Monthly Archives: April 2025

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That You May Believe!

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“That You May Believe!”

John 20:19-31 (20:31) – April 27, 2025

            Seeing is believing! Or . . . is it? I wonder what things come to mind when I mention the phrase, “Seeing is believing”? Or even, “I won’t believe it until I see it!” Sometimes, people can be really doubtful about things. I can just imagine several people I know folding their arms across their chests and saying, “Unless you show me . . . “

            In the gospel account we read today, from John 20, the disciple Thomas had just that reaction. After the resurrection, the first time Jesus came to the disciples, Thomas was not there. We’re not told why, simply that he wasn’t there. Maybe he was scared, maybe he was away, or out of town. Maybe he was sick. We just aren’t told why he wasn’t there.

            The ‘why’ is not the important part. The fact that Thomas wasn’t present is. Thomas had doubts. Sincere doubts. Truth to tell, the other disciples’ story was a little farfetched. I mean, how many people have you known who came back from the dead, and walked through walls into a locked room?

            I wonder. I wonder if Thomas’ reaction strikes a chord with anyone here today. How many of us today are like Thomas? Doubting that Jesus has risen indeed from the dead? Or, completely missing Jesus, and doubting that Jesus is even here at all, today?

            Let’s think some more about Thomas and his reaction. Thomas not only doubted, he wanted concrete proof. Tangible proof, proof he could touch and feel and handle. Thomas wanted to put his hands in the nail marks on Jesus’ hands. That’s pretty concrete.

            As I thought more about Thomas and his reaction and attitude toward Jesus and His first appearance to the disciples, the Gospel of John is not clear at this point. We as readers don’t know why Thomas had difficulty believing. But the gospel account says he did.

            How many of us today are like Thomas? Not sure? Not believing? Closed up behind the locked doors of feeble faith? Not believing that Jesus can make a difference in our lives today? Could Jesus come and reveal Himself to Thomas? Can He come and reveal Himself to those today who are fearful, doubting, and unbelieving? . . . Can He reveal Himself to me?

            Perhaps Thomas had difficulty finding something to believe in, since he had so recently seen his Master and Teacher arrested and crucified. Grief, fear, anger, dashed hopes, shattered dreams. I strongly suspect several, if not all of these, were operating in Thomas’ life at this time.

            These strong feelings and emotions inside are intense, and raw. From what is known today about the stages of grief, Thomas could have been feeling awful, and angry, and upset. Thomas could have felt his life was falling apart. But Jesus can break through all of that. Jesus could enter Thomas’ life with new hope, standing right in front of him. In the same way, Jesus Christ can enter through the closed doors of our hearts, meet us where we are, with open arms.

Just as Jesus did not leave Thomas high and dry, to figure things out on his own, so Jesus will not leave us. Our Lord came to Thomas in the upper room, despite his doubts and unbelief, and Jesus also comes to us in our doubts, and in our unbelief.  “The resurrection is among us, whether we see it or not. The resurrection is all around us, whether we recognize it or not. The resurrection is in the midst of us whether we are able to point to it or not.” [1]

            Now, Thomas didn’t actually see Jesus, at first. He had just heard from others who had seen Jesus. But then, a second time, the risen Lord appeared to the disciples. Again, in the locked room, and this time, Thomas was there. What were Jesus’ words 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 responded with that tremendous affirmation, “My Lord and my God!”  Praise God for the sincere, heartfelt response of Thomas.

            Jesus’ words to His doubting disciple serve as words of comfort and reassurance to me. I know I have doubts, sometimes. And just as Jesus did not leave Thomas doubting, so too, Jesus will not leave me doubting, either. He will welcome me with open arms, coming through the locked doors of my fear, anger, doubt and unbelief.

            Thomas saw Jesus. Seeing was believing, in Thomas’ case. And then, the risen Jesus continues with the statement, “Have you believed because you have seen me?” Here’s the best part of all. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

            What was that Jesus just said? Did I read that correctly? “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” So—the Gospel of John says here that all who have not actually seen the risen Lord and yet have come to believe are indeed blessed.

            That means Christians throughout the centuries are blessed, since they have come to believe in Jesus Christ and yet have not actually, physically seen Him as risen from the dead. That means you and I are blessed, since we have come to believe in Jesus Christ, too. How awesome is that? We are blessed because the Lord Jesus says so!

            Just in case we didn’t quite understand where the evangelist was coming from the first time, verses 30 and 31 of John 20 underline this concept. “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.”

