The Gospel of John 20:19-31 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 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.” 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.” 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.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 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.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
Let us Pray: Today let our faith guide us and not let the doubts creep in. Guide us to follow in the way of your risen Son. To care for others not with just words but with acts of love, seeking to be more like your son Jesus. We offer you our prayers in the Name of Jesus our Savior. Amen.
It has been a long and trying year with its ups and downs and unknowns. This Sunday is known as Doubting Thomas Sunday, (or Faith Sunday) it has its ups and downs also. Our Faith is what gives us HOPE and gets us through those ups and downs and those days of doubting about our future. Scripture tells us that Thomas was not there when Jesus first showed Himself to His disciples. 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.” So, we know all the disciples had reservations, it wasn’t only Thomas, so how are we supposed to fully believe and understand when we didn’t have the privilege to be with Jesus. The belief comes from our faith, our faith that we can believe in God, and His Son Jesus and we can find our way through scripture. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 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.” This blessing reaches across time and lands directly on us. Jesus acknowledges that faith in future generations will not come through physical sight but through, testimony, community, scripture, the Spirit and the lived witness of transformed lives. Faith is not naïve optimism; it is trust rooted in the reality of the risen Christ. Thomas was the disciple who refuses to pretend, he was labeled doubting Thomas, but he is actually courageously honest. He refused secondhand faith. He wanted to touch the wounds, he wanted a real encounter, not a report. And Jesus honors that desire. He does not shame Thomas. He invites him to explore the very places of pain, the wounds become the doorway to belief. Thomas’s confession, “My Lord and my God!”, is the Gospel’s clearest statement of Jesus’ identity. We can see that From this encounter between Jesus and Thomas, Jesus meets people exactly where they are, behind locked doors, in fear, in doubt, and offers not condemnation but peace, presence, and purpose. The disciples are hiding behind locked doors, paralyzed by fear. Jesus does not wait for them to get their act together. He steps into their fear. His first word is peace, not rebuke. His presence transforms the room from a place of hiding into a place of commissioning. The peace He gives is not the absence of trouble but the presence of the risen Lord. This moment does not simply comfort them; He sends them on the mission rooted in the Father’s love and empowered by the Spirit. Our faith and hope is born not from triumph but because of a room full of frightened people who receive the Spirit and believed in the truth of the resurrected Christ. Our own wounds, personal, communal, historical, can also become places where Christ meets us and where healing begins. Where are the “locked doors” in your life right now, places of fear, uncertainty, or doubt, and what might it look like for Christ to step into that space with peace?
Let us Pray: Dear Risen Lord, You enter our locked rooms with peace. You breathe new life into our fear and call us into Your mission of mercy. Meet us in our doubts as you met Thomas, not with shame but with invitation. Transform our wounds into witnesses of Your love, and help us to trust that You are with us, even when we cannot see. Make us bearers of Your peace in a world longing for hope. Amen.
Reflections by Bob 