Quasimodo Geniti (Easter 1) – April 27, 2025Psalm 8; Ezekiel 37:1-14; 1 John 5:4-10St. John 20:19-31
In the Name of the Father, and of the +
Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
On Easter evening, the 10 apostles were assembled behind a
locked door for fear of the Jews. The 10 apostles are the 12 minus Judas, who
killed himself, and Thomas, who is conspicuously absent. Christ our Lord has
already appeared to Mary and the other women, to Cleopas and the other disciple
on the road to Emmaus. Peter and John have seen the burial clothes folded and
laid in the tomb and yet the apostles gathered in fear. They did not fully
comprehend the resurrection of Christ.
Then Christ appears in their midst and judges their sin. He
judges their sin to be atoned for. He proclaims peace to the apostles. The
judgment is innocence – innocence won in the crucified hands and pierced side
of Jesus. There is a theme throughout St. John’s gospel – seeing is believing. St. John wants to emphasize the physicality of
Christ and His presence with His people.
We sometimes mistake John as being the “spiritual” or
“other-worldly” gospel and yet right from the beginning, “and the Word became
flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld” we saw, “His glory.”[1]
“No one has seen God at any time. The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of
the Father, He has declared Him.”[2]
It is in the presence of the flesh of Jesus that God the Father is made known.
In the presence of the crucified flesh of Jesus our salvation is made known.
There is a doctrinal point in this account which we must
address. Jesus Christ came to stand in the midst of the apostles according to
both His human and divine natures. In the resurrection, the attributes of the
divine nature are fully communicated to the human nature. This means that He
makes full use of His divine attributes in and with His human nature. He is all
knowing, all present, and all powerful according to both natures, now that He
is exalted. During the time of His humiliation, Christ denied Himself the full use
of His divine attributes. Now that He is exalted, He makes full use of them.
Why is this important? John Calvin, the father of the reformed churches, and many other modern evangelical teachers, will deny that Christ communicates His divine attributes to His human nature. They will claim that Jesus climbed through a window because it would be impossible for His human nature to pass through a locked door. At the same time, do not think that Jesus passed through the door as a ghost in a Hollywood movie. The text says He appeared in their midst. Christ is present in all places, at all times, in His human flesh. Thus, He revealed Himself to be in their midst even as He is already in all places at all times.
Christ’s ability to be present with the apostles according
to His human nature, despite the locked door, is directly related to the
ability of Christ’s flesh to be present on altars all over the world. His
humanity is not chained up in heaven, awaiting a divinely appointed appearance.
He is physically present with His people, even if He has not revealed Himself
in His full glory to us. He is reserving the revelation of His fullness for the
last day, when He will return just as He departed at the ascension.
It is precisely because our Lord knows He must ascend to the
right hand of the Father that He desires to institute the Office of the Holy
Ministry. No one can forgive his own sins. He must hear the words of absolution
from outside himself. Thus, in the crucified flesh which won our salvation,
Jesus breathes on the apostles, gives the Holy Spirit to the church, and sends
them to preach this word of forgiveness to the church. As He was sent into the
flesh to atone for our sins, now pastors are sent to deliver this forgiveness
to the world.
Which brings us to Thomas. Thomas is portrayed in St. John’s
Gospel as being zealous for the Lord. He demonstrates his faith in encouraging
the disciples to follow Christ, even when he went into Jerusalem to die. In
John 11, Thomas boldly proclaims “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”[3]
Why then was this bold disciple not with the other ten?
Scripture is not clear on this point, but the words of Jesus
tell us that Thomas was unbelieving. What did he not believe? The evidence of
St. John tells us that Thomas was zealous for the Lord and believed in His
word. It could be that Thomas was ashamed of his actions on Good Friday and so
he also had hidden himself. This seems like a poor choice, since he soon
rejoins the apostles but refuses to believe their words about the resurrected
Christ.
