Easter 2A (April 12, 2026)
John 20:19-31
For Certain!
I always liked taking multiple-choice tests over any other type of test. I liked them because you knew that even if you didn’t know the answer, it was at least somewhere on the page. With a multiple-choice test, I could at the very least, guess what the right answer was and be satisfied if I got a small percentage of those questions right. But if I had to come up with it on my own, suddenly guessing became a lot harder because there were infinitely more options available as an answer. For this is a fact of life. We so often operate based on guesses, be they educated or not, because we simply don’t have enough information for what we must answer. But sometimes, a good guess isn’t good enough. If you get severely sick, you don’t want to count on a guess of what medicine to take. You’d rather go to someone who has firmer answers. Likewise, you’ve probably seen those bomb scenes in movies where the hero comes face to face with a bomb and has to guess which wire to cut. Those are the situations where you’d like not to be guessing. But so too should it be with faith. For faith is a matter of life or death… eternally. So, we can’t just make a simple guess and hope we’re right. We need to be certain of our faith and the reasons why we believe what we believe. Whether you know it or not, everything we do here on Sunday has this purpose in mind. Our service is built around this understanding of needing certainty in order to do anything. Certainty that you’re forgiven, certainty about who God is, certainty that what God wants for you is what is given in this service.
In our Gospel lesson today, we meet our risen Lord again as he comes among his disciples. He blesses them with his gifts so that they may carry on his ministry into the world. But above all of this, Jesus seeks to give them this one thing, as we learn:
JESUS DESIRES FOR US TO KNOW FOR CERTAIN HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION!
I.
Even in the evening of that first day, questions still remained for Jesus’ disciples. Up to this point, only the two women had actually seen Jesus. Peter and John ran to the tomb, but saw only the clothes laying there. While they were beginning to understand Jesus’ teaching and what all this meant, they still had doubts, even at this point. Because it’s one thing to see the empty tomb, it’s a whole other ordeal to see Jesus personally. For consider their mindset on this evening as John records for us, “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you,” John 20:19. The disciples were still afraid! Even after hearing the news from the women, after seeing the empty tomb, they were still afraid that they were going to be next up on the cross. They were hiding from everyone, perhaps even Jesus. Think about this from the disciple’s perspective. Your teacher, your Lord is taken from you and you run away from him to save yourself. Or Peter, he literally is caught by our Lord denying his relationship with Jesus. Yes, I imagine some of their fear following the resurrection is what Jesus will say to them… them who abandoned him, who denied him, who proved unfaithful in the most important moment.
For you see, we always like to focus on Thomas as the “doubting” one. He’s the one, though, who’s actually the most honest about his shortcomings. Yes, Peter had doubts. John had doubts. James, Thaddeaus, and all of the disciples had doubts. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be locked away in fear. But this is also why Thomas was missing that first night. For he’s meant to be all of us. As believers who don’t have the benefit of seeing or touching our Lord, it’s not uncommon for us to have doubts also. When you sit in a quiet room praying to God, and then you start to wonder if anyone is even listening at all. When you’re hurting and wishing for a moment of relief, but none comes. When life suddenly feels meaningless because you do the same thing over and over again, and nothing seems to change. Yes, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we’re not immune from doubts either.
II.
When doubts arise, there’s only one way to combat them. Go to the one who gives us certainty. For I want you to understand this clearly. This is why in our service, the focus isn’t on you and what you do for God, but about all the myriad of ways in which Jesus comes to us to give us his blessings. For that’s exactly what Jesus did with his disciples. To quell their fears, to silence their doubts, he appeared to them, as we read, “When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” John 20:20. Peace be with you. Peace is both a welcome greeting for the disciples and an absolution. For it’s peace that now dominates in our relationship with our Lord. Not our sins, not doubt, not fear. Peace! As if this weren’t enough, Jesus shows them the very marks of his passion. Then, he commissions them to be apostles, or quite literally, “sent ones.” For this is the basis for all ministry. It’s the divine sending from the Father, through the Son, to both call and ordain pastors today.
It’s Thomas then who is the first to hear the preaching of the other apostles. It’s Thomas who shows us that purpose of such a ministry. Where Thomas doubts, our Lord arrives to answer. Just as we read, “Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:27-29. Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believe! While Thomas is given the blessing of seeing his risen Lord face to face, Jesus tells us that his preached word is enough. For the authority Jesus gives isn’t an authority over others, as if to rule on a throne. But rather, the ministry is an authority under to serve, to be the lowest. For such is our purpose. When you have doubts because of your struggle with sin, I’m here to speak forgiveness to you in Jesus’ name. When you have doubts because of life, I’m here to strengthen you with Jesus’ words. When the reality of death comes knocking on your door, Jesus has called me so you can know for certain that he has died for you and is risen from the dead, that death is defeated. As if this weren’t enough, Jesus gives us pastors that we may even receive his own body and blood.
For I’m certain of these things because Christ desires us to be so. To this end, Jesus has given us the holy ministry, his church, to preach and teach in his name so that we may come to know his death and resurrection for certain and by it, may believe in him unto eternal life! In Jesus’ name! Amen!