When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors were locked where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
John 20:19-31
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt 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 come to believe.”
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
My sermon from the 2nd Sunday of Easter (April 12, 2026) on John 20:19-31.
If it’s okay, I’d like to spend this second Sunday of Easter nerding out with The Lord of the Rings. This series, written by J.R.R. Tolkien, is a kind of reimagining of our world’s beginning through the lens of an English fairytale. Tolkien wove together a rich tapestry of fantastical creatures, knights in shining armor, walking trees, magical wizards, elves, dwarves, and his own myths and legends to create a very full history. He was not only influenced by the legends of his homeland but also was shaped by Icelandic sagas, norse mythology, ancient Rome, and more. The Lord of the Rings is presented as a kind of culminating moment in a thousands year long drama about an ancient ring of power, created and infused with the essence of a great evil who wanted the world to reflect what he imagined perfection to look like. And the One ring wasn’t destroyed by a strong army or through the heroic actions of a stoic and mighty man. Instead, it was a diverse fellowship of elves, dwarves, humans, wizards, as well as two hobbits named Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee – who faithfully and courageously changed the world.
Now after the One Ring fell into the fires of Mt. Doom, these two hobbits were rescued by giant Eagles who plucked them safely from the side of the raging volcano. Sam and Frodo had just collapsed among the burning rock and assumed it was the end. But when Sam woke up, he found himself lying on a soft bed, with the branches of trees covered in young leaves swaying in a gentle spring breeze outside the window. At first, Sam was very confused and wondered if had woken up from a very strange dream. But when he turned and saw Frodo, who was asleep next to him, still carrying the wounds life gave him, Sam knew this was different. He had been given a new chapter but he had no idea what was going on. So Sam cried out to nobody in particular: “It wasn’t a dream! Then where are we?” A voice then spoke up and told him exactly where they were. That voice belonged to Sam’s old friend – Gandalf the wizard – who stood before him all in white, “his beard gleaming like pure snow in the twinkling of the leafy sunlight.” Sam was shocked because the last time he saw him, Gandalf fell into a bottomless abyss fighting a fiery demon. It took a second for the words to come – and when they did, Sam gasped: “Gandalf! I thought you were dead. But then I thought I was dead myself. Is everything sad going to come untrue? What’s happened to the world?”
I wonder if Samwise’s experience might reveal to us a little bit of what Thomas was up to in today’s reading from the gospel according to John. Thomas has, for centuries, been labeled as a doubter since he doesn’t necessarily accept what the other disciples told him. They, like Mary Magadelene, experienced the risen Jesus in a very personal way. And when they said “we have seen the Lord,” Thomas didn’t simply say okay. He began his response with “Unless I see….” and ended with “I will not believe.” Yet reducing Thomas to only a doubter doesn’t really do justice to his full story. We first met him way back in chapter 11 when Jesus decided to go visit his friends Mary and Martha. The disciples knew that the religious and political authorities were looking for him so such a journey would be dangerous. And while the others were a little skittish, Thomas said, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Then, a few chapters later, after Jesus washed everyone’s feet and began sharing what would happen next, Thomas had the guts to ask Jesus: “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” When the disciples, after Jesus’ death, huddled behind lock doors, it was Thomas who wasn’t there. Everyone was very afraid yet while the disciples tried to lock out the world, it was Thomas who chose to be in the world instead. Courage isn’t, I think, about not being afraid. It’s about finding a way through it. Not only did Thomas have the courage to not stay locked behind doors on that first Easter evening, but he also courageously spoke up when the others told him what had happened. The disciples rightly shared how Jesus had come to them exactly as they were. And Thomas, to his credit, didn’t discourage their experience. He didn’t call them liars or jokers or wonder if they were simply pranking him or claimed they were sharing an idle tale. What he said was that he wanted that same kind of experience too.
And that, I think, is something we want as well. Like Thomas, we’d need to know we’re part of this new thing God is up to. We want to believe that our grief, sorrow, and pain weren’t for nothing and that our worst mistakes, our sin, and our selfishness won’t be the only thing that defines us. It often feels quite unfair that joy is so short while our worry, anxiety, and sadness lingers for much too long. So we often do what we can to hold tightly to whatever’s around us assuming our reality is defined by scarcity and our future depends on getting ours before others get it instead. Yet the more we try to hoard life limits what our tomorrow can be. Thomas, who had the courage to not be locked in, also had the courage to wonder out loud if God had a place for him too. And Jesus, in response, showed Thomas this new future he was always already a part of. It wasn’t going to be a future where, in the words of Samwise Gamgee, everything sad came untrue since even Jesus’ body carried the unhealed wounds we gave him on the Cross. Rather, the bits of life we wish we could relive again as well as those bits we wouldn’t wish for anyone are wrapped up in a tomorrow where God is truly making all things new. This is a new story where the limits of what was is being transformed into what can be. And rather than being a tomorrow defined only by us, it’s a future where mercy, compassion, grace, and abundance are all part of what we get to be. It’s a reconciliation and a renewal that extends through the entire cosmos. And while we might not see this fully lived out in our lifetimes, Jesus comes to us in our real lives to say you are loved, you have value, and you matter. He comes to us at a table where even the imperfect, the anxious, the worried, those who question, and those who might not even know who God is – to simply say you belong here. And whenever we find ourselves wondering what’s up with our lives and with our world, God grants us the courage to be honest about who we are and trust Jesus will always be Jesus too. You – because of Christ – are part of the new chapter God is already writing. And while life will be what it’s been, we can reimagine our today and tomorrow to reflect the reconciliation, renewal, wholeness, hope, and joy at the heart of who our God chooses to be.
Amen.