Easter 2023

Experiencing the Risen Lord | John 20:24-29 April 9, 2023 Good morning, it is Easter morning at Thornydale Family Church! I sure hope that you've been blessed by all the events from the morning, so far. I want to start by sharing a little about my past. My mom grew up Baptist in GA, and my father grew up Catholic in southern CA. Growing up, my brother and I grew up unchurched. My parents decided that they weren't going to force their beliefs on us, and allowed us to form our own opinions and belief systems. So, I would say that I my upbringing with faith was simply "knowing" that Christmas was the celebration of the birth of Jesus and that Easter was the celebration of the Resurrection. I'm sure that some of you here can relate to that. I would say that I never did not believe in God, I just never really knew Him. Never understood what faith was. What it really meant to be a Christian. It wasn't until I was 17 years old that I went to church and heard the Word of God for the first time. It was shortly after that when I came to faith. As we continue this morning, you'll what it was that changed my heart to faith in Jesus - my disbelief to belief. We'll begin by looking at a great passage in the book of John, and in this short account we'll be talking about today, we'll see what the antidote is to disbelief, particularly in the context of the resurrection. John is the fourth book of the New Testament, and we'll be in chapter 20, verses 24-29. Before we get into the main text, I want to take a few minutes to catch us up to these events. In Chapter 19 of John's Gospel account - which are the accounts written by eyewitnesses to the life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ - we see the account of Jesus's betrayal, crucifixion, death, and burial of Jesus. At the beginning of chapter 20, John's account of the resurrection is given, along with some of the appearances of Jesus among His followers. Among those followers was Mary Magdalene, a follower of Jesus who had a troubled past, including being possessed by a demon. In verses 19-23, we see that Jesus appeared to His disciples, and Luke 24 adds that there were more with them. We'll refer back to this shortly. Let's read our passage this morning and see what this antidote to disbelief is. You can follow along in your bibles, or on the screen: 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." You may be familiar with Thomas. He's widely known as "Doubting Thomas." Frankly, Thomas is getting a bad wrap. Here is where I'd like to draw your attention back to the prior section of this account. In John 20:19 we read: 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." Jesus previously told His disciples - a disciple, by the way, is a follower and learner of Jesus - that He would return on the third day, here's one example from Mark 9:31: FOR [JESUS] HE WAS TEACHING HIS DISCIPLES, SAYING TO THEM, "THE SON OF MAN IS GOING TO BE DELIVERED INTO THE HANDS OF MEN, AND THEY WILL KILL HIM. AND WHEN HE IS KILLED, AFTER THREE DAYS HE WILL RISE." The disciples, then, at least being told that He would return on the third day, were hiding behind a locked door because they were afraid of those who gave Jesus over to be killed. I firmly believe that fear leads to doubt, and doubt leads to unbelief. When we look closer that this passage, it focuses more on unbelief than it does on doubt. Thomas, you see, was not the only one who had disbelief. I think this is important. This shows us that not all of us experience the risen Lord in the same way. Let's explore this further by identifying the main idea of the passage: When we see and experience the risen Lord, we overcome our disbelief. John doesn't tell us why Thomas wasn't with the others on the first Easter, we only learn of this detail from our main text today. Once again, we tend to give Thomas a hard time - in fact he has become known as Doubting Thomas for all of history, as noted previously. But think about how Thomas would've felt. He, along with the others, just saw His Lord die on a cross and get buried. And even though, he had experienced miracles by being a close follower of Jesus, seeing the Miracle Worker Himself die before his eyes was too much for him to bear. Don't you and I handle traumatic events differently, too? I know for me, If I'm upset, I prefer to isolate myself. I don't really want to be around others. Others like to surround themselves with those they are closest with. Then, think about it. Thomas missed out on seeing the Lord on that first day. He likely heard of Jesus appearing to others - the scriptures tell us in Luke 24 that Mary, Mary, Joanna, and others all saw Him. Timing wise, two others had a two hour conversation with Jesus on the road to their hometown. They too, were disappointed that Jesus was dead. So, you see, Thomas was the only one who didn't see the risen Lord right away. If I'm Thomas - I'm thinking, why wouldn't He appear to me too? What did I do? There's no way He would've left me out! So, it's not true! Then to top it all off, Thomas hears it from the others, and he's like no way! Here is where we can likely relate to Thomas and his unbelief. Let's explore this further by answering this question: WHY DO SOME NOT BELIEVE? Using Thomas as our reference point: * Because they have not experienced the risen Lord, yet. (24) o There is power in the risen Lord. * You may have noticed already, but I'll be using Lord and Jesus interchangeably. o The Apostle Paul - who experienced the risen Lord years after the resurrection, had his life completely transformed said it this way in his first letter to the Corinthians (15:17): AND IF CHRIST HAS NOT BEEN RAISED, YOUR FAITH IS FUTILE AND YOU ARE STILL IN YOUR SINS. o You see, the bible teaches us that we were all born into sin. It further teaches that if I am in sin, I cannot be in God's presence. That is because, only those who are holy can be in His presence. God sent Jesus to take on all of our sins, and to bear the punishment of that sin, which is death, in order for us to be made and declared holy before God. So, with a dead savior, there is no possibility of that declaration. So, in effect, if you are a Christian - one who follows Jesus and has confessed Him as Lord - then you have experienced the risen Lord and have been made righteous and holy before God. o This