Rejoice in the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The gospel reading from John shares two of the times Jesus appeared to His followers. Both of these accounts are centered on the disciples hiding behind locked doors in the room where the Last Supper occurred. He appears first to ten of the remaining eleven and then to all eleven eight days later. As we know Thomas was the one missing the first time Jesus came to them in the upper room. We have no record of why Thomas was missing that evening but as in all things God used his absence to make a point.

Thomas is unfortunately much maligned for his part in the second appearance of Jesus. We have all heard someone called a Doubting Thomas at one time or another. It's unfortunate that Thomas is most often associated with this one event.

Thomas didn't fixate on his doubts, in other places we read that when proof is presented to him his doubts were allayed. He moved on, the issue was resolved. From what we know of Thomas we might say that he had a pessimistic outlook and struggled to remain faithful.

I think we can learn from Thomas in an unexpected way. That is in looking at our passage from Revelation this week. The Book of Revelation has been misinterpreted many times over the ages. For example in the time of Luther it was believed that the end of days was at hand due to the upheaval occurring due to the reformation and the advancing armies of Islam. In the 1880's the Millerites calculated two dates that came and past. It's safe to say that every generation has had people announcing the end is near.

In our day we are bombarded with the message of millennial thinkers that interpret Revelation in literal terms. The reason why we don't on this book in the Lutheran faith it is that it is written in apocalyptic language. To try to interpret it in any other way is an error. The day and time is not known to any person yet many try to make literal parallels to events of our time.

In the Book of Revelation John shares with us he was told to record what is revealed to him and share it with the seven churches. Seven is the number of completeness, so the seven churches representative of the whole church. These prophecies are intended for the churches of all ages. Unfortunately we have not received the keys to fully understand their meaning.

Revelation is filled with imagery that can be frightening but also gives glory to the Holy Trinity.

Like Thomas we might have a pessimistic outlook when we constantly hear predictions of the end of days just around the corner while we struggle daily with worldly issues that make us doubt our faith.

John may have been having his own struggles at the time of these visions. He was exiled to the island of Patmos because of his steadfast preaching of Christ and the Gospel. The authorities thought they were banishing John to a place where he could no longer testify to Christ. But God used John's martyrdom to reveal Himself to John, not just for his own sake but for the whole Church. God took the evil done to John and used it for the good of the Kingdom. All things work together for good for those who love God.

This passage is the first time in the New Testament Sunday is called the Lord's Day. The last prophet of the New Testament, John, receives the visions he recorded for us on the day of Resurrection.

Every Sunday is Easter!

As for imagery Jesus is depicted by some wonderful descriptions of faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. With His very blood He set us free from sin and set us up as a kingdom and priests to serve the Father. Later in the passage John gives a description from his vision of Jesus with head and hair like white wool, eyes like blazing fire, feet like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. Much of this imagery is found in the Old Testament, most notably the vision Daniel saw by the river (10:4).

We could dwell on all of the imagery and try discussing their meaning based on other references in scripture but it would detract from the significance of the passage. What is important about this passage is that Jesus says of Himself in the last verse. Though He was dead, now He lives into all eternity and has absolute authority and power over death and hell. He holds the keys to death and Hades. He alone can condemn a person to suffer for eternity or live in paradise.

Like Thomas we are often distracted by the events of our lives and forget the significance of the risen Jesus. I get distracted pretty quickly when I'm driving; my impatience takes over. Or when I have paid for 100% of my airplane seat and a large person in the next seat annexes 10% of my space. Afterward I realize that I lost something and need to get it back, my focus on Jesus.

The focus problem starts on a personal level but spreads to large areas, nations and continents. Throughout history we can trace the rise and fall of belief in God and His blessings on those nations and regions of the Earth. When I say belief I mean in action and words. When the distractions become great and people have turned away God moves on to other places that see the Cross for the hope and blessings provided by Jesus' sacrifice.

God anxiously waits for those that turned away to once again look to Him. He doesn't abandon them but let's them find their way back to Him like prodigal children.

The good and bad of history is that it repeats itself. Those that turn to darkness realize that they have lost something precious and fight hard to get it back. That process also starts at the personal level with our rededication to Jesus and spreads to others we encounter.

Maybe it's not so bad to be a Thomas if we can cast the distractions aside, see our loss and rededicate ourselves to the one true Savior Jesus Christ.

In the name of our risen Lord and savior Jesus Christ, Amen.