“My Lord and My God”

Christ is Risen! Alleluia!

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Today, we celebrate a curious occurrence in the Church's calendar. Because of the intersection of the solar calendar with the date of Easter, we celebrate the Annunciation of our Lord to the Blessed Virgin Mary right alongside the resurrection of our Lord and His appearance to His disciples. While it may seem strange, it is also peculiarly fitting that we consider the beginning and the end of our Lord's work among us.

How does the story begin? In Luke, chapter one, the angel Gabriel appears suddenly to the Virgin Mary and speaks to her, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” The archangel speaks to her and proclaims to this blushing young maiden that she is with child and will bear the Son of God, the savior of the nations. “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

As the angel speaks, the Lord Himself is taking up residence within her flesh. Her womb is transformed into the throne of the Lord God, wherein He chooses to take on flesh and blood and become man. He invades her previously undisturbed womb, that He might through her receive all that it is to be human, to be a man, so that He might redeem all His people. The Lord of Hosts herein takes on human flesh and blood, so that He might save you.

But Mary has trouble wrapping her mind around all this. “How will this be, since I do not know a man?” she asks the angel. This is a miracle beyond her ken, beyond her wildest imagination. An angel comes and says that you are going to have a baby, without even knowing a man. How can this be? How many such thoughts must have raced through Mary's mind in that moment!

But then the angel again speaks: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” The Holy Spirit, right in that moment, is working in the flesh of the Virgin, implanting in her Him who will sit on the throne of David forever. Through the power of the Word, the Word Himself inhabits this maiden and takes her to be His mother. From this time forth, and forever after, Mary is the Theotokos – the Mother of God.

Though no doubt perturbed by this sudden invasion and overshadowing, Mary responds in humble faith: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” She does not understand what this will mean. She cannot understand the full weight of the mystery she now bears in her body. But she accepts the Word of the Lord and humbles herself before His gracious will and favor.

If we jump ahead to today's Gospel lesson from St. John, again the Lord appears to those least expecting Him. The disciples had locked themselves away for fear of the Jews, and they were busy grieving over the loss of the Lord, as well as pondering what strange things they had heard from Peter and the women that morning. They knew that the Lord was gone, but where He went, they did not know. Suddenly the missing Jesus is right there in front of them! And what is the first thing He says? “Peace be with you.” He who was lost is found! He who was dead is raised!

But Thomas is not there. St. John does not say where he was, but he was not there.

So the Lord had appeared to His disciples and breathed upon them the Holy Spirit, but Thomas missed it. His reaction: “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.” He cannot believe it. The Lord is dead. His body may have disappeared, but He is dead. How can this be, what the others say? How can flesh and blood simply appear in a locked room? Never, he says. It cannot be.

But then, the next week, Jesus appears again to the disciples in the locked room, this time with Thomas present. He comes to Thomas and bids him do as he required – put his fingers into the nail-holes and his hand into the spear wound. Jesus instructs him, “Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas, overwhelmed at the sight of Jesus, cries out, “My Lord and my God!” At the appearance of the Lord in the flesh, he believes and confesses. He submits himself to the Lord, because the Word of the Lord has come and taken hold of him in the flesh. The Lord has again taken up residence among His people. He shows Himself in the flesh, shows Himself to be the savior, just as He was sent to be.

And He truly is just as the Father has sent Him to be. The angel Gabriel announced to Mary that Jesus would be the Son of the Most High, would receive the throne of David, and would rule over the kingdom of Jacob forever. And just as the Father sent Him for this purpose, so has it happened. He truly is the Son of the Most High God. He has received the throne of His Father forever, because He has won it by the all-availing sacrifice of His innocent body and blood shed upon the cross.

The throne of David is a seat covered in blood. It is the mercy-seat of God, from which He rules His people with justice and equity. And Jesus inhabits that mercy-seat by the blood which He shed on the cross for you, for the forgiveness of your sins. He sits amid the blood which covers your transgressions and washes you clean. Our Lord is not neat, clean, and tidy. He is scarred forever. He bears eternally the marks of your salvation. He sits in a seat of blood that was shed so that He might have mercy upon you and forgive your sins. He does what His father David never could do – He proclaims peace to you forever.

Our Lord questions Thomas when He appears in the upper room. “Have you believed because you have seen Me?” On one hand, faith is not based on seeing, but on what is heard and proclaimed by the Word of God. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Faith comes not by seeing, but by hearing, as St. Paul says.

And yet, our Lord shows Himself, that you may see Him and know. “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believe you may have life in His name.” Our Lord gives you signs – visible, tangible, physical markers – so that you may see and know and believe, and that believing you may have life in His name.

Our Lord has taken up residence in you. No, He will not take His flesh from you in the way He came of Mary, but He does make His throne within your flesh. The Holy Spirit has come upon you and the power of the Most High has overshadowed you. He has entered into the chamber of your heart by the washing of renewal and regeneration in the holy font. He has made you His own and poured Himself into you through the proclamation of His holy Word into your ears.

Just as Mary heard and believed, and it was done for her, so also you hear and believe, and it happens to you just as the messenger of God declares it to be. By His Word, your sins are forgiven and His peace is with you. He has given the forgiveness of sins to you, so you will live.

And you do see your Lord and God. Sure, there is no man standing in front of you with the scars of the cross on His body. But His Body and Blood are here for you nevertheless. They come to you by the Word of the Lord, when He declares to you, “This is My Body, given for you; This is My Blood, shed for you.” Here He is, here you see the Lord, and you believe, and believing you receive life in His Name. Why are the bread and wine raised up during the consecration of the Holy Supper? So that you may see and know, so that you may believe and confess that this is the Lord Christ come to His Altar, come to enter your mouth and take up residence in your flesh for the forgiveness of sins.

Look upon Him whom you have pierced. See and believe. “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8). The Lord is here, showing Himself to you, feeding Himself to you, taking up residence within you. Come, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, “the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2).

The veil is torn, our Priest we see,

As at the rail on bended knee

Our hungry mouths from Him receive

The bread of immortality (LSB 624:5).

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Christ is Risen! Alleluia!