EASTER II [B)(Acts 4: 32- 35, I John 5: 1-6, John 20: 19-31)

Perhaps you've heard the story of the Yugoslavian judge who was electrocuted when he reached up to turn on the light while standing in the bathtub. This guy’s poor wife found his body sprawled on the bathroom floor. He was pronounced dead and was placed in a preparation room under a crypt in the town cemetery for twenty-four hours before burial.

Well, in the middle of the night, the judge woke up and looked around at his surroundings and suddenly realized where he was. He got pretty excited and rushed over to alert the guard. But instead of being any help, the guard was terrified and promptly ran off. Fortunately, though, the guard returned with a friend, and they released the newly-revived judge. The judge's first thought was to phone his wife and reassure her that he really wasn't dead. Unfortunately, he got no farther than, "Honey... it's me," when his wife screamed and fainted.

So, he decided that the best course of action was to enlist some friends. He went to the houses of several friends; but because they all had heard the news from his distraught wife, they all doubted that he was really alive. They were all convinced he was a ghost.

Finally, in a last desperate effort, he contacted a friend in another city who hadn't heard about his death. And that person was able to convince his family and friends that the judge really was alive.

That story almost sounds like the passage from John this morning. Jesus goes to great lengths to assure his disciples that he is no mere ghost or illusion. He shows them the marks of his crucifixion and he explains how the scriptures foretold his death and rising, he even eats a piece of fish to show them that he is not a ghost. In spite of all these, they had doubts and questioned in their minds about his identity, until the Pentecost.

Having doubts is not anything bad. Doubt is not the opposite of Faith, but a part of it. As the poet Tennyson put it: “There lives more faith in honest doubt.” Thomas’ doubt is not non-belief in some credal statement or other, but a lack of confidence to trust in the present reality of the Love of God. We are not saved by our beliefs but by our faith; by our reliance on Jesus Christ.

Thomas’ statement “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks
and put my hand into his side, I will not believe” is soon followed by the greatest profession of faith in all the Bible: My Lord and MY God. Nobody called Jesus God before Thomas did. His sincere doubt led him to strong faith leading him to go to India and preach the Gospel there for about 20 years and be martyred there. His doubts led to strengthening his faith. If a man will begin in certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties.

Many young people confess that they have doubts about their faith. Having doubt is the sign that they are serious about their faith. But having doubt and not searching to know more about is a sign of lack of interest in faith. They will soon lose even what faith they have. Jesus said seek, and you will find. When we search to know about our faith we will find answers. If we never had doubt about our faith I would say we are very careless about the faith.

Our most important question concerning Jesus, is simply this: Do we think he is dead or alive?

If Jesus is simply dead, there are any number of ways we can relate ourselves to his life and his accomplishments and learn more ­ABOUT him. But we cannot reasonably expect to learn more FROM him.

If he is alive, however, everything changes. It is no longer a matter of our questioning an historical record, but a matter of our being put in question by one who has broken every rule of ordinary human existence. If Jesus lives, then it must be as life-giver. Jesus is not simply a figure of the past in that case, but a person in the present; not merely a memory we can analyze and manipulate, but an agent who can confront and instruct us. What we can learn about him must therefore include what we continue to learn from him.

Thomas Jefferson ranks as one of our nation’s greatest intellects but not many people know that he rejected the notion of miracles. When he approached the scriptures he could not tolerate those passages, which dealt with the supernatural. So what did he do? He wrote his own bible. In the Thomas Jefferson Bible you will find only the moral teachings and historical events of Jesus' life. No virgin birth. No healing of Jairus' daughter. No walking on water. And, no resurrection. Here is how his bible ends: "There laid they Jesus and rolled a great stone at the mouth of the sepulcher and departed."

It is very easy to rewrite history. To say, "that did not happen." But the story remains that the disciples were witnesses to these events. Thomas Jefferson is in essence calling the disciples liars and that they continued throughout the first century, for 70 years, to propagate those lies. Furthermore, Jefferson's Bible has been robbed of its power. The Church is alive because of Jesus’ resurrection.

It is difficult for us to believe when we do not strengthen ourselves with the fellowship of other believers. When the Lord appeared to Thomas later, He said: “Blessed are those who have not seen but have believed.”  Paul reminds us that "Faith comes from hearing" (Rom 10:17). Hearing comes from attending the service on Sundays as a community. A single straw burned gives only a little bit of heat. But a bunch of hay burned together can heat up a cup of water. When Thomas stayed away from the community he missed seeing the risen Jesus. But when he came back to the community he could strengthen his faith.

Like St. Thomas, let us use our skepticism to help us grow in Faith. It is our genuine doubts about the doctrines of our religion that encourage us to study these doctrines more closely and thus to grow in our Faith. This will naturally lead us to a personal encounter with Jesus through our prayer, study of the Word of God, and frequenting of the Sacraments. However, we must never forget the fact that our Faith is not our own doing, but is a gift from God. Hence, we need to augment our Faith every day by prayer so that we may join St. Thomas in his proclamation: “My Lord and my God."