The beginning of exegesis...
19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were 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 his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
Jesus and Thomas
24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."
26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." 28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."
The Purpose of This Book
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31But these are written so that you may come to believed that Jesus is the Messiah,e the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
I. Select the Text = 1st Sunday after Easter
a. Text begins just after Mary found the empty tomb; and ends just before Jesus appears on the shore of the Sea of Tiberius.
b. Establish a reliable translation for the text: NRSV.
II. Getting Introduced to the text
a. Basic understanding:
Jesus has been raised from the dead - where was He?
Why has He not yet ascended to the Father?
Does he come on purpose the first time knowing that Thomas isn't there? Is this so He can make a point later?
Why doesn't Thomas believe his friends? Was he the loner they made fun of all the time? Did he stand out because he was different?
Did the other disciples not usually tell Thomas the truth?
b. Larger context:
Blessed are those that believe but do not see.
What were the other things that He did that weren't written?
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A very interesting beginning to the text. I was wondering how this fits in with John's overarching themes. Any thoughts? Also, I find it interesting that you are looking at why Thomas was the loner of the group. What do you think that will say to your congregation?
ReplyDeleteA quote from Hipps that might generate some more thinking: "Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if Thomas had died just seconds before his finger touched the wound." (p.86, Hipps) Read more on 86-87. You seem to have a great start to an exceptional sermon
ReplyDeletePoor Thomas. Why does he always seem to get such a bad rap? What if: Thomas is actually one of the "heros"? What if Thomas actually gave voice to what everyone else what thinking but were afraid to ask - sort of like in a classroom setting, where one brave student asks the "obvious" question, but no one "dares" to look stupid?
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