The Gift of Low Sunday
The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, Caravaggio, 1602
In the Church calendar, the Sunday following Easter Day is commonly known as “Low Sunday.” The origins of the name might come from the more low-key celebration after churches pull all the stops for Easter, or the drop in attendance. I like to think there is a more theological reason, found in the lectionary readings for the day.
Every year on the second Sunday of Easter, for its Gospel reading, the Church reads John 20.19-31. In these stories, the risen Jesus appears to the disciples hiding in a locked room. First, he appears on the evening of his Resurrection to the majority of the disciples, except for Thomas. Thomas hears from his companions that Jesus has appeared to them, but he doubts their stories, and declares unless he touches Jesus’s wounds, he will not believe. The next week, Thomas is with the disciples hiding in the locked room when Jesus appears again and invites Thomas to, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” (v. 27) Thomas exclaims, “My Lord, and my God!” (v. 28) Jesus promises to bless those who were not in the room with Thomas and the disciples, who believe without seeing him.
It’s now a week later for us, too. The kids found all the Easter eggs and ate all their chocolates, the leftovers from the feast sit in the refrigerator, we washed our nice outfits and they hang in the closet. After the glories of Easter Day, when the Church gathers to sing hallelujahs and retell the stories of angels sitting on stones and declaring in the early morning to the women first the good news that Jesus is risen and Apostles running to the empty tomb to see if it’s true, we might wonder, “Did all that really happen?” We have passed through the exuberant celebrations and are left low only with fading memories.
One would expect the Church to tell Gospel stories basking in the certainty of Jesus’s Resurrection for a bit longer, but instead the calendar embraces doubt on Low Sunday. Thomas, in the early part of the reading, is all of us who have not seen the risen Jesus with our own eyes. The reading tells us it is natural to be skeptical. This is part of our faith journey. How could it not be? Christians confess the God who made the universe became a human being, lived among us, and performed miracles. We believe humans killed God and God rose from the grave. These are unbelievable claims.
Low Sunday tells us we do not have to fake belief to appease an easily-offended God. We don’t hide our questions and skepticism, but bring them to God. The readings for Easter and Low Sunday reveal Jesus loves us so much he was willing to go to the grave, and he is willing to meet us in our doubt. He wants to meet us in our confusion and questions. He turns the cross and tomb into the means of new life. The encounter with Thomas shows Jesus now turns doubt into the seedbed of faith.
Tyler Watson writes fiction and theology. He has served as a pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church and earned his MDiv from Fuller Theological Seminary. He has written one novel, The Gospel According to Doubters and Traitors, and several devotionals. You can find more about those works on this site.
