St. Thomas, Apostle, 2022

Rev. Thomas Van Hemert

St. Thomas, Apostle - This sermon was reworked from Rev. Trae Fistler’s (Pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Hopkinsville, KY) sermon for Easter 2, 2022

St. John 20:24-29

December 21, 2022

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit.

With Christmas quickly approaching, we are sent all the way back to the Easter season. Jesus appeared to Thomas, also known as the Twin, after His resurrection, to show him the wounds of His cross. The Son of God became what He was not—human, able to die—to make us what we are not—righteous; saints bound for heaven. He has given these weak bodies life. And even these weak bodies, because He is the Lord who is with us, who took on a body, our bodies will be raised immortal.

There are always two sides to one coin. The same is true with fear. Fear is a good thing if it is directed properly. It is good for us to fear God as we stand before Him in awe and reverence. As we have learned in the Small Catechism: We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things. But there is also a bad fear, the fear that drives us away from our Heavenly Father. The fear led Adam and Eve to hide themselves from God. Fear that the Almighty God hates us and is out to get us; that our sins will drive Him to punish us eternally in hell despite what Jesus has done for us. That’s not the fear synonymous with faith. That’s sin. That’s unbelief. But we can see how a proper fear of God—faith in Him—plays out in the lives of the disciples, in our lives, and by doing so, we see that saving faith is truly a gift from God.

When our Lord came on Easter evening to the disciples behind locked doors, the disciples were not glad. They were sad. They were disappointed, dismayed, and sorrowful. And over and above all, they were afraid. They had heard about and some had witnessed the death of Jesus. Their Lord had suffered a shameful death on the cross. He was buried. They did not gather to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. They were not gathered to celebrate our Lord’s victory over sin, death, and hell. They cuddled together behind locked door in fear. The apostles didn’t believe the testimony of the women who told them that the tomb was empty because Jesus had risen from the dead. The disciples thought what the women spoke was prattle and they did not believe them.  

God has revealed Himself to His disciples, to us, and to all people. The story of Christmas, and consequently, the story of Easter is not an imagined story or a coping mechanism for the pain and sorrow the world experiences. The disciples had been warned about the resurrection. Not only did the law and the prophets foretell that Jesus would die be lifted up from the earth and, they also prophesied a resurrection—that the temple would be rebuilt on the Third Day. This is what He came on Christmas to do. To be the scapegoat—the babe lying in the manger is the Sacrificial Lamb led silently to slaughter.

This Babe of Bethlehem who was laid in a manger would leave His manger. He would grow. In the same way, He would leave behind death and our sins and leave them behind in the tomb. When Jesus came to the disciples He did not scold them. He does not say “I told you so.” He came to them despite their weak faith and fear, or maybe because of it. He stood in their midst. Locked doors and sealed stones do not keep His body out. He comes to them in the flesh, and He bestows His peaceful spirit upon them with a word. He said to them, “Peace be with you.” He speaks the peace of His cross. Jesus died for them and died for us. He kept His promise. He fulfilled the Law and willing gave his life as a ransom for many. And He rose on the third day, just as He said. And when He stands in the midst of His disciples, His body still bears the marks of His death on the cross and marks Him as the eternal sacrifice for sin. Jesus was crucified and resurrected. Yet, the resurrected One is always the One who was crucified. You cannot have one and forget about the other. In hearing and in seeing their resurrected Lord, the disciples were glad.

Eight day later, again the disciples are found inside behind locked doors but now Thomas is with them, doubting Thomas. The Thomas who did not say, I believe, help my unbelief. But rather, Thomas who heard that the other disciples saw the Lord, and raised more than doubt. He said, “Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side, I will absolutely never believe.” No other word is recorded of Thomas until the Lord comes and says, “Peace be with you.” Thomas is then restored. Jesus invites him to touch with his finger, see with eyes, feel the marks of His body that died but is not dead.

Like the disciples we still struggle with our fallen, sinful flesh. Yes, we are forgiven. We have been made right with God, and our guilt is removed. But we still struggle with our fallen flesh, with memories, and with temptation.

We still have fears and we still have doubts, like the disciples and like Thomas. What we do not need is a better place to hide in fear, or a lecture on our unreasonableness, or a five-step sermon on how to rid ourselves of doubt. We need to hear about the fallenness of our sinful flesh and when we have contradicted God’s Word that we should not be trusted. We need to hear of repentance. We need to hear the Lord speak to us assurance of sins forgiven. For only the Lord can quiet our fears. Only He can restore us back into fellowship again. Only He can speak and give peace when there seems to be no peace.

The medicine for fear, for doubt, and what we might generally call ‘the struggles of this life’ is that clear Word of promise and of Peace. “Peace be with you,” says the Prince of Peace.

Thomas is invited to see if those marks are real—if this really is Jesus who was sacrificed, died, and is now alive. Jesus does not point to the scourges on His back from the Roman soldiers or the marks from thorns that puncture His brow. He shows Thomas His hands and His side. He shows Thomas what the cross has done to Immanuel—God in the flesh. In the flesh of Jesus, the Son of God who was sent from the Father, we have peace with God. 

The disciples saw the resurrected Lord and believed; we have not seen the Lord in the way the disciples did, nor have we seen the Christ child as He lay in the manger. Yet we believe. This is because the Holy Spirit was given to us in baptism and he works faith in us. The living water which poured from His side cleanses us. The Holy Spirit is given to us when the Word of God is taught and preached. Indeed, as John writes “These words are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Blessed are you who believe in Christ and who call Jesus your Lord and your God.

In +Jesus’ name.