JOHN 20:19-29

[19] On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

[20] When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

[21] Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

[22] And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

[23] If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

[24] Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.

[25] So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

[26] Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”

[27] Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”

[28] Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

[29] Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Most people know him as Doubting Thomas but you could also say that Thomas was the alpha disciple.  That’s because Thomas was a take charge kind of guy.  He was a person with a lot of drive and determination and we admire people like that.  Take the woman for example who went looking for a job at a prestigious company.  Unfortunately, the personnel manager was very busy that day and quickly brushed her off.  “I’m sorry,” he said, “but we don’t have any openings right now.  Why don’t you come back in about 10 years.” Instead of being offended the woman just smiled. “No problem,” she said. “Would morning or afternoon be better?”  The personnel manager found her a job.

Now compare that to Charlie Brown, the loveable loser who always seems to end up with the short end of the stick.  In one cartoon Charlie Brown is playing baseball and he ends up striking out.  He then goes back to the bench and says very dejectedly, “Rats!  I’ll never be a big league ball player.  All my life I’ve dreamed of playing in the big leagues.  I’ll never make it.”  At that point Lucy does her best to console him.  “Charlie Brown,” she says, “You’re thinking too far ahead.  What you need to do is set more immediate goals for yourself.”   Charlie Brown looks at her and asks, “More immediate goals?”   “Yes,” Lucy says emphatically.  “Start with this next inning when you go out to pitch.  See if you can walk out to the mound without falling down.”

We admire people who show a lot of drive and determination which brings us back to Thomas.  Thomas was an alpha disciple, a take charge kind of guy.    The evidence is right there in John’s Gospel. First of all, go back a few chapters to the point where Jesus announces to the disciples that he’s going to go to Jerusalem.  Jesus tells the disciples that when they get to Jerusalem he’s going to be handed over to sinful men.  When Thomas hears that he springs into action.  He turns to the other disciples and says, “Let us also go, that we may die with him…” (11:16)

Thomas was an alpha disciple, a take charge kind of guy.  You can also see it by asking yourself this question.  Why wasn’t Thomas there when Jesus appeared to the disciples in that room? John tells us that the disciples were all hiding in that room behind locked doors for “fear of the Jews.”  All of them were afraid.  All of them were hiding except for Thomas. So where was Thomas?  We don’t know.  Maybe he was out looking for food.  Or maybe he was out checking to see if the coast was clear.  Or maybe he was simply taking a walk to let everyone know that he wasn’t afraid of the high priest or the Romans.

Yes, Thomas was an alpha disciple, a take charge kind of guy which is why he reacted the way he did when the disciples told him that they’d seen the Lord. Does Thomas rejoice when he hears the news?  No. Instead of celebrating Thomas issues an ultimatum.  “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

That’s an alpha disciple talking there.  So, what does Jesus do after Thomas issues his ultimatum?  Does he immediately materialize out of thin air and show Thomas the wounds?  No! Jesus does something to Thomas that everyone hates.  You hate it.  I hate it.  We all hate it.  He makes Thomas wait. Monday goes by, then Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and finally it happens.  Eight days later…that’s what John says in his gospel.  Eight days later Jesus shows up and when he shows up he makes it clear to everyone that he isn’t very happy with his alpha male disciple.

Jesus scolds Thomas and says to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me?  Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Thomas may have been an alpha disciple, but Jesus makes it very clear to Thomas that Jesus is the alpha and the omega.  As it says in the Book of Revelation, “I am the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” (22:13) That night Thomas comes to understand that Jesus is the one who is ultimately in charge. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe, Thomas.”.

That alpha Jesus is very different from the Jesus that some people profess and proclaim these days.  The Jesus that some people want can be seen by looking at a story about a boy who was standing on a sidewalk one day.  When an elderly man asked him what he was doing the boy said that he was waiting for the bus.  “Well,” the elderly man said, “You’re going to have a long wait.  The bus doesn’t stop here.”  The boy smiled.  “Don’t worry,” he said.  “The bus will stop for me.”  The elderly man shook his head.  “What a silly, stubborn little boy,” he said.  With that the elderly may started to walk way.  He didn’t get very far though before he heard the tell tale sound of air brakes coming to a stop.  When he turned around he couldn’t believe his eyes.  The bus was actually stopping for the boy.  When the doors opened the boy waved to the elderly man and shouted, “I told you the bus would stop for me.  My daddy is the bus driver.”

Some people want a Jesus who’s like that.  They want a meek and mild Jesus who’s always there when you need him.  They want a warm and fuzzy Jesus who comes running when you need him. That’s not the Jesus though who showed up that night and told Thomas to put his hand in the wounds.

Thomas may have been an alpha disciple but Jesus made it clear that he is the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end of all things.  You can see the Jesus who is the alpha and the omega throughout the Gospels.  He’s the alpha and the omega who saved the life of that poor woman when he stared down that angry crowd and said, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.”  He’s the alpha and the omega who  sent the greedy moneychangers running for cover when he turned over their tables and said, “It is written my Father’s house shall be a house of prayer but you have made it into a den of robbers.”  He’s the alpha and the omega who in the Garden of Gethsemane ordered Peter to put away his sword and said, “He who lives by the sword will die by the sword.”

Jesus is the alpha and the omega and life is always going to be better when you put him in charge.  When you put him in charge it will lead you to a better life, a fuller life; a richer life; a much happier life.  Elwin Wilson found that out a few years ago.  If that name sounds familiar it’s because Elwin Wilson was in the news recently.

Back in the 1960’s Elwin Wilson was a card carrying member of the KKK.  He burned crosses on people’s lawns.  He hung a black doll in a noose at the end of his driveway and threw cantaloupes at black men walking down the street.  One day at his father’s service station he even hurled a jack handle at a black boy who was try to use the soda machine.  Elwin Lewis also took part in the brutal beating of a young man at a bus station in Rock Hill, North Carolina. 

That was 1961.  Now fast forward the clock to the fall of 2008.  Shortly after Barack Obama was elected president Elwin Lewis picked up the phone and called the Rock Hill newspaper. He said he wanted to confess and apologize.  He said that he wished he could find all the people he mistreated and apologize to them all.  One of the people Elwin Wilson was able to find was the young man he attacked at that bus station. The young man’s name was John Lewis and Elwin Wilson knew exactly where he could find him.  He knew where to find him because many years after he was beaten up and beaten down in that bus station John Lewis was elected to Congress as a representative from the State of Georgia.  So Elwin Wilson went to Washington D.C. and apologized to Representative Lewis. In an interview with the Associated Press Elwin Wilson later said, “All I can say is that it has bothered me for years, all the bad stuff I’ve done.  And I found out there is no way I could be saved and get to heaven and still not like blacks.” Elwin Wilson died on Maundy Thursday, March 28.

You may be an alpha but Jesus is the alpha and the omega and life is always better when you put him in charge.   Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

April 7, 2013