Video of the Divine Service is here. The sermon begins at the 27:00 mark.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. But no one saw that God. No one could see that God and live. Though God was the creator of all things, visible and invisible, no person could see Him in His glory and His eternity. What’s more, after Adam and Eve turned from the Light of God’s words to the darkness of their own thoughts and decisions and choices, no one wanted to see that God. Because now the light of God is a consuming fire for sinners. It is a reverse eclipse: the Light swallows up the darkness; the Presence of God swallows up unbelief; the Life swallows up death; His righteousness swallows up sin. He will have a perfect creation, one way or another.

But we’re always a little unsure what that might mean for us. This God, hidden from the blind eyes of sinners, might do anything. It seems to come naturally to us to think in these terms, even if we don’t want to: That this God might destroy you now, or tomorrow, or next week. Maybe He will take away good things from you because you have an unconfessed sin. He might kill you, or your spouse, or your child, because of something you’ve done. We have these thoughts, this guilt, when bad things happen to those we love, that maybe it’s happening because of something we have done. I’ve heard it many times. This hidden God, unseen by human eyes, might do good things for you now, but next week, when you have trouble, or sickness, or your bank account is empty, where will He be then? Who is He? Who knows what God might do?

But God doesn’t want you wandering in the darkness, groping around for an unseen God, crying out to an unknown deity, trying to figure out from day to day what He might be doing. No one has ever seen God, both because His glory is beyond humans, but also because sinners are blind to God when He does act. That is not the way He wants it to be, however. So the Word who was God and was with God was made flesh to dwell among us. And now we have seen His glory, which is the glory of the uniquely begotten Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. The uniquely begotten God, who is at the side of the Father, He has interpreted the Father to us (John 1:14-18).

The unseen has become visible. The Light who was always the life of people has now become visible. And not only visible, but tangible. Your God is not only the invisible God from eternity, in unapproachable light, but visible and tangible in the flesh of Jesus. There is no other God like this. Other religions might have gods who appear for a little while, taking on some kind of avatar or visible form for a little while, but it is always only temporary. Our God has taken on flesh forever, so that He can be heard with a human voice, seen in human flesh, and touched in that flesh. He took that flesh from His mother, was born in that flesh, hungered and thirsted and slept in that flesh; suffered in that flesh; was crucified, bled, and died in that flesh. And He did not give up that body even after death. He was raised in that body, and appeared, Paul says, to all the apostles and to 500 people at one time in that body.

That’s the God that Thomas demanded. He refused to have any other God than the one who was in flesh, with blood, and wounds. The one who had been crucified and still is the crucified one. Thomas would have no other God. And perhaps you can identify with Thomas. You want something to hold onto. You have trouble considering a God who is hidden from you, somewhere in heaven, even if He did walk around on the earth once upon a time. Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will definitely never believe. Whether Thomas was right or wrong to speak this way, he was right about one thing: without this God, there is no faith; there is no forgiveness; there is no life; there is no light at all.

This, of course, is the God Thomas got: He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see My hands and bring your hand and put it into My side, and stop being an unbeliever; believe instead.” That’s the God Thomas demanded, and that’s the God he got. “My Lord and my God!” Because you have seen Me, you have believed, Jesus said. The ones not seeing and believing are blessed. This is not because seeing and then believing is bad, but because Jesus knew that there would be millions and millions who have not see Him yet as Thomas saw Him.

And John knew that, too. His letter is written to people who probably did not see Jesus in the forty days after His resurrection. Nevertheless, everything depends upon the resurrection of that Jesus who could be seen, because He was raised in His body. So John writes, “The one who was from the beginning, whom we heard, whom we saw with our own eyes, whom we beheld and handled with our hands, concerning the Word of Life—and the Word has been made visible, and we have seen and we are bearing witness and proclaiming to you the eternal life who was with the Father and made visible to us” (1 John 1:1-2). Our entire faith depends on the Jesus who was seen and heard and handled by these eyewitnesses, by John and by Thomas, and by the rest.

Perhaps that seems like a flimsy foundation for faith and life. We have very few authorities, if any, whom we trust enough for living through the next week, let alone eternal life. Why should Thomas and John be any different? The difference between Thomas and John and those who claim various kinds of authority today is that Thomas and John have only one thing to tell you: Jesus is alive, and your life, both now and eternally, is in Him. The one whom we have seen and heard, we are now proclaiming also to you, he says. And this is all for one purpose: that you—you—might have communion with those who saw and heard and touched Jesus in His risen body. What good is communion with them? Well, communion with them is actually communion with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And, as we heard on Holy Thursday, communion is sharing something in common. This word that we hear from Thomas and from John is not like every other human word. The simple difference is that it does not depend on them or on their authority, but on the resurrected Jesus—on His authority—the one of whom they are speaking. I will never get tired of saying that everything we believe, everything we confess, everything we do depends entirely and completely on the fact that Jesus’ actual body is no longer in the grave. Everything depends on Jesus actually appearing to them and speaking “Peace” to them. Everything depends on the fact that, whether or not they did, Thomas, or John, or Peter, or any of them could have reached out and put their fingers in the print of the nails, or into His side where the spear had brought forth blood and water. It is the word and the fact that causes Thomas to say, “My Lord and my God.” No other God, no other man, could have changed his unbelief to faith, and brought that confession from his mouth. It’s all or nothing.

And, for you, John says, it is all. This is written so that you will have full and complete joy. This is written so that you will believe and go on believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. And like Thomas, you will be a believer and have life in His Name. All this is for you. All the resurrection, all the eternal life, all the Father and all the Son, because if you have the Son you have the Father. You have this even though you, unlike Thomas and John, have not seen Him yet. You have the same Word from the same Jesus. You have the same Body and Blood, and so you have the same life. And if you have this life, in this Jesus, you have the forgiveness of your sins, now and forever. Confess your sins, because you know this Jesus is alive. If you don’t have Him, you will not confess your sins. You will, in fact, say that you have no sin. But that is a lie, and you are children of the Truth. So we come week by week in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and we confess our sins. And He is faithful and righteous. He has taken away your sins, and He will not stop until there is no more sin in you and in me and in all His people. The Light will drive out all the darkness, and the righteous one will cleanse you from all unrighteousness. So we eat His holy body and drink His holy blood, and He keeps doing that forgiving and cleansing work.

All this is so that your joy will be complete and full. When will that be? When Jesus appeared by the Jordan River, and John the Baptist heard Him, he said, “Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:29). And Jesus says to His disciples, “These things I have spoken to you, so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11). For now, Jesus says, “you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. … You have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (16:20, 22). Jesus saw them, and they saw Him, and no one can take away the resurrection joy of Jesus. You, a believer, though you have not seen Him, have that same joy, but it is mixed with sorrow and weeping in this world. But when you see Him face to face, and hear Him call your name, then your hearts will rejoice with an unmixed joy, with a full and complete joy, and there will be no one and nothing to take your joy. It is in Jesus, who cannot die anymore. He gives you His body and blood now so that you will know the tangible fact of His resurrection life. But you will see it as Thomas and John did. Your believing will become seeing, and your seeing will become touch, and your life in Christ will never end. You are the blessed ones; here He is for you, and there He will be, your Lord and your God.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7, ESV). Amen.

— Pr. Timothy Winterstein, 4/5/24