Jesus is the Christ, The Son of God

Jesus Gives Us Peace

Verse 19-21

They were hiding, doors locked

Fear had overcome them

Jesus comes and offers peace

“Peace be with you” was common greeting of Jesus day

He offers “peace” twice.

In this moment, Peace is what the disciples need.

They are scared, they wonder if they are next

εἰρήνη eirēnē: Peace; prosperity; quietness; rest

He Does not send us out without His peace

We can be assured, that if He sends us out, we will be in his peace

His peace does not mean:

Financial prosperity

We wont face opposition

We wont have trials

His peace does mean we

We will overcome all of those

We will have internal peace

Jesus Sends Us

Verse 22-23

This passage is reminiscent of two other passages

First is the binding passage in Matthew 18

Matthew 18:18 “18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

The second is the great commission

Acts 1:4–8 ESV

4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

The concept here isn’t that we have the ability to forgive sin, only God can do that

He is teaching us two things here:

The Holy Spirit is coming and will empower us

Our witness has the ability to change peoples eternity

Encountering Jesus Changes Everything

verse 24-29

Thomas doubted Jesus’ resurrection

Like most people, Thomas was willing to say what He required for Him to believe

What is interesting is that though Thomas puts this huge barrier to his belief, he believes without needing it

His confession is that of salvation

When one comes to salvation, they do not just believe that Jesus died, or that Jesus was raised, but that Jesus is Lord

Jesus is our Lord and God

We submit to Him

Jesus is the Christ

verse 30-31

We end this passage with John wrapping everything up

Telling us of other miracles Jesus did, but are not recorded

His desire is that we believe, but just like Thomas, not simply that Jesus died and rose, but that He is the Christ

The Sonship of Jesus is essential to John, and He is writing to show us the divinity of Christ

What we are called to believe is that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God