.png)
This column represents the thoughts and opinions of The Rev. Carl Roth. This is not the opinion of the Elgin Courier.
Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:24–29, ESV)
Back in 1997, the Heaven’s Gate cult made headlines because its members thought that there was a UFO trailing the Hale-Bopp comet which would retrieve their souls if they committed suicide. Thirty-nine people took their lives in an effort to transport their souls to the “afterlife.” The basic presupposition behind their actions was that the physical body is unpleasant baggage from which the soul needs to be freed. Though most people recognize that the members of the Heaven’s Gate were out of their minds for believing that a UFO was coming behind the comet, the surprising fact is that roughly two-thirds of the world’s people share the cult’s presuppositions about the physical realm. Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists, and Shintoists share the common Eastern religious idea that there are two eternal principles (or gods) in the world—one of matter and one of spirit. They believe that human beings are from the spirit god, but somehow, either by design or by fall, they’ve become trapped in material bodies. The goal of life, then, is to be freed from the body. Salvation is found in the putting off of our earthly flesh.
How distinct Christianity is from these Eastern religions! God the Son—who, as God, is Spirit (John 4:24)—took on human flesh in the Incarnation. Thomas didn’t reach out to touch a ghost, but his living Lord! This proves that God deems the material world worthwhile, even worth redeeming, and that material things are not inherently bad. God created us with both bodies and souls, and said, “It is good.” He does not ever say, “flesh is bad/spirit is good,” but rather, “I created you good, but sin has corrupted both body and soul.” Jesus has a human body and soul for eternity. He is enfleshed for good, for our good. He did not die to be liberated from His body, but He died to liberate mankind in body and soul from sin. His resurrection was a bodily one, and ours will also be a bodily one, as we confess in the creeds.
When Jesus’ side was pierced (John 19:34), the blood and water that flow out bring to mind the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, through which the Spirit does His work in the Church. In John 20:20-23, the wounds from which Jesus bled are shown to the apostles, and He breathes the Holy Spirit onto them so that they can go out and forgive and retain sins. The wounds from the cross earned the forgiveness that they would distribute. In this instance, the apostles receive the Holy Spirit in a different sense than they would at Pentecost, since Jesus had not yet ascended to give them the full gift of the Spirit.
1 John 5:6-8 hearkens back to the cross as well: “This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.” These three testify to the grace given through sacramental water and blood, reminding us that the Spirit does not just float about unattached, but connects Himself to water, words, bread, and wine.
God’s Word teaches us that physical things like Baptism and the Lord’s Supper bestow grace upon us. In some Christian denominations, however, there is a mentality that the Lord does not use material things to bestow grace, since they think that “spiritual” means “non-material.” Yet this is a pagan philosophy and not a Biblical one. The only things that are truly “spiritual” are “Spirit-ual.” The Holy Spirit, through His Word (cf. John 6:63), attaches Himself to tangible things—like circumcision and animal sacrifices in the Old Testament, and water, bread, and wine in the New Testament—to sanctify and preserve His people.
Prayer: Almighty God, our great Redeemer, in the sacrifice of Your Son You put to death our sinful flesh and in His rising restored our life. Grant that we may always cling to Christ by faith in this life that at the last we may rejoice to stand in our own flesh and see You face to face; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
