Do You Believe?

Introduction:

Have you ever been on vacation and seen one of those Ripley’s Believe It or Not places? There are all kinds of oddities and weird things in them. I’ve never personally been in one, but I have the internet to tell me about them!

They were created by a man named Robert Ripley who started with a cartoon entitled “Believe It or Not” in 1918. This led him to start what He called “Odditoriums” where he would display exhibits as “proof” of his tales he told in the cartoons.

Now, the very name, “Believe It or Not,” tells us that these exhibits are of an extraordinary nature and are hard to believe. What type of things are we talking about here?

Well here are a few of the exhibits

-A Mummified Corpse that Attends Meetings

-A Man Who Finds a Message in a Bottle and Inherits Millions

-A Boy Raised By Monkeys

All of these stories are either true or have parts that are true, and you have to decide whether to believe them or not.

The sad thing is that there are people who would rather believe a Ripley’s exhibit to be true than to believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. A Ripley’s exhibit won’t do much for your soul, but the resurrection of Jesus will change your eternity!

This morning I want to ask you the question, “Do You Believe?” It’s a simple question with a profound consequence for your life. We are going to look at the resurrected Christ this morning and see some of His Disciples and their own struggles to believe, but ultimately I hope you walk away with a greater faith than you had before.

This is not fake news, this is the real deal! Let’s take a look at our text this morning in John 20.

John 20:19–29 ESV

19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” 24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” 26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Pray

Our text this morning occurs later in the day on the first Resurrection Sunday. There has been a whirl of emotion over the weekend, starting with the betrayal of Jesus by one of the 12, his arrest and trial by the High Priest and Pilate, and His crucifixion. Then after having to wait for what seemed like a long Sabbath to them, I’m sure, some of the women from their group go out to finish the burial. When they get there, they discover the stone rolled away and the tomb empty.

Can you just imagine the mindset of these disciples and followers of Jesus? What would your mind be like? Would you be in denial or perhaps feel like this is one of the Ripley’s exhibits that you were a part of?

As we look at what takes place next, we are going to look at three things this morning.

The Reality of the Resurrection

The Signs and Proof of the Resurrection

The Necessity of Faith in Believing the Resurrection

1. The Resurrection is a Physical Reality (vv. 19)

John 20:19 ESV

19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

It’s interesting that when we read the account of the resurrection, we don’t find the type of conspirators you would think to find hatching out this great plan to hoodwink the entirety of mankind for over 2,000 years.

Mary and the women are going to the tomb to finish the burial ritual that they had started on Friday before the Sabbath began at sundown. They had not had time to finish preparing the body and had to hurriedly place Jesus in the tomb because the Sabbath was fast approaching. In fact the Gospels tell us that the tomb was nearby, emphasizing the quickness with which they had to bury Jesus.

The rest of the disciples are locked a house and too scared to even go to the tomb to escort the women. They believe that they will be noticed and the same fate that Jesus just experienced will also become there own. Nothing changes just because the women had come back and reported the tomb empty.

The picture that is painted here is that the resurrection is a reality, but the Disciples don’t quite know what to do with it yet. They are in shock. They are probably wondering if this has all been a vision or a stress induced illusion for them.

These are all the things that skeptics might accuse them of. The problem for the skeptics is the evidence that proves this as a real resurrection. We will get to some of these things in a moment, but we need to understand that the Disciples did not just see the resurrection and think, “Oh, well that makes sense. Of course Jesus rose from the dead. Silly us we! We forgot!”

They are processing all of this when Jesus appears to them. I’m sure they were having a good long discussion about what had just happened. They may have been saying something to Peter and John and the women like, “Now, tell us again what you saw when you went to the tomb?”

Just then Jesus appears to them. We don’t know if an angel opened the door and He walked in like what happened to Peter in the Book of Acts. We don’t know if Jesus just materialized in the room. I personally think that is most likely because in our resurrected bodies, we will be able to do a lot of things we cannot do right now.

But nevertheless, Jesus shows up and gives proof that He is alive to them.

2. God Gives Us Signs and Proof of the Resurrection (vv. 20, 27)

John 20:20 ESV

20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

Now the first time Jesus shows up to the Disciples, Thomas is missing. I would hate to be poor Thomas wouldn’t you? I mean, this morning Mary, Peter, and John, and some of the other women had already seen either Jesus or the empty tomb. Now Thomas is out doing something, we don’t know what, maybe it’s a supply run or something, and Jesus shows up!

When he gets back and hears about it, I bet he was pretty upset that twice now He has missed Jesus.

