But Thomas 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.’.   (John 20:24-25)

At the very heart of the Christian faith is a not nice story. You can live a “Christian life” without actually believing in Jesus. But to really be a Christian requires the belief that Jesus is the Son of God, who became human and lived on Earth for about 33 years, willingly gave his life by being nailed to a cross of wood to pay for our sins, and then three days later rose from the dead. This simplified form of the creed is not negotiable and there is no nice way of dressing up a Roman crucifixion to make it easier to bear.

Good Friday was a disaster for his disciples. The man they had all their hopes for a better life on was dead. On Easter Sunday we joyfully celebrate his resurrection. But on that first Easter morning nearly 2,000 years ago it was a very different story. Initially, faced with an empty tomb and growing numbers of rumours that Jesus had been seen alive their emotion was more likely to be one shock, fear and confusion, than of joy. Gradually though the evidence of his resurrection grew as more people saw him with their own eyes. 

I find the stories of those first experiences of seeing Jesus after his resurrection encouraging for a number of reasons. The first is that God does not give up on us, just because we have doubts and questions about what is true. Thomas was not with the disciples on his first appearance, so when Jesus comes back a second time, greeting Thomas is Jesus’s first and top priority. Secondly, there is the assurance that however bleak things might seem right now, God has a plan to bring new light, life and hope into my life, our communities and the world we live in.

 “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.”  (John 20:19-20)

Revd Eddie