.....many of us are discovering all kinds of things that we can do ‘on-line’

PEACE BE WITH YOU – A Reflection on John chapter 20 verses 19 to the end

During the present time, when we are for the most part confined to our homes, many of us are discovering all kinds of things that we can do ‘on-line’on the internet.  I have conducted funerals in the last few weeks joined by mourners remotely connected to the service through technology. I “preached Easter” to a camera lens which felt very odd indeed, although it came straight from my heart to yours.  Children have been taught on-screen by their teachers. We have learned to conduct virtual business meetings. There are light-hearted things too, pub quizzes, choir singing, exercise classes, even family mealtimes. On the news, I have seen that people have shared nature walks, birdwatching, and visits to art galleries – all through the internet. But these things always seem to me to be rather ‘second-hand’ and removed. The wildlife you see on screen is two dimensional, and you can’t feel the wind lifting your hair, or smell the bluebells stems brushed by your feet, or pause pretending to admire the view, while you secretly get your breath back.

In these strange days, we are learning to live with this new way of doing things. But consider – perhaps there is a little too much ‘screen-time’, too much virtual reality. We think we are doing many of the things we did before ‘lockdown’ but none of us really imagines that a ‘virtual’ meal with family on Zoom, however hard we work at it, really compares with being together in flesh and blood, with the hugs of greeting, the smells of food to be shared, the passing of plates for – “well, just one more Yorkshire pudding please mum!”.  On Zoom, my eyes can see their faces, my ears can hear their voices, but I know too that my arms are missing their hugs, my lap is missing the weight of my grandsons as they clamber up to share a book. It’s that physicality of presence that we miss, if we’re honest with ourselves.

Curious then in the light of that thought, to be thinking about this Sunday’s gospel reading – when the disciples were behind locked doors, for fear of ‘the Jews’ rather than a pandemic virus!  

It’s all too easy to be critical of the cowering disciples, who, it seems, are still stuck in the same place, unwilling to move on from the horrors of the crucifixion.  Jesus, their companion, their leader is gone from amongst them, they are shocked still by the manner of his death, unable to comprehend fully the news that has been brought to them that he lives still, in his resurrected body. In our gospel reading today, we learn that they were together, but each fearful, and alone in that fear. 

In the midst of that fear, I love that Jesus comes with those words of reassurance… “Peace be with you” – Shalom. And he breathes the Spirit, he breathes freedom from fear, he breathes forgiveness, he breathes reconciliation and a new beginning.  For the disciple, Thomas, who was not there at the first visit, it is even more difficult. It is as if Thomas desperately needs the physicality of Jesus there with him, the blood and bone and flesh and the touch of him. Jesus recognises that need and meets it.

I hope that in recent weeks, you have been able sometimes to turn aside from the screen, from all those recordings of worship services, good though they may have been, and encountered God in the immediacy of your physical surroundings, in the quiet of the dawn, the warmth of the sunshine, the sight of white blossom against the blue sky, the friendly wave from a distant neighbour.

This year, perhaps more than ever before, I can identify with Thomas’s need for the tangible, the physical. Separated as we are from each other, unable to participate in the communion service together, I realise how physical is the faith we share, and how wonderful it is that that faith is shared in a handshake, a hug, the reality of the warmth of human love, and the sharing of a meal.

The Gospel of John Chapter 20 verses 19 to the end

¹⁹ On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

²¹ Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ ²² And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.’

²⁴ Now Thomas (also known as Didymus^[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord!’

But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.’

²⁶ A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.’

²⁸ Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’

²⁹ Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’

³⁰ Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. ³¹ But these are written that you may believe^[b] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.