Embodied and Communal Faith
John 20:19-31
Spirit of the living God, Fall afresh on me. Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me. Spirit of the living God, Fall afresh on me. Amen.
Before we enter the room with the disciples and before we tend to Thomas, I want to take a moment to talk about a parenthetical remark John writes. He states, “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.” The doors were locked for fear of the Jews. This short phrase is among several anti-Jewish statements in the Gospel of John. In the context of our reading, it seems small. A descriptor of just a few words. But its impacts are much bigger. If John is read without attention to his dualisms of ingroup and outgroup, followers of Jesus and the Jews, it can and has led to immense harm against our Jewish siblings.
In John’s gospel, the Jews are blamed for the crucifixion of Jesus. Evan attended to this in his Good Friday sermon; if you haven’t heard it, I recommend you go back and listen to it or read it. Then following the crucifixion and resurrection, the disciples are hiding in a locked room for fear of the Jews. When we read this without interrogation and questioning, it is easy to see how there has been so much supersessionism and antisemitism among Christian communities. We have an opportunity, a duty really, to notice that harm, stop it in its tracks, and work to repair the harm our tradition has caused for our Jewish siblings.
Here are some things I hope we can take away from a careful reading of John’s gospel:
Gospel writing, as with all historical writing, is deeply contextual. It is specific to the culture that surrounds the writer and specific to the mind of that particular writer. The gospel is still the Word of God, but it is the word of God as revealed in a specific way. God is NOT the one naming fear of the Jews. Jewish people are God’s children too.
Jesus was Jewish. I like to give this reminder often. Jesus was NOT a Christian. Christians are Christ-followers and that term did not exist until years after Jesus’ death. Jesus’ went to synagogue and prayed in the temple. He read the Hebrew scriptures and participated in Jewish holidays and rituals.
Perhaps the most significant—so I want to say this very plainly. Christianity is in no way superior to Judaism. We share similarities. We share a God. We share much of our sacred writings. We are not superior. We are different and we are similar. We are equals and siblings.
Now to enter the room with the disciples who are hiding away in fear. Mind you, this fear is likely not actually a fear of Jewish people in general. Remember, they are also Jewish.
Their fear in a more general sense is completely reasonable. Their friend and teacher was killed by Roman authorities and killed in a particularly gruesome way. Roman authorities used crucifixion as a public demonstration of what happens when you challenge their authority. Then they hear reports of the resurrection, which is also frightening and confusing. People are not supposed to come back from the dead, yet it is happening! So there is much to be anxious, fearful, or confused about. The disciples are afraid of what comes next, what will happen to them, and likely afraid as they experience confusion and unknowing.
Jesus appears in the locked upper room.
Whether Thomas was with other friends, sheltering in place elsewhere, or going to pick up take out for the disciples, he isn’t there when Jesus appears to them. And Thomas has the reaction that so many of us would have too. Something unbelievable happened and he struggles to believe it. That makes sense. He wants to see Jesus for himself.
I empathize with Thomas. I think John wants us to connect with Thomas. We have more in common with him than we do the disciples who were in the upper room when Jesus came the first time. We also missed the big moment. We weren’t in the room where it happened.
Then Jesus, in his all-knowing way appears to the disciples again and offers Thomas the chance to touch the wounds of the crucifixion. Without Thomas even asking, Jesus offers his body for Thomas and for Thomas’ belief. And indeed, Thomas believes as soon as he encounters the body of his resurrected Lord.
Then Jesus states, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
I don’t think Jesus is comparing Thomas with the rest of the disciples who had the opportunity to see him first. I don’t think this is a direct critique of Thomas himself. And we have to consider that we hear this filtered through John, who has the goal of encouraging belief for his readers.
There are two things happening in this gospel passage that seem to be in tension, but perhaps are working together. Jesus, on the one hand, offers his body for Thomas to see and to touch, and on the other hand, says that those who believe without seeing are blessed. Jesus’ offer of his body and his statement seem almost contradictory.
Here is what I notice. Jesus empathizes with Thomas’ doubt, shock, and wonder. Jesus knows that for Thomas, the physical relationship to Jesus is important for his belief. Jesus knows that relationship is significant to faith. Faith or belief or trust all require relationship.
Whether a quote from Jesus himself or an addition from John, we hear, “blessed are those who believe without seeing.” That’s us. I think this statement is much less about Thomas and much more about our own experience of faith.
I don’t know about you, but I have not seen Jesus’ literal flesh. I have not seen or felt the holes in his hands and feet or the wound in his pierced side. I have not witnessed the resurrected Christ walking around the earth and appearing in locked rooms. I have not literally seen Jesus’ miraculous human form.
I have experienced Jesus though. Jesus has appeared to me in other ways. Thomas and Jesus had physical proximity. And in Thomas’ questioning, Jesus appeared to offer Thomas the opportunity to experience faith in relationship with God made flesh.
In our wondering and wrestling with faith, God appears in relationships, in community. We experience faith in community.
It’s easy to look at this passage and at Thomas the disciple and arrive at the narrative of “doubting Thomas.” I resist that though because it makes faith a comparative enterprise. I highly doubt that Jesus was intending for us to read his words thousands of years later and think about Thomas saying “ye of little faith…” Thomas is not less than the other disciples for wanting to see what they saw. Thomas is human in a moment of questioning.
We also question, and Jesus responds. It is true, we do not see Jesus in the same way that Thomas did and thus are the believers who did not see. But like with Thomas, Jesus responds to our questions, doubts, and wondering. Like Thomas, our faith is strengthened through embodied relationship.
Jesus appears to us differently. We may not see his resurrected body, but we encounter the Body of Christ all the time. Our community of fellowship, worship, and service is an embodied encounter with Christ.
When we gather in fellowship, we know the Body of Christ as it is made present in our world through our relationships with one another. The noise of chatter and laughter, the touch in shaking hands and sharing hugs show us the power of God. Our faith is strengthened in our time together.
When we gather in worship, we see the body of Christ in a loaf of bread. We gather in faith, in relationship, and in embodied practice. Not only do we see the body, but we also taste and smell of the body and blood of Jesus. We hear the glory of God in music and prayers.
When we gather in service, we experience Jesus and the wounds of his body in the world. We see the wounds of our friends and neighbors who are Christ before us. We see the wounds caused by the world, and we see God’s healing and resurrecting power. We encounter the risen Christ in different ways, but Jesus still gives us the opportunity to have our faith strengthened by embodied relationship.
And like Thomas, when we miss out on the opportunities to be together, it is hard, and our belief is shaken. We have felt that directly in the time of Covid. We have missed being together. When we miss gatherings of the disciples, like Thomas did, our unbelief and our doubt can come to the surface. Our pain can challenge our faith. Our grief is important. Our ability to find new ways of connecting and to return together when we can is important.
I saw so many faces light up last week when we shared a loaf of bread rather than wafers. There is something about returning, about being together, and about sharing real bread that offers us the power and healing of resurrection. I anxiously await the days ahead when more of us gather. I celebrate the days when I enjoy communion with you in your homes and when I feel the power of your prayers as you watch our livestreams.
We are together as a body. Our senses and experiences of one another are critical to our faith. Faith is embodied and relational.
Jesus says, “Blessed are those who believe but have not seen.” Blessed are those who have not seen the flesh and bone of Jesus, but have experienced Jesus in every sense through relationships and community. In sight and smell and hearing, in taste and touch, Jesus is with us.
Amen.
© 2022 The Rev. Adelyn Tyler
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church – Fayetteville, Arkansas