In fact, his confession that unless he touches the wounds in
Christ’s hands and puts his hand into Christ’s side, he would never believe is
quite profound. He is confessing that only in the wounds of Christ will he find
salvation. He has taken the words of Jesus seriously and insists on seeing the
wounds by which his salvation is won.
His denial to believe without visual proof is consistent
with St. John’s Gospel. His absolute denial to believe is blasphemy. “I will
NEVER believe unless I see the wounds.”[4]
This is where Thomas begins to get into trouble. He is obstinate. He refuses to
believe the words of those sent by Jesus to proclaim the forgiveness of sins.
He refuses to believe his brother pastors.
Putting this evidence together, we can see that Thomas believed he could do it himself. He was not gathered with the others because he knew better than them. Thomas is the man who can recite the catechism from heart, so he doesn’t think he needs to come to church. He is the man who daily reads the portals of prayer so that he doesn’t need to read the bible. Thomas is the man who doesn’t like the personality of the pastor, so he chooses to disagree with his teaching, avoid Bible Study, and nod off during the sermon. Thomas willingly stays away from the church because he thinks he knows better than those who gather.
Christ promised the apostles, “Where two or three are
gathered, there I am in their midst.”[5]
The apostles had gathered, albeit in fear, but they had gathered. They did not
neglect the coming together of the saints, even if they did so with imperfect
motives. Thomas refused. He believed he could make it on his own without the
support of the brethren.
Eight days after Easter, the following Sunday, the apostles
made sure Thomas was with them. Why eight days? Because it was the following
Sunday. They were gathered to pray, read Scripture, sing hymns, worship Christ,
and even to commune with Him. They knew Jesus would come back because He
promised to be where His people are gathered to hear His word and receive His
gifts. This is the definition of the church – the gathering of the saints to
hears God’s word and receive His gifts. And the apostles made sure Thomas
wouldn’t miss it this time.
Today is called “Quasimodo Geniti” after the antiphon of the
introit, “As newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word.”[6]
It is eight days after Easter. The apostles recognize not only are all people
as newborn babes, but Thomas especially is a newborn babe. He doesn’t know what
is best for him. For all we know, Thomas was dragged kicking and screaming into
the room that day. But because the other apostles love him, they do what is
good for him. They are being good pastors by not giving him what he wants
(solitude) but giving him what he needs – the pure spiritual milk, the pure
doctrine of the of the Word.
Thanks be to God the apostles loved Thomas enough to do what
was good for him. They brought him to church, where Jesus would be found. Then
Jesus commands Thomas to touch His wounds and Thomas cries out, “My Lord and my
God!”[7]
He is convicted by the word of Christ and his heart is converted. He repented
of his sins against the First and Third commandments and his sins against his
brothers.
It is in this context that Jesus proclaims a divine blessing
upon all who have not seen and yet believe. He is speaking of you and me.
Thomas blasphemed Christ by denying to believe anything without seeing. You are
blessed for believing without sight. This marks the transition in St. John’s
Gospel between Jesus’ earthly ministry, when He could be seen walking through
the door, and His exalted ministry, when He is present without sight on every
altar throughout the world.
Do not follow Thomas’s example of unbelief. Do not cut
yourself off from the physical presence of Christ and the church. The other
apostles knew to gather together, and Christ would be present. Thomas sought
Jesus in his own heart and faith rather than in holy mother church.
Do follow Thomas’s example in zeal and confession. Repent of
your sins and boldly cry out, “My Lord and my God!” Seek the Lord in His flesh,
given for you. Seek Him in His blood, shed for you. Seek Him in the public
proclamation of God’s word. Finally, seek Him in the words breathed out by His
apostles: pastors. To them He has given the authority to preach and teach you
concerning the Word of God. You may not always like what you hear, even as
Thomas thought he knew better, but it is the duty of the Pastor, as a loving
father, to guide you as a newborn babe to that which is good for you.
In + Jesus’
name. Amen.
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