Month: April 2026

The Text: John 10: 1-10
Today is Good Shepherd Sunday. On this day we recognise that Jesus our
risen Lord is indeed our Good Shepherd. As Psalm 23 says, he leads us to
green pastures, and beside still waters. In our Gospel reading it cuts short of
the part where Jesus says, ‘I am the good shepherd’.
In this reading from beginning of John chapter 10, Jesus describes himself as
a door or a gate. The word for door can also mean opportunity.
Let’s look at what we know about doors and gates. What is their purpose?
Why do you have doors in your house? Obvious isn’t it? You want to keep out
those whom you don’t want in your house. The ones who you allow in your
house are the ones you invite into your house. Even within your house are
doors. You may close the door to your room for this may be your private
sanctuary, and the ones you allow into your room are the people who are
closest to you.
Jesus describes the people who try to get into your house by other means
than invited through the door, are thieves and robbers. That is why our doors
have locks on them, to prevent thieves and robbers from entering through
the door uninvited. Of course, as Jesus tells us what we already know, they
will try to find another way in.
It’s the same when you have a gate to your property, or a gate to the
paddocks on your farms. The gates are there for a reason, to keep safe what
is within, and to keep out that which is not allowed.
So, who is allowed through the door? Why is Jesus describing himself as the
door? Jesus may be alluding to the ways that shepherds would gather their
sheep into a pen by calling their names. They would follow the shepherd into
the pen and the shepherd would sleep in the opening as there was no gate.
Why is Jesus telling us this? What has bought him to this point where he
teaches about himself as the door or the gate?
You may recall the Gospel reading for the fourth Sunday in Lent, about the
man born blind. When Jesus healed this man born blind on the Sabbath, it
was the talk of the town. The man was bought before the Pharisees and they
interrogated him and his parents. During the interrogation the man said to the
Pharisees: “Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become one
of his disciples?” This led the Pharisees to cast him out of the temple where
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Jesus came to the man and asked him: “Do you believe in the Son of God?”
The man replied: “Who is he sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus answered:
“You have seen him, and it is he who speaks to you.” What did the man do
then? He confessed his faith and worshipped Jesus.
Now today, Jesus says he is the door, he is the opportunity for all those who
hear his voice, to come to him, to worship him and say, ‘Lord I believe’.
Jesus calls you into the safety of his kingdom. There is no other way to enter.
The way is through Jesus. Anyone who tries otherwise to snatch you away
from the love and mercy of Jesus is a thief and a robber who tries to rob you
of the joy of being saved.
The Pharisees tried to rob the man born blind of the grace that Jesus had
shown to him, claiming it to be a sinful deed done on the Sabbath. They
denied the joy the parents should have felt of their son receiving his sight.
Even as we read further into John chapter 10 in verse 27, Jesus says: “My
sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them
eternal life, and no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has
given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of my
hand. I and the Father are one.”
It was that comment that stirred the pot for the Jews. When John speaks of
the Jews here, it is all those who opposed Jesus. Just as they rejected what
the man born blind said, they now rejected Jesus, accused him of
blasphemy, they picked up stones and tried to arrest him, but his time had
not yet come. Remember this happened before the events of Easter.
What does this mean for us? It means that there is life and salvation for all
who hear Jesus’ call to follow. Jesus has come to bring forgiveness and
healing. Jesus has come to make his voice known. How is it known? Through
his word. Through his word we hear that Jesus suffered greatly that we may
know him.
As 1 Peter 2: 22-25 says: “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his
mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he
suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges
justly. “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die
to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” For
“you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the
Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
What more can we say than, ‘worthy is the lamb who was slain’? Despite our
sinfulness, Jesus still calls us by name, and invites us into his kingdom. He invites
us in and sets out a banqueting table of forgiveness, mercy, healing,
acceptance and compassion.
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You are all welcome. Do you hear his voice? A voice that says: Come all you
who are weary and burdened. I will give you rest. Come, I will give you
abundant life. Come in, I will keep you safe from the evil one.
The Pharisee, the Jews, the crowd, Satan, all may have thought they had
silenced Jesus when he died on the Cross, but the Cross only showed to the
world that Jesus is worthy to follow, for he was willing to give his life for his
sheep.
Jesus is calling your name. Do you hear his voice? The blind man heard Jesus
ask: “Do you believe in the Son of God?” He responded: “Lord I believe”.
Jesus is the door. Jesus is your opportunity to know the love of God and be
accepted into his family, simply by listening to his voice. Any other voices that
want to rob you of receiving this grace that Jesus offers to you are thieves
and robbers. You don’t need to listen to those voices, because Jesus is
calling your name. His is the voice that calls to you as you come and go in
this world. Just as you come and go from the safety of your home, Jesus tells
you to come and go knowing he is watching over as your good shepherd.
Jesus knows you by name. May that be your comfort and peace. Amen

The text: John 20:24-29
24 Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them
when Jesus came. 25 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.”
26 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.” 27 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.” 28
Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him,
“Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those
who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Many people say: ‘seeing is believing’.
In fact, they don’t just say it, they live it. Perhaps you do too. This means if someone
told you something remarkable, you’d want to see it for yourself.
Perhaps this means we reckon the sense of sight (and perhaps also the sense of
touch) is the sense by which we judge truth. If we see it, or can touch it, we’ll
believe it.
But this may also mean we won’t always believe what we hear (unless we can
confirm by the senses of sight and touch that what we’ve heard is actually true).
But what if seeing is not believing? Or to put it another way: we often want to see
things because we don’t believe them.
