Believe
Notes
Transcript
Today is Resurrection Sunday. The day that we set aside each year to focus on the day the tomb was found empty. If we were to put this all into perspective of today, last Friday, Jesus arrived at Bethany. We find this in John chapter 12 and when he arrives, Mary anoints the feet of Jesus.
On Sunday, Jesus enters into Jerusalem with the event we know as the Triumphal entry. After he enters and is drawing nearer to the city, he weeps over the city for the coming destruction that it will endure. He then goes to the temple and because it is late, he goes with his disciples back to Bethany.
On Monday, they return to the temple and drove out the people who were buying and selling inside. He took the tables that the money-changers were using and flipped them over, and declared Mark 11:17 “17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”” Then he goes back to Bethany.
Tuesday, they return to the temple and Jesus’s authority is questioned by the chief priests and scribes. They begin to question him in many things to try to get him to say something to implicate himself. Jesus and his disciples return to Bethany again and on the way, he delivers what we know as the Olivet discourse where he speaks extensively on matters of heaven and hell.
Wednesday comes and Jesus once again goes to the temple and teaches. On Wednesday, the Sanhedrin begin their plot against Jesus. Their plan is to arrest him in private and then kill him so that the people do not outrage.
On Thursday, they celebrate the Passover meal. This also serves as the last supper and where Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper. In this scene of scripture, Jesus tells them of several things that would happen from the betrayal of Judas to his shedding of blood and death. After this, they go up to the Mount of Olives where Jesus told them that all of them would fall away from him. And after declaring that he would not, Jesus assures Peter that he would deny him 3 times. During the night, soldiers came and arrested Jesus.
On Friday, his trial began. They first took him to Annas who was the father in law of the high priest. Then they took him to the high priest, Caiaphas. After the sun rose, he would go before the full Sanhedrin. But this was only the Jewish part of his trial. He then face a Roman trial where he went before Pilate where he declared Jesus innocent, but did not have the boldness to stand up for Jesus. He went before Herod where he mocked Jesus. Herod and Pilate joined up and went before the people and told them that they would punish him and release him. But the people rose up and demanded that Barabbas, a murderer, be released and that Jesus be crucified.
Around 9 am, he went to the cross where he has 2 criminals by his side. One rejected him, one believed that he was truly the Son of God. When they died that day, one went to hell and one went to heaven. Jesus hung on the cross for nearly 6 hours before he took his last breath.
45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.
46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
47 And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.”
48 And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink.
49 But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.”
50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.
51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.
52 The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised,
53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
54 When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
On Friday, after the cross and after his death, he was taken down and taken to a tomb that was given to him to be used. They wrapped him in linen, laid him in the tomb, and then sealed the tomb with a stone so that the body would not be disturbed.
The next day was the sabbath so nothing was done. Then on Sunday morning, a group took spices to the tomb, but when they arrived, the stone was rolled away and the tomb was empty. The angel of the Lord appeared and spoke to them. Mark 16:6–7 “6 And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.””
This is what we celebrate today. But this is what we celebrate each and every week when we gather. We gather because of the resurrection.
Typically, you come to church on Easter Sunday and you hear a message about the resurrection and about the people going to the tomb and finding it empty. But I have never been one to do things that are typical. I want to go beyond the resurrection today and look at something that happened in between the resurrection and Jesus’s ascension.
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.”
Prayer
One of my fondest memories growing up is getting to fish with my grandfather. We would sometimes go bank fishing but he had a bass boat too. I can remember getting the boat ready with him and getting in the truck. He had a single cab 1982 GMC High Sierra with a bench seat in it, so we could only take 3 people in it. We would hop in, head down the road, stop in at a gas station and get a pack of crackers and a drink and head to the lake. There were many days when the only thing we caught was some sun burn, but it was still nice.
I have been around hunters and fishermen my whole life and I know that unless there is video or picture evidence of it happening, then you might want to be cautious of what you believe. So I am going to tell you about this one morning that we went out fishing. We went down to Lake Tillery and set out. We thought it would just be a normal day of fishing. We went into a cove where there were some houses and docks. We threw the line out there and after less then a minute of being there, down goes the cork. We bring it in, throw another out there, and the same thing happens. That day, there were 3 of us there and we ended up doing a rotation of throwing, reeling, and unhooking to put in the live well. In the span of about 3 hours of fishing, we caught 50 2-3 pound catfish.
I know what you are thinking, that sounds like an embellished story. Well, I have here today an eyewitness that can vouch for it because my mother was the 3rd person. But you know, sometimes even having a witness is not enough. You know, Thomas heard from witnesses that Jesus was alive, yet he still doubted. So maybe you are like Thomas and you need evidence.
Today we are going to see what God says in his word about belief.
Belief is a Blessing
Belief is a Blessing
In the scene of our text today, they are coming off of the events of something that is foundational, the resurrection. Without the resurrection, Jesus was just another human being who stood up for what he believed in and die for it, but still stayed dead. The reason that there is an Immanuel Baptist Church today is because of the resurrection. Without that, we would be at home waiting on the baseball game to start because nothing special is going on today. But that is not the reality. The reality is that because of the resurrection, we have a savior to worship. And worship happens through belief.
In the remainder of our time this morning in the word, I want to go through our text and see what goes on with this man named Thomas. But also, I want to see what Jesus says and apply it to our lives today.
24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.
Thomas was one of the disciples of Jesus. We don’t know much about Thomas except from the gospel of John. You may have heard many people refer to him as “Doubting Thomas”. That nickname would come from this passage today. But when John’s gospel talked about him earlier, we can see that Thomas also was a man of courage. When Jesus’s friend Lazarus died, Jesus wanted to go back to Judea. The disciples were concerned because the Jews had already tried to stone Jesus to death. But Thomas spoke up and said that he wanted to go with him and be killed too if he needed.
