Christ the King Epiphany / Wilbraham MA

John 20: 19-31

Dcn Michael Hamilton

April 12, 2026

Please pray that the words of my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts, may be pleasing and acceptable to God. Amen. (pbs)

When I am with my Floridian family on a Sunday morning, everyone comes back to Uncle Billy and Aunt Marylou’s house for coffee and chat after their respective church services. This coffee hour has been held for the past 20+ years, and most Sundays, 10-15 people arrive. I suppose it is like other families, but I have noted the supreme effort that goes into a cousin or relative retelling their story of the week and describing how they were the smartest, or the quickest, or the most generous person in the story. When we tell our stories, we tend to highlight the microscopic, good points and minimize anything that could discredit the speaker. It is family pathology, and it is a game that any number of people can play! But I must admit, my family would win Gold Medals if this were an Olympic team sport.

There’s no direct evidence that there was a personal conflict between apostles John and Thomas, but in the writing style, it is noted that John depicts Thomas as pessimistic, doubting, and too literal. In John’s gospel, Thomas is often portrayed as the imperfect mirror image of “the Beloved disciple”, and interestingly…. the ‘beloved disciple’ is usually attributed to be, John himself. I can picture this as clear as two cousins going at it at Uncle Billy’s house, each vying for the win in trying to clarify how misguided the other one is. You know the story; you have been to enough Thanksgiving dinners where this has been the unannounced entertainment.

Although Thomas also wrote a Gospel, it was not included in the final cut of what was accepted into the New Testament, and it was this unaccepted gospel that John was trying to refute and “correct.” In Thomas’ gospel, he focused on the inner knowledge and spirituality that the Kingdom of God is within you and that Jesus acts as a guide to help people discover the divine light within themselves already. It was this secret type of knowledge and mysticism that John was reacting against, because John believed that Jesus was the only way to the Father and that the Kingdom of God was a future destination rather than a realized and personal experience.

At Uncle Billy’s house, if one cousin wanted to land a ‘jab’ or establish that they were more “righter”, or “more smartier” than the other, a clever trick is to use language to diminish the foe. You could refer to them as “little Joe” or say something like, ‘yeah, I used to think like that when I was younger too…’ each an attempt to show a superior standing. A good example of this is in today’s gospel is the moniker of, “Doubting Thomas”. No one references Thomas the disciple straight up- but if you say “Doubting Thomas” or “Thomas, also known as the ‘Twin’, we know exactly who is being spoken about. Speculation on why John uses this ploy in naming Thomas the twin runs the gamut of;

· Thomas looked like Jesus' twin 

· When disciples are named, Matthew and Thomas are frequently linked, and they might have been twins

· The Syrian church believes that Thomas is Jesus’ twin brother

· The John conspiracy theories suggest another way of taking Thomas down a peg. In naming him “the twin”, John was indicating that Thomas was of two different minds and not committed to the more popular interpretation of who Jesus was.

As we see, without clear evidence, a list of interpretations is possible and none of them are actually based on truth or firsthand accounts. The decision to use descriptive names, nicknames, or even slurs is useful in setting the stage for the people who are listening. 

But is it fair? Should Thomas be branded for all eternity for not believing that the disciples had seen the crucified, dead, locked in a tomb with a big rock in front of it, Jesus? For 2000 years, Thomas has been painted as being non-believing, or unfaithful, or obstinate, and we tend to think less of him for saying that unless he saw Jesus with his own eyes or verified the wounds, he would not accept that Jesus had been raised from the dead. It sounds sane not to believe without proof because it was such an outrageous turn of events. Granted that there are differing accounts of what happened but did the disciples believe Mary when she reported that the Lord’s body had been stolen? In John’s recorded account didn’t he and Peter both run to see for themselves? IF you recall, John outran Peter and waited for Peter to catch up and go in first. Comically, some people say that John, the writer of the story, just wanted it to be known that he beat Peter in a race…. Doesn’t that sound like a cousin or sibling thing to do!?!  Again, how the story is told can be used to put forth one idea or another- Thomas the doubter vs John the most athletic. The next part of the retold story is that fearfully, the disciples were hiding in a locked room when Jesus appeared and said, “Peace be with you.” 

The disciples in that room had a personal experience with Jesus, they could hear, touch, and see Him which made is easy for them to believe. All Thomas asked for was what all of the disciples had already been given. Verification that Jesus was alive when it seemed so impossible, and yet, Thomas is somewhat blacklisted for all of eternity for questioning what was up until then, impossible. Continuing with the story, once Thomas sees Jesus the following week, he no longer needs additional proof. It is recorded that Thomas said, “My LORD and my God” as a statement of faith. This statement of faith is built into some understandings of the Eucharistic Prayer we used today. Without having to define the different interpretations of what occurs during the Eucharist between the actual body and blood of Christ, or the remembrance, or the ‘real presence’ of the body and blood, when the bread is raised with the words, “this is my body”, and the cup is raised with, “this is my blood”, people are welcome to acknowledge the elements by praying, “My LORD and my God.” By praying this, we are repeating the statement of faith that we now share with Thomas; that we believe that what is in front of us, without even knowing how it occurred, is the very presence of God. With these simple words, “My LORD and my God” we have entered into a spiritual moment that is powerful enough to change us.

I wondered if looking at how we acknowledge each other, how we brand someone, or present them in a story, is just hair-splitting semantics that doesn’t have anything to do with us today. I suppose it could be dismissed as irrelevant, but I am not so sure that it should be. As I think of current events, I see how the editorials and the news reports are filled with name-calling, or declarative statements about a particular person's personality, appearance, or mannerisms. Through these slurs and references, our biases are formed by the person telling the story or by the political party with the microphone at the moment. These are very effective tools, just ask Doubting Thomas. After two centuries, we are still being led to believe a particular slant, a platform, or the storyteller's preference of how to build themselves up, and the other, torn down. Having sat through enough coffee hours at Uncle Billy’s and even participating in casual conversations, I realize that I am tired of jumping on bandwagons and allowing others to direct how I think or feel about a person or event. I am going to try not to be led by others. Instead, I am going to practice stopping the name-calling, try to consider the entire event, and then make a decision that seems right to me. I want to think critically with a bent toward the Gospel truth that I know, rather than depend upon someone else’s interpretation. I think that we need to relearn how to curb and monitor what we say and how we say it. In order to be able to live and speak the Gospel truth in the world, we need to preach mercy, justice, and love. I am not talking about bible-banging and preaching on the corner or in the local coffee shop, but we preach the Gospel message with how we speak and how we live. If I am constantly fighting with someone or acting out in anger, that message might be popular in the world right now, but it won’t be the Gospel of Jesus.  I think we need to build our own credibility so that when we speak, we can be heard for the messages that we know are true.

· God is love. 

· God shows a preferential bent to the poor, the lonely, and the downtrodden.

· When we acknowledge ‘my LORD and my God’ in the Eucharist, we bind ourselves to one another into the One Body of Christ, even the people we don’t like.

· Most importantly, ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ 

Amen.