John 20:1-23 + Isaiah 53:9-12

What am I looking for?

Presentation: Light Shines .mp4 5:16sec

If you’re wondering, that’s a picture of Thomas with his finger being stuck into the side of Jesus[1]

See how Caravaggio captures the moment when Thomas can’t even look Jesus in the eye as he does that.  Why is it we so want to be the one who touches the evidence, when it’s all still there right before our eyes?  Thomas demands evidence.

Today, we celebrate the evidence of God dealing with sin and death and allowing us forgiveness and new life.  Easter Friday leaves us with a black day; a scene of loss and grief, and the helplessness at the face of death. 

This Easter Sunday the joy we find is Jesus is alive.  He has triumphed over death.  The cross was where sin was taken away.  Eternal life is now possible.  Jesus rose again that first Easter morning.  It didn’t feel like a celebration at first, as everything seemed bleak.  These eyewitnesses don’t spare us their feelings either; the women who watched the death of Jesus including Mary, the soldiers who cast lots for Jesus clothes, one who later thrusts his spear into Jesus side, and Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus,  who bury the body of Jesus.