John 20:19-33
After my father mustered out of the
army, he and my mother and I moved back to Montana. My mother
quickly got a job as a nurse, but my dad wasn't so lucky, and ended
up taking a job as a farmhand for one of my uncles. This meant that
he didn't get home except every other weekend. So I was given to my
grandparents for several months. During this time, I was about four,
and I remember how much I looked forward to seeing my dad. My mother
stayed in nurse's quarters in the hospital so they would pick me up
and usually take me out to lunch or the park or some activity. And
after the big day I'd look forward to the next visit.
One day I was particularly naughty, I
guess. I broke something my grandmother valued after being told not
to keep running in the house. As my grandmother swept up the pieces,
she said those words which strike terror into small hearts: “Just
wait till your father hears about this!” But by the time my dad
blew in again, I think she must have forgotten her threat because my
father treated me just like he always had.
The apostles are in a locked room. If
you read the accounts of the rewsurrection in the other gospels, you
are told that they were fearful. In Luke, they think Jesus is a
ghost and they are terrified. John, or gospel writer of today,
doesn't mention fear, but I think we can assume they were afraid –
afraid of the Jewish leaders, afraid of the Roman soldiers, afraid
that if they went out someone would recognize them as disciples of
Jesus – but maybe what they were really afraid of was what if Jesus
returned as he had promised?
Everyone knew that when one king
conquered another, that king's supporters would be deported,
sometimes blinded or maimed, and often put to death. What would Jesus
do if he came back? They had, after all, deserted him in his time of
need; Peter had denied knowing him three times. If Jesus came back,
the least they could expect would be a serious scolding – and in
the Gospel of Mark Jesus does speak to them about their lack of
faith. And certainly if Jesus was to come back and this time show
forth God's power against the enemies of the Jews, they would have
nothing to do with it; they, who had been his closest friends, would
be out.
But Jesus appears and offers them his
peace. Not once but twice. And then he tells them that they have
the power to forgive sins. Sometimes we read what Jesus said as
justication not only for the sacrament of reconciliation, but also
that if the priest chooses to not forgive you, you are stuck with
your sins. But Jesus may be saying something to all of us – he may
be saying, “I have forgiven you and now go and forgive each other,
because unless you forgive every sin against you, you won't have
peace.” In other words, Jesus shows mercy and instructs the
apostles to do likewise.
And that is probably Thomas' problem
as well. When the disciples tell him they have seen the Lord, he
notices that they are still in the same room; and they don't show any
effects of having been scolded or kicked out of the disciple's club.
They are, rather, full of joy. And I think it's interesting that
when Thomas refuses to believe, they continue to include him in their
group. They are already passing on the mercy that they received.
Thomas may not believe, but he is still their friend.
And finally Jesus appears and offers
to fulfill Thomas' conditions for him to believe. And we don't read
that Thomas took Jesus up on this. Instead he drops to the ground
and says, “My Lord and My God!” Thomas has experienced the
mercy, the forgiveness, that Jesus offers with his whole being, not
just his intellect. And we know that Thomas was probably as great a
missionary as Paul; stories from the first couple of centuries have
him founding communities up and down the Arabian peninsula and into
southern India, where he was martyred. Thomas didn't leave a paper
trail like Paul did.
So Jesus whose friends betrayed him,
deserted him, denied knowing him, not only offers complete
forgiveness and mercy, but commissions them to show mercy as well,
through the forgiveness of sins. And while you and I can't forgive
sins in Jesus' name as our priests can, we can forgive in our own
names, those sins against us. And we can strive to forgive as Jesus
did, offering mercy and love to the people who have offended us.
Because if we choose not to forgive,
it not only keeps a barrier between me and the person who offended
me, but it also impairs my own spiritual life, because in not
forgiving, in not showing mercy, I cease to imitate Jesus' example.
So this weekend, this Mercy Sunday,
imagine Jesus offering you his peace, and take advantage of the
Sacrament of Reconciliation. And pray that as you receive the mercy
that He offers, you will have the courage to offer it to others. As
we learn to forgive we begin to restore the world and bring about the
kingdom of heaven.
