SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER ...... 1.05.11
JOHN 20:19-31 ....... EIGHT DAYS LATER, JESUS CAME
At the time Jesus was arrested all his disciples abandon him and flee for their lives except for Peter and John who secretly follow Jesus to the house of the high priest. Soon after the death of Jesus all the disciples are huddled together in fear in a locked room.They feared that the Jews would soon arrest, torture and crucify them as they did to Jesus.They were not willing to suffer and die in such a horrible manner for Jesus. Hence they were shivering behind locked doors. They must have that thought enough is enough and decided not to have anything more to do with Jesus.They felt terribly let down by Jesus. Their grand dreams of ruling an earthly kingdom along with Jesus died tragically on the cross and lay buried in Jesus' tomb.They never entertained any thoughts of Jesus rising from the dead.They were awaiting their own execution any moment in paralysing fear. In this scenario Jesus enters through closed doors and reassures them that he is alive in flesh and blood by showing them the scars of his wounds.He breathes upon them the Holy Spirit of peace and healing and gives them the power to forgive themselves and their common enemies.The disciples are filled with great peace and joy.But Thomas who was absent wanted to physically confirm for himself that Jesus was alive. Jesus obliges him after eight days with another appearance through closed doors and admonishes Thomas for wanting to believe only after a personal revelation to him. Jesus says 'heard faith' is better than 'experiential faith'. Heard faith may sometimes lead to experiential faith by God's grace for deepening one's faith, but belief that comes by hearing the word from others is the most common and basic type of faith.This is the kind of faith that pleases God most.Sometimes we may envy those who claim to have been initially converted after having seen a vision of Jesus or heard his audible voice or even experienced the Spirit of Jesus in their inner most being.This happens only in extraordinary cases. But Jesus wants us to have a simple child-like faith in him that comes from just listening to his word preached by others or by reading the holy scriptures.This is the reason why Jesus commends those who believe in him without insisting on physically experiencing him. That is why most of us are blessed in the words of Christ. Faith is indeed one of the most precious gifts of the Holy Spirit.Let us pray for this gift of faith in greater and greater measure for us and for our loved ones.Let us pray for the faith that can discern God's plan for us in the daily circumstances of life.
God Bless.
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