We start out today with John filling out the Easter story.
So last week we, that first Easter morning, when Mary Maglan goes to the tomb and she finds the rock rolled away and the tomb is empty.
So we started last week, we retold that story of the first Easter morning.
Then she goes to the disciples and she says what she's found, the tomb is empty.
We don't know where Jesus' body is.
And so then of course we have the disciples running down to also see that the tomb is empty.
All of this happens on that first Easter morning.
Mary then sees Jesus, he appears to her.
She goes to the disciples and says, I have seen the Lord.
Now John's reading today continues that story.
So what we heard today happens in the evening, right?
So we have the empty tomb is discovered in the morning.
Mary sees Jesus.
She tells the disciples, I'm thinking maybe they didn't really believe her because we find them in the evening, locked up in a room, right?
They're locked up in a room.
I think that it would be safe for us to say that they are afraid.
They are afraid for themselves, for their safety.
They're grieving the death of their teacher and their friend on that Easter evening.
And if we think about that group of people who was gathered, some of them had deserted Jesus.
Some of them had denied Jesus.
Some of them watched him die from a distance.
So imagine what kinds of emotions they would have been experiencing.
And then all of a sudden Jesus appears, peace be with you.
As the father sent me, so I send you, receive the Holy Spirit.
And if you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven.
If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.
Imagine Thomas who wasn't there.
He misses this whole thing.
And then he hears this witness.
We have seen the Lord, but he says, I don't believe it.
I'm not going to believe it until I see and I can see his wounds and I can touch his wounds.
Thomas will not be shamed into believing or be shamed to keep his mouth quiet about his disbelief or his unbelieving.
And poor Thomas has become the target of many, many sermons criticizing him for his doubt and they falsely isolate him from the rest of the disciples.
I mean, they didn't really believe Mary when she told them, but poor Thomas is the one who got singled out.
But the thing is, when we go for this doubting Thomas interpretation, we miss the point that Jesus is the center of this story, not Thomas.
Jesus is the center of this story.
And we're gonna get back to Thomas in a minute, but I wanna take a little side journey with you.
So this verse 23, if you forgive the sins of any, they're forgiven if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.
I have always been troubled by the second part of that statement about the retention of sins.
And I wondered what in the world it means to retain sin on behalf of someone else.
And as I said with the children's message, one of my challenges that when I hear the word sin, I immediately think of wrongdoing, committing a crime, breaking a commandment.
It's all this understanding of sin that has been ingrained in me since a young age.
And I think that's the case for many of us, that when we talk about sin, we're talking about someone that's doing something wrong.
But in my mind, that meant that the disciples, mere human beings had the power to decide if someone's sin, someone's wrongdoing would be forgiven or not.
This just has never made any sense to me.
So as I was trying to sort this out, I reminded myself that in the gospel of John, sin is not a moral category.
Sin functions as a synonym for not being in relationship to God.
So your relationship with God is broken.
So to believe in God means being in relationship with God.
Theologian, Sanders Schneider's has spoken and written about the translation that we find in our Bible that we read this morning.
If you forgive the sins of any, they're forgiven.
If you retain the sins, they are retained.
And when considering the second part of this verse about the retention of sins, she points out that it is inconceivable that Jesus, who is sent to take away the sin of the world, would commission his disciples to perpetuate sin by the refusal of forgiveness, or that the retention of sin would remain with some people.
She contends that a better translation would be of whomever you forgive the sins, the sins are forgiven.
Whomever you hold fast, they are held fast.
The second phrase in Greek, there's no mention of sin.
It's not there.
It wasn't assumed by the translators.
So in other words, if you forgive someone who has struggled to believe they are forgiven, and if you embrace anyone who is struggling, that person is held onto, not let go, not lost, not abandoned.
The second part of the commission isn't about sin.
It's about embracing the person until they receive what they need to believe.
Now back to Thomas, who has said, I'm not gonna believe unless I can touch the wounds in your hands and your side.
And Jesus generously offers himself to Thomas.
He embraces Thomas until he receives what he needs to believe.
Jesus doesn't condemn him for the conditions that he has imposed in order to believe, but instead makes available to him exactly what he needs for faith.
Thomas should have been able to believe the disciples' resurrection proclamation just as all the other disciples should have been able to believe Mary's proclamation.
Thomas's faith is more important than what he requires to come to faith.
Jesus presents his body, his post-resurrection body to Thomas and says, do not be unbelieving, but believe.
He gives Thomas a sign and asks him to see and believe.
This is a palpable offer of Jesus' grace that leads Thomas to this confession of faith, my Lord and my God.
Jesus' love for his own did not end with his death, but determines all future interactions between Jesus and the community of his followers.
Jesus' love and care for his own are evident in the blessing.
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.
In this blessing, the author of John reminds all readers, his first readers and us, all readers, who are removed from any resurrection appearances.
So the first audience that read John's gospel, they were already a generation removed from those who had actually seen the risen Christ.
And all later readers, all generations beyond, no matter how many centuries removed, that knowledge and relationship with Jesus is not limited to his first disciples.
So Thomas' story is a story of hope and promise, not of judgment and reprimand.
It stands as a pledge and a promise to those of us who are in these later generations, us and beyond.
A pledge and a promise that we too will experience the grace of God in Jesus.
Through Thomas, we are invited to trust that Jesus will keep showing up alive and with a body that holds together the worst of what happened to him and his risen life.
He holds those things in tension.
Jesus is eager to reveal himself, not only through appearances, but through the written word.
Again and again, he will offer himself to his own beloved ones, to us, until finally the whole creation will be held fast in the peace he offers when he makes himself known.
Peace be with you.
We have seen the risen Lord, amen.
