Acts 2:14a, 22-32
Psalm 16
1 Peter 1:3-9
John 20:19-31
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
The story of the apostle Thomas reaching out to touch the wounds of the risen Christ has inspired many gorgeous, haunting, and thoughtful paintings throughout history.
It is such a vivid story, it is no wonder.
But out of all of them, The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Italian Baroque master Caravaggio is my favorite.
Painted c. 1601-1602, the painting focuses on Thomas’ face and his surprise as Jesus tenderly holds his hand and guides it into the wound in his side, as two other disciples look on.
What could be gruesome, comes across as loving. Look at the expression on Jesus’ face. The way holds Thomas’ hand. The center of the story told in this painting is not doubt, it is love.
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Our Gospel today picks up the evening after Mary Magdalene had announced Jesus’ resurrection. The other disciples were still in the locked upper room, paralyzed by their fear. All except for Thomas, who was apparently the only one not bound by fear, and who had ventured out from their hiding place.
And so it was that he missed Jesus appearance in that locked room. He missed Jesus saying, “Peace be with you,” and showing them his hands and his side. He missed the gift of the Holy Spirit and being sent
But most of all, he missed the opportunity to know – to really know – that he was forgiven for succumbing to fear and abandoning Jesus in the hour of need just a few days prior.
I imagine that if I were in Thomas’ shoes, and I was the brave one who had left that upper room only to return and hear the tale of Jesus’ visit from my friends, I too would be incredulous.
What a wonderful word that is, incredulous. It is defined as the state of being unwilling, or unable, to believe something.
Thomas was indeed incredulous when he heard of Jesus’ visit, and so he asked for exactly what his friends had already received – the chance to see Jesus and touch his wounds. To know him as the risen Christ, and receive his peace.
A week later, Jesus met Thomas and his incredulous faith with love.
Jesus again appeared in the upper room, and stood among them saying, “Peace be with you.” And then he turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.”
In Caravaggio’s painting we see these words put to action. Jesus takes Thomas’ finger and puts it into his side. Up to the knuckle. This is incarnation at its most primal – there is no choice to stand on the sidelines of faith with the resurrected Christ.
And so there can be no doubt going forward for Thomas in the face of God’s love – he has been met by Christ and his response is to let go of his incredulity in favor of holy awe, proclaiming, “My Lord and my God!”
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We tell this story every year on the Second Sunday of Easter. I think it’s because it has so much to tell us about living as followers of Christ after the resurrection.
And what Caravaggio’s painting tells us, alongside John’s gospel, is that Jesus – human, divine, resurrected – will always find us and keep offering the promise of God’s abiding love, mercy, grace, and hope.
That when we lock ourselves away in fear – or in compassion and love like we are with this quarantine we now face – we’re not missing the chance to be with God.
God always come to us wherever we are, we just need to open our hearts to receive him.
And for this reminder of a truth we perhaps too often overlooked when everyday life had us busy coming and going, I give thanks to God.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!