Easter 2 2022

John 20:19-31 (NIV) 19  On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 20  After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 21  Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." 22  And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." 24  Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25  So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." 26  A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though 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; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." 28  Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" 29  Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." 30  Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31  But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Although our worship services focus on the Word of God —the Bible, the actual book that most Lutherans handle in the worship service is not their Bible. In my experience, most Lutherans I know hardly every carry a Bible into the worship service. I myself have not used a physical Bible book in worship very often in the past 30 years. Why not? Because the passages that are read and preached on are printed in the worship bulletin.

So what book do we handle (and this is even becoming more infrequent because portions of it are printed in the bulletin and/or projected on a large TV or screen)? It is, of course, the hymnal.

History of hymnals used in Lutheran congregations.

What your first memories of using a hymnal in worship?

If I had asked this question 35 years ago, I may have had some very old members recall how they carried in their pocket a small leather bound hymnal like this one printed in 1908. [Mostly hymns, no liturgy, no musical notes, in German).

A few of our older members now may recall a slightly larger hymnal like this one printed in 1927. Liturgy, prayers, Psalms, hymns (still no musical notes), and in English.

My first hymnal was the 1941 The Lutheran Hymnal. I started using it in the 1960’s and received mine on my confirmation day on May 6th, 1973. Liturgy, prayers, psalms, calendar of when Easter would be until the year 2000, church year reference materials and suggested texts, hymns with musical notes, and in English.

We don’t use that hymnal anymore. (And not just because the chart of Easter only lasted until 2000). In 1993 many of our congregations began to use what we still may call the “new” hymnal: Christian Worship. (But if you had a car that was almost 30 years old, would you still call it “new”?) You are familiar with the contents of this hymnal that we handle during the worship service.

A new hymnal has now been introduced that our congregations are beginning to use in worship.

So many years, so many hymnals, so many changes.

One of the many changes is to the liturgy that is used in worship. No longer are we limited to page 5 (or page 15 if celebrating the Lord’s Supper) from TLH or the occasional Matins or Vespers services. And within the traditional page 5 (now page 15) liturgy, there are changes too.

One of them connects directly to what St. John wrote almost 2000 years ago. Did you catch what it was?

Recall what the congregation used to sing after The Epistle lesson: Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

What do we sing now? Alleluia, Alleluia. (Lack of the rough breathing mark.)

But when we use the “newer” liturgies on page 38 or 26? “Alleluiah! Alleluiah! Alleluiah! These words are written that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. “Alleluiah! Alleluiah! Alleluiah! (Interesting that this comes after the Second Lesson instead of the Gospel lesson from which it comes.

This part of the liturgy emphasizes the importance of the written word of God. Even though many people were able to see Jesus during his active ministry, and he made many convincing proofs after his resurrection that he was alive, after his ascension into heaven it is no longer possible for us to “see” and believe. We must rely on “hearing and believing.” This is one of the many truths taught in today’s Gospel lesson.

The circumstances are familiar. On that first Easter day, people began to see Jesus.

Luke 24:9–12 NIV84

9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

Thomas always gets run down because he doubted the witness of those who saw Jesus. Luke tells us that the other disciples did not believe the eyewitness testimony of the women at the tomb either. To reassure them, Jesus comes to them in the locked upper room and demonstrates he is alive and reassures them of peace. They say and believed.

Except for Thomas. Like the other disciples, he would not believe until he himself and seen and handled Jesus. So the next week Jesus returns and Thomas sees and believes:

John 20:26–29 (NIV84)

26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though 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; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” 28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus confirms the impact his appearance had on Thomas.

29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

From this account we get two well-known phrases: “Doubting Thomas” and “Seeing is Believing.”

Where did the expression Seeing is believing come from? Only concrete proof is convincing. The idea dates from ancient Greek times, and the expression appears in numerous proverb collections from 1639 on, in English and many other languages. Some writers disagree. Jesus told his doubting disciple, Thomas, that it was more blessed to believe without seeing (John 20:29).

As true as this statement can be, Jesus presses it forward by stating that there would be those who would not see, but who would believe in him and what he has done and still does for us.

Who heard Jesus say this? The disciples. Did they remember what Jesus had said and how it is true?

Peter would reference this truth in 1 Peter 1:3–9 (NIV84)

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

St. John would also have been there. He comments on why he wrote the Gospel of John. John 20:30–31 (NIV84)

30 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

And that is why we use the Bible in our worship services even if we don’t handle it as we do our hymnal. We believe that what was recorded in the Bible is the living and enduring Word of God and that it testifies about Jesus. Although the Bible also contains a lot of history, poetry, prophecy, and tells us of many people, its main subject is Jesus and how we have life through faith in him. And we we read, mark, learn and take the Word of God to heart so that our faith can grow and we can be confident in eternal life and have power to live for Jesus now.

2 Timothy 3:10–17 NIV84

10 You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 11 persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.