The Big I-Told-You-So

Okay, Jesus didn’t actually say I-told-you-so with the attitude you and I might use, but in today’s reading from the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 24 (verses 35-48) he did point out to the disciples that he did exactly what he’d been saying he would do.

You and I?  We probably would have had some attitude going on, don’t you think?  We’d be like, “I TOLD you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms would be fulfilled.  I TOLD you  when I was with you that I would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.  And I TOLD you that you needed to repent of your sins and that you would be forgiven and that this would be preached in my name to all the nations.

You are witnesses of all this!  Weren’t you paying attention?

Yea, that would be us, don’t you think?

But Jesus, being the epitome of love, said it much better.  That’s because he knew that the disciples really couldn’t have understood what he had been telling them because it was outside their scope of experience.  When would they have ever gone through something like this before, in their lifetime?

Sometimes when I imagine living in the time of Jesus, I wonder if I would have been a doubting Thomas (John 20:24).  Let me see the nail marks in your hands so I can poke my finger in them.  Let me put my hand in your side.  I won’t believe unless I can do it.

The first thing Jesus said to Thomas about this, after a week went by, was “Peace be with you.”  These are not the words of someone with attitude.  These are the words of someone with the capacity to bring that peace.

In fact, he even told Thomas to put his finger in his nail marks, to look at his hands, and to go ahead and put his hand in his side.  And then, the best words Thomas could have heard—“Do not be unbelieving, but believe.”

After this, Thomas responded, “My Lord and my God!”  Naturally, it was easy to believe now that he was able to touch Jesus!  But, Jesus didn’t stop there.

“Have you come to believe because you have seen me?  Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

And that, brings scripture right into our own hearts.

How many of us remain unbelieving?

How many of us only believe because we can interpret an event in our lives as proof that God exists?

All along, Jesus warned people not to believe just because they saw him perform a miracle.  Those miracles were performed because of his love for his people, not because he was a magician trying to trick people into believing, or because that was the best way to get people to believe.

We know this because we just heard it from John, when Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

This really gives us something to contemplate today.

Why DO I believe?

As Christians, we need to face this question.

I have always loved the line from 2 Corinthians, Chapter 5, Verse 7, where Paul says, “We walk by faith, not by sight.”

And this is exactly what Jesus is asking us to still do today.  And while we cannot put our fingers in his nail marks, or touch his side, we can indeed hold within our hands, his body and blood, given in the sacrament of the Eucharist.

He knew this would be necessary for us, if we were to carry on, and it really is the most beautiful gift mankind has ever been given.

Definitely something to bring us joy during this Easter season!

Janet Cassidy
janetcassidy.blogspot.com
janetcassidy.blubrry.net (podcasts)