Divine remedies for fear and unbelief

Sermon for the First Sunday after Easter (Quasimodo geniti)

1 John 5:4-10  +  John 20:19-31

Here’s a question for you this morning: Was the resurrection of Jesus good news or bad news? Well, it was both, wasn’t it? Depending on your relationship to Jesus. For Satan and his demons, who knew that it was true, it was terrible news. For those who had been responsible for Jesus’ death, it was bad news, although they didn’t acknowledge it as true. For those who still reject His Word today and want to believe whatever they want, worship their god however they want, and live however they want, it’s still bad news, because it means that all other gods are false gods and idols, and that people will have to answer to this God whose Word they rejected. But for those who trust in Him as the One who gave His life into death to atone for our sins and to reconcile us to God, it’s the best news there is.

Here’s another question for you, for you who both believe that Jesus rose from the dead and believe in Him as your Lord and your God, as Thomas confessed: Why would you ever be afraid, of anything? Why would you ever worry, about anything? For that matter, why would you sin, ever? Why would you say those hurtful words to your brother, sister, parents, or neighbors if you know that Jesus lives and, therefore, sees and knows all that you do? Why would you worry about the future, if you know that Jesus lives and governs the future? Why would you be afraid of disease or enemies or even death, if you know that Jesus lives and only permits to happen what He knows to be best for those who love Him? The answer is, you shouldn’t—you shouldn’t be afraid, you shouldn’t worry, you shouldn’t doubt, you shouldn’t sin. But that doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t, does it? Wretched people that we are, we still wrestle with a sinful flesh. We still struggle against varying degrees of shameful unbelief, leaving us to cry out to God as the man in the Gospels once did, Lord, I believe! Help me with my unbelief!

That’s exactly what the Lord does in today’s Gospel. He helps us with our unbelief, and with our fear, by holding before our eyes and hearts His first and His second interaction with His gathered apostles after He rose from the dead, men who had no reason to harbor any doubt or unbelief, and yet did, who had no reason to be afraid, and yet they were. Here, in today’s Scripture lessons, the Lord presents us with divine remedies for fear and unbelief, remedies which, if you’re honest, you still need to take. And often!

It wasn’t for nothing that Jesus had seen to it during Holy Week that His disciples would find a friendly home in which they could all gather after His death. He had told them how to find that upper room where they celebrated the Passover with Him and where He had instituted that new supper called the Lord’s Supper. They continued to use that room in that house over the coming weeks.

Gathering in that room together was fine, but the reason the disciples were gathered there with the doors locked on the Sunday after Good Friday was not a good one. John tells us they were afraid of the Jews. Afraid, even though Peter and John had seen the empty tomb that morning. Even though Peter had, by this time, seen Jesus. Even though the women had reported seeing Him, too. Fear is powerful, debilitating, hard to overcome. It took men who had walked and talked with Jesus for three years, and it immobilized them.

We’ve all seen what fear can do to people over the past year. It’s driven many people into their homes, many of them still afraid to leave because of even a slim chance of catching or passing on a disease. People cling to their earthly lives in fear. Now, that actually makes sense if they think death is the end, or worse, if they know, deep down, that death isn’t the end and don’t know the way, the only way, to escape eternal condemnation for their sins, if they don’t believe in a living Lord Jesus, if they don’t trust in Him to be their Mediator before the Father, if they don’t believe they’ll be with Him in Paradise when the die, if they don’t believe in a resurrection of the body at the end of the age. For the unbeliever, fear is a very natural and reasonable reaction to any bodily threat, whether from disease or from accident or from someone else’s malice.

What about for the Christian? Fear comes naturally to our flesh, and we do still carry the flesh around with us. You’ve been afraid before. So have I. But we need to recognize how foolish that fear is and how unnecessary. We know that Christ Jesus rose from the dead, and we have believed in Him as our Lord and our God. As the Psalm says, The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?

And so Jesus appeared to ten of His remaining eleven fearful apostles on Easter Sunday evening. And we’re told by Mark that He did rebuke their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. But it wasn’t an angry meeting. His greeting was one of peace. Peace be with you! That’s how He greeted them. Luke tells us that He had to prove He wasn’t a ghost by showing them His nail-printed hands and feet, and by letting them touch Him, and by eating some food in their presence.

And finally, they were at peace. They had all the testimonies, all the proofs they needed—at least, for the moment. Peace, because Christ had paid for their sins with His death. Peace, because their Lord and their God in whom they had trusted was truly alive. Peace in the forgiveness of their sins. Peace, in knowing that their risen Lord had kept every promise, had fulfilled every word, and would be there to oversee their earthly lives and finally to receive them in heavenly mansions.