Well, Jesus shows up anyways and greets the Disciples with the customary Jewish greeting. I really believe he is speaking to them in a deeper way to calm their fears and anxieties. Anyways, Jesus gives them an opportunity to place their hands in the nail prints and in His side.

This is why John could write in 1 John

1 John 1:1 ESV

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—

He was telling the church in his letter that Jesus was not some phantom, but was real. This was not some spiritually resurrected Jesus, but was a real person with a resurrected body.

Jesus is later going to give Thomas the same opportunity to put his hands in the nail prints and scars in His side.

John 20:27 ESV

27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”

Thomas gets a bad rap. Wouldn’t we have been the same way as Thomas. This is an incredible thing to believe and he’s sort of left out of the rest of the group getting to see Jesus firsthand.

The wonderful thing about this is that God has given us some real evidence to prove the resurrection really happened.

Think about it for a moment. There are only a few options.

-Wrong Tomb - easily corrected

-Swoon Theory - easily dismissed

-Stolen Body Theory - doesn’t seem like the Disciples had the courage or the women had the means (even the religious leaders know this is a week theory). Also, who folds grave clothes when they steal a body?

-Real Resurrection

The Resurrection is the only thing that can explain how these men go from being behind a locked door to dying martyrs’ deaths. They were convinced that Jesus had risen from the dead.

But....you might say that the disciples were convinced, sure, but that doesn’t mean it really happened. Except that Jesus appeared to so many different people that it was undeniable!

Let’s say for a moment, that the disciples believed and were willing to die, but that Jesus wasn’t really alive. Well, what happened to His body? Why didn’t the Pharisees and priests just show how stupid the Disciples were to believe this by taking everyone down for a show and tell at the tomb?

The answer is that they couldn’t! There was no body and the only logical conclusion to the evidence is that Jesus is risen and alive!

Now that might not be enough for you. I would strongly encourage you to investigate it yourself. You can start with a book by a former atheist who tried to do the same thing named Lee Strobel. The Book is called The Case for Christ and it’s also been made into a movie if you don’t like to read.

But no matter how much digging you do, you are looking into a case from 2,000 years ago. It is not only going to require evidence, it is also going to require faith.

3. Ultimately Faith is Required to Believe the Resurrection (vv. 24-28)

God uses faith as a humbling rod. He makes us stoop to enter into the Kingdom of God. We can’t come in the door by mere intellect alone. We have to come by faith.

We must believe a lot of things by faith; however, so that should not deter us. We put a lot of faith in doctors that operate on us. We put a lot of faith in anesthesiologists. We put a lot of faith in bankers and restaurant workers and day care workers.

We put more faith in these people with less credibility and proof to verify they can do what they claim than we do in the God who made everything and had His prophets perform miracles to prove they were speaking for Him.

You see, Jesus told a parable about this with the story of the rich man and Lazarus. Lazarus had died and was in Paradise while the rich man was in Hell. The rich man was a clear believer by this point, but it was too late and he wanted Abraham to send Lazarus back to warn his brothers.

The response that Abraham gave him was an indictment on anyone who would come to Jesus by reason and physical evidence alone.

He says this.

Luke 16:29–31 ESV

29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”

Did you catch that? Essentially he says that if they won’t believe the Scriptures, they won’t believe even if someone comes back from the dead.

Is that you? Do you have faith today? Can you put your trust in Jesus? There is a blessing for anyone who will believe that we will see in a minute, even though they may not get to see with their eyes like the Disciples and like Thomas.

Look again at what happens.

John 20:24–28 ESV

24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” 26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus offers proof to Thomas, but notice he doesn’t take Jesus up on it. He is willing to believe because He has seen, but Jesus says that blessed are those who believe but haven’t seen.

4. There is Blessing for Those Who Believe (v. 29)

John 20:29 ESV

29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

That’s us, and the only way that we can see the reality of the resurrection is with the eyes of faith. We need the Holy Spirit to help us see.

Peter echoes this promise.

1 Peter 1:8 ESV

8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,

Peter says that there is joy for those who believe even though they have not seen.

That joy changes everything.

It enables us to be brave. It enables us to sacrifice. It enables us to have hope. It really changes everything.

Conclusion

At the center of all of these passages we’ve been looking at today is a commission to go and share what we’ve discovered in the same manner that the Father sent Jesus (John 17:18) to show Himself to us. We are commanded and commissioned to go in the power of the Holy Spirit.

There are three things God asks you to do today.

Believe on the Lord Jesus and Be Saved

Rejoice in the Lord Jesus and Have Fellowship with Him

Go and Tell Others About the Blessing You Have Received in Christ

What will be your decision? What will you believe? Do you believe?