April 7, 2024 Text: John 20:19-31
Dear Friends in Christ,
If you are a parent, there is one moment that stands out. The first time you got to touch your baby boy or baby girl. The skin, the warmth, your flesh and blood in your arms. It’s emotional. It’s life-changing. You can’t forget that time. I couldn’t stop kissing the boys. That touch that started in Overland Park, Kansas and Normal, Illinois delivery rooms continues to this day.
Touch is so important. The disciple Thomas was a toucher. It was a moment in his life he won’t soon forget.
“THE TOUCH OF THE LORD”
The research is clear, people, especially children need touch. If children are not touched, they grow at a slower rate, they are sicker, they have more trouble socially and they display more angry and depressed emotions.
It doesn’t stop there. When you meet that special someone, you want to hold hands, put your arms around each other, sit close. Do you married couples have that secret touch between the two of you that says, “I love you.”
We need that kind of touch. The one that says love, assurance, closeness, comfort, happiness. Touch says the other person is there, alive, real – and so are you.
We get to Thomas. He’s a doubter. A little skeptical. See, he wasn’t there when Jesus first appeared risen from the dead. He would not believe unless he touched Jesus. “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.” (v. 25)
It is over a week later that Jesus appears. Jesus must know that Thomas is doubting because it is Jesus who says these words, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” (v. 27) Just the right touch. He gets to touch the Lord and Thomas says, “My Lord and my God.” (v. 28)
In Jesus’ lifetime there was a lot of people who needed to see him. There were people who needed to touch him and be touched by him. When he blessed the children in Luke 18. When he placed the mud on the eyes of the man born blind in John 9. The woman who needed to touch his cloak in Luke 8. The washing of the disciples’ feet in John 13. Those are just a few of the many times that the touch of the Lord was important.
We need the touch of the Lord. The sign of the cross on our forehead and hearts and then the water touching our head in Baptism. Jesus is there. At the baptismal font, we touch and have been touched by Jesus in just the right way.
As we come to the altar the touch of the Lord is here. He has promised to be in that piece of bread and sip of wine. His body. His blood. The living Jesus, right there. Among us. Touching us. Jesus is close to us and saying, “I love you.” He is giving assurance, comfort, and joy as he purifies us from all sin. He is real, present, and alive – and so are we when we touch that bread and wine, that body and blood.
When we are touched by the Lord, we then extend that touch to others. In ministry touch is so important. The sick and the dying and the struggling want to know that someone is there. As members of Christ, we give hugs to our fellow brothers and sisters. We give mutual consolation to each other. In a way, that’s Jesus touching us through his Church.
One day we will have the same joy and wonder of touching Jesus as Thomas did. His resurrection says our hope is that touch and being touched will not end at the grave, but will be ours again on the Last Day and for all eternity. The leper, the abandoned child, the brokenhearted, the grieving parents, the son who remembers – all need the touch of the Lord. Jesus incredible gift to us is that we are, and we will be touched by the Lord.
Amen.