https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2020%3A19-31&version=ESV
So what kind of proof do you need? What's it going to take? How are you going to either believe that Jesus rose from the dead, or declare it all a lie? You know, it's up to you.
In this passage of scripture Jesus beathed on his disciples and told them to receive the Holy Spirit. This Holy Spirit is given freely to those gathered that Easter Sunday. They could refuse to accept the Spirit. You also can refuse the Spirit. Many people will and do refuse to accept the Holy Spirit as real. Many people will and do turn from the Resurrection of Jesus and claim that it was all a made up story of a delusional people who refuse to admit that Jesus died and is gone for good.
So, what's it going to take for you to believe. How much proof do you need? Even the disciples were unprepared to believe that Sunday evening after the Resurrection. They were hiding in fear of the Jews. And then the proof. Jesus comes to them from behind locked doors. How can this be?
If you begin to realize that Jesus was present at the creation of all things; why would it be a stretch that Jesus could appear from behind locked doors. The resurrected Christ is no longer bound by normal space conditions.
Ponder with me for a moment some words of Luther regarding The Promise of the Sacraments...
"... an object is circumscriptively or locally in a place, i.e. in a circumscribed manner, if the space and the object occupying it exactly correspond and fit into the same measurements, such as wine or water in a cask, where the wine occupies no more space and the cask yields no more that the volume of the wine... In this mode, space and object correspond exactly, item by item,
... The space is really material and circumscribed, and has it's own dimensions of length, breadth and depth."
Ponder those words carefully for a moment. Then think about the times you read in scripture of the Holy Spirit... even demon possession. Reflect upon spiritual passages. Think angels and stuff like that. You begin to understand that there must be something more to this "God" stuff than the material, objective things of the earth we live in. There must be more to God than rocks, grass, body, blood and things that take up space and volume.
Here are some more words from The Promise of the Sacraments...
"This (see above paragraph that I wrote), I call and uncircumscribed presence in a given place, since we cannot circumscribe or measure it as we measure a body, and yet it is obviously present in the place."
Here comes the good stuff...
"This was the mode which the body of Christ was present when he came out of the closed grave, and came to the disciples through a closed door, as the gospels show. There was no measuring or defining of the space his head or foot occupied when he passed through the stone, yet he certainly had to pass through it. He took up no space, and the sone yielded him no space, but the stone remained stone, as entire and firm as before, and his body remained as large and thick as it was before... For as the sealed stone and the closed door remained, unaltered and unchanged, though his body at the same time was in the space entirely occupied by stone and wood, so he is also at the same time in the sacrament and where the bread and wine are, though the bread and wine in themselves remain unaltered and unchanged."
Jeremiah 23:23, "I am a God at hand and not afar off. I fill heaven and earth."
"All this I have related in order to show that there are more modes whereby an object may exist in a place than the one circumscribed, physical mode on which the fanatics insist."
That's some amazing thinking. That is a very interesting thought. God exists in another dimension also. God can be everywhere. God can also fill a space. But then again... God created everything.
What kind of proof do we need to believe in the risen Jesus?
That first evening, the disciples were convinced that this was Jesus. They looked at his hands and his side. They believed!
Jesus gives us himself and fills his disciples with himself and his Spirit in this uncircumscribed presence. The disciples testify to us that we may believe. This is the beginning of the church inspired by the Spirit of Jesus to spread the gospel. And not just a few people. Many witnessed Jesus. So many that they recorded it all for all time. There were other sightings of Jesus that went unrecorded. What we have is just a sampling. A sampling of testimonies, that we, today, and tomorrow, may come to believe in the resurrected Jesus.
And then there's Thomas. What a testimony Thomas gives for us and all to come after us. A week later, the doors are shut again. No big deal for Jesus in his uncircumscribed, circumscribed world; Jesus appears and shows Thomas his hands and side. And Thomas displays the highest level of faith, proclaiming, "My Lord and my God!"
After all this... I can NOT NOT believe. I must stop and proclaim... My Lord and my God!
So... that recurring theme over the past few weeks takes place back then and now and in the future. Disciples throughout all time testify boldly to Jesus and the Gospel of grace as witnessed through the cross and the resurrection of Jesus. Disciples throughout time continue to testify and proclaim Jesus as Messiah. Disciples in their newly resurrected birth at the baptismal font along with all creation, praise the Lord.
And, even as we fail in our testimony in and of ourselves... WITH Christ we will succeed in the mission God calls us to carry forward. To attempt life in thinking I need to live for God, I will fail in my own efforts. I need Jesus spirit within me that I may live in Christ.
So there you have it. What proof do you need to believe in the risen Jesus? What proof do you need that Jesus took your sin and took care of it for all time? What proof do you need that through death there is life in Christ? What proof do you need to believe?
You can refuse Jesus' Spirit. You can stop and proclaim... My Lord and my God!
It's up to you.
So, as I approach that Table, as I see the bread and the wine; I will recall that closed door and that stone at the tomb, and see Jesus in the bread and wine, his real body and blood, and proclaim...
My Lord and my God! ...today... tomorrow... and forever. Thanks be to God!
No comments:
Post a Comment