The Doubter Turned Believer
Notes
Transcript
Christians believe in the resurrection. Jesus being raised from the dead is one of our treasured doctrines.
The resurrection of Jesus is central to the celebration of Easter, but less than half of adult Americans link the two. The Barna Group found that only 42% of adults tied Easter to the Resurrection. Adults between the ages of 18 and 25 did the worst.
David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group, said, “The Easter holiday in particular still has a distinctly religious connection for people, but the specifics of it are really fading in a lot of people’s minds.” (The Houston Chronicle, March 18, 2010)
Christians believe in the resurrection. Jesus being raised from the dead is one of our treasured doctrines. It is one of those tenets that sets us apart from the other world religions.
It shows up in many of the early apostles’ sermons as recorded throughout the book of Acts. It is affirmed in both the Nicene and Apostles’ Creed and every Protestant and Catholic catechism.
It teaches us that on the one hand, God is so loving that he sent His one and only Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. On the other hand, God is so powerful that He is able to raise the dead.
Today’s message features a man that was much like the rest of us. His name is Thomas. He was known as “the twin.” Thomas was devout, one of the 12. He was willing to die with the Lord. When Jesus was determined to go to Jerusalem, it was Thomas that said what others were thinking in John 11:16
16 So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
Our story takes up sometime after Jesus’ resurrection. Mary was the first to them tomb. Afterwards came Peter and John. Then Jesus appeared later to the ten, minus Thomas. After this event, the others tried to convince Thomas. This is where we read in John 20:24-25
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.”
Why was Thomas hesitant to believe the news his friends have shared with him? Because he was thoroughly convinced that Jesus died! Dr. Paul Maier of Western Michigan University has stated that the Roman batting average of successfully crucifying someone was around 1,000.
To make sure that they were dead, a spear was thrust into the side of the dying. This was also done to those who participated in the Gladiator contests. Then, to make sure the person was dead, a hot prong touched the body of the suffering. If the body flinched, a spear was thrust into the heart, finishing him off.
Thomas was doubtful when the others returned saying that they had seen the Lord. Can we blame him? Being absent from the first resurrection appearance of Jesus, he had to see a continuity between the crucified Jesus and the risen Jesus.
The doubter probably had several conversations with his friends during this interlude. At least on one occasion, Thomas said that he would not be convinced until he saw Jesus with his own two eyes.
Then, eight days later, Jesus meets them again. This time he greets the group, then walks over to Thomas. I wish I would have been there, to see their eyes meet. Jesus gives him precisely what he asked for. We read of the account in John 20:27
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.”
Jesus foretold on many occasions, that it was necessary for Him to die at the hands of sinful men and be raised from the dead. But they all were slow to believe.
Jesus approaching Thomas says something about the Lord’s love for Him. It is a veiled reference to Thomas’ hesitance to believe earlier. Jesus is answering Thomas’ concerns with physical proof.
Thomas’ response is one of depth. He said: “My Lord and my God.” The term for Lord is “master.” But Thomas takes it further when he ascribes deity to Jesus. With His resurrection, Jesus had proven Himself to be God. Thomas had crossed the bridge of doubt to faith.
The account of John 20 was no isolated event. There were many eye witnesses to the resurrection. Acts 1:3 is a summary of this time.
3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
They had all seen Jesus suffer.
They had seen him endure the Roman flogging.
They had all seen him nailed to the cross.
And now, he was raised, and had the scars to prove it was really Him!
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:5-8
5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
The disciples would never be the same. Their lives had changed. Furthermore, Jesus’ resurrection from the dead was a key message in their evangelism. It shows up in many of the early apostles’ sermons as recorded throughout the book of Acts.
Peter’s words in Acts 2:23-24
23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
Peter and John’s message to the people in Solomon’s portico in Acts 3:26
26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”
To the Sanhedrin in Acts 4:10
10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well.
Paul preached to the Jews in Antioch Pisidia:
29 And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. 30 But God raised him from the dead, 31 and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. 32 And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, 33 this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, ...
And finally, Paul’s sermon to the Areopagus in Acts 17:31
31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
And so history proves that men do not die for a farce. Many of the apostles were martyred for their faith. The resurrection of Jesus changed their lives to where they were willing to die for their faith.
There are a few applications of this passage.
For one, we serve the God of the impossible. There must be room for the unexplainable in your life. Some things you cannot reduce to science or observation. Your personal experience cannot be the filter of truth. Ultimately, you must reconcile with the notion that what occured on that first Easter morning was beyond reason.
Secondly, your doubt must lead to faith or it is just unbelief. Do not be controlled by your doubts. Some people must have every question satisfied before they believe. They keep hoping for something better to give their lives to, or simply live for themselves.
Thirdly, since Jesus rose from the dead, take Him seriously! Friends, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is God’s answer to your need for a Savior! If you do not believe after than, what else does God have to do for you!?
I had a conversation with a man from New York on a plane one evening. He was doubted Jesus was the Son of God and the world’s only Savior because he believed in the existence of space aliens. Hmmm.
Fourthly, Jesus and Easter function as God’s testimony to you of His love and power. For some of you, you’ve been going through your life, putting your trust and confidence in things that were never meant to last or satisfy. You are putting more trust in yourself than in God. Yet God has been patient and merciful with you. He has been faithful to you. Jesus and Easter function as God’s testimony of love and power. What is your response to it?
Thomas’ latter years
Little is known of Thomas after his confession. He is said to have gone east and planted churches in India. Foxe’s Book of Martyrs records that he set out to preach to seven people groups in the east including the Magians (i.e. the Magi) He was killed in India. Today, a church stands in Chennai (formerly Madras), that marks the place where Thomas was martyred in 52 AD.
Conclusion
But what about you? Where do you fit in this story? There must be a response to God’s love and power displayed in the resurrection of Jesus. There must come a time in your life that you look upon Christ and say: “My Lord and my God.”
This is a statement of dependence. David Powlison states: “From God’s point of view, you not only need someone else to be killed in your place in order to be forgiven, you need to be transformed in order to be fit to live with.” (Powlison, God’s Love: Better than Unconditional, 12.) God provides both in Jesus Christ.
The Christian faith is meant to affect everything you are and everything you do; your decisions about the present and the future; work, relationships, etc.
The point of the Scripture is not that you would be informed only. Rather, it is that you would be transformed. As someone once penned:
May Easter Day,
To Thy heart say,
“Christ died and rose for thee.”
May Easter night
On thy heart write,
“Oh Christ, I live to Thee.”