For example, imagine you’re Thomas. For some reason you weren’t with the
apostles on that night when Jesus came. You meet up with them later and they
joyfully tell you of their experience of seeing the risen Lord Jesus among them. But
you weren’t there! You didn’t see what they saw. So instead of believing the words
of the apostles through your ears, you say you’re not going to believe unless you
see him for yourself. You don’t believe your ears and want your eyes to confirm this
truth.
In fact, you’re not going to believe your ears and eyes unless you put your fingers
on the nail marks on Jesus’ hands and thrust your hand into his speared side. Until
you see and touch this news you’ve heard, you’re not going to believe. After all,
don’t people say: ‘seeing is believing’!
But that’s the twist. You want to see because you don’t believe.
I wonder if you can relate to Thomas. Of the remaining apostles, he was the only
one not there. But you weren’t there either. You and I haven’t had the chance to
witness our risen Lord for ourselves and use our senses of sight and touch to confirm
the good news of his resurrection. None of us were in that locked room and saw
the risen Jesus standing among us.
This is why we have this story in St John’s gospel account, because we weren’t
there. This true story was written down for all who, like Thomas, weren’t in that
room. In some ways, Thomas was fortunate in so far as Jesus came to him so he
could confirm this truth of the resurrection eight days later, but what about us?
We still haven’t been given the opportunity to see Jesus in the flesh and place our
fingers into his wounds, and so we continue to struggle with our doubts and fears.
No matter what we hear in God’s Word, we still demand to see or experience
certain things before we believe.
In this way, you and I are Thomas in this story. We’re Thomas whenever say or think
such things like:
“Unless God answers my prayers the way I want him to, then I won’t believe.”
“Unless I get something special out of worship today, then I don’t think this church is
any good for me.”
“Unless I feel something when I’m baptised, confirmed, or when I receive the Lord’s
Supper, then I’ll question its validity.”
“Unless I get what I want or expect, and can confirm it with my own senses of sight
and sound and touch and taste and even with my emotions, then I won’t believe.”
But these types of questions or statements means we only want to meet God on
our own terms. It shows we’re struggling to believe. It shows we’re like Thomas. So,
while we may believe, we ask God to help our unbelief!
The strange thing about faith is it never stops in one place. While we’d like to think
our faith will always increase and get better during our life; it doesn’t. It often
wavers between faith and doubt; trust and suspicion. Some people expect that
once you’re baptised, once you’re confirmed, once you’ve made a decision for
Christ, or once you’ve received faith, then everything’s ok from that time on. But
this isn’t true. At times we’ll be strong in our faith, but there will be times of doubt.
For this reason we can also learn a lot from Thomas.
When he doubted or struggled to believe, he didn’t dismiss or ignore the fellowship
with his fellow disciples. He didn’t stay away, but came back into their little
congregation to hear, see, and touch.
We’re encouraged to do the same.
We’re encouraged to hear the Word of God read and explained. We use our
sense of hearing so we may listen for God speaking to us through the bible
readings and the sermon.
We’re also encouraged to attend the Lord’s Supper where we use our senses of
touch and taste as we receive our risen Lord’s body and blood on our fingers, on
our lips, and on our tongue. But, while our senses of sight and touch and taste will
tell us ‘this is simply bread and wine’, the Holy Spirit will ask our sense of hearing to
be the more powerful sense so we may believe what we hear: That this is Jesus’
body and blood, given and shed for you and me.
The fact is, a faith which doesn’t constantly look to our Lord Jesus Christ, and listen
to him, will slowly die. A faith which refuses to come into his presence and receive
his spiritual benefits will shrivel up. A faith which makes demands for proof of God’s
love outside of the written Word, the cross of Christ, and his holy Sacraments, is in
danger of leading to despair.
This means if we want to see and experience Jesus on our own terms, or if we want
to keep away from the place where his people meet, then we’re becoming an
unbeliever. Then, just like Jesus said to Thomas, he says to you and me, ‘Stop
doubting and believe’, or literally, ‘Stop becoming an unbeliever and become a
believer’.
This is why Thomas, in his time of doubt, went to the place where Jesus promised to
be – with his people.
In our own times of doubt we need to do the same, after all, we know Jesus
promises to be wherever his people gather in his name. We know his Holy Spirit is
present as we hear the Word of God read and proclaimed. We know Jesus
promises to wash, adopt, forgive, and give new life to those who are baptised. We
know Jesus promises his true body and blood is present on his holy Supper.
Seeing isn’t always believing, because the demand to see is a sign of unbelief. On
the other hand, believing is seeing. Faith instead gives us a greater sight so we may
believe what we hear, despite what we see and don’t see.
By believing what we hear, we see Jesus is our Lord and our God. We stand beside
Thomas and see Jesus is more than just a man. By faith, we see Jesus is also the Son
of God who came to suffer, die, and rise again for us so that, by believing, we may
have life in his name.
By believing what we hear, we can see God truly comes to us, hidden in times of
simple worship to grant forgiveness, peace, and hope. He comes to challenge our
unbelief and comfort us through his Spirit-filled words. He comes to wash us and
claim us as his own people who will live with him forever. He comes and wraps his
body and blood in humble bread and wine and offers them for us to eat and drink.
He comes, hidden in the people joined to him through faith to love and care for us.
He comes, sometimes despite our best efforts to lock him out.
Yes, Thomas was blessed to see his Lord and Saviour in the flesh and use his senses
of sight and touch. On the other hand, blessed are those who haven’t seen, yet still
believe because they trust their sense of hearing.
You and I are blessed because we believe what we’ve heard. Jesus is our Lord
and God even though we haven’t seen him with our own eyes or touched him
with our own fingers. And through faith in Jesus’ word our bodies will also be
resurrected and we will see Jesus in heavenly glory forever. Amen.