John 20:19-31

 

“Most of us, when we think of Thomas, think of him disparagingly, as one lacking in faith.”[1] When we hear the name of Thomas, an instantaneous word association thing happens and we link his name with a very particular adjective… What is it???? …Yes- that’s it. The word doubting… Doubting Thomas…  We say it in tone of voice that implies- “Silly boy! Oh ye of little faith!”  Thomas- one brick short of a load and missing the mark…something of a simpleton? The writer of John’s gospel would have us make this kind of association. Indeed, he gets his disparaging barb in there setting the tone and leading the pack of those who would write Thomas off: and, by putting his words in the mouth of Jesus, the writer here fuels the fire of their judgmental pronouncement and disparaging dismissal. (Continue in exaggerated condescending tone of voice, paraphrasing and expanding on the text to say…)  Oh Thomas…silly boy…you believe only what your eyes can see? You have problems comprehending anything beyond temporal reality, do you? It’s a bit of a struggle for you trying to grasp concepts of higher order, theological thinking? What a shame! Blessed are those who don’t need to “see” like you, but who can, without that kind of empirical evidencing, still put two and two together and come up with the right answer…

 

Clearly, the author of John’s gospel would have his readers, however sympathetically, dismiss Thomas as any kind of a hero, leader or, as truth would tell, as leader of a branch of Christianity that, in the early years, grew to become a what John would have considered a threatening rival to what later generations would call the orthodox faith of the synoptic, canonical gospels…. John, the last of the gospel writers, writing as the new Christian church was evolving organizational structure, defining its theology and taking shape in the world, made it his work to become something of the Guardian of the Faith (a kind of  Biblical precursor for the role of Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith- as it would come to be known to this very day within the Roman Catholic Structure)… In the last chapters of John’s gospel it is easy to see John performing this function, eager to let “good” Christians know who’s in and who’s out… Thomas is out… Judas (who is slammed in the final verses of chapter 21) is out… Peter is mandated by Jesus to “Feed” the Sheep and become the administrative head of the church (in effect, as some would say, the first Pope): and, John, himself, presumes the authority to select and edit, from what he twice tells us is a great body of material, miracle stories, and other testimony about Jesus, that which he, John, feels will be edifying for “true” believers.[2]

 

John is particularly zealous in priority that Thomas- his testimony, his writings as in the Gospel of Thomas, his story as recorded in the Acts of Thomas and whatever life and witness the community that came to be known by his name might have, be stomped out, labeled heresy and eliminated.[3] Why? Because there were some huge, fundamental theological points of divergence separating Thomas and John…. The web page posted by “The Lost Tomb of Jesus” people can help us get a sense of the points of controversy separating Thomas and John by way of their comments on the Gospel of Thomas-

Uncovered in Nag Hammadi Egypt in 1945, the Gospel of Thomas has since gained credibility from scholars, who believe it to hold as much validity and importance as the four canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

It has been suggested that the Gospel of Thomas has been suppressed by Christian authorities due to the status allotted to Mary of Magadala as master. Others believe that the Gospel of Thomas has been suppressed because it reveals the Gospel of Jesus' son, Judah Thomas, whose identity has remained under debate.

The Gospel of Thomas also reveals Mary Magdalene and Salome as female disciples of Jesus, a prospect that is consistent with other passages of Gnostic texts such as the Acts of Philip. The text also reveals tensions between Simon Peter and Mary, that are also reflected in the the Gospel of Mary:

Simon Peter said to them, "Make Mary leave us, for females don't deserve life." Jesus said, "Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of Heaven." (Gospel of Thomas 114)

 

In addressing the Kingdom of God, the Gospel of Thomas reveals it to be a state of consciousness that is both internal and external, rather than a catastrophic event to come. Scholars such as Elaine Pagels have compared this representation to that of the Gospel of Luke which states in 17:20: "It's within you."

In contrast to the Gospel of John, where Jesus is likened to a feudal (albeit divine and beloved) Lord, the Thomas gospel portrays Jesus as more the ubiquitous vehicle of mystical inspiration and enlightenment.

The Gospel of Thomas can be characterized as advocating panentheism - at one point having the living spirit say, (in vs 77) “Split a piece of wood, and I am there. Lift a stone, and you will find me there.”

The Gospel of Thomas does not refer to Jesus as "Christ" or "Lord" as the New Testament does, but simply as "Jesus."[4] (implying that he was more of a wisdom teacher than, as John would have it, God uniquely incarnate in the person of his ONLY son)

I’d like to invite you, today, to avoid falling into the bias of John against Thomas and instead to send a few minutes giving Thomas his due... Edward Markquart, minister at Grace Lutheran Church, in Seattle, writes-

In my quest to appreciate Thomas one particular theologian has been helpful to me. His name is Henry Drummond who makes a distinction between a doubter and an unbeliever. I have found his distinction between a doubter and unbeliever helpful and I hope this distinction may be helpful to your life as well. Let me explain. A doubter is a person who searches for God and the godly life; the person is on a journey, a quest, a search to find God and the love of God. Not an unbeliever. An unbeliever isn’t searching for God but for the pleasures of this world. An unbeliever is not searching for God or the god question or the love of God but for situations in life which will bring happiness. A doubter is a person who has a thousand questions for God; questions about life, love, God’s existence, purpose, the divinity of Christ and many other questions. No the unbeliever. An unbeliever isn’t asking questions about God, the divine dimension. The unbeliever is apathetic to God and the God question does not really come up in his or her daily life. A doubter struggles with God and struggles to live a godly life and struggles to find the purpose of life, but not an unbeliever. An unbeliever simply struggles to pay the bills, find a spouse, find a job, find a house. That is all. And so there is an enormous difference between an honest and questioning doubter and a secularized unbeliever who does not struggle with the God question and the divine dimensions of life.[5]

Hurray for HOLY DOUBTERS! May there be many in our midst! And may faith and understanding join voices to shout endless alleluias and ah-ha’s as they share an infinite journey of loving fascination, discovery and relationship with God and all who would manifest him together.

