John 20:19-31

Acts 2:14a, 22-32

 

            According to the records of Ontario Canada’s Ministry of Natural Resources, the mountain lion or cougar became extinct in Ontario in 1884 and has never returned. 

            There are an awful lot of people who aren’t buying that. For many years, people have been seeing mountain lions in the province; in the past 5 years alone, there have been more than 500 reported sightings. Many of these have come from very credible witnesses, in some cases, experts who really know their wildlife.

            Nonetheless, the official position of the Ministry of Natural Resource remains as it has been for more than a century: there are no mountain lions roaming in Ontario.

            A spokesman for the department recently explained: “Just because there are sightings, that is not definite proof.”

            When asked what it would take to convince the department that there were mountain lions in the province, he responded that the best evidence would be road kill. If they could actually come up with a body, then they would have to reconsider their position.

 

            Hmmm. Does this spokesman sound like any Biblical person we know?

 

            The mountain lion controversy corresponds very closely to the situation we discover in today’s Gospel reading from John. Jesus had been officially declared dead. But then came all of these sightings of the risen Christ, from very credible witnesses, solid upright people who knew Jesus well.

 

            Thomas was not one of them. He hadn’t seen anything. His reaction was exactly the same as Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources. “Just because there are reports of sightings, that is not definite proof that Jesus is alive.” From a scientific standpoint, he was right. Anecdotal evidence is not proof. And so for Thomas, nothing had happened that would justify him changing Jesus’ status from dead to alive.

 

            When asked what it would take to convince him that Jesus had actually risen from the grave, Thomas responded that the best evidence was physical. If they could actually come up with a body, a live one in this case, then he would have to reconsider his position.

 

            The living body of Jesus was then produced, with an opportunity for some hands-on physical examination. Thomas was proven wrong. He came to believe, and the incident ends with a chiding remark from Jesus, “You have believed because you have seen. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”

 

            This whole account can be taken as an indictment of Thomas for having little or no faith, for requiring physical evidence before signing on to the Christian creed. It can be taken as admonishment to modern day Christians to believe in the resurrection despite the fact that we have no access to any physical evidence.

 

            Well, yeah, but as usual I think there’s more to the story.

 

            There have been further developments in the Ontario mountain lion dispute that may provide some insight. In 2007, DNA testing was done on a sample of animal droppings found near Lake Erie in Ontario, which proved conclusively that the sample was from a mountain lion. Okay, here we have the kind of airtight physical proof that the Ministry of Natural Resources was demanding. Have they now given in and declared that mountain lions have indeed returned to Ontario?

 

            No, they have not. The consensus among the experts at the MNR is that this mountain lion must have been a pet that either escaped or was set free in the wild. A spokesman for the ministry said, “When we get to the point where we’ve determined there is a breeding population, that would be something to tell the world.”

 

            In other words, the response is, “Okay, you discovered a mountain lion living in the wild in Ontario. So what? In the big picture, it really doesn’t mean anything.”

 

            That casts an interesting light on the situation of Thomas and all of the disciples. They were confronted with evidence that indeed Christ had risen from the dead. Evidence that was persuasive. Even Thomas finally had to admit that. But that was not the end of the story. The question they have to ask themselves now is not is Jesus alive. The question now becomes, “So what?”

 

            It’s not a flippant question.

 

            I remember many, many years ago, riding in a car going west of Minneapolis, when we came across what was advertised as, and still may be for all I know, the world’s largest ball of string. Apparently people have traveled fairly long distances to see this thing. And I must admit it was startling and impressive. I don’t remember the exact dimensions but that ball had to have been at least 12 feet in diameter.

            But after looking at it for a few moments and acknowledging that this thing exists and is real, the next question that came to mind was, “So what?” Yes, it’s big, and yes, it’s startling and impressive, but what does it mean? To be honest, it doesn’t really have any meaning, other than that somebody devoted a large part of their waking moments on earth to the collection a very large ball of string. Unusual though that ball of string may be, it’s not something I would go out of my way to see, nor would I recommend it to someone else.

 

            I compare that with some of the things we saw in Europe last summer. In Gdansk Poland there were three large anchors hanging in front of three concrete pillars in the shape of crosses. An impressive looking sight. Far more impressive than the anchor itself, however, was what it meant. That structure was created as a monument to the Poles who have died in the struggle for freedom. It stands on the at the Lenin shipyard in Gdansk, the site of the place where the Solidarity movement began--the labor movement led by Lech Walensa that threw the entire country into turmoil. This was the place where a courageous group of blue collar workers stood up to injustice and held the nation together long enough, so that combined with the religious fervor over the arrival of a Polish pope, they shattered the Iron Curtain. This was the place where the spark caught fire that ended Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, and gave Poland back its Independence.

 

            Which was more impressive? The big ball of string, or the hanging anchors? It could be that that huge ball of string is a more striking visual sight.

            Which means more? It’s no contest. With the ball of string, what you see is all you get, and there’s not much of an answer to the question: so what?  With the anchor, you get a sense of history come to life, something of a sense of the power of the human spirit and of the conviction of the faithful. You get a sense of awe, even a bit of a chill ran down my spine. 

 

            For the disciples and especially for Thomas, there have been not only sightings, but some very compelling physical proof that Jesus managed to come back to life. So what? What does it mean?

