When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors to the house where the disciples had met were locked 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.” 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, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:19-31 NRSV)
Did they get it?
The 10 disciples were in a room with the doors locked. They were afraid they were going to get the same sentence as their master, death…
And why shouldn’t they worry? I mean all Jesus did was love the unloved. All Jesus did was show the last, lost, least, little the time of day and help them see they are actually there and deserved attention.
But do we get it either? I mean they have a reason because they were part of a revolution…
But did they get it? The doors were locked. Jesus came in and gave them peace. But since Thomas wasn’t there they obviously all did not get it. You see a whole week later, Jesus returns to the same upper room, doors still closed and there they all are. And again Jesus gets through the closed doors and gives them peace.
I don’t think we should give ourselves a hard time for being slow, when the disciples didn’t get it quickly. But something did happen. The doors were locked the first week, then the next week they were closed, but it didn’t say they were locked. They were still working it through but they made it from locked to closed…
So we are also like the disciples. Slow but moving where we need to be. And also like the disciples we are part of a revelation. Jesus sent the disciples as He was sent, just as we are sent.
So go and be a part of the revolution of love, knowing that Jesus goes with you.
aSacredRebel 