Jesus Appears to the Disciples
John 20: 19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors were locked where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
Jesus and Thomas
24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin[a]), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 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."
26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." 28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."
The Purpose of This Book
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may continue[b] to believe that Jesus is the Messiah,[c] the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
If You Know, You Know (IYKYK)
After the Resurrection, Jesus appeared to the Apostles. But not all of them. There weren't 12 anymore. Judas, of course, overcome with guilt, had tragically unalived himself. So, they were down to 11. That's how many were left the day Jesus snuck into their safehouse. Except, that day, one of the 11 was absent. Thomas. You know: Doubting Thomas. AKA, Missing Thomas, AKA Late Thomas, AKA Directionally Challenged Thomas. Thomas was… somewhere else. The Bible doesn't say where or why. It's not Thomas's fault. I'm sure if he had known Jesus was going to show up, he would have made the meeting. Not to second-guess Our Lord, but you'd think he could have picked a time when everybody could be there. Would have saved himself a return trip the next week. Could have saved Thomas some embarrassment. Then again, Jesus was never known for his regard for other people's schedules.
Jesus came to the locked house, and breathed the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. Effectively, he gave them all his abilities and authority right then and there. Now, in the Book of Acts, Jesus waits 50 days to show up and share the Spirit. That's why we celebrate Pentecost. Penta- being 50. In both cases, I'm sure Jesus had his reasons for taking his sweet time. I'm sure he had his reasons for excluding poor Thomas, too. But whatever those reasons were, we don't know. And if you don't know, you don't know.
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IMHO, In My Humble Opinion, one of the more irritating Internet abbreviations is IYKYK. It shows up a lot as the caption for Instagram photos. Someone posts what appears an innocuous picture, with no explanation, just the letters, IYKYK, meaning, "If you know, you know." I find that very rude. Because a lot of the time, I DON'T know. I don't know what it is I'm supposed to know. I prefer my content to be self-explanatory and tragically hilarious. Like drunk people falling off boat docks. Or tiny puppies carrying big sticks through a gate. I know those. And I know I know. They make me happy. But these cryptic little IYKYK things drive me cray cray. First, I have to Google, "What does IYKYK mean?" And then I get "triggered" by the stress of having no idea what I'm supposed to know, but don't know. Obviously, I'm even less cool than our daughters think I am. I know, I know. It adds up to severe case of FOMO, or, Fear of Missing Out. I think. Getting old is hard.
Jesus appeared to the remaining Apostles and Thomas didn't get it. He didn't get Jesus. Literally. He didn't get the experience. I'm afraid he missed out. And then, when told what he had missed out on, he didn't believe his friends. They were all, "Just have a little faith. If you know, you know." And he was like, "I don't know. And I'm not sure you know what you think you know."
Because, he said, "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."
What we have here is a very serious question of faith. Not just for Thomas, but for all of us.
How do you know what you know? How do you know what you believe is right? That it's true? Can you trust your own faith? Are the things we take on faith less trustworthy than the things we can prove?
I don't know if I'm smart enough to know what I'm talking about here.
Neither did the Apostle Thomas.
Jesus has a very personal moment with Thomas. And with all of us who are just as clueless, just as late, just as doubtful as he was.
I think that's good news. You know?
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What do we know about Thomas?
John 20:24 says: "But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came."
Thomas had a nickname, and it wasn't "Doubting." Thomas was called "The Twin." The Bible tells us so. Did Jesus give him the nickname? We know Jesus was into nicknames. He nicknamed the Apostle Simon, "Peter." From the Greek, Petros, meaning rock. Jesus said, "Upon this rock I will build my church." (Matthew 16:18) Peter is literally, The Rock. Just like Dwayne Johnson. You know?
Thomas, the Bible tells us, was called, "The Twin."
Contrary to the opinion some people believe as fact, Jesus did not speak the King James English. Or any English. Jesus spoke Aramaic. Aramaic was an old, old, old Middle Eastern language that predates both Hebrew and Arabic. Our English proper name, Thomas, comes from the Aramaic word, Ta'oma. Spelled with an apostrophe, like T'Challa.
