St. Thomas Sunday
Philippians 4:4-9; John 12:1-18

Apostle Thomas’ testimony of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the greatest proofs of the truth of His resurrection for the entire human race for all ages. And the confirmation, and the establishment of the faith that Jesus Christ really rose again, as He prophesied, is very important for Christianity. Christianity, the faith in Christ would not exist at all without the resurrection of Christ.

The Gospel teachings of Christ were confirmed precisely by the resurrection of Christ, as the seal of God, that it was undoubtedly God’s wisdom. Without the resurrection of Christ, there could still be teaching of moral commandments, learning about God, but the faith of Christ, as the faith that saves people through the confession of Jesus Christ as the Saviour, could not exist.

The faith of Christ could not have been established on the revelations of only the one who was crucified and died on the cross, because that would be the faith of hopelessness, which is purposeless for humankind. The Apostle Paul explained to us in detail that only faith in the resurrected Christ can be the basis of our faith:

"And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty." (1 Corinthians 15:14).

“But now [as St. Paul affirms] Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming. (1 Cor. 15: 20, 22-23).

Those clarifications of Ap. Paul in the name of God give us clear reasons for our faith, for hope and life in the Lord not only on earth, but in eternity. We know from Paul's assurance that "those who rest in Christ have not perished." (Ibid., 18).

When people live and believe that Jesus Christ is risen, then they have every reason to hope for their resurrection. And, understandably, because the souls of all believers in Christ are alive, our prayers for them are not in vain. The souls of those whose physical bodies are in repose are also able to sense the souls of those who are physically in their bodies. God does not communicate with the dead. He, as the Lord testified, is the God of the living (Matthew 22:32; Mark 12:27).

Atheists, fighters against God, knowing how important it is for Christians to affirm and retain faith in Christ's resurrection, first and most persistently and stubbornly attacked and continue to attack Christ's resurrection by name, denying it entirely.

There once was a general assertion that the apostles-disciples of Christ were nervous, excited, and it seemed to them that Christ appeared to them resurrected, that they experienced some kind of hallucinations, but in fact, it was said told, a resurrected Christ did not exist.

But the testimonies of the evangelists regarding the circumstances of the appearance of the resurrected Jesus Christ were so detailed and unanimous, and the story about the certitude of the Apostle Thomas was so convincing that few people believed those who battled against God.

And yet, the haters of God, especially in the Soviet Union, for several decades simply insisted: Jesus Christ did not exist at all, and all the Gospel stories are retellings of legends and myths; therefore there never could have been any resurrection of Christ...

But such statements of the godless were meaningless, for the entire history of Christ's Church and the history of humanity in general for almost two thousand years testifies indisputably that Christ's disciples-apostles lived and acted. And it is an indisputable fact that Christ's Church existed and exists for two thousand years.

Firstly:

a) If Jesus Christ did not exist, was not resurrected, then how could there be His disciples? How could they preach to the Jews about Christ's resurrection 50 days after His resurrection and no one could contradict them?

b) If Jesus Christ did not exist, if He were not resurrected, then how could His disciples, the apostles, preach about His resurrection in different countries and regions? They were imprisoned, beaten, tortured (as we read today in the Acts of the Apostles 5:12-20). And, yet, they continued to tell, to affirm about the same resurrection of Christ? Could those disciples of Christ have given their lives for a legend, for something that did not exist?

Could thousands of martyrs imitate the apostles in patience, confession of the resurrected Christ, when that Christ never was?

c) The entire continuous development of the Church of Christ among many peoples of the world testifies to the truth of professed faith in Jesus Christ, to the truth of His resurrection, when He "overcame death by death - and on those in the tombs, bestowing life". He gave to all of us who believe in Christ a resurrection that gives us the foundation and hope for our resurrection at the second coming of our Lord to earth.

Amen.

Very Rev. Fr. Taras Slavchenko

Taras Slavchenko was born on March 8, 1918 in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region in Ukraine. After graduating from school and the Pedagogical College, he entered the language and literature faculty of the Scientific Pedagogical Institute. Having successfully completed it in 1938, he served as a teacher in a secondary school.

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