This is now the second week after the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Easter Sunday is such a noted Christian date of celebration that it is easy to forget anything followed after that surprise morning. When Mary ran from the roller away stone tomb, to tell the disciples hidden in a room that Jesus was alive, she had been on a roller coaster. Here early morning duties on Easter Sunday morning was to go and finish the task of attending to the dead body of Jesus. Obviously she wasn’t expecting Jesus to be alive, she’d watched Him be put to death. He plans were to finish the responsibilities of burial, not attend to the living. That is often the case with many of us too. We should all be able to identify with her as we have forgotten our instructions and teachings way too often. We have, or at least I have, repeatedly expected one outcome based off my experiences and totally forgotten who God is, what His power and capabilities are, (which are limitless) without the first thought or reflection to His Will and plans. On that first Easter Sunday evening, what a surprise when Jesus showed up to address the disciples. I have often thought that Easter Sunday is great night to have evening church and worship, reflecting on His first post-resurrection appearance. If your church places emphasis on that time period, congratulations. I believe the focus on what happened in the evening of Resurrection Easter Sunday is valuable and has many teachable lessons of faith and God’s work. The first week following Easter Sunday had its highlights too. We do not know where Thomas was on the evening of the resurrection. What we know is that he was not with the other disciples when Jesus appeared to them. One would think if you had the personal testimony of 10 friends that you had traveled with, shared meals with, had deep conversations and debates with, their word would be one you’d trust. But not Thomas. The disciples, Mary, and others all shared with Thomas what they had experienced. But yet Thomas, refused to taker their word for anything. He was standing on and in concrete. He would not believe Jesus was alive unless he himself say Jesus with His own eyes. I can only imagine all week long following Jesus’ resurrection, Thomas walking around constantly sharing his discontentment and disbelieve that he wasn’t believing until he saw Jesus. Not sure how you feel about Thomas and his actions, but personally, I must sadly identify, I’ve acted like a child too regarding matters of hearing testimonies from others. I am thankful I have moved from poking holes into the stories of Jesus to just believing in faith. I can confess, I’ve had some Thomas attitude displayed in my life before and I stand on guard today not to allow any of that bad attitude to creep back in. 7 days after the resurrection of Jesus and in His timing, Jesus would suddenly appear again back in the same room as before, but this time the remaining 11 disciples were present. Thomas’ doubting was removed totally upon seeing Jesus. It is one thing to see and believe. I get it because I’ve said before “I’ll believe it when I see it”. The point to remember is the bigger blessing, the more to learn from and through, is believing without required evidence. Faith requires exercise! Now we enter into the 2nd week after Easter Sunday. What’s up with that, you ask? What’s up is that with history available today, we can easily read and understand timelines. Two weeks out from the stone being rolled away there are many things happening and at play in such a short time. The first question being asked and raised by the Roman Government, the Sadducees and Pharisees and even Mary, the disciples and followers of Jesus was, who had stolen the body? A great lesson from the resurrection is that things are not always as they first appear. (I’ll say those thoughts for another column) For the enemies of Jesus they might have be on the Thomas bandwagon for awhile themselves. Not believing Jesus was alive, after all then had been responsible for His death. They had orchestrated it all so their surprise is understandable. The enemies of Jesus however would waste no time plotting again, what to do about all this about Jesus. This column series will continue. Don’t forget about Easter Sunday in just 14 days of time. Until then