Surprising to an Unbelieving heart
Saint Mark Lutheran Church, Waco, TX
April 12, 2026, Second Sunday of Easter
Text: John 20:19–31, Acts 5:29–42, 1 Peter 1:3–9
In the name of Jesus, Amen!
When you read today’s first reading Acts 5, have you ever wondered why the angry Jews stopped killing the apostles? Is it just because Gamaliel who persuaded the Jews to leave them alone was a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people? After all, the high priest and the rest of the Pharisees in the council all would get rid of them. If you ponder what Gamaliel was saying, you will agree his principle was right. Of course, all the unbelieving Jews including Gamaliel were extremely confident that the apostles’ plan or undertaking was of man, NOT of God. People knew from previous experience and their collective memory that he was speaking a fact and a truth. For over and over again, they saw people who claimed to a prophet or messiah rising up and failed. They thought this time would be no different. The only problem is that this time it’s Jesus. The power of God in Jesus’ resurrection and His Spirit surprises unbelieving hearts. Jesus’ Gospel movement is not a political movement, nor an uprising against the Roman occupiers. It IS of God because Jesus Christ is God Himself and His Spirit is with the apostles. It’s the Holy Spirit who worked all the miracles and expanded the church through the disciples. This is what the unbelieving Jews didn’t know or believe that eventually surprised them.
As a Christian in your everyday life, have you ever forgotten that you are of God, not of man for you are a child of God in Christ Jesus? Have you ever forgotten that the Holy Spirit is with the church and willing to lead you but sometimes you won’t listen? Have you ever forgotten the loving providence of the Father who is generously and abundantly providing you for all your needs? In the stewardship of a Christian living, people tend to have a deficit thinking, meaning to think of managing what God has given us, especially money as a zero-sum game because time and again from people’s previous experience, they know that when giving, for one to be blessed, someone else must suffer. This is a sin in Christian stewardship. It is a sin because not only do they distrust God’s ability to provide for us, but more importantly they place their hope in God’s creation rather than God as Creator. Somewhere in their hearts, they have false gods of power, status, security, or influence. That’s why in the time of trials and tribulations they would rather complain or even grumble against God than trust in Him still for His Goodness and His wonderful plan of peace and hope. The bottom-line is, do you trust in God who created everything out of NOTHING? He gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. By the power of resurrection, Jesus has already given us a life that shall never die, and the victory over sin, death and the devil on the cross!
Back to our texts, this time is different because it’s Jesus, not even Jesus who was in His humbleness, but in His glory of resurrection and ascension. His plan or undertaking through His disciples IS of God, of God’s mission to save sinners. Jesus did not just rise up among the people, but rose up among the dead. This really surprises the Jews and any unbelieving heart. Because over and over again, people see that anyone who dies cannot rise up from the dead. They mourn for their loved ones and wish them to come back to life again but they can’t. How many times, were we like the disciples shutting the doors and windows for fear of persecutions? How many times did we forget what Jesus tells us about His resurrection and the Father’s loving care even of sparrows that not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.
In our Gospel reading, Jesus surprised doubting Thomas too. Time and again throughout history, there are fraudsters and fakes. It’s quite natural for a “scientifically” minded Thomas to demand evidence and proof. This is even truer in recent years when media and social media are teeming with AI generated images and videos about war and other so called “facts”. It’s amazing that people would rather believe the fake news than the truth of the resurrection. Again, this time is different, this time it’s Jesus. Resurrected Jesus gave Thomas evidence and proof. He invited him to put his finger in Jesus’ hands and place it in His side. With astonishment and awe but being moved by the Holy Spirit, Thomas cried out, “My Lord and my God!” Resurrected Jesus gave the disciples boldness and power to confess Jesus as God and the Lord and proclaim His message of death and resurrection. At the time of our reading, the unbelieving Jews thought that the church was of man, and perceived Peter and John were uneducated, common men, and they were surprised to see their boldness. Later they were more astonished to see the church growing and growing and even the Gospel spreading to Asia minor, Europe, and even the whole world. They recognized that the disciples had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13) The reason that the disciples of Jesus had such a boldness and power is that not only had they seen the resurrected Jesus, but also heard the Word of Jesus. They continued to listen to the Word of God in Christ Jesus who in His Spirit and in person was with them to open their heart to the scriptures, to forgive their sins and give them a life that shall never die. Jesus makes the difference. Jesus is the decisive factor that surprises an unbelieving heart.
People tend to go about their life as if there is no God. They handle everyday routines as if they’re not of God, and therefore none of His business. They don’t pay attention to the spiritual things and ignore the voice of the Lord. What they have missed in my humble opinion, is at least half the reality or half the world that God has created because God is “Maker of all things visible and invisible”. That’s why miracles, angels or even some visions surprise people. The actions of God surprise them. The love of God in Christ Jesus surprises them. And the power of the Gospel and blessing of the resurrection of Jesus surprise them.
After Thomas’s confession, Jesus says, “anyone who haven’t seen and believe will be blessed.” The real reason that people don’t believe is not about evidence or proof, not even about whether you see Jesus in person with your own eyes because a lot of Jews who saw Jesus do miracles during His three and a half years of ministry demanded more signs. They don’t believe because they don’t want to believe for if they believe they have to repent of their sins and trust God in Christ Jesus alone. The real conversion from unbelief to belief comes from the Holy Spirit working through Word and Sacraments. This is yet another surprise to an unbelieving heart. People don’t believe the power of the Word, especially the Word of the Gospel. Legalistic people may believe the power of the Law but never of the Gospel and of resurrection. They think only Law can drive people to do good works and, in their vanity, suppose that they can be saved by the law.
But thanks be to God! God in Christ Jesus not only accomplished the central event of the mission of God to save sinners, namely the death and the resurrection of Jesus, but also continues His mission through His people by His Spirit and His truth in the Word and Sacraments. Jesus surprises unbelieving people by using ordinary men like Peter and John. Now, He surprises unbelieving hearts by ordinary things like water, bread and wine with the power of the Word to convert people to faith, because Word and Sacraments are of God, not of man. I hope that what Jesus is doing does not surprise you because you are of God too, not of man for you are a child of God by Baptism. I pray that all the work of God in your life through Christ Jesus and His cross become your reality and confident, not a surprise.
May the peace of God that surpasses all understanding guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus, Amen!
