Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

You all may be familiar with this story. Thomas wasn’t there the first time. Thomas demanded proof before he would believe. But don’t you think it strange that the physical signs that Thomas asked for were not specifically proof of Jesus’ resurrection, but rather proof that He was crucified? Think about it. This absent disciple declared that unless he saw the nail marks in the Lord’s hands, the gash in His side where the spear went in and he actually touched these wounds, he would not believe what he heard. Of course, Jesus did not get these wounds when He rose from the dead that first Easter Sunday. These wounds are the signs that He was crucified. They were already there after Good Friday. Granted, it would be quite a feat, a real miracle for these same horrible wounds to be found on a living, breathing body, and that’s part of it, but all the same for Thomas the most convincing proof of Jesus’ resurrection and life would be His wounds that came from His crucifixion and death.

But there is more to those wounds of Christ than just mere evidence. Thomas knowingly or unknowingly put his finger on a greater value that these signs on Jesus’ body have. Had he thought real hard about the resurrection of the body, what would have told him that Jesus would still have those scars from the crucifixion in the first place? Now, you believe and confess that at the last and final Judgment Day that your body will rise from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus Himself confirms this your hope as true and certain. You also believe that your body will be raised imperishable, without any defect or sign of death caused by sin. So why did Jesus still have those wounds from His crucifixion, if it is true that all bodies will be raised from the dead perfect? You see, Thomas may have known more than we give him credit for.

It was like his mind was focused on those wounds of His Lord Christ and nothing else mattered. The wounds of Jesus, along with the whipping, the beating, the spitting and the dying—these were still seared into Thomas’ memory. Remember, this whole ordeal had only happened a few days ago! But for all those disciples, especially Peter who denied Jesus, the memory was even more vivid that reminded them of their sin. They deserted Him, so He had to suffer all those things and receive those terrible wounds because of them. Nothing could possibly make these disciples forget that they were the cause of those five gaping holes in the hands, feet and side of their Savior.

These wounds stand as a reminder for you as well. For not only the disciples caused the suffering and death of Jesus, but the sinful condition into which you were born, this also was brought down on the innocent head of the Son of God. And that sinful condition in your heart has lived itself out in your life as well. You have wounded Jesus just as much as Peter and Thomas, the Jews and the Roman Soldiers did. Your love of speaking lies and straining to listen for half-truths; your hurtful words to your family, friends, and co-workers; your readiness to complain and think the worst of people and your unwillingness to do your part in making things right. These sins of yours have wounded your Savior. When you overreact in anger, when you entertain a lustful thought, when you set a bad example for others, it caused extreme pain for the God who loves you with an everlasting love. It is from your sins and mine that Jesus has His wounds.

But never forget that from those holy wounds, you have your healing. Those gashes in the resurrected human body of Christ are no mere battle-scars. They do not remain so that Jesus wants you to make sure you feel sorry for Him. They are rather the blood-colored trophies of victory, “crimson trophies” as the hymn puts it, they are rich wounds that are yet visible above in heavenly glory. They are so bright with the Divine triumph of Easter that the angels themselves have to “downward bend their burning eyes.” [LW 278] They are so much a part of who He is that to say the name of Jesus in sign-language, you point to… His wounds on each hand! For much more than a reminder of your sin, the wounds of Jesus are an everlasting assurance that your sins are forgiven. When Jesus died and was buried in the grave, your sins were buried with His Body. When He rose from the dead, your sins stayed in that tomb, dead and buried. The wounds that were full of excruciating pain and the burden of sin upon your Lord, now they are the source of your life and peace.

For you do not worship a Jesus that you have to imagine. Since His conception in the womb of the Virgin Mary, He has been a flesh-and-blood Jesus with a real body, not some far-off God who just sits up in heaven and tells you what you’ve gotta do to please Him. That’s how false gods act. The one true God is your heavenly Father, who sent His only Son to clothe Himself in your human flesh so that with His human lungs He could breathe the Holy Spirit into you to give you forgiveness and new life. You believe in and worship a risen-from-the-dead Jesus who has been seen, heard and touched by His disciples and the other people of so long ago. And though you have not seen, yet have you heard the Divine word that these eyewitnesses preached and wrote down for you in the Bible and because of this, you have believed.

Blessed are you! Jesus says. For from those blessed, glorious wounds that Jesus extended forth to Thomas and the other apostles, you have attained your victory over sin and death. From the hands of your minister, who is a true successor to those first preachers of the New Testament, you eat and drink the Body and Blood of the Risen Savior who came even to Doubting Thomas, that he too may believe. And thanks rightfully goes to Thomas also, who called for those glorious wounds of Christ, because now you know the true source of your healing. It is not from your prayers to God or your thinking positive thoughts or doing any such thing that you receive a blessing, but rather it is the richness of your Almighty, heavenly Father that comes pouring through the mysterious wounds of God the Son to fill the cup of blessing that sits on this holy altar each week.

And at the Last Day when you are raised from the dead and you are rid of all your body’s ailments and all the other fruit of sin and death, then you shall see your blessed Lord in all His glory. You will also see His holy wounds, just as the apostles did, for they are signs of victory for Jesus and signs of the sureness of eternal joy for you. Though for now you may bear some part of His suffering, as St. Paul says he bears in his body the wounds of Jesus, yet you know the risen Lord’s promises to you. Blessed are you, not that you have yet seen, but you have heard and tasted that the Lord is good, and blessed are the works of His hands, the salvation that is yours because of the wounds of Jesus.

In the Name of the Father and of the ✝ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Readings:
Acts 5:12–32 We ought to obey God rather than men
Psalm 148 He commanded and they were created
Rev. 1:4–18 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last
John 20:19–31 Unless I see in His hands…I will not believe.