            Just as Jesus helped Thomas to believe, so the Gospel of John helps us to believe, too. This Gospel was not only written to bear witness so long ago, in the first century, some years after Jesus was raised from the dead. This Gospel was also written for the many generations which have come to believe throughout the centuries. That includes us, too.

Plus, Jesus does not mean for us to hide this Good News and keep it for ourselves. We all are “to be involved and engaged with the communities around us, in which there are the lives of many who do not yet know the Gospel. We respond to them with loving service, walking alongside them and sharing Jesus with every step.” [2]

Even though we may have doubts, and unbelief, and wonder whether, and why, or even why not, Jesus comes to us in our doubts and unbelief. Our Lord comes to all of us with reassurance and open arms and says “Do not doubt, but believe!”

            Praise God that as we come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, we can have life in His name. Jesus can come to us, at any point in our walk with the Lord, no matter what the circumstance happens to be, no matter where we are in our lives. Thank God that Jesus will be there for us and with us, no matter what. May we all be able to affirm, with Thomas, that the risen Jesus is our Lord and our God.

            Alleluia, amen.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1]  https://www.workingpreacher.org/dear-working-preacher/when-seeing-is-believing

[2] https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/worship/weekly-worship/monthly/2025-april/sunday-27-april-2025-second-sunday-of-easter-year-c

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Who Has Seen the Lord?

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“Who Has Seen the Lord?”

John 20:1-18 (20:18) – April 20, 2025

            Who doesn’t like to hear a good story? Storytellers are wonderful to listen to. Small children love to hear stories. Even grown-ups enjoy stories. Certain stories are told over and over again, in different ways. Cinderella. King Arthur. The Arabian Nights. Aesop’s fables. Even the Wizard of Oz.  What about The Greatest Story Ever Told? That’s another name for the narrative of the Passion Week, following Jesus step by step from Palm Sunday through Good Friday, finishing up with the happily ever after ending on Easter morning! 

            We left Jesus on the cross, on Friday afternoon, when last we saw Jesus on Good Friday. Jesus had walked through the days of Holy Week, debating with the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders in the Temple. He had eaten a Passover dinner with His disciples on Thursday evening. The special thing Jesus did on Thursday was instituting the Lord’s Supper with the bread and cup of the Passover meal. Do this in remembrance of Me, He said.

            After dinner, Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. He wanted His disciples to keep watch with Him, but they were too exhausted. After the events of a very busy week, just think. The disciples couldn’t keep their eyes open!

            Then the events follow in rapid succession. The arrest, torture, trials, and sentencing. The walk down the Via Dolorosa, the Way of Sorrow. Jesus dragging the cross outside the old city of Jerusalem. The disciples fled. (I won’t blame them—since their Rabbi was sentenced as a criminal and enemy of the state, I suspect the disciples were afraid they might be connected with their leader Jesus, too!) We see the women at the foot of the cross. The faithful women. And Jesus’ mother, Mary. Then—Jesus dies on the cross. The earth quakes, the sky darkened. All creation mourns as the Word made flesh, the creator of all the universe, dies on the cross.

            As we continued to follow the Greatest Story Ever Told, Jesus is taken down from the cross shortly before sunset. His body is turned over to one of the Pharisees, Joseph of Arimethea. Joseph hurriedly lays the dead body of Jesus in a tomb nearby. And, the faithful women are also there. What faith they must have had! What tenacity, and what love. The women disciples follow their leader, their rabbi, their Lord and master, even though He’s dead. To care for His body, in the absence of the disciples – the men disciples who are in hiding.

            The women are there. Not shunted aside, not put in second place. These faithful women disciples play an important role in caring for their Rabbi and their friend, hurriedly washing and preparing His dead body for the grave, before the Sabbath begins at sunset.

            As Friday night swiftly approaches, with it comes the Jewish holy observance. Especially this special Sabbath—which falls during Passover. No work is to be done at all on this holy day of rest, not even the compassionate work of caring for a dead body.

            After Sabbath day and Saturday night end, it is now Sunday morning. Faithful Mary Magdalene heads out for the tomb even before the sun has fully risen. Can you see her, eager in her haste to get to the tomb? With some oils to anoint the body? As she comes near the tomb, she discovers the stone has been rolled away. The tomb is now empty. What happened? Mary runs to get some assistance, someone to come with her and check things out more fully.

            Sure enough, Mary tells what she discovered. Two of the—men—disciples come back with her. Mary returns with the other two, back to the tomb. They see the tomb, and sure enough. It is empty. And then, these two men disciples turn right around. Go back to the rest. In hiding.