Hurray for the thinkers who will pursue the word of God until it, being liberated to be living word in every age, is empowered to speak new voices congruent with evolving knowledge and understanding….

In the spirit of such faith seeking answers, in the name of Thomas who would definitely be asking questions were he here this Easter, and because it has been in the media and grabbing headlines, I think it is incumbent on us that sometime in this season (and why not today- it’s as good as any) we spend a few minutes considering the thesis explored in the book and movie- “The Lost Tomb of Jesus.”

That material invites us to consider whether or not Jesus may have married Mary Magdalene and whether it might be that they had a son. As sensationalistic as such propositions might be, as one of our progressive Christianity people in this congregation said of that idea, “Who cares!”  …We would wish Jesus every joy of being human including sensual expression, the blessings of matrimony and the wonder of children, if he was married, good for him!

Is it hypothetically possible that the bones of Jesus could be discovered? Would it rock your faith if they were?  Certainly such a discovery would put to rest Tom Harpur’s notion that the entire Jesus figure is a construct of historical fictional, idealized representation of the Godhead incarnate- saviour and role-model for us all…. Nope! Wouldn’t rock our faith- the man lived, the man died, and he left physical remains... Dah- of course!

Of all the ideas that the movie raises one possibility grabs my attention and leads me to something of an ah-ha moment…

In his book, Jesus for the Non-Religious[6], John Spong points out that, in terms of chronology, when the gospels were written, what authors did was condense three years of ministry stories and experiences onto a story-board that could be liturgically read over the course of one year’s Sundays. Then, the authors of the gospels, considered the existent patterns of the religio-cultural year as people in their day experienced it- a cycle built around the Festivals of Booths, Hanukkah and Passover- with some attention to the minor festivals of the Jewish calendar: and, authors lined up Christian themes and stories of convergent emphasis nurturing the possibility that, over time, ancient Jewish festivals would evolve and be “Christianized” – which did indeed happen. Sukkoth (or the Festival of Booths) was transmuted to become thanksgiving, Hanukkah- the festival of lights became Christmas, and Passover parallels Easter… We can spend more time looking at this some other day, but, enough right now for us to realize that what we may well be reading in John 20-21 may not be a story that factually clicked along with quite the literally tight chronology that the author employs as he tells it. We may, in fact, have a merging of resurrection stories that occurred over, I’m going to suggest, at least a year.

 In John, chapter 20, the first eleven verses tell the story of the first morning of the resurrection- Mary goes to the tomb, finds it empty…she runs to get Simon Peter and the other disciple, they come, they look, they agree, “Yup, it’s empty!” and then, in verse 10, it says, “They went home.” Home was at least a 10 day walk away- way up in Galilee…that’s where they went…they went home…. Cutting a long story short- end of year one!

John 20, verse 19- can be read as the start of year 2- one year later, the disciples re-assembled, back in Jerusalem, for the next festival of obligation, the next year’s Passover which, for them had added significance. This would be their Yahrzeit gathering- honouring the first anniversary of Jesus’ death. “In Judaism, Yahrzeit (rituals and practices) aid those in mourning and (help) keep the memory of the deceased alive.”[7] …Jesus lives again. He continues to exert living and powerful influence in and through us… We continue his priorities and work and continue to live up to his name- Christ in us, we’re Christians! Yahrzeit, the end of the year of ritual mourning, marked a time when principal mourners (we might imagine the disciples, in the case of Jesus among the principal mourners) would be expected to shake off mourning and re-enter the full fray of living and doing- time to hit the road and start in active ministry!

Yahrzeit, between the years 20 BC and 70 AD, was also the time for performing the rites of ossilegium- secondary burial- the gathering of bones and their placement in an ossuary. The movie The Lost Tomb of Jesus acquaints us with this practice: and, I think, a case can be made arguing that what we get in John 20, starting at verse 19, may be grounded in that experience- a solemn touching, handling and noting of the marks of crucifixion on the bones of Jesus as they were packed for final internment whether in what the movie argues was the lost tomb or some other place- perhaps back in Galilee…

Am I right? Is this what was going on here? …I’ll leave it for you to decide: but, if I’ve managed to open some vista whereby rational thought can find at least the possible beginnings of sensible underpinnings to the Jesus story in ways that can liberate that story from such superstitious gobbily gook as ideas of dead people walking through walls, rematerializing, talking, eating, and traveling about for some months before leaping upward on a journey through space to heaven, then perhaps I’ve managed to give faith some substance of credibility that might make it worth pursuing.…. inspiration for living faith in action unshackled from incredible, superstitious realities and, as we’ve discovered today, some, not so hidden, ulterior motives and hidden agendas.

If we, like Thomas can ask tough questions and live with honest answers that make faith as credible in our day as it was for him in his, then we can grow with him and know with him and go with him to live and be body of Christ, church, in every way the spirit might ever inspire.

Hurray for Holy Doubters…

Thanks be to God.

Amen

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