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John 20:19-31

Doubting Thomas Gets A Second Chance

April 16, 2023

2nd Sunday of Easter

Lectionary Year A

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ASK (a.k.a The On-Ramp)

Good morning!
When you are riding in a car, what are some things that you might spend a lot of time looking at that are inside the car? [ A book, a movie, the person you are talking to, a video game, etc. ]
So when you are riding in a car looking at these things that are inside the car, has someone else in the car ever pointed at something that was outside of the car and said, "Look at that! Do you see that!?"
But when you look, it's too late because the car has passed by the thing?
And then, you might ask one or more of the following questions, like...

What was it?
Where was it?
What did it look like?
I can't see it -- can you still see it?
Can we turn around and go look at it again?

What do you think – has that ever happened to you?

TELL (a.k.a. The Freeway)

In today's scripture story, we hear about how a disciple of Jesus’ (Thomas), has something like that happen to him (but without a car, of course)
Today’s story starts with the disciples getting to see Resurrected Jesus.
They were all gathered together, like Jesus had told them to do, and they were praying and then suddenly, Jesus was in their midst.
It was pretty exciting for everybody! And at first, a little scary, too.
But there was one problem: Thomas was not there.
And, because Thomas wasn't there, he missed seeing what the rest of the disciples saw.
When the disciples told Thomas what had happened, he didn’t trust what they were telling him.
Which is sort of like what we were just talking about can happen in the car, right? Where we sometimes miss seeing something that's pretty cool because we were paying attention to something else.
But here's what's different: In a car, because you are not driving, you are not expected to look at what’s outside of the car. However, Thomas was expected to be there with the other disciples.
And, because he didn’t do what he was expected to do, not only did he miss out on an exciting experience, Thomas also started to distrust his friends because he didn’t believe their answers.

SHARE the Good News (a.k.a. The Destination)

But the good news for Thomas was that he got a second chance.
He realized he could still be a student who did what he had been taught.
So, Thomas started to do what he was supposed to do in the first place which was spend time with the other disciples and pray with them.
And, because he did that, he saw Resurrected Jesus, too!
The good news for us is that it is not too late for us, either. We, too, can still follow and learn from Jesus.
We, too, can gather together with fellow disciples of Jesus and pray together.
And, when we do this, we, too, will be better able to see Resurrected Jesus!

Granted, we may not see Resurrected Jesus in the same way that Thomas and the disciples did, but we will certainly be able to better see how Jesus is with us and helping us right here and now.

That's the good news for today. Let’s pray.

CLOSING Prayer

Let’s pray. This is a repeat-after-me prayer.

Dear God,
Dear God,

Thank you for Jesus.

Thank you for Jesus.

…who gives us many chances…

…to see and know him…

…and learn what he knows about you.

Thank you and Amen.

Originally posted April 19, 2014
Updated on March 17, 2023
Written and edited by Nathanael Vissia

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