            But—what about Mary? What does she do? Again, I come back to the indisputable fact that the women disciples are faithful and true. What a roller coaster ride Mary has been on. Starting on Palm Sunday, their leader Jesus marches right into the lion’s den, right into Jerusalem itself. All through the Passion Week, Jesus appears in and around Jerusalem, in the Temple, doing anything but keeping a low profile. I am certain the men and the women accompanying them knew very well that the Jewish leaders were planning on doing bad things to Jesus.

The women disciples show compassion, love, and care for their Rabbi, their master and friend. Mary stays put near the tomb. Jesus had been her best friend and her teacher. After she met Jesus, her life was different – and lots better! But now, Jesus had been killed and buried. Not only that, it appeared that someone had stolen his body. [1]

            At this desperate point, early on Sunday morning, Mary weeps. She does not know where her Lord and Master’s body has gone! After many days and nights of worry, anxiety, strong emotion, and intense grief, I can well understand how Mary broke down in tears.

            What about us, today? Have you ever been through days of intense emotion, gut-wrenching anxiety, even intense grief? All of those feelings tumbling and roiling through you? Then you know a little of what Mary was going through.

            What Mary did not suspect at first was that she was in the Greatest Story Ever Told. She sees Someone through her tears. She suspects this Person is the gardener, of all things! She says, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” 

            Then, Jesus—for it is He!—Jesus speaks to her. Jesus calls her by name. “Mary!”          Do you hear that? Jesus calls her by name. “Mary!” How sweet to have someone who loves you very much call you by name! Remember, I just said that Mary had been on an emotional roller coaster the whole week previous? Just think what this would do! Wow! Mary’s eyes are opened. Mary finally sees clearly, and responds, “Rabbi!” “Teacher!”

            There’s a word in the next verse that is sometimes misunderstood. In verse 17, Jesus tells Mary, “Do not hold on to me.” In the original language, Greek, the word ‘hold on’ or ‘touch’ is a present imperative verb. The verb in the sentence can be translated “Do not keep touching me!” Mary realizes that it was really and truly Jesus, in the flesh. I suspect she fell on her knees and grabbed onto His legs with every ounce of strength in her body. Clutching, crying, laughing. Can you just see her? Jesus, gently trying to get her to let go. “Mary, can you stop clutching at Me?”

            Can you see Mary now, as she understands in full. Jesus is alive! He is risen! She listens to Jesus, returns to the disciples, and declares the joyful truth to everyone!

            Mary is not only a faithful friend and follower of her Rabbi, she is also someone who carries the Good News! The news that Jesus is no longer dead, but He is risen! He is alive again. I want all of you to understand this all-important point. Jesus has entrusted Mary with the Gospel message. She is a preacher of the Good News!

Mary Magdalene is no longer just a supporting player, just a side note in the Gospel. Instead, she transitions to a lead actor in the Greatest Story Ever Told, here in John 20. And, one of the first and best preachers, sharing her experience, hope and joy.

            What a story! Except—this is not make-believe. This is for real. This is very much the truth. Yes, our risen Lord Jesus is alive. Yes, He is Lord. And, yes, He has conquered death once and for all. Do you hear? Listen again to the words of the disciple Mary. She told the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!”  

I pray we all can affirm together today: He is risen! Christ is risen, indeed!  

Alleluia! Amen!

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] https://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2016/02/year-c-easter-sunday-march-27-2016.html

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Hosanna to the Messiah!

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“Hosanna to the Messiah!”

Luke 19:28-40 (19:37) – April 13, 2025

            Have you ever been at a really big celebration? I mean a public celebration—like a ticker-tape parade, a celebration of a world championship, or the visit of an A-list celebrity? Something really, really big?

            From all the descriptions of the Palm Sunday Triumphant Entry in all four Gospels, that’s kind of what we are looking at today in our scripture passage. The celebration is really big, the Rabbi Jesus was a big-name celebrity, and this entry into Jerusalem was a first-century type of a ticker-tape parade. Except with palms!

            Let’s take a closer look. Here’s the situation: It’s almost Passover, the most important religious observance of the year. A great number of faithful Jews from near and far come to Jerusalem, in pilgrimage, in commemoration of the Exodus event. 

Jesus comes, too. He publicly, intentionally enters Jerusalem, even though the religious leaders are not very pleased with Him or what He has been doing for the past few years. Even though Dr. Luke does not mention the prophecy in the book of Zechariah (which the other Gospels do), Jesus’s disciples must have known about the prophecy of an entry into Jerusalem riding on a donkey. This was clearly a scene with “Messiah” written all over it.   

