December 21, 2024

Today's Reading: John 20:24-29

Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 42:1-25; Revelation 9:1-12

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” (John 20:21)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

We call Thomas by his nickname even though it’s never in the Bible at all. This story isn’t walking-through-a-wall-risen-from-the-dead-peace-giving-Jesus. This is doubting Thomas. Except it’s not just Christian shorthand that describes the Bible story. We say more than we really mean to. We say Thomas’ sins were died for on the cross. Forgiven… but not forgotten. Forgiven… but he should be remembered for all eternity by his sin of wanting to boop the Lord. Forgiven… but… not really. Then we take this fun new idea out with us and talk about each other the same way because talking about forgiveness is all well and good, but we still remember. Whatever else happens for the rest of their life, we know them by their weakest moment. That is an interesting take from the text that literally gives us the Absolution of sins.  

What if this story isn’t about one guy who expresses doubt in his weakness and is marked for the rest of us as a warning of what happens when we accidentally confess to being sinners, too? What if it’s about Jesus? What if it’s about a God who loves us so much that after dying for all of these sins we carry around, all of the labels we wear, all of the scars we bear, He rises from the dead to show that they really are brought to nothing? What if this same Jesus actually loved sinners enough to show up not for the worthy but for sinners and doubters? What if He said stuff like, “Peace be with you?” Jesus didn’t show up to guilt trip Thomas but to give the peace Thomas was so desperate for.

The marks on Christ’s hands are not just the proof of His love and forgiveness and peace. They are Christ’s burdens to bear. Those scars Jesus bears for you are the scars of all of your sins that He bled for, paid for, and died for. He still has those scars because He doesn’t just take your sins from you to die on the cross and then give them back to you afterward for you to deal with. They aren’t your scars to carry. He doesn’t give them back. So be at peace. Stop trying to wrestle your old scars out of Jesus’ hands. Jesus won’t let go of them. All you get instead is peace.  

This is why we speak confession. God wants you to have the very same peace He gave in that room. He sends pastors bearing it, speaking forgiveness, pointing to He who forgives sin by bearing Himself. We confess because now we hear Absolution. Peace be with you. 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

That night the_apostles met in fear; Among them came their master dear And said, "My peace be with you here." Alleluia! (LSB 471:4)

-Rev. Harrison Goodman, content executive for Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.

What makes a church "good?" Come join the fictional family as they test out eight different churches in their brand-new town and answer this question along the way. Will the Real Church Please Stand Up? by Matthew Richard, now available from Concordia Publishing House.