The observance of Easter is upon us. Cultures throughout the world, especially in the Northern Hemisphere, honor rebirth at this time on the wheel of the year. These celebrations are of course far older than Christianity. But still, the celebration of the resurrection of Christ seamlessly corresponds with the ideas of rebirth and renewal celebrated elsewhere.
Unlike Christmas, which honors the birth of Jesus on a day and time of year likely different from when it actually occurred, Easter is observed in relation to the same Jewish calendar as when it first reportedly happened, the first Sunday after Passover. According to tradition, Easter Sunday is the day when Jesus rose from the dead following his execution three days and nights before.
Must we believe such a story? Most Unitarians would say no, belief in the literal rising of the dead is optional. Today, we rely upon reason to decide, for the most part, that once something or someone is dead, they tend to remain so. That does not mean the resurrection story has no value. Literally hundreds of Christian denominations, including our own, look at this moment very differently from one another.
It is safe to conclude it is a mystery. Because none of us were there. We did not touch the risen Jesus with our own hands. We can neither prove nor disprove it. Thus, it remains an unknown. A mystery. Even if we think it’s impossible, we cannot prove that it did not happen any more than we can prove it did. Out of respect for cultures which steadfastly believe that Jesus rose from the dead as proof that he was God incarnate, we as a collective denomination, choose to largely remain neutral on the subject. It is whatever it is. Neither our belief nor lack of it will alter it. Let it be.
There was one disciple of Jesus who doubted that he rose from the dead. Thomas. Interestingly, the Gospel of Thomas itself found among the dead sea scrolls does not tell the famous story of his doubt. The story of the Doubting Thomas appears only the gospel of John. In the story, one of Jesus’s disciples, Thomas Didymus, was not there when the risen Jesus suddenly appeared before the rest of the disciples who were safely locked inside in the very room where they had shared their last supper together four nights before. When they later reported it to him, Thomas refused to believe it unless he could see it for himself. Including the nailholes in his hands and feet, the spear hole in his side. Thomas said he must put his own finger into the wounds themselves in order to believe.
A week later, Jesus appeared to them again. And this time, Thomas was there. Jesus gently and without judgement offered his wounds for Thomas to inspect for himself. Thomas believed. Then Jesus said, “You believe because you have seen. Blessed are those who believe without seeing.”
To me, this is a surprising story to have been saved from editing by the early church leaders. Especially since the story appears nowhere else, and that the gospel of John is often thought to be the least historical of the four gospels. I would think a story that gives permission to doubt the risen Christ would be uncomfortable for them. But for the line at the end: “Blessed are those who believe without seeing” there would appear to be no redeeming qualities at all for the early church’s designs on maintaining a credal belief in the dogma. Why would they keep it? Why would they allow a story in which even Jesus gives permission to test reality for oneself?
Thankfully it remained. And it was passages such as this one which helped reinforce early Unitarian belief that it is acceptable to doubt until personal experience is achieved. But also that sometimes one must make a leap before the net appears. Even while we honor the right to ask questions and to be skeptical, even hesitant, we understand there is also value in making a leap of faith. And that even God says, “This is okay.”
In truth, an active and fulfilling spiritual life practice must have both faith as well as skepticism. There must be room for doubt, permission to question, forums for debate, and humility above all. Because none of us knows a thing about it.
The fourth principle of Unitarian Universalism is a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. Free yes, responsible, definitely. We cannot have freedom without responsibility. Knowledge must be accompanied by wisdom. And as we read elsewhere in spiritual teachings, including Christianity, we are one another’s prime responsibility. The care and respect we must show for the beliefs of others is equally important to the search we undertake for ourselves.
For Thomas, faith is a purely personal exercise. All that exists in the universe resides in you. All opportunities for grief as well as joy. All knowledge. All despair. All of the love of the entirety of creation is accessible to your own small but beating heart. You are the epicenter of your own rebirth. You are the curator of your own enlightenment.
When the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered in the 1940s & 50s in a series of caves around the site known as Wadi Qumran, a gospel of Thomas was among them. The theological viewpoint of John is revealed in the sayings of Jesus which the Johanine author chose to include. Among them is this: Jesus said, "If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in the sky,' well, then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will have preceded you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty."
The experience which mainstream Christianity wishes for us to have on this day is that Jesus’s resurrection was accomplished on behalf of us all. Maybe it’s true. Maybe it never was. But the lessons of Thomas are there, nonetheless. That we must choose to discover boldly. We must put our fingers inside our questions. We must be willing to get our hands a little dirty. Faith is a purely personal experience or else it is nothing but words, written on a page, by someone else, for their own uses and reasons. Let nothing take away your right to personal discovery. It is your gift.
Look to the sacred texts, which can mean virtually anything, to discover your own path, your own faith, your own viewpoint. Touch it with your own hand, see it with your own eyes and evaluate your discoveries with your own heart before you draw your conclusions. And then have the humility to allow those conclusions to evolve over time as you discover new ideas every day.
Thomas teaches us to have the richest of individual faiths empowered by personal discovery. You are the pope of your own church. Use that power wisely.
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