Christ Is Risen

Christ Is Risen

John 20:24-29

            Easter is over.  All the eggs have been found (we hope!), the baskets have been put away, most (if not all) the candy has been eaten, the new toys have lost their attractiveness, and the new clothes have lost their sheen.  The Easter bunny (or his costume) has returned to wherever he spends the year.  It’s back to the daily routine again.

            But wait!  There’s more!  The season of Easter has just begun!  On the liturgical calendar, it will last for another five weeks—right up to Pentecost.  Don’t put those banners away just yet!  There’s a lot more Easter ahead of us.

            Just like Christmas, we tend to drop Easter like a hot potato once the day is past.  We’re not alone in this.  Store displays have already changed.  Cards, gifts, specialty foods—everything is already in place for the next big occasion.  Mother’s Day, anyone?

            We’re always in too much of a hurry to end a celebration.  Why we want to return to our routine so quickly is beyond me.  You would think we’d want to “stay in the moment” as long as possible.  Instead we’re too much like Alice’s white rabbit, always late for some seemingly more important date somewhere in the future.

            Usually when we look at this Scripture passage we focus on the conversation between Jesus and Thomas—and it’s right for us to do so.  It’s an important scene.  On Easter evening Jesus has suddenly appeared in the locked room where the disciples are huddled in fear.  He reassures them (“Peace be with you”) and offers them words of comfort.  The disciples are overjoyed to see him—glad also, I think, because he does not take them to task for deserting him in the garden.

            Someone is missing from this scene.  For some reason—we can only guess—Thomas is not in the room.  When he returns, he insists that he will not believe Jesus is alive until he experiences the Lord’s presence firsthand.  Most of us think the worst of Thomas for his doubting—even give him that word as a kind of adjunct first name; but we’re much too hard on this disciple.  Think how unbelievable it is that a dead man is alive again.  If we stop to think about it, we realize that the only reason the other disciples accepted Jesus’ resurrection is that they had seen him for themselves.

            John tells us that eight days later the disciples are gathered again (still might be a better word) in the same room, but this time Thomas is with them.  Jesus appears and shows himself, wounds and all to Thomas—and he believes.  Amazed as he most certainly must have been, all he can say is, “My Lord and my God!”

            What I want to emphasize is the time of this second appearance—eight days after the first one.  The resurrection is still being celebrated more than a week after that first Easter morning.  John tells of even a later appearance by the Sea of Tiberias—another part of the resurrection celebration.

            Someone has said that we should live our lives as if Jesus Christ were crucified yesterday, risen today, and coming tomorrow.  I agree.  If Jesus were risen every “today,” each day would be a celebration.  We would begin every morning with the words, “Christ is risen!” expecting someone to answer, “He is risen indeed!”  We would be in a constant state of joy because our risen Lord was always with us—and if Jesus Christ were coming tomorrow we would make sure he would find us good and faithful servants. 

Not a bad way to live.