Introit (Psalm 81; Antiphon: 1 Peter 2:2)
St. John 20:19–31
In the name of the Father and of the + Son
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Sundays in Advent and Lent, and the
Sundays of Easter all have traditional Latin names that they get from their
Introits. Today is Quasimodo Geniti,
and if that Latin sounds familiar to you it’s probably from knowing the name of
the main character in The Hunchback of
Notre Dame – Quasimodo. The priest who adopted Quasimodo gave him this name
because it was on this Sunday that the orphan baby was found abandoned at the
cathedral. The words Quasimodo geniti
are the first words of the Introit antiphon from 1 Peter, chapter 2: Like newborn infants, long for the pure
spiritual milk of the Word. So it was fitting that the poor child was found
and given his name from this Sunday – “newborn infant Sunday.”
Now what does any of this have
to do with Easter or with us? We are the newborn infants of Easter. We all
passed anew through the Baptismal waters of the Easter Vigil, and we are
reminded to daily die and rise with Christ. Easter is a new beginning. We are
the poor infants, misshapen and abandoned by sin, but adopted by our heavenly
Father and given a home in the Church, not hidden away in the bell tower but
given a place of honor among the people of God, a place that says we belong
here.
And so now, in the Second Week
of Easter, St. Peter and our Mother the Church tell us little ones to long for the pure spiritual milk of the
Word. We can’t live on Easter candy, sweet sounding clichés, or idols of
our own making. We need pure doctrine. We need the true teaching of God’s Word.
Mother says you’ve got to eat your vegetables. Babies need good nutritious
milk. We need, and should even long for, the pure, wholesome Word of our God.
Now, the Introit antiphon is
paired with Psalm 81. It’s an Exodus Psalm, recounting the salvation that the
Lord worked for the children of Israel, Jacob’s
sons and daughters. The Psalm is a song of praise and a remembrance of what
God has done. The Lord speaks to Israel: In
distress you called, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of
thunder. The Lord God heard their cries while they were in bondage to
Pharaoh and He made an Exodus for them, a way out of Egypt and a way into the
Promised Land. He led them with
un-moistened foot through the Red Sea
waters and made His covenant to them at Mount Sinai, the place of thunder. God rescued Israel and
made them His people by promising them, I
am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
This song of praise for God’s
deliverance is also a remembrance to us, the new people of God, Jacob’s new
sons and daughters of faith. God rescued us by sending His Son to die and rise,
and so made an Exodus for us, a way out of slavery to sin and death, and a way
into the Promised Land of everlasting life. The Lord God speaks to us as well: I am the Lord your God. The Old
Testament Exodus from Egypt was the birth of God’s ancient people. Now Easter,
the death and resurrection of Jesus, is the birth of God’s New Testament
people. Easter is always a new beginning, when we are reminded of our new birth
as God’s children, and when we sing the praises of our God.
But there’s more to Psalm 81
than the call to Sing aloud to God our
strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob! This Psalm also gives
reminders that Israel failed as God’s faithful people. God spoke to them in the thunders of Sinai, making His promises
and giving them His Law:
Hear,
O my people, while I admonish you!
O
Israel, if you would but listen to me!
There
shall be no strange god among you;
you
shall not bow down to a foreign god.
But while Moses was on the mountain, the
children played with make-believe gods. When
God provided food for them, they desired Egyptian candy instead. They worshiped a golden calf and
refused to enter the Promised Land. Israel
failed because they did not receive the pure spiritual food of God’s Word, but
instead wandered in the wilderness of unbelief and sin.
Psalm 81 also gives God’s
response:
My
people did not listen to my voice;
Israel
would not submit to me.
So
I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
To
follow their own counsels.
Oh,
that my people would listen to me,
That
Israel would walk in my ways!
This Psalm is a reminder, a warning to us. We
need pure doctrine. We need the true teaching of God’s Word. Rather than
following the counsels of this world, rather than listening to our stubborn
hearts, we should long for the pure, wholesome Word of our God. Because we are
His children, and His Word is what He gives and wants us to have.
There was a similar problem with
Thomas in our Gospel reading. Like Israel of old, Thomas did not desire the pure spiritual milk of the Word. On
that first Easter evening, when the risen Lord appeared to His disciples,
Thomas should’ve been there. He should be with His brothers and sisters, the
Church. He should be there to see the Lord Jesus, to hear Him speak, and to receive
His peace. But he isn’t. He’s somewhere else. And when Thomas does turn up and
hears about Jesus’ appearance, I think it becomes clear that Thomas’ absence
wasn’t innocent. He had stayed away from the gathering of the Church. And so he
also tempts God: Unless I see in His
hands the mark of the nails, unless I place my finger into the mark of the
nails, unless I place my hand into His side, I will never believe. If that
isn’t blasphemy, it’s pretty darn close. Like Israel with its golden calf, like
Israel in the wilderness, Thomas put the Lord his God to the test. He didn’t
long for the Word of God. He did not believe.
But the Lord is gracious and
merciful. So the very next Sunday, that would be today, the Church is gathered
again for prayer and God’s Word. The disciples are gathered again for Jesus to
show up, and they got Thomas to come along. And the gracious Lord allows
Thomas’ demands. And praise be to God, Thomas believes and confesses: “My Lord and my God!” Yet, Jesus also
reminds Thomas, “You believed because you
have seen Me. Blessed are those who have not seen Me and yet have believed.”
That’s you – blessed are you who believe, not what you’ve seen, but what you’ve
heard. Blessed are you who long for the
pure spiritual milk of the Word. Because if you don’t long for it, if you
don’t feed on the Word, then you won’t be blessed. Learn from Israel. Learn
from Thomas. We need pure doctrine. We need the true teaching of God’s Word.
The problem with us childish
sinners is that we always think we’re stronger than we are. Like the little boy
who wants to keep up with the big kids. We think we’re more mature than we are.
We think we can handle a little sin here and there. We think we can handle a
little false teaching now and then. We think we’re cool because we’re not
ashamed of the movies we watch or the websites we visit. We think we’re
enlightened because we’re not scandalized by the sin being taught by our
schools and government, and approved by our families and communities. We tell
ourselves that a little spiritual candy is ok now and then, even if it doesn’t
come from God’s Word. We can handle it.
But no one was ever saved by
believing false doctrine. People might be saved even though they believed some
false things, but they were only saved because they at least believed some true
things. False teaching never helps. At its best, its like sugar or caffeine
that stunts our growth and gives us a tummy ache. At its worst, its like poison
or a disease, it makes us sick and die. We need pure doctrine. We need the true
teaching of God’s Word. It doesn’t automatically make us better than others or
more deserving of God’s love. But it is what’s best for us. It is what God
wants to feed His dear children. The pure doctrine of God’s Word is nothing
less than life and peace from our crucified and risen Lord. It is at the heart
of everything we do. It’s why we sing, why we teach our children, why the
pastor visits shut-ins, why we keep up the building. It’s all about the pure spiritual milk of the Word that
gives forgiveness for sins and gives growth and nourishment to faith.
Like
newborn infants, Alleluia! Let
us long for the pure spiritual milk of
the Word. Alleluia! Let us run to receive God’s gifts with the joy of a
child when he finds an Easter egg and the treasure inside. Let us hunger for God’s Word the way a child begs her father to
read another bedtime story. Let us
long for God’s Holy Supper as a child longs for his mother’s home cooked
dinners. Open your mouth wide, and
the Lord will fill it with His Word, and with the honey of the Gospel He
will satisfy you.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He
is risen indeed! Alleluia!
In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.
