[Pearls Ep 167: Bringing Sunday into the week.]
In this week’s Pearls of the Interior Life (and this series of messages) we’ve been looking at the transition from the Lenten Gospel message of Jesus’ promise to bring us new life, to the Easter Gospel message that we can trust Jesus to make good on that promise – since He is the Author of Life (as demonstrated by His resurrection).
The challenge many of us encounter (including the person with his busy fingers on the keyboard right now) is we that tend to think of Jesus as being the All-Powerful, All-Knowing, Creator of Everything … buuuuuut … He is not available or perhaps unwilling to address our concerns which, while tiny compared to running the Universe, are still very pressing for us.
Of course, deep down we know that isn’t the case. But in the fray of daily activity there’s often that pesky voice whispering in our ear “you’re on your own” – or some variation of that.
What to do with that pesky voice?
Well, in Sunday’s Gospel reading we’re told that the disciples “rejoiced when they saw the Lord.” Why did they rejoice? Because they didn’t think Jesus was coming for them. They thought He was dead. But instead, there He was. And so they rejoiced.
In those times when we feel like we’re on our own, and that Jesus isn’t coming for us – that is when we need to turn to these scripture passages, and also call to mind our own “pearls” (those times when we’ve had a powerful experience God’s action in our life).
And then we remind ourselves that even if it seems like we’re on our own in the midst of a trial (like the disciples, shut in a room with the doors locked) that there will soon come a time that we will “rejoice when we see the Lord.”
Easter blessings –
Steve and Karen Smith
Interior Life
Postscript: Doubting Thomas (Jn 20:19-31)
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. 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.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”
Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to 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 into the nailmarks and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see My hands, and bring your hand and put it into My side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”
Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”
Now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.