard this story. Look at the feelings in that story. Joy, disbelief, anger, disappointment, frustration, bitterness, awe, embarrassment.  Thomas' embarrassment at being called out by Jesus. Jesus’ embarrassment on opening his own garment. Still very much a human being even though risen from the dead. It was the storyteller’s device to make you feel those feelings. So whatever feelings you were feeling,   that’s good.