Prayer: May my eyes be opened to your miracles, Lord. May my heart be opened to your love. And may my mouth and actions share the promise of the two in all I say and do. Amen.
Reading: John 20: 19-31 (Click to read text) Stop and GROW: After reading the text, discuss/ponder the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Book of Faith questions, which are part of Camp Mount Luther's GROW Time with campers. QUESTION 1: What scares, confuses, challenges, or doesn’t make sense to me in this text? QUESTION 2: What delights me in this text or is my favorite part of the story? QUESTION 3: What stories or memories does this text stir in me? QUESTION 4: What is God up to in this text? Reflection: Have you ever watched “The Princess Bride” (or read the book)? A dashing hero overcomes obstacle after obstacle in a series of unbelievable feats of strength, talent, and intelligence. At each turn, the “mastermind” Vizzini cries out, “Inconceivable!” so shocked is he that the Man in Black has again done the unexpected. At last, Vizzini’s companion suggests, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” When Jesus suddenly appears among His disciples in a locked room, following His crucifixion and burial, it must have seemed unbelievable. Yet with their own eyes they see their teacher, open wounds clearly visible, and He greets them with His customary words, “Peace be with you.” So, they accept the incredible and receive the Holy Spirit with opened minds and hearts. But Thomas, who was absent from this miraculous event, announces their story is beyond his ability to conceive; he could only accept that the man they encountered was really the Messiah he’d known and loved if he personally could see and touch the proof. Is that so surprising? Don’t most of us hold empathy for Thomas’s doubt? Don’t we worry that we, too, would want to see with our own eyes the hard evidence of this inconceivable phenomenon – the risen Christ?! Yet we can’t. John explains in the final verses of this chapter: this account isn’t presented to shame Thomas but to encourage those who come after the disciples. It is written in full expectation of the reader’s doubt and questions. This testament acknowledges that the miraculous defeat of death itself that Jesus Christ accomplished with His sacrifice may seem inconceivable. But it can and should be received with belief and assurance that nothing is impossible with faith in God. --Heather LeBlanc
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