The Gospel of John is highly symbolic.
John often uses numbers and names and times to symbolize or represent
something else than what is actually written on the page. For
instance, Martha represents all believers – “I know he will rise
again in the resurrection . . . I believe you are the Messiah.”
Likewise, 'the Jews' represent all of humanity in our tendency to
reject Christ on whatever level or for whatever reason, as well as
representing any and all people who threaten us or who don't believe
exactly as we believe. There is also much symbolism and interplay
between light and dark – “The light shines in the darkness . . .
Judas left to betray him, and it was night.”
And Thomas is the symbol for all those
who doubt.
This is unfortunate.
It's unfortunate because people tend to
look for the easy answers or easy explanation. We see this in
sayings like, “God said it, Paul wrote it, I believe it.” Or
from people/groups who advocate for “the plain meaning of
scripture,” with the understanding that their definition of “plain
meaning” is the correct one. And it's this kind of thinking that
lets people read John's writing about “the Jews” to conclude that
all Jewish people were/are Christ killers and need to pay for that
act.
But you can't do that with the majority
of scripture, and you especially can't do that with John. Which is
why I want to look at some of the symbolism within today's gospel
passage.
If you have been attending St. John's
for any length of time, or any church that follows the Lectionary for
that matter, you will know that on this second Sunday of Easter we
always . . . ALWAYS . . . hear the gospel story about Thomas. Jesus
appears to the disciples, but Thomas isn't with them. They tell him
about their encounter, but he won't believe it. Jesus appears again,
but Thomas is with them. Thomas is invited to see and touch. “My
Lord, and my God.”
Let's look at some of the symbolism in
today's story.
The disciples were meeting in a house
with locked doors for fear of the Jews.
This isn't just a retelling of a
post-Resurrection story, that the disciples were afraid and hiding
behind locked doors. This is a symbolic moment for us.
The doors were locked out of
fear. They were locked because of fear.
The disciples allowed fear to control their actions – “Quick,
get inside and lock the doors.” There are certainly times when
fear is to be listened to. But fear is not, cannot, or should not,
be our primary motivation. Angels tell us to fear not. Jesus tells
his disciples, and us, to not be afraid. The psalmist wrote, “Though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no
evil.”
How much better would we and the world
be if we quit living in fear and began living in love and
faithfulness? This challenges us to look at what doors we are
keeping locked out of fear.
Another symbolic event in this passage
is, obviously, the experience of Thomas. Thomas symbolizes not only
all who doubt, but the majority of John's understanding of how people
come to faith. In the synoptics, it's almost always faith first,
cure/miracle second. In John, that pattern is reversed. The ten
disciples saw and believed. Thomas did not see and did not believe.
But then he saw and believed. This is Standard Operating Procedure
for John.
In putting this story here, at the end,
a certain significance is added to all of this. Mary, in the garden,
tried to hold onto Jesus and was rebuffed. She wanted to hold onto
what she knew. She wanted to hold onto the way things had been.
Thomas is being encouraged to see
things in a new light, or a new way. He doesn't touch what was, he
touches what is and what will be. Jesus has been changed, not ended.
Look here, touch here, and recognize that change. He has an
experience with Christ that moves him into deeper belief.
There are times we all struggle with
belief. Whether that's because of a particular trauma in our life,
or we feel we're just going through the motions, or something else.
That is natural and probably even healthy. But if we struggle with
our faith, how much more do people out there struggle with faith?
We cannot tell those outside the faith
to just believe, because it doesn't work that way. Instead, there
are two things we need to do, based on this gospel passage.
The first is that we need to not live
in fear. We cannot fear those who don't look, dress, talk, or even
smell like us. We cannot be afraid to open our doors to the
stranger, even if that means they only show up for their own selfish
reasons. We must allow the power of Christ to unlock those doors and
drive out our fears.
The second is that we need to recognize
we are all wounded in some way. Through personal tragedy, betrayals,
denials, or whatever, we are all wounded – just as Christ was also
wounded. But, hopefully, we have been healed, or are on the way to
being healed, and our lives have been changed, not ended. We can
show others that, even though we have been wounded, we carry the
fearless love of of God with us.
In the end, the passage today is
symbolic of our relationship with others. With this passage in mind,
may we help to comfort the fears of others while also reaching forth
our hands in love so others may see that things which were cast down
are being raise up.
In short, this passage today symbolizes
a resurrection story for the rest of us.
Amen.
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