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In today’s readings we are presented with three spectacular events. First we have the apostles being rescued by an angel of the Lord. Secondly, we have the glorified Jesus returning with the clouds. Thirdly, we have the resurrected Jesus appearing before the disciples and speaking to them. Just one of these events may cause our scientific minds to retort like Thomas, “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.” Like the apostle Thomas we may live to regret our words of disbelief. Perhaps we too will have a personal visit by the firstborn of the dead.
Seriously, how do we grasp these events? Do we take them at face value or do we look for symbolic meanings to unravel these supernatural occurrences. In today’s post modern church there are many who will look to a deeper meaning than the text gives. As I lifelong follower of Christ, I find this to be rather discouraging. For I am of the old school in that I believe faith is an important part of being a Christian.
Paul describes faith in his second letter to the Corinthians in these words, “we walk by faith, not by sight”. Although our minds may not be able to accept the concept of a supernatural event as reality, as Christians we are called to not be led by the natural. Instead, we are to see through the eyes of faith that which the mind cannot conceive, but has occurred through the grace of God for our sakes.
A popular saying of our time is to think outside of the box. As followers of Christ, we are called to open up ourselves to a reality beyond even the box. We can only do that by the gift of faith. The scriptures tell us that without faith, it is impossible to please God.
Now there are many in this world that have faith in God, but do not believe that Jesus rose physically from the dead. Nor do they believe that Jesus is returning to earth to establish His kingdom. For them the only kingdom of heaven that will happen on earth is what we as humans do through good works. Yet, many of these folks will say these familiar words every Sunday,
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
To this I say, where is their faith? For if we do not believe in the risen Lord and if we do not have hope of His return, then we are hypocrites whenever we make these statements of faith that have been handed down through the ages. Even worse, if Christ did not really die on the cross making the resurrection only an awakening from a drug induced sleep; then we have believed in a great deception and are fools indeed.
As St. Paul writes in his first letter to the Corinthians, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.”
The centerpiece of Christianity rests upon Christ’s resurrection. Without the resurrection, Christianity is a false religion for its core belief is a fairy tale. No matter how much Biblical scholars and current theologians want to keep up with contemporary times by trying to remake this central belief into something more palatable; if Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead, then we are all lost. Our beliefs are a farce and we need to apologize to the world for leading so many astray! Of course if some of us want to continue gathering together, we could form the New Church of the Unbelievers and stand with Thomas in his doubts.
The part where Jesus appears and shows Thomas His wounds will of course have to be deleted since we would be regarded as fools for Christ in believing such nonsense. What I am saying to you who do believe may sound exaggerated. Sadly, it is so close to what is happening within the Body of Christ and I speak not of just the Episcopal Church, but other denominations as well. Unless the true believers wake up and smell the coffee, the Church will soon become just another society for justice and peace minus all faith in Jesus Christ as the Redeemer.
For those following the New Religion, there is no need for redemption because personal sin does not exist. We are all okay and none of us need to be redeemed. We need but to follow our own natural desires whether or not they are acceptable by the traditional moral code. “Eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die” has become the slogan for those who have taken the words “pursuit of happiness” to a new level.
Thankfully, for those who believe in Christ’s death, resurrection and returning in glory; the pursuit of happiness is fulfilled in following the Lord Jesus Christ. The Word of God is not a fairy tale, but life to all who will believe. The stories we heard read today from the scriptures have been written down to encourage believers of all times; even we who are derided in this present time for believing in a risen Lord! Our Father God knew that we would need our faith built up to overcome the powers that desire to destroy our hope for salvation.
For us the story of the angel releasing the apostles from prison, gives us hope that the Lord will send His angels to release us from those who seek to stop the truth of Jesus’ resurrection from being heard. The story of Thomas’ time of doubt gives us hope that the Lord Jesus will intervene into our lives and reveal Himself to us in our own times of doubt and despair. As for the story of Christ’s return to earth, we can take heart in knowing that this world as we know it is coming to an end. The same Lord Jesus who died on the cross and rose from the dead is returning to initiate His reign upon this earth. When He returns in glory, there will be no more doubt that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. May we proclaim with John, “Come, Lord Jesus!”
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