Reflection on John 20:19-31

He shows up. 

I do not know if that is simplistic or amazing, but the takeaway from the Easter scene where we see the disciples locked away in a little tomb of fear is that Jesus shows up. 

Jesus shows up after the death on the cross.  He shows up after the tomb is revealed to be empty.  He shows up even though the disciples are so afraid that they have locked the doors.  And, he shows up when Thomas asks to see Jesus for himself.  He shows up.  Jesus shows up.

           

How counter-cultural is this?  Jesus shows up. 

How many fathers miss their children’s ball games and choir performances?  How many people find themselves in an empty room after the first couple weeks of grief?  How many children hear a promise from their parents that they will get out of jail, really they will, only to continue living in foster care for the remainder of their childhood?  How many people wait for their lives to be changed and for their burdens to be lifted, but those in whom they have put their hope never show up? 

If our hearts yearn for situations such as these to be resolved, imagine the yearning felt in the hearts of those first followers of Jesus who seemingly lost for good the very source of life itself, God in the flesh, the Son…the very heart of God: Jesus Christ? 

What do you do when you have lost the only one who could truly fill your life with meaning? 

What do you do when you have lost the only one who can give you true life forever? 

What do you do when you have lost Jesus?

The church has typically not dealt well with those who have lost Jesus.  Throughout the years, I have heard stories of churches treating those who have lost Jesus with contempt.  They recited the words from James 1:5-8:

If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you.  But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

Well, might I point out that those who have lost Jesus do not expect anything from the Lord.  That is part of the problem!  They have lost Jesus, therefore they do not expect anything from him. 

I remember one young woman, who actually later became a pastor, who was asked to stop coming to confirmation classes because the nature of her questions seemed a little too doubtful.  Instead of giving her the good news of Jesus Christ, the pastor decided that she should probably go, as if her questions might contaminate all in the room. 

Unfortunately, the church has often dealt with those who have lost Jesus like the plague, as if their inability to believe is like a virus that can spread and cause utter destruction in the community of believers. 

What utter nonsense!  We do not live in a religious bubble.  It is not like we go our days out in the world only dealing with true believers.  Most of the people that we run into any given day most likely are not followers of Jesus Christ.  Believers interact with people of unbelief whenever we head out to go to the grocery store or to the park.  I hear stories of believers having deep conversations with these unbelieving people over the lunch break at work all the time.  As it should be. 

If these people of unbelief were a virus to the Christian community, the preaching of Jesus crucified and risen would have echoed their last sounds through the halls of our churches and died off in the reverberations long ago.

Notice that in the face of unbelief Jesus does not push away or dismiss or even chide.  When confronted with unbelief, Jesus simply shows up.

Jesus shows up and offers his wounded hands and side to the ones who lost him.  He shows up to give life in a locked room which wreaked the stench of a closed, fear-filled tomb. 

Jesus make a return visit a week later to the one who missed out on the big event: Thomas.  Even Thomas, who refused to believe all his friends had told him the week before, gets a special visit from his savior. 

No harsh words were spoken to Thomas.  There was no refusal on the Lord’s part to give him anything because he had somehow lost sight of Jesus.  Instead, Jesus simply, and wonderfully, shows up so that Thomas might have life, true life, and have it abundantly.

How could the Christian church in the time James was written, so quickly after his resurrection, have forgotten that we have a Lord who seeks out the lost? 

We have a Lord that desires more than ever that we have life, and have it fully.  We have a Lord that will leave the 99 sheep in search of the one who is lost.  We have a Lord that will sweep the floors looking for the lost coin.  We have a Lord that will embrace the Son who squandered his entire life. 

We have a Lord who does not stay quiet in the tombs in which we place him.  We have a Lord who shows up through our closed doors and breaths the life of the Spirit upon us.  In other words, we have a Lord that shows up.

I once had a spiritual guide who knocked me up the side of the head, in the gentle soothing tone that spiritual guides usually use while do such things.  It was during a patch of my own unbelief, which happens more often than most Christian are willing to admit.  What she said to me changed my focus from questioning and struggling to one of following in an instant.  Here is what she said to the letter, “Jira, Jesus still shows up, whether you believe he does or not.  The only question is: Are you looking for him?”

Jesus shows up, but am I looking for him?  The question was actually a breath of fresh air after being locked away in a stuffy tomb.  It was at once a reiteration of an ancient promise, “Jesus shows up” and a fresh invitation to holy curiosity, “Are you looking for him?”

Was I looking for him?  Was I looking to find his wounded hands and side?  Was I expecting to feel his breath which breaths the Holy Spirit?  Was I expecting to see Jesus? 

“Maybe I should start looking,” I said to myself. 

It is actually easy to find Jesus once you know to look.  You see Jesus working in the restoring of friends who were previously enemies. 

You see Jesus working in the selfless acts of people with medical degrees that run toward an epidemic rather than away. 

You see Jesus at work when the one who lost everything to the storm is embraced and held close by a child of God. 

You see Jesus at work in the child who stands up to defend the weak in the hall of the school. 

You see Jesus at work in the hands that feed those who are hungry.  You see him in the eyes of the one who takes a bullet for another. 

You see Jesus at work as he goes to the cross, willingly, in order to save the unsavable. 

You see Jesus in the fresh, resurrected life of the one who was previously lost but now is found. 

And, you sense the power of Jesus’ body and blood when you come to the Lord’s Table. 

You hear him show up in Thomas’ words, "My Lord and my God!" after a period of unbelief. 

Jesus shows up.  It is the resurrection truth.  Amazingly, even after death, Jesus shows up. 

I pray that you too might be able to see and hear him show up this Easter Season.  I pray that you too might see him show up so that you might again and again come to trust that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and so that through trusting in him you may have life; true life; life with the eternal; life walking with Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.