Resurrection Thomas

Homily for the Second Sunday of Easter, Year A
Have you ever wondered what Thomas was doing when the other ten disciples were visited by Jesus? When all the other disciples are together, where is Thomas? It is only hours after their leader’s cruel death – his friends and followers are still trying to make sense of it all. Earlier in the day, they heard from Mary Magdalene that he is alive. And now, they’re all together wondering what on earth is going on. But where is Thomas? The gospel doesn’t tell us – it leaves us wondering. Maybe he’s off by himself, still crying, tormented by what has happened to Jesus, ashamed that he ran away when the teacher needed him most. Or maybe he’s heard the report from Mary Magdalene and is roaming the streets, looking for Jesus – trying to find the one who has come back to life, with no success. Can you see him, running through the streets of Jerusalem, not knowing whether to be in anguish or in joy? We don’t know for sure what Thomas was doing when he wasn’t with the other disciples, but one thing is clear – Thomas won’t believe that Jesus is alive until he sees for himself. For Thomas, seeing is believing.

Shortly before he died of cancer, a prominent Christian historian, Jaroslav Pelikan, summed up the place of Christianity in our world in two sentences. He said: “If Christ is risen, nothing else matters. And if Christ is not risen – nothing else matters.” (Quoted in the article by Ron Sider, “If Christ is Risen …” in Prism 2008) Think about that. If death really is the end of human existence – if there is no resurrection – then nothing else matters. No fame or wealth, no amount of joy or success, or even sorrow will have made any difference. If death is the end, then “we disappear into nothingness” (Sider). But if Christ is risen – and, because of his resurrection, we can all be raised to the glory of eternal life – if Christ is indeed risen, then nothing else matters, because nothing in this life can even begin to compare with the joy of eternal life with our God. “If Christ is risen, nothing else matters. And if Christ is not risen – nothing else matters.”

And that brings us back to Thomas. It’s unfortunate that Thomas is remembered most often because of this doubting. Because, really, Thomas had more faith in the resurrection than just about anyone else. For Thomas knew very well that if Christ were indeed risen from the dead, then human history would be changed, and there is nothing in this life that would be more significant than what the resurrection would bring. Thomas needed proof, not just because he doubted, but because he knew how unimaginably important it was that the rumors and the stories from Mary Magdalene be true – he was so convinced that the resurrection was important that it’s easy to imagine that he couldn’t sit around in a room and wait. Running through the streets, searching for Jesus, Thomas knew how important it was to know that Christ had been raised. “If Christ is risen, nothing else matters. And if Christ is not risen – nothing else matters.” Because if we truly believe what Christianity claims – the very thing we celebrate at Easter – if we truly believe that Christ is risen from the dead, then nothing else matters.