Worship

Yr A – Festival of St. Thomas (Advent 4)                              December 21, 2025
John 20:24-29                                                                      Pastor Wolfe

Prince of Peace

Every once in while someone asks me if it’s hard to preach on the same thing year after year. There’s a comedian whose father is a pastor and he describes preaching as doing a book report every week on the same book…for life. I get the thought – Christmas hasn’t changed in the last 2000 years. But the truth is, it’s never been too difficult to prepare a message, even if it’s on the same texts. Probably for three reasons. First, I know there’s always someone that might be hearing these truths we love for the very first time. And thinking about their joy in Jesus rekindles mine. Second, I know that I need these truths as much as I ever have. As long as I’m still sinning, I still need these most basic truths of forgiveness and faith.

But the third reason I never tire of preaching on familiar things goes to the nature of God’s Word. You see, the Bible is not like other books. God the Holy Spirit actively works in it not to just inform my mind but to touch my soul. And since every time I come to that word I’m in a different place – dealing with different struggles, looking for different hopes, focused on different things…God’s Word is always different.

This year’s Advent and Christmas preparation has been unique for me. With our women’s study going through the book of Isaiah and our midweek study looking at the so-called “Minor” prophets, I’ve had the blessing of preparing to celebrate the Savior’s birth while being immersed in the Old Testament promises about that coming Savior. Micah’s prophecy of Bethlehem. Zechariah’s humble king, riding on the foal of a donkey. And Isaiah’s…well, everything.

Isaiah is the one who prophesied that the virgin would be with child. Isaiah wrote about the one who would be pierced and crushed and wounded for our transgressions. This morning though, it’s a different part of his prophecy that comes to mind as we commemorate the Festival of St. Thomas the Apostle. Famous words in Isaiah 9:6. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

It’s that last name for the promised Messiah that I haven’t been able to get out of my head all week. You see, this account with Thomas and the Apostles doesn’t happen anywhere even close to Christmas. It’s after Jesus death and resurrection. But “peace” is what connects the Christmas account that is so much at the front of our minds with this Thomas account that happened 30 years later.

Peace” is what Jesus was all about. Long before he came into the world he was promised as the coming Prince of Peace. The night he was born e was announced by angels as peace between God and mankind. And it’s in his appearance to Thomas that he shows us what peace truly means. So is Christmas a familiar story? Have we heard about “Doubting Thomas” before? Yes, but how blessed we are to hear it again.

There was peace in the world for a short time as Adam and Eve lived perfectly with each other, with creation, and with God himself. We know, though, how the first man and woman shattered that peace with sin. But before he even announced the consequences of their, God already promised a Savior who would crush Satan’s power and restore peace with God. This “Prince of Peace” would be a ruler with all authority. A king, but humble. A leader, but servant to all.

And finally, one evening in Bethlehem, just as foretold, this Prince of Peace was born. And on the night of His birth, a great company of angels praised God to shepherds in the fields nearby, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:14)

If you watch and listen in this holiday season, you won’t have to wait long to hear these words used as a Christmas wish for peace on earth. But the angels’ words were not some vague wish for world peace or goodwill among all people. It was the announcement of reconciliation with God for those who receive His favor through the Savior. Sin had broken the peace between God and man, but the Prince of Peace had come to restore it.

Fast forward thirty years, from the baby in the manger past the death on a cross to the evening of the resurrection. The disciples are locked behind closed doors, fearful and confused. Jesus appears and says to them, “Peace be with you” (John 20:19). But Thomas wasn’t there. And when the others told him they had seen Jesus, Thomas wouldn’t just take their word for it. It was too important for that. So a week later, Jesus repeated those words to Thomas too: “Peace be with you.”

See the connection! The angels’ message at Christmas—“peace on earth to men on whom God’s favor rests”—is fulfilled in the risen Jesus who declares, “Peace be with you.” The same Prince of Peace who entered the world as a baby now stood in the midst of his fearful disciples and speaks peace into their chaos.

But what is this peace that Jesus brings? It’s not the absence of trouble. The disciples were still hiding from persecution. Thomas was still wrestling with doubt. The world was still broken. No, true peace is the reconciliation between God and sinners. It is the forgiveness of sins, the removal of guilt, the restoration of fellowship with the holy God.

Thomas needed this peace more than anything. His doubt was not mere skepticism; it was the cry of a man who had followed Jesus to death (John 11:16) but now saw the cross as the end. He refused to believe the testimony of others; he demanded proof. Yet Jesus did not rebuke him or cast him aside. The Prince of Peace came to him, wounds and all, and said, “Put your finger here… Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas saw the marks of the nails and the spear—marks of the very suffering that won peace for him. Those wounds were the price of forgiveness. They were the proof that Jesus had carried the wrath of God in his place, that sin was paid for, that death was defeated. In that moment, Thomas confessed, “My Lord and my God!” He believed not just in the resurrection, but in the Prince of Peace who had made peace for him.

Friends in Christ, this is what defeats doubt: not evidence alone, but the forgiveness of sins that the risen Lord brings. When we doubt—when we wonder if God still cares, if our sins are too great, if He has forgotten us—Jesus comes to us in His Word and says, “Peace be with you.” He shows us His wounds in the Gospel: the cross where He died for us, the empty tomb where He rose for us.

And He delivers that peace through the means He has instituted: in Holy Baptism, where we are washed clean and receive God’s favor; in the preaching of the Word, where He speaks forgiveness; in the Lord’s Supper, where He gives us His very body and blood for the forgiveness of sins.

Thomas doubted, but the Prince of Peace did not abandon him. He met him in his hour of darkness and renewed his faith. And then Jesus says, as much for us as for them, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” That blessing is yours. You have not seen the risen Lord with your eyes, but you have heard his Word, received his Sacraments, and tasted his peace.

So in a season of busyness and in a world of skepticism, set doubt aside and believe. Let the wounds of Christ remind you: your sins are forgiven. The war with God is over. In Isaiah 9, after giving us those great promises and names of Jesus the prophet wrote, “Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.” The Prince of Peace reigns. May that bring you a lasting peace.

And in this season of giving, let us give this peace to those we care about who live in doubt right now. We have three days until our Christmas Eve worship services. And Jesus has certainly shown us that three days can change the world. May God move us to speak and to share. And may the Spirit bring true peace to others through us. Amen.