A very important piece of information is that Thomas was not with them when Jesus appeared to his disciples. In the verses right before this, we read of this encounter between Jesus and his disciples where he showed them the scars from his crucifixion. But Thomas was not there. So he shows up and hears them talking about this encounter.
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.”
This is where he gets that nickname, “Doubting Thomas”. They tell him what they saw and he doesn’t believe them. He said that he needs further proof. He needed to put his eyes on it and put his hands on it. “I won’t believe unless I see it for myself. And then, I even need to touch it to make sure I am not hallucinating”. Some believe that Thomas was a carpenter before he followed Jesus. But maybe he was a fisherman and believed that he needed to witness something himself to believe it.
Our doubt will keep us from experiencing blessings. And I am not talking about some sort of faith driven miracles. I am talking about us being hardheaded and missing out on something that God has put right in front of us. Thomas had these men, who were like brothers to him, telling him that Jesus was alive, and he missed it. All the disciples were doing in telling him this was saying that Jesus kept his promise. 3 different times Jesus told his disciples that he was going to go to the cross and die. 3 different times he told his disciples that he would rise from the grave 3 days later. Yet, when the other men told Thomas about it, he needed more proof.
Without proof, he could not have faith. Faith is a word that we use in Christianity. What is faith? Hebrews 11:1 “1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Simply put, faith is believing in something without needing undeniable proof. There are many people who are like Thomas in this sense. They refuse to believe because they just don’t have enough proof.
Christians are often described as close minded people. But I would contend that it is the exact opposite. Close minded people are the kind of people who need undeniable proof to believe something. Christians are some of the most open minded people because they have faith in the resurrection of Jesus even though they were not witnesses of it. Now, we have eye witness accounts like the one we are looking at today, but we did not witness it. So we have faith that God’s word is true and that Jesus truly defeated death and rose from the grave.
The gospel of John then fast forwards a bit. In verse 26, it picks up 8 days later. I can only imagine all of the discussion between Thomas and the other disciples that happen during this period. They were all together still so we know that there must have been conversation. But what happens next is amazing.
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.”
The disciples, including Thomas, were inside. The doors were locked. You know, times have changed a lot in my lifetime even. I can remember when I was young that we would sometimes leave the door open at night and not lock it. But as I got older, that was the last thing you checked before you got in the bed. Now, in my house, we make sure the doors are locked. And if I know my doors are locked and I am in the house and then all of a sudden, someone else is in there with me, then my reaction would be a dramatic one.
The glory and the power of Christ is so great, that locks cannot keep it out. He announces to them, “peace be with you”. Just like you and I, I am sure they needed something to calm them down. Jesus knew the questions that Thomas had brought up a week earlier. Not because anyone told him, but because he is God.
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 wanted proof, so he got proof. Thomas had the distinct experience of being able to touch the wounds of Jesus. Jesus could have berated him about his unbelief, but what he did was encourage him. Do not disbelieve, but believe. He did this out of love for Thomas.
This should be our call as well. We will encounter people who may be more receptive to hearing that gospel of Jesus than others. Our call to them is for them to believe. And if they don’t, then we cannot make them. We cannot show them the marks on Jesus from the crucifixion. But, we can present the gospel and tell them our experience of how Jesus has worked in our lives.
Maybe you are here today and don’t know exactly what the gospel is or how to be saved. So I want to take a moment to do that. (gospel presentation). And when we believe this and put our trust in Jesus, we can say the same thing that Thomas said.
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.”
Seeing doesn’t always mean belief. There were many, many people who were are the crucifixion of Jesus, yet did not believe. There were supernatural events that happened at the death of Jesus, yet people did not believe. If you are someone who needs undeniable evidence of the resurrection of Jesus, then you will never believe.
This is where faith comes in. Faith is giving to us by the Holy Spirit. We cannot produce faith in Jesus by ourselves but it is a supernatural working in our life. If you truly have faith that Jesus did this and that by his death and resurrection that you can be saved, and if you believe that God has called you to follow him no matter where it leads or what you have to give up, then you have true faith and you are saved.
Closing
Today, I want to make the call of salvation to you. I am not sure what is going on inside of anyone right now. But I do know that I have faith that God’s word is true and that Jesus rose from the grave. Do you believe this?
Jesus tells us in the book of Mark that we are to repent and believe the gospel. Do you believe this? If you only believe but do not repent, then that is not salvation. Repentance is when you turn from your sin and turn to Jesus. This is the only way to salvation.
I know there is a spectrum here for everyone from people who have been following Jesus for 60 years to people who just heard about him 6 minutes ago. So we all have different responses. The same call goes to everyone. Repent and believe. Even after 60 years, we are still repenting and believing just like 6 minutes in.
As a church, we value life change. If you have come to faith in Christ recently, we want to celebrate that with you. Because when you truly follow Christ, there are things in life that get tougher. And we know that you need people around you to help. That is what the church is for, to be there for one another and to help each other out.
We are so thankful for the resurrection of Jesus through which we can have belief. We are thankful for the sinless life that he lived to be able to go to the cross as the perfect sacrifice. We are thankful for the blood of Jesus being shed to cover us so that we have the righteousness of Christ given to us as believers. As we close, that is what we are going to sing about. Thank you Jesus for the blood applied.
As we are singing this, you can stand and sing with us, you can spend time in prayer where you are and praise God for what he has done, or if you want to, you can grab someone and come down front and spend time in prayer. God is good and we are going to sing about that.
