Not to make the exact comparisons, Thomas missed something very important as well. He wasn’t there when Jesus appeared in that upper room with the doors locked and showed the other disciples his hands and said those comforting words – words we all need in our anxious lives, “Peace be with you!” And who needed these words more than the anxious disciples who feared for their lives.

Thomas was not there. Where was he? Was he home sick in bed? Was he out with other friends? Was he hiding in a different place? We don’t know, but what we do know is what Thomas missed. He missed a great opportunity.

And with that opportunity missed Thomas couldn’t believe it. You know, I couldn’t believe it when I missed Easter Sunday Service. I haven’t missed a Sunday in my nine years as a parish pastor. What are the odds that I would miss Easter Sunday? What are the odds that Thomas wouldn’t be with the others when Jesus appeared in that upper room? What are the odds that Thomas would express doubt or “lack of” faith? Remember this was the very same disciple who said to all the rest of the disciples in John chapter eleven, “Let us go (with Jesus) that we may die with him.” That doesn’t sound like a “faithless” statement to me.

But Thomas missed the opportunity. So did I last Sunday. I’m sure you have a time or two as well. Whether it be with a big sale, a client, for your children, or with sharing your faith to someone who needs to hear of this Jesus, we are people who have missed opportunities. Sometimes we had no control over these opportunities missed. Sometimes we do. And on this 2nd Sunday of Easter I want to go back and show you an opportunity that began on Good Friday. And this opportunity has everything to do with the cross – the empty cross that I wasn’t able to preach about last Sunday.

Even though today we stand at the open tomb and peer into that tomb and realize Jesus is not there, I would like to go back, just for a moment, to Good Friday. I would like to go back to the time when Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate if he could have the body of Jesus to give it the proper burial. I would like to go back to those words found in the Gospel according to St. Luke that say, “he took it (that is the body of Jesus) down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid (Luke 23:53). Joseph took down the body of Jesus – but He didn’t take down the cross. Joseph seized the opportunity to recover the body of our Lord and confront Pilate. That was not an opportunity lost.

With that in mind, I wonder, how long did that cross on Calvary, erected for Jesus, stood on that hill? How long did it serve as a reminder that God’s own people took their Lord, had Him stripped, whipped, and left to die with common criminals? How long did that cross serve as a reminder of the critical moment in the history of the world?

I like to think it stayed there for a long time. He died a gruesome death on that tree but the minute He was found alive that cross became something different. The cross, which stood for torture, punishment and death now would stand on that very same hill and become a symbol of victory, salvation and life. That cross would stand on that hill just outside of town but now it stands for all eternity in the hearts of believers. The one they had crucified now lives. The cross of death has become a cross of life. And now it’s clear; the cross that still stood on Calvary after Jesus was taken down had the “opportunity” to tell a story. The story it could tell now was not of death but of life.

The cross that we gaze at is a cross for a dying world. It’s the cross for a world like ours. You have heard that the moment that life begins for one of God’s creations – it begins to die. The flowers live and then die. Trees live and then they die. The animals and the birds they all live – and then they all die. We live and then we die. The cross is for a world like ours – a world that lives and then dies.

The cross that is empty is a cross that shows us how – even though we die – we live. Jesus lives. And as Jesus is alive so are we and we will never die. There’s a pattern here. The pattern for life in Jesus is perfectly clear and is at the center of the Easter message this very season. The life and death of Jesus had both meaning and function. And so does the cross. The cross stands in the place of what our Savior has done and why we are here today. The cross will not be left as a stagnant symbol, a decoration people use as jewelry or something that simply fades into the landscape of today’s “inclusive” world. Rather, the cross will be given the opportunity to explain its true meaning and function. Allow me to explain.

The cross has a long history in the church and outside the church. The cross had meaning and function in death. For centuries Romans used the cross for means of capital punishment. The public display of people nailed to a “cross-shaped” tree was to show others that no one messes with those who have authority over them. That was the meaning. For its function – it would not only kill those that committed injustice according to the government, it would also strike fear into he hearts of anyone who would think to do the same. It wasn’t too complicated. The cross had meaning and function. The meaning – don’t mess with Caesar. The function: to strike fear in the hearts of men and to “take care of” those who commit insurrection against the government or its people.

I wonder how long the cross stood on that hill – with the opportunity to serve as a reminder to those who would pass by of what had happened – what would happen. I wonder how many people passed by that cross and thought about the meaning of that cross now that Jesus was alive. I also wonder, how many times Thomas thought to himself, “No way! I will not believe until I see with my own eyes.” Thomas missed a great opportunity to see the Savior Jesus. But when he did see Jesus – notice his reaction: “My Lord and my God!” I hope those who saw the cross on Calvary after our Savior rose from the dead were compelled to say, “My Lord and my God.”

Don’t miss the opportunities our Lord has given to you – to be fed by His Word and Live in His life for ourselves and others. Don’t miss the opportunity to gaze at the cross and notice that while it is empty it has been stained by the blood of an innocent man, The Lord Jesus Christ. What an opportunity we have.

Don’t miss the opportunity this Easter to see the empty cross, to put our finger in the nail prints of our Savior and thrust our hand into His side and believe. We have that opportunity each time we gather here in this place – each time we receive the forgiveness of our sins from our Lord. God has revealed Himself to us as a “living Lord” just like He did to Thomas and the others. What an opportunity. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.