Sermon Text: John 20:19-31
The familiar story of Doubting Thomas takes on new meaning when viewed in light of the Docetic theology of First Century Christianity. Christian Docetics were Gnostics who believed Jesus was not human at all. He was 100% divine. That is why he was able to do the superhuman things and miracles. Death couldn't hurt him. The word "docetism" comes from the Greek δοκέω - dokeō, "to seem". This is the belief that Jesus was a pure spirit who only seemed or appeared to be human. Since Jesus did not have a physical body then of course he could not die. Therefore, Docetics view the crucifixion of Christ as symbolic and not actual.
The latest research says Docetic theology was probably more widespread in the early church than has been known. At one time it was probably the majority view. So let's examine today's text within the historical and theological framework of Docetism as represented by Thomas. (For a brief sketch of the history of Gnosticism see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Gnosticism)
Doubt is not the opposite of faith, certainty is. Because whatever you are certain about, you don't need faith, you don't need hope. Thus, Kahlil Gibran says, "Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother." Maybe that's why Thomas is also known as Jude Thomas or Judas Didymus Thomas (Thomas means twin in Aramaic, as does Didymus in Greek.) Some say Thomas was the twin brother of Jesus. That is true symbolically. Jesus represents faith and Thomas represents doubt. Thomas teaches us doubt is nothing to be ashamed about. Doubt is saying that you are not certain about something. If you are certain of something then you don't need faith for something that you already know.
With this background let's look at the story of Doubting Thomas as related in the 20th chapter of the Gospel According to John. It happened in the evening of the first day of the week. The doors where the disciples met were locked for fear that they may face the same fate as Jesus did. Then Jesus came and stood among them. Jesus is ever coming to where WE are. He does not wait for us to come to him. Here is how we phrase it on our reformed faith: "God takes the initiative in human salvation." God comes down to us. Jesus very name, Emmanuel - God with us, reminds that we did not ascend into heaven to reach God but God came down to where we are on planet earth. The Docetics would agree that God came to us in Jesus but they would disagree that Jesus came in physical form.
Notice the first thing the risen Christ says to his forlorn disciples: "Peace be with you." His disciples needed peace. They had none. They were worried to death. They feared for their lives. So no wonder then the disciples REJOICED when Jesus appeared to them! It was a happy reunion indeed. We may imagine many tears of joy were shed. Hugs were had. Everything was going to be okay. The disciples could now relax. The worst was over.
Yet, this would be no recess in the middle of a campaign. Jesus is quick to give the next assignment to the disciples: "As Father has sent me so I send you." What a daunting task. The disciples are to be sent into the world as the Father sent Jesus. So maybe they are NOT off the hook then. If they are to be sent as Jesus was sent they too may be like the foxes who have no place to lay their head at night. They also may face persecution and opposition as did Jesus. Soon the party spirit was replaced by a sobering awareness that they still had an incredibly daunting task before them.
Yet, once again, Jesus does not leave the disciples alone. He does not send them out unequipped. Rather, He breathed on them said: "Receive the Holy Spirit." The Holy Spirit will be to them the power of God to accomplish their work.
Jesus says: "If you receive the sins of anyone they are forgiven but if you retain the sins of anyone they are retained." So now they have been happily surprised, soberly challenged to go out and bear witness in the world, and empowered and equipped by the Holy Spirit. What an incredible come back! What an incredible response to the inadequacy and fear they had felt. The disciples could hardly believe the incredible way things suddenly turned around when Jesus appeared.
And just at this point of greatest excitement, we are brought right back down to earth. There is always someone there who is ready to rain on everyone's parade. In this case, that person's name was Thomas. You see, 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."
As a Docetic, Thomas did not doubt Jesus could be resurrected. He couldn't buy the idea that Jesus could have been killed. He doubted the crucifixion. That is why he would not believe unless he could see the mark of the nails in Jesus hands, and put his finger in the mark of the nails and his hand in his side. Thomas required proof that Jesus had been killed not that he was now alive. There is some level at which all of us are a little Docetic. We prefer the paintings of Jesus sitting on top of the world. We can relate to the Cosmic Christ who sits at the right hand of God in heaven. We are not entirely comfortable thinking of Jesus as a real human being who lived in a particular place at a particular time and who sweated and snored like the rest of us.
Back to the story of Doubting Thomas. A week later, the disciples and Thomas are in a house when Jesus came and stood among them and said the same thing he said the last time: "Peace be with you." Notice once again although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them. That kind of dramatic entrance may have grabbed Thomas's attention. Jesus did not shirk away from Thomas. He was not dumbfounded by the doubt. He approached Thomas directly and challenged him saying: "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" His doubt was replaced by belief when he was confronted by the overwhelming physical evidence that Jesus had really and truly been crucified and died.
In addition to finding the Lord, Thomas also found a community to which he could belong. He belonged to that troubled band of disciples even though his faith at times wavered. And for that, he could thank Jesus. Some of us know the feeling. Whatever else this church called St. John's may mean to you I imagine it also means community. It means belonging to a group of people who know you as you really are rather than as you like to appear to be. The church is and should be a kind of "third place" - not home, not work, but a third place - where, like they put it in the title song of the sitcom Cheers, "Everyone knows your name." We make room for those who have different views than our own. That is an appealing feature of our faith community. Let us continue to be a church that accepts one another as people and Christians even when we do not agree on every social and religious issue.
We need the challenge and affirmation of our faith community for our spiritual development even more because we don't get the kind of evidence Thomas required. We do not get to reach out our hand and put it in the risen Christ's side. We don't get to put our finger there and see his hands. Our faith is based on a written document, an oral history, our teachers and mentors, our own personal experience, our worship and fellowship in the church. So Jesus says to us: "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."
Our gospel reading ends with this interesting note: "Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name." Notice that these gospel stories are not written so that we may have certainty. They are written so that we may come to believe in Jesus and so have life.
We may grow in our experience of eternal life in this lifetime. Listen to the advice of Jesus as quoted in the Gospel of Thomas, saying three, where Jesus says:
...the Kingdom of God is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living Father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty, and it is you who are that poverty.
Thomas gives us permission to look inside ourselves and explore the contours of our inner life and admit what we find. Inside of ourselves we find fields of faith and domains of doubt. This gospel story suggests that is what God invites us to do. Rather than face condemnation, God welcomes our questions, our uncertainty, our doubt.
According to the gospels, Thomas, the Doubter, is the only person who was allowed to touch the risen Christ. This privilege was not even granted to Mary Magdelene when encountered the risen Christ in his former tomb. Jesus specifically told her not to touch him at that time. Yet, he invites the questioning touch of Thomas. Thomas, called by some the Twin Brother of Jesus, perhaps a Gnostic, a Docetic, a Doubter, you touched the risen Christ. Thank you for teaching us that God welcomes our questions – even the ones no one else asks. Give us some of your doubtful peace, brother Thomas, share with us some of the peace that Christ gave to you.
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The Rev. Dr. Jon Burnham preached this sermon at St. John's Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas on May 1, 2011.