is made possible through faith. Paul says in his letter to the Romans (10:17) that: SO FAITH COMES FROM HEARING, AND HEARING THROUGH THE WORD OF CHRIST. o You see, we give Thomas a hard time, but he too, needed to experience the risen Lord, and to hear from Him, to come to belief, instead of disbelief. o Another reason why people do not believe is ... * Because their faith is conditional (25) o Thomas's faith was conditional. In fact, he had three conditions. o Back in verse 25, we see that Thomas needed to ... * See Jesus * Feel the scars on Jesus wrists where the nails were, and to * Feel the pierced side o I've been trying to support Thomas this whole time, but this is where I draw the line ... the fingers in the holes? The hand in His side?! No way! No way! o Many of us feel like we can't come to Jesus until we have it all together. This text reminds us that Jesus is available right where you are. o I heard a pastor talk about some gym nuts who complain that there are too many overweight people at the gym! That's like complaining that there are too many sick people at the hospital! We all come to Jesus in our sin. He makes us right. He's the only one that could make us "put together." o We too have conditional faith - or at least did at some point. o So, the question remains: HOW DOES ONE OVERCOME DISBELIEF? Again, using Thomas as our guide, like Thomas we must ... * Experience the risen Lord (26-27) o The scene here is exactly one week following the event in verse 19, but there is one significant difference: Thomas is present for this visit from the Lord. o What's interesting about this event takes us back again to the previous section. The disciples had a specific order from Christ in verse 21, let's read it: JESUS SAID TO THEM AGAIN, "PEACE BE WITH YOU. AS THE FATHER HAS SENT ME, EVEN SO I AM SENDING YOU o Jesus was preparing the group, empowering them with the Holy Spirit, and sending them out. This idea of being sent out is all throughout each of these accounts during the period prior to Jesus's ascension. o Even prior to this, however, as seen back in chapter 14, Jesus was preparing His disciples to continue the work that Jesus began, and Thomas was included. o But he was not ready for this task until he experienced the risen Lord. o Experiencing the risen Lord may look differently for each of us. * I know someone who is very close to me that experienced the risen Lord through hearing the bible while in a hungover fog * I personally experienced the Lord through the bible and through the love and acceptance of His people * Many years later, I experienced His grace and mercy through sparing my life from a traumatic accident * While each of us come to experience the risen Lord is a different way, we all must do so to overcome our disbelief o Next, we, like Thomas ... * Respond with confession and worship (28) o This visit from Jesus is incredible. o He comes in, the same way He did a week prior - through a locked door - and the text implies that He went straight to Thomas. o Jesus knew what Thomas needed to believe. o He told him to do exactly what Thomas's conditions were earlier. But Thomas didn't need to - when He saw the Lord and heard His voice, he responded with confession and worship. o Confession is key because the bible says that when you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you will be saved. o Worship is critical because the worship of the One True God is a response to that faith that was just confessed. o One blogger wrote: Our worship is always a reflection of our view of God and our view of self. A higher view of God results in a heightened worship of God. The opposite is also true, a higher view of self unfortunately results in a heightened worship of self. o The thing about Christianity is that our focus must always remain on Christ, and not ourselves. Frankly, this is one of those stumbling blocks for many people to not come to faith. o Finally, one more question to address ... WHAT MUST I DO? Verse 29 states: JESUS SAID TO HIM, "HAVE YOU BELIEVED BECAUSE YOU HAVE SEEN ME? BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HAVE NOT SEEN AND YET HAVE BELIEVED. So, what we must do is ... * Personally believe in the risen Lord. o The key word in Thomas's response from verse 28 is "MY" * Thomas needed to experience the risen Lord - personally. * This is something that each of us need to do as well. o That's what's so great Jesus's response, it includes you and me. o While we have not seen the physical Jesus, many of us have experienced Him through our lives. * I've known addicts and drunks whose lives have been changed by experiencing the risen Lord. * I've known ex-cons and have heard of ex-gang members whose lives have been changed by experiencing the risen Lord. * I've known of people who had lived with anxiety and worry whose lives have been changed by the risen Lord. o So, where do we start? How do I experience the risen Lord today? * In the Bible, we see that all who came to faith following the resurrection came through the lives and testimonies of those who experienced Jesus in the flesh. We are blessed today to have record from many of those, found in the Bible. * So, today, we experience the risen Lord through the living Word of God - the bible. We've seen this morning: When we see and experience the risen Lord, we overcome our disbelief. That's it. That's the only way to overcome disbelief. An experience with the risen Lord. Thomas was in a rough spot. He waited eight days before he saw the Lord. He was discouraged, he was disappointed, and maybe even a littler bitter. But, his life changed, and he confessed the risen Jesus as his Lord and his God. Many of us may be experiencing the same feelings as Thomas. Discouraged. Disappointed. Bitter. It is very possible that you feel that way in your current circumstances because you too have not experienced the risen Jesus. Just as Thomas, you too must confess the risen Jesus as your Lord and your God. Easter - the resurrection - is the critical pivot point in the Christian faith, without it, there would be no Christianity. And while everyone comes to Jesus differently, we all share one thing: no one can come overcome their unbelief without experiencing the risen Jesus. Will you follow Him? Will you trust Him in all circumstances? Will you call Him Lord and God? Let's pray. 2