And then the Lord gave these eyewitnesses of His resurrection, these chosen apostles, the authority and the ability to extend that peace to others, to those who would believe in this risen Savior through their preaching, or to withhold it from those who would cling to their sins in spite of the apostles’ preaching. Peace be with you. As my Father has sent me, so I also send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” God the Holy Spirit would be present with the apostles, and with all ministers who would later be called, working through the ministry of the Gospel to bring sinners to repentance and faith and to absolve them from their sins, also working through the ministry of the Gospel to hold the impenitent accountable for their sins. These words of Jesus are a proof and testimony to the world. You don’t see Jesus or hear His voice. But when you hear Christ’s ministers, you are to take it as a divine testimony. As we confess in the Small Catechism: I believe in what the called ministers of Christ do among us, by His divine command—especially when they exclude public, impenitent sinners from the Christian congregation, and when they absolve those who repent of their sins and are willing to mend their ways—that it is all as valid and certain in heaven also, as if our dear Lord Christ did it Himself.

Jesus’ appearance to His apostles, His words of peace, and His authorization of their ministry were powerful, divine remedies for their fear and unbelief. But one apostle missed out on it. Thomas wasn’t there. He seems less fearful than the others, because he was not locked in the room with them. But there is something darker about his unbelief. Ten witnesses, his brothers in the apostolic office, testified to him that Jesus was risen. But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail prints in his hands, and put my finger into the nail prints, and place my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

Yes, fear is one symptom of doubt and of unbelief, and it can be devastating. But a stubborn clinging to science and human reason is another symptom, and it can be even worse. Thomas was very reasonable, very “science” oriented, if you will. “Whatever the science tells me, that I’ll believe, and I won’t accept anyone’s scientific experiment but my own. You men tell me He showed you His hands and His feet. Not good enough. I won’t believe it until I see the evidence with my own eyes and test it with my own hands.” In other words, I don’t believe you, and nothing you say will change my mind. Only scientific proof will do.

What a dreadful pit for a Christian to fall into! God does not bind Himself to our fallible scientific methods, and He thinks very little of human reason. If you’ll only believe God when you can see His plans and test His truthfulness, then you’ve turned your God-given reason and senses in an idol. No, the Christian can use both science and human reason, but we have to make them subordinate to God’s Word and recognize them as fallible tools which God can and often does overturn and overrule, as He wishes. As He certainly did in bringing Jesus, not only back to life, but into a new and glorious life that is not bound in any way to the laws of nature.

Jesus had mercy on Thomas. He came back a week later when Thomas was there and gave him the testimonies, the scientific evidence he had demanded, thinking Jesus couldn’t hear him when he demanded it. Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put your hand here and place it into my side, and do not be unbelieving any longer, but believing. Yes, he should have believed, should have trusted Jesus, the Scriptures, the women, and the apostles, even the Holy Spirit Himself who was working through their testimony. He had almost committed the sin against the Holy Spirit in denying Jesus’ resurrection. But he was mercifully pulled back from the brink by the merciful Lord.

Finally, Thomas confessed, My Lord and my God! And Jesus replied, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed. That’s you and me. But how can we believe without seeing, if the apostles themselves needed to see to believe?

In this case, blind faith, according to Jesus, is actually better than science-backed faith. If you’ve come to know Jesus through His Word, how can you say to Him, “I won’t believe You’ll do what You say until You actually do it.” Now someone who has broken his word to you before, who has broken your trust, may deserve that kind of treatment, that kind of skepticism. But when has Jesus ever done that? When has He broken His word? When has He earned your skepticism?

You know He hasn’t. You and I don’t have the nail prints or the gash in the side to see and touch. We don’t have angelic appearances or a newly emptied tomb to see. But we have testimonies of God that are powerful enough.

As John said in today’s Epistle, There are three that testify in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that testify on earth: the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one. The Holy Trinity has given His testimony about Jesus as God’s Son and Savior in the Holy Scriptures, and in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. The Holy Spirit still testifies on earth to the humanity and the divinity of Jesus, to His atoning death, to His glorious resurrection. He testifies through spirit, that is, through the preaching of the Word. He testifies through the water of Holy Baptism. And He testifies through the blood of the Sacrament of the Altar. Those are God’s testimonies, His proofs, and the means that He uses to bring people to believe, even though they don’t see. They may not seem like much, but don’t be fooled by appearances. Preaching and the Sacraments are the power of God for salvation to all who believe; they’re powerful to drive out fear and doubt and unbelief and to create and strengthen faith. They are the very divine remedies for fear and unbelief that have created and sustained the Christian Church for nearly 2,000 years, and they will guard you, too, against the lies of the devil, and the hatred of the world, and the weakness of your flesh.

Jesus is risen. Have no fear! And let your faith in His resurrection guide you to live as His saints here until you meet Him in person there. Amen.