And Jesus does not sneak into the city, all hush-hush. No! He comes in with a parade! With crowds of people waving palms and shouting “Hosanna!” and “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!”

            What is the meaning of those cries of “Hosanna” and “Blessed is the King?” If we look at Psalm 118, we’ll find these words written by the psalmist. This was the usual Passover greeting one person would give another, except with the addition of the word “King.”  Just to let you all know, many of the crowd in Jerusalem on that Palm Sunday morning understood what they were quoting—they were intentionally welcoming someone they hoped would be their Messiah, their King! Someone who would save them from the awful situation they were in.

            There was a disconnect between the people and their limited understanding, and what Jesus actually was going to do. But I’m getting ahead of myself by rushing on to later in Holy Week. We are still here on Palm Sunday. And everyone is still excited to welcome the Rabbi Jesus—their hoped-for Messiah—into the city. They are hoping He will save them from the Romans and maybe, possibly, become their King. Except they had an earthly King in mind.

            But let’s read on in our scripture passage for today. Luke makes another striking statement. He starts to mention “peace.” “Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest!” What on earth is Luke mentioning “peace” for?

This sentence is an echo of the Gloria in excelsis Deo that the angels—the heavenly host—sang at the birth of the baby Jesus, several decades before. I know the heavenly host gave the shepherds good news of great joy, but wouldn’t that be good news for anybody? I know that was good news at the time Jesus was born, but isn’t that good news for today, as well? Peace? Glory in the highest? The difference is that at Jesus’s birth, it was peace on earth. Now, the crowd is saying “Peace in heaven.”

            So when Jesus enters Jerusalem, the crowd prays for peace in heaven. But the coming of Jesus causes a division. It causes anything but peace on earth.

            The theologian Tom Mullen makes this statement about his denomination (Society of Friends or Quakers): “They work for peace—and if you really want to cause conflict, you work for peace.” [1]  So it was for the Rabbi Jesus—the Messiah Jesus riding into Jerusalem. For all that Jesus wanted to bring peace, He and His message created division, tension, and crisis—as seen by the violent reaction of the religious leaders.

            I wonder about this tension, this violent reaction, this great desire for peace, yet a creation of division, tension and crisis. I know I have mentioned the Rev. Janet Hunt many time before in my sermons. She likewise ponders as we begin Holy Week, “If Jesus were to ride into my town today, what would be His means of transportation? What signs and symbols would speak today?” [2] The donkey was not the choice for a conquering King entering His capital city! The donkey was definitely a subversive choice for the Messiah, the Rabbi Jesus.

            I am not even going to explore what signs and symbols would display a Kingly entrance into a city today, except to say a royal entry usually entails a large police presence, a security detail, and lots of SUVs and a limousine for the royalty to ride in. Not so for the Rabbi Jesus!

Thank God, Jesus does not do that! He is more powerful than any division, any tension, any crisis. He entered the city not as an earthly King, not as a conqueror, not to set up a nationalistic empire, but as the True Redeemer of Israel. And not of just Israel, but also of the whole world. This Holy Week is where all of the prophecies focus to a fine point, and reveal the Rabbi Jesus as not only the Messiah and King, but also as the Suffering Servant. The Lamb of God, sent to take away the sins of the world.

            As we remember this Passover time, this Holy Week, we can thank God that our Lord Jesus did enter Jerusalem. As a King, as a Messiah, yes! But also as our Redeemer and Savior. Praise God, Jesus is our Redeemer and Savior, just as much as He was Redeemer and Savior for that crowd in Jerusalem on that Palm Sunday. In the first century, Jesus came to save His people from their sins. Praise God, He came to save us, too! Amen! And amen!

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] Mullen, Tom, Laughing Out Loud and Other Religious Experiences, (Friends United Press, Richmond IN: 1989) 50.

[2] http://words.dancingwiththeword.com/2016/03/the-donkey-subversive-choice.html

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Who is Hallowed?

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“Who is Hallowed?”

Philippians 3:4-13 (3:8) – April 6, 2025

            When I was in grade school, I used to read the encyclopedia and the dictionary. My grandfather was kind enough to buy my family a multi-volume World Book encyclopedia, and we got the yearly supplements, too! My love of words and desire for information goes back a long ways, and when I was in school, I used to read these reference books regularly, curled up in the arm chair in my parents’ living room!

