An idyllic community

It’s a week after Easter, we may be so full of Easter eggs that we are reluctant to even look at one. The sun has set, our energy levels, once spoiled after that chocolate binge, have sunk. But in our passage today (John 20: 19-29) they have far more important questions, for they are meeting behind locked doors as they were ‘afraid of the Jewish leaders’.

Who are the ‘they’? The disciples were present, bar for a couple, but I am sure that Mary and a few of the other women were also present. Mary had just returned to the gathering from the garden – not the Mount of Olives or Gethsemane as the other Gospel writers would suggest. She had met with Jesus albeit she thought she had seen the gardener. A dishevelled mucky labourer who we might just pass by as they tended to the land is…Jesus?

‘They’ were behind locked doors because of a perceived threat. From whom? Let’s be controversial here…

Jesus’ death was a shock to them all. Would you agree? It wasn’t scripted for even Jesus wasn’t in on the brief. The Gospels we have are describing the situation from around 40-60 years after the resurrection incident, when the dust has all settled. None of this was written down at the time – no eye witness accounts.

In their despair they all hung out in a room afraid of the authorities who might be taking revenge. Who would do that? When Mark was writing his Gospel, the Romans had just sought revenge in Jerusalem, ravaging the Temple, killing, butchering thousands. Could this fear we discern in the text today be a recollection of the fear they all felt with the Romans? John’s Gospel is considered to have been written by the Johannine Community, those that continued after his beheading. They lived in the region of Qumran, away from the urban centres, developing their own particular way from what Jesus taught.

The ‘Jews’, as we read in our English versions, may well misrepresent the group that the disciples feared. In the Greek it actually reads not Jews but Ioudaios, suggestive of Judaean, the southern part of Palestine. John’s Gospel is full of references to ‘Jews’ which has caused many attacks of the Jews over the years.

Jesus offers the gathering peace – but what is this peace? Note when Jesus offers the peace, it isn’t the same as Pentecost. John’s Gospel merges Easter with Pentecost; furthermore, the disciples don’t react at all to this offering of peace. It isn’t the peace we read of in terms of humanitarian ceasefire. It is an intrinsic peace within us. It is Eirene or Shalom alekem. This is something which yields blessings. If we recall the Sermon on the Mount, blessings abound: mostly to the poor and to those who mourn. It is about a life of contentment : can we imagine that?

No, nor could Thomas who required proof, so much so that Jesus had to make his entrance once more, offer peace once again and then offer Thomas that opportunity to probe.

In our world today we have people who prefer to be locked in their rooms. It may be a direct threat of violence, avoiding detection from drones overhead, capable of killing them. Think of in Ukraine, or in Russia and also those Palestinians from Israeli drones.

Think also of those locked away due to their own locked doors, mental barriers which deny them of their freedom we welcome and experience. Those with addictions who feel so much shame that they daren’t go out in public, scared of what people might say about them – it maybe perception but that power is ever so strong. The doors of depression and anxiety are heavy and unyielding.

In our passage from Acts (Acts 4: 32-35) we have a story written around 80-90 AD of a group of followers – not yet known as a church. But they are certainly a group who stood out from the rest. Why? finance. They shared their possessions, they cared for the needy, distributing what’s needed appropriately.

It’s a wonderful story but I wonder if it is
truly relatable for our churches?

We regularly have financial reports and our missional activity is somewhat restricted by our funding. We may have many buildings which we could eventually sell to give ourselves more financial wriggle room. But that’s the not the main point here. It is the sharing, that concern, the care for all that are in need – no labels, no identification.

We have an elderly congregation with a diverse array of needs. How can we truly support those within our church? What of those who are now unable to physically get to the church due to older age or lack of mobility? What are their needs – have we asked? Are they in fact behind locked doors?

Thomas didn’t doubt Jesus, just those around him, the followers, the members of the Church. He didn’t understand their testimony – how would we explain our beliefs to one another?; because I would heavily suspect that they aren’t all the same. How shocking, I know! Can we be more transparent and open in what we actually believe, and why?

What better to have a community that is, or would you prefer:

One in heart and mind, or	Conflict
Shares everything, or	Materialism
No one in need, or	Needy aplenty
One holy church, or	Mistrust of denominations

What’s our focus: a community of all, a Kin_dom or a religion centred upon a Kingdom?