But in Aramaic, Ta'oma isn't even a name. It just means, "Twin." Thomas's brother would have been, Ta'oma, too. They were a matching set of Ta'omas. Saved their mom time when she was angry. "Ta'oma!" 50-50 chance. Is anyone here a Ta'oma? Are you Ta'oma 1? Or Ta'oma 2? If you know that, I mean.
Let's assume for a moment that Thomas and his brother Thomas were so identical you couldn't tell them apart. How would you know which one was which? How would their teachers know? Or their wives? They'd have to explain themselves to you. And even then, maybe they were deceptive little organic clones. What if one was your friend, and one was your enemy? You'd have to take it on faith that you were with the right Ta'oma and that he was telling you the truth.
So, it's no wonder Thomas wanted indisputable proof that Jesus was really, truly who he was and truly where the disciples said he was.
"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."
Well, of course, the Man of Mistaken Identity would have wanted hard, physical proof.
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I am fascinated by the tools of Artificial Intelligence. Once, I asked ChatGPT to create a picture of John Calvin and Martin Luther eating pizza. Because this is what I think about in my spare time. The picture was pretty impressive. Except John Calvin's eyes were crossed. And Martin Luther had six fingers on one hand. Which might have been accurate.
My fear is that my fascination with AI is like when the caveman discovered fire. Yes, it's useful. But it can also burn down your neighborhood.
We're rapidly approaching a world where you won't be able to trust the evidence of your eyes and your ears. We could soon see public figures saying and doing things far more diabolical than sharing pizza. Deep fakes and alternative facts. Right now, AI-generated voices of your grandkids on the phone asking for money make the news. How long until it's commonplace? I saw an article last week about a subscription service that'll call your elderly parents and have a conversation with them, (quote) when you don't have time. What's real? What's made up? How will we know?
Thomas wondered. What is true?
So, maybe Ta'oma Thomas is OUR twin. Maybe WE'RE Ta'oma 2.
Maybe not. If you don't know. Or do we?
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I think the church is made for such a time as this. In a world where we communicate in abbreviations, where we text more than we talk, where machines construct virtual, artificial reality – with or without our knowledge, church is one of the few places left where people can come for real, human contact.
Church is one of the few places left where we can share our scars. It's one of the few places where we can reveal the joys -- and the wounds in our sides, in our hearts, in our minds.
I don't know what a soul looks like. But I know when someone's sharing theirs. I know when I'm sharing mine.
The Gospels were written for people who had never seen Jesus in person. Those few remaining Apostles who had authentically witnessed him in the flesh were few and getting fewer. Yet the church was begun in the Spirit of Jesus, by the breath of Jesus, just as he shared it with his disciples. Like the air around us, we can't see this Holy Spirit, but we know it's there. We trust that our next breath won't be our last. We have faith, even though our proof might not be visible, or understood, by anyone but ourselves.
The people who knew the Gospels may never have seen Jesus in the flesh. But that doesn't mean their faith was any less precious than that of those who had.
Jesus's final words to Thomas. These words to him are also words to us, his twins in the Spirit. Jesus said,
"Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."
The good news – the very good news – is that even we who weren't there when they crucified our Lord, who weren't there when they laid him in the tomb, who weren't present when he rose from the grave and appeared to the few – even we – have the exact same faith as those who were there. We're twins.
If someone has ever told you, or if some church has ever preached to you, or if anyone else has ever tried to convince you that your faith isn't good enough, isn't strong enough, isn't sincere enough, or spotless enough, or sinless enough,
Introduce them to your twin, your Ta'oma. A saint. A person who might doubt some, but who also believes enough. Enough to be called an Apostle. A human being who touched the hands, and stood by the side, and received the blessing of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, himself. Whose faith is reflected in you. Know that.
Because if you know, you know.
Let's pray:
Loving God, you know us. You know our wounds and our scars. You feel where we have been hurt. You share the pain. Yet, you aren't ashamed of our confusion. You aren't afraid of our doubt. You know us. You love us. Anyway.
Like Thomas, help us to investigate, to demand to understand, to insist on the truth. And where we can't find answers, help us to love the search. When we can't find you, we pray, that you will find us.
Amen.