 

            I wonder at least part of the real issue with Thomas was his struggle to figure out what a reappearance of Jesus might mean. That would explain some things that otherwise don’t make much sense.

 

            I keep coming back to the question of why this resurrection caught the disciples so off-guard; and how it managed to blindside Thomas to the point where he was still firmly denying in spite of mounting evidence:

 

            First of all, Jesus had said this was going to happen. Maybe not in a clear and direct statement, but he certainly said enough about his coming death and what would happen later to give hope. “I am the resurrection and the life,” he said. “Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” In another passage, he reminds them, “You have heard me say to you, “I am going away, and I am coming to you.” And again, he said, “A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me. You will weep and mourn but your pain will turn into joy.” And so on. If Jesus said all this, you would think that the disciples would at least hold out some hope.

 

            Second, this whole scenario isn’t as impossible as it sounds. The Gospel of John relates an account where somebody came back to life—Lazarus. The disciples not only knew about this—they saw it happen. Wouldn’t this be at least in the back of their minds? If Lazarus could come back to life, why couldn’t Jesus? After all, Lazarus had no special calling or gift; does it make any sense to think Jesus couldn’t do what Lazarus had already shown was possible?

 

            Third, is the point we touched on last week. Being they were his disciples, shouldn’t there have accepted at least the possibility that Jesus was who he said he was? Did they think he was blowing smoke the whole time? If so, why did they stay with him? And if Jesus was some form of divine, then how could they possibly imagine that the story would end with his horrible death? Humans are going to kill God and that’s the sad end to the story? Really? That sounds plausible to you?

 

            Fourth, in the case of Thomas, what about all the witnesses? What did he think they were talking about when they said they had seen Jesus alive? What did he think they saw? Are they really going to make a mistake on something that crucial? Did he think they were making this stuff up? What’s their motive for lying?

 

            In the face of all that evidence, why couldn’t the disciples at first and Thomas eventually as the lone holdout, see what was happening?

 

            They seem to have a big problem trying to come to grips with the question, “So what?” What would it mean that Jesus came to life again? In Lazarus’s case, coming back to life didn’t mean a whole lot at least as far as the big picture. Whatever happened there didn’t affect Christianity or the future of the world. In the long run, it didn’t even affect Lazarus much. Just bought him a little more time.

 

            So was this the same thing? Supposing it were true that Jesus came back to life? So what? People dying and coming back to life; what’s the point?  Is it anything more than a very impressive trick, that we all stand around and ooh and aah about how powerful God is that he could bring Jesus back to life just the way he brought Lazarus to life? Did it really change anything?

           

            The fact that Jesus has amazing power is not a surprise. He had it all along. The thing is, he didn’t use it. So why use it now? Does any of this make sense? Why go through all that and come back from the dead? Why not just skip that whole ugly episode with the cross? What is going on?

            Was the purpose of Easter to get people to believe? Then why not just appear to everyone the way he did to Thomas? Every year put in an appearance where every person on earth can put their hands in the place where the nails and the spear pierced the flesh. That would be effective—if that were the goal.

           

            The problem is that Jesus death and resurrection doesn’t make much sense by itself. By itself it isn’t much more than a glorified huge ball of string-- impressive but so what? So you saw him now Thomas—what does it mean?

 

            It makes sense only when it is put into context with the entire Bible, with Jesus entire life and teaching. And it took awhile for the disciples to put it all together.

 

            That is what the reading from Acts is all about. Peter has finally put it together. He sees now that the death and resurrection is not an isolated impressive event; he sees how it fits in with all that has been revealed about God.  In Acts 2, Peter preaches a sermon in which he answers that crucial question about the resurrection: so what?

 

            He says that what happened to Jesus was not just a case of Jesus getting waylaid by the bad guys and then popping back up to prove they couldn’t kill him. It’s not just another case of shocking injustice, another example of human cruelty and selfishness, and Jesus happened to be the innocent victim, a victim who turned out to be more powerful than the enemies thought.

 

            Peter proclaims that there was a purpose to this whole thing. God knew that this was going to happen. That’s not the same as saying that God orchestrated the whole thing, to act out some sort of grim cosmic puppet theater.

            But God knew what human nature is like. God knew what happens to the prophets and truth tellers in this world. Yet God sent Jesus anyway to bring the good news to the world. To suffer whatever humanity had to throw at him; to suffer it willingly for our sake. For only in that way could people understand the depth and scope of God’s love and purpose for the world.

 

            The resurrection part? Peter argues that it’s not just a neat trick to show how powerful God is. It is not an anomaly that has no bearing on the rest of life. It is the ultimate gift to humanity.

 

            For having shown us the astounding nature of the creator of the universe and that this creator wants to share relationship with us, God then presents us with the gift of hope. With the promise that God wants us in God’s future, not just now but forever. And when God says forever, that means forever, and God’s not going to let a little nuisance like death get in the way. God’s ultimate purpose will not be deterred by human ignorance and failure.

            Jesus’ life and teachings and willful submission on behalf of humanity are the table setting. The resurrection is the foretaste of the feast to come.

 

            The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources says that the presence of a mountain lion in their province doesn’t mean much by itself. They say, “When we get to the point where we’ve determined there is a breeding population, that would be something to tell the world.”

 

            Today’s readings tell us that yes, resurrection is a cool thing. But when each of us gets to the point where we’ve determined there is not only a resurrection but that there is a reason for it that reveals the love of God, that would be something to tell the world.