          We are going to highlight “Hallowed be Thy name” as our section of the Lord’s Prayer for this week. Holy, or “hallowed” is what we say about God and God’s name every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer. I would like us to consider the word “Hallowed.” It’s quite an old-fashioned word! But, before we get to that definition for “Hallowed,” let’s take a closer look at our Scripture reading for today.

The apostle Paul is writing a thank-you letter to the church in Philippi. That’s his primary reason for writing this letter. At the beginning of chapter 3, he is just winding up into one of his great declarations. Do you know someone who boasts and brags a lot? Of course you do! I do, too. We can roll our eyes, or be really impressed, or somewhere in the middle. Paul right here is really bragging – a lot! At the beginning of this reading, Paul ticks off all the things that make him a super special Jewish person. For real!

          The apostle Paul (who often uses run-on sentences) goes on and on about himself, how much of a super Pharisee and righteous Jew he is, and even filled with great zeal for God. He is single-minded for the Lord! All God, all the time! But then—Paul comes to a complete stop. He says all of his marvelous resume is completely worthless, compared to the mega-awesome, super-special magnificence of knowing his Savior Christ Jesus his Lord. 

Listen: “7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith inChrist.”  

Paul – Saul that was – found his own self-righteous actions and trying to make himself righteous enough for God just did not work. There was no way he could earn enough “brownie points” to be acceptable to God.

In other places in the New Testament, Paul describes what an awful mess he was in when he realized this! The Pharisee Saul had lived his whole life acting self-righteous, putting on a show. Here, in Philippians, Paul cuts straight to the chase. He tells us he no longer trusts in himself or his qualifications. Instead, he trusts in Christ! Absolutely, one hundred percent.

We could consider Paul a boastful, self-important guy! I mean, telling us all of those high and mighty things about himself. And yet – look where he comes down. Remember, Paul writes from the perspective of one who has made a commitment to Jesus; and not just the human Jesus, either.  When our Lord and Savior Jesus appeared to Paul on the Damascus Road, that was a huge earthquake of an experience. The apostle Paul gives fascinating autobiographical details about himself, but then says all of that is worthless – garbage! compared to the ultimate joy of knowing Christ Jesus his Lord. Or, is that Christ Jesus our Lord?

Paul actually uses a swear word here, in verse 8. “I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.” – meaning, putting aside all his training, and superior resume, and everything else – “I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.” We might think of a four-letter swear word to use here instead of “garbage,” and that is exactly what Paul uses in the original Greek. He wrote this letter from jail in Rome. Even still, Paul speaks of the ultimate joy he has, knowing Christ!

            Let’s come at this another way. As a believer, Paul regards “everything” – his impeccable resume, his high position in Jewish society, his self-righteous striving to make brownie points with the Lord – of absolutely no value, in comparison with the far greater worth of knowing Christ. Experiencing and understanding Jesus Christ comes first of all, and is of far greater value to him!

We circle around, back to the phrase we are highlighting today, from the Lord’s Prayer. In this church, we pray it every Sunday. We are lifting up “Hallowed be Thy name” today. That quaint, old-fashioned word “hallowed.” But, what does this word really mean?

The retired Director’ of Children’s Ministries and commentator Carolyn Brown compared hallowed to the words awesome, special and wonderful. This is the very, very, very best. When we say “hallowed be Thy name,” those are words that can be applied only to God. Every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer, just like the apostle Paul, just like Mary of Bethany from today’s Gospel reading, we are saying “God, You are holy, You are the very, very, very best there is in the whole universe.” [1]

            Sure, only a small portion of Christians have a sudden, thunder clap of a Damascus Road encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, like Paul did. Yet, we all name Him holy – or, hallowed. Don’t we? We all pray the Lord’s Prayer, don’t we? 

Life was certainly no walk in the park for Paul, especially here. Yet, we can almost feel his joy right through the printed page. Even though, hardship – yet, there was joy! Even though, trials – yet, Paul felt joy! Even though, sickness – yet, Paul and his friends were joyful!

You and I are probably not in the happiest of places right now, with stress, uncertainty and anxiety all around us. Yet, Paul reminds us, we can experience joy in knowing Christ, the very, very, very best Person in the universe! If we place our trust and hope in Jesus Christ, His joy is available to us, any time! What a marvelous promise. Be joyful in Christ Jesus. Hallowed be His name. Amen.

[1] https://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2016/02/year-c-fifth-sunday-in-lent-march-13.html

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!