“Blessed Are Those Who Have Not Seen”
John 20:19–31
On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, even so I am sending you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, 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 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 never believe.”
Eight days later, His disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see My hands; and put out your hand, and place it in My side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”
Thomas answered Him, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these 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.
Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for sending your Son, who was delivered up for our trespasses and was raised again for our justification. Grant that the Holy Spirit strengthen us in faith through your Word, so that we may be believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing we may have life in his name. Amen!
Dear Fellow Redeemed,
People have gone down history for a single act. People who would otherwise have little reason to be in history books become household names. For better or worse, that single act can define how they are viewed and known throughout the ages, regardless of the other portions of the person’s life. Thomas had no idea that his refusal to be hoodwinked and gullible like the other disciples would get him the honorary title of “Doubting Thomas” throughout all of church history.
Thomas saw Jesus dead. He saw the nails in his hands and his feet, and his pierced side. For him to believe, it was not enough just to see Jesus alive. The only way that he would believe is if he could put his finger in the mark of the nails and in his side. Otherwise, “I will never believe.” He needed to see the same Jesus who was dead alive from the dead.
It couldn’t just be a spiritual or metaphorical rising from the dead. The same Jesus had to rise from the dead. When we confess that Jesus rose from the dead, we are referring to a bodily resurrection. The body that died is the body that rose, as the marks on Jesus’ hands and side showed.
Jesus is both God and man. Yet, from the time of his conception until he died, he did not use all his divine powers that his human nature shared. Jesus humbled himself, even to the point of death on the cross (Philippians 2:8). After he died, he left his state of humiliation. His body was glorified. Jesus now made use of his divine powers. He wasn’t subject to any limitations. The angel didn’t roll the stone away from the tomb for Jesus—he was already gone. The angel rolled it away for the women to see. The risen and glorified Jesus can pass through walls just as we see in our lesson today when Jesus appears before the disciples who were hiding behind locked doors. Jesus is not bound by space and time as we understand it. He is God!
For the second time, the crucified and risen Lord Jesus appears to the disciples and commands Thomas to do exactly what he had demanded a week before. “Put your finger here, and see My hands; and put out your hand, and place it in My side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas believed now. But then Jesus says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” We don’t always agree with what Jesus says. We often want proof of God’s promises.
While many are quick to judge doubting Thomas, and rightfully so, they often fail to see the influence of the same doubt in their own life. Most people are not satisfied with the testimony and words of Jesus’ disciples. They want more. They want tangible proof or a religious experience to convince them. Thomas also insisted on a religious experience and proof. We want visible and tangible proof of God’s promises. Who has not heard or said something along these lines, “If I only had a sign, then I would have peace;” “If he just spoke to me, then I would believe;” or “I wish God would just prove himself to me.”
Sinners can’t help but try to tell God what he should do and how he should act. But who are we to tell God what he can and cannot do or what he should and should not do? Listen to these words from St. Paul, “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” (I Corinthians 1).
This Sunday is Quasimodogeniti Sunday, a name coming from I Peter 2:2, which encourages us to crave the pure spiritual milk of God’s Word as newborn babes. God works through his Word. This is what he wants us to trust and believe. We can’t see the Word. We sometimes refer to the Sacraments as the visible Word, but we still can’t really see them. We see, touch, and smell the bread and the wine. But how do we know that it is Jesus’ body and blood under the bread and wine? We can’t see or taste it. We know because of his Word. We know because we hear Jesus’ words, “This is my body; this is the New Testament in my blood.” We hear and believe what we hear. “Given and shed for you for the remission of sins.” We believe the words of Jesus. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
When a baby is baptized, we don’t see anything miraculous happen. Words are spoken and water is applied. The baby’s hair gets wet and perhaps it lets out a cry. But we believe that the baby is given new birth—new life from above. We believe that it is a washing of regeneration and renewal of life whereby the child is given the Holy Spirit and made a child of God. Do we see anything? No. But we hear the words of Jesus, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” We believe what Jesus says. Jesus says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Our lesson for today doesn’t mention Baptism or the Lord’s Supper, but it is intimately connected. Jesus breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” In the beginning, God breathed into Adam giving him life. After his resurrection, Jesus breathed on his disciples giving them spiritual life. Here Jesus gave them what we refer to as the Office of the Keys. What are keys used for? Opening and locking doors. Sin closes heaven. Jesus gives the church the keys of forgiveness which opens heaven’s doors.
