Christ is risen.  He is risen indeed, alleluia! As we were left with a cliffhanger in the Easter story last week, we hear what happens later that very same Sunday.   By this time, the disciples had already heard the news about Jesus’ resurrection, but they still didn’t fully understand all the signs and all the things that Jesus said about Himself.  It seemed too good to be true that Jesus was alive. And they weren’t really sure what it all meant for them.  Was this going to change things? Or better yet, how was this going to change things? They were afraid they might be hurt or killed just like Jesus was, and so they were hiding. 

Imagine the surprise of being in a locked room with several other people talking about a life and death situation when all of a sudden somebody else just pops into the room.  That probably would have surprised me.  And no doubt the disciples probably would have been a little nervous at seeing Jesus.  Sure, they were happy that He was alive, but do you remember how many of them stood by Jesus when He was being crucified?  None.  The practically abandoned Him when He was arrested.  But Jesus said “Peace be with you,” he calmed their fears and He showed them His hands and His feet so they would believe it was truly Him, and they were overjoyed.

But there’s always that one skeptic in every crowd, isn’t there.  Someone who believes that if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.  Thomas wasn’t there with the others that night and he didn’t believe them that Jesus was alive.  This Bible passage is where we get the “doubting Thomas” phrase. But really, does Thomas sound like he’s doubting? In verse 25 Thomas clearly says that unless could put his hands in the holes in Jesus’ body that he will never believe it.  He basically says “I’ll have to see it to believe it.”  It sounded too good to be true, so it probably wasn’t.  Does this sound like a doubter?  Not at all!  Then 8 days later, this time when Thomas was around, Jesus appears into a locked room again and says, “Do not disbelieve and believe.”  So Jesus wasn’t telling him to stop doubting.  Doubt was not the issue here.  Jesus was telling him to stop “unbelieving!”  Stop being unfaithful.  Again, the issue here is not doubt, it is unbelief.  There is a big difference between the two.  You can still believe and have your doubts.  But Thomas didn’t have doubts, he refused to believe in the resurrection.

It took Jesus Himself coming to him to lead Thomas to believe what seemed to be too good to be true.  In the same way it takes God Himself coming to people to take away their unbelief.  How many people in the world today have heard about our faith, have heard that Jesus was risen from the dead and yet still do not believe because they can’t see it with their own 2 eyes for themselves.  They can see Jerusalem and see the mount where Jesus died.  There’s no doubting most of the history in the Bible by anyone.  The late E. Stanley Jones told the following story.  "A Christian preacher was preaching in the bazaars in India, and a Mohammedan said, "Padre Sahib, we have proof in our religion that you haven't got in yours.  We can go to Mecca and find the tomb of Mohammed, but when you go to Palestine you can't be sure that you've got the tomb of Jesus."  Yes, said the Christian preacher, "you're right.  We have no tomb in Christianity because we have no corpse."  (For All the Saints, III, 1049).  And it’s all seems too good to be true, that someone else has died for me and now lives so that I can live forever.

So Jesus Himself still comes to people so that their doubts, but even more, their unbelief can be taken away.  Too often, people look around everywhere to try to find God, to try to hear His voice speaking telling you what you should do, where you should go, how you should act.  No doubt, God really is everywhere.  But, rather than looking everywhere for God, it’s really much easier.  John 20:31 “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life eternal in His name.”  So the whole world may know Him and can respond with those words of Thomas’, “My Lord and my God!”

Look where He promises to be: here in God’s Word and in the Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion.  We may not see Jesus standing in front of us just like Thomas did.  In the Sacrament of Baptism, He comes down from heaven and is present among those gathered, giving eternal life through the Water and the Word.  In the Sacrament of Communion, He comes again in His body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins.  Through the Word of Christ, He speaks faith into unbelieving hearts and casts away our doubts.

He takes your doubts and your fears and your shame and your bitterness and He makes them His own. And He takes His faith and His hope and His life and His joy and His glory and He makes them your own. He doesn’t remove your outward troubles; He gives you something better: inward peace.

Even though we have this story that seems almost too good to be believe, it is true.  Jesus really did rise from the dead, and we share in that Easter.  As I once heard it, “Easter is God shouting loud and clear that Jesus is risen and that He is the savior of all.”  Because of Easter, there is no doubt, no unbelief about one thing for certain.  Jesus lives!  And He always keeps His promises, just as He did on Easter.  So caste away any doubts, any fears, and be led to belief by the Spirit of God.  And because Jesus rose from the dead, so will you.  Because Jesus is alive, you have new life. Because He comes in Word and Sacrament, you are kept in the one truth faith. Because Jesus rose from the dead, Easter is your Easter.  Christ is risen.  He is risen indeed.  Halleluiah.