Jesus won for us the keys of forgiveness by his suffering and death in our place. When Jesus greeted the disciples with “Peace,” he spoke to them exactly what he had just accomplished with his suffering and death on the cross. His resurrection is proof that he has secured forgiveness and life. Now he gives the keys to his church, which are in turn given to pastors to use for the loosing and binding of sins.
Jesus said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” Faith is the empty hand that receives the forgiveness Christ freely offers. Every Christian has the Holy Spirit because you can’t have faith without the Holy Spirit.
Jesus tells his disciples that whatever sins they forgive are forgiven, but whatever sins they don’t forgive, it is withheld. Sinners who are not sorry for their sins, who refuse to repent, should not be forgiven. Their sins should be bound. They should be told that their sins are not forgiven. The pastor must preach the Law, he would be derelict of his duty if he did not. A pastor must expose sin and warn of God’s punishment if they do not repent. If they do not repent, they will be judged and eternally condemned. If you are lying, stealing, despising God’s Word, misusing his name, disobeying your parents, or whatever the sin may be and do not repent, it’s your pastor’s job to tell you your sins are not forgiven. If you think you are forgiven while refusing to repent, you are only fooling yourself. God takes sin seriously and wants us to repent.
So, who should be forgiven? The Gospel is for those who are sorry for their sins. If your sins distress you and bring you sorrow, and you want God’s forgiveness, then you need to hear the gospel. Go to your pastor and ask him to hear your confession and give you Christ’s absolution. Not only is it your pastor’s duty to do so, he may never, under any circumstances, reveal to anyone what has been confessed to him. The pastor is simply the mouthpiece of the Lord Jesus who promises, “If your forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them.”
When you hear the pastor’s forgiveness it is as valid and certain as if Jesus himself spoke it. As surely as Jesus died for you, bore your sins in his body on the cross, and rose again on the third day, your sins are forgiven. How can this be? They are only words spoken by a sinful man. Don’t be troubled, but take comfort in Jesus’ promise, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Our sinful hearts will always want more from God. More proof—more signs. Yet, to have the words of Jesus is all we need. If you have his word, you have everything.
A pastor once shared with me a picture from a battlefield during WWII. In the midst of battle with planes flying overhead and combat going on, there is a chaplain giving communion to a handful of soldiers before they made their way to the front lines. This is one of my favorite pictures. Jesus is giving life in the midst of death. These soldiers could go forward into battle knowing that they had Jesus’ body and blood for the forgiveness of all their sins. Did they see it? No. But they had God’s word!
The disciples and Thomas saw Jesus. But what was their comfort? Jesus’ words, “Peace be with you.” This wasn’t an empty greeting—it was forgiveness and absolution. They had deserted Jesus, failed to stand up for him, and were in hiding out of fear for their lives. But Jesus gave them what he earned on the cross—peace! We have peace with God because our sins are forgiven. Thomas doubted Christ, but his confession stands written, “My Lord and my God!” Thomas learned to see Jesus as his Savior, who had defeated death. With this confidence, tradition says that Thomas went to spread the Gospel as far as East India and beyond regions of Roman control. Thomas was martyred for professing his faith, but he died knowing that death would not be the end because his Redeemer lives.
When we have God’s Word—his promises—we can go forward, even into battle, with confidence. You have God’s Word and he wants you to believe it. Your sins are forgiven. You have been baptized. You have his body and blood for the forgiveness of all your sins. “These 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 those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Amen.