Believing Without Seeing
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Open your Bibles with me to John 20
We are in our third week in our series, Dead Men Tell No Tales
We have been exploring some of the proofs of the resurrection of Jesus Christ
We have been pursuing a strong foundation of confidence in the resurrection because the resurrection is the lynchpin of our faith.
Until you are convinced of the resurrection, you will not grow as followers of Jesus, nor will we be effective in sharing the Gospel with others.
Dead men tell no tales. Yet Jesus, who was once dead, is now our living Savior and in our text today He speaks peace, gives proof of His resurrection and life, and He commissions His witnesses to carry the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
So, let’s jump into our text. We’re going to be starting in John 20, verse 19, and as we do I invite you to stand with me in honor of the reading of God’s Word.
When it was evening on that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because they feared the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
Having said this, he showed them his hands and his side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.” After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
But Thomas (called “Twin”), one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were telling him, “We’ve seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “If I don’t see the mark of the nails in his hands, put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
A week later his disciples were indoors again, and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Don’t be faithless, but believe.”
Thomas responded to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”
Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Pray, invite them to sit
I have been really enjoying teaching this series because each week I get to focus again and again on the powerful truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
And this morning, as we are given yet another round of evidence and proof, we also hear a call to respond.
We are called to step away from our doubts and to begin to walk in Christ with confident joy.
Jesus gives life and peace to those who carry the Gospel in belief.
And this morning, our text shows us 4 different proofs encouraging us to believe and 3 strong warnings about what happens when we give in to our doubts.
Let’s look at these things together, starting with the proofs in verse 19:
When it was evening on that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because they feared the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
Having said this, he showed them his hands and his side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Our first proof this morning is that
Jesus physically appears behind locked doors.
Jesus physically appears behind locked doors.
This isn’t a ghost. This isn’t a vision. This is Jesus.
He shows up in miraculous fashion, as only He can.
He shows them the holes in His hands. He shows them the hole in His side!
And do you see what their response is? It’s joy.
If this were a ghost or a vision, do you think joy would have been the response?
Nowhere in Scripture do we see a joyous response to those things.
wonder, maybe.
Fear, often. But never Joy.
The disciples were filled with joy because Jesus was actually with them.
He comes to them just like and just as He always had, still in His earthly body, holes and all.
There was no way to mistaken who He was and He was very much alive.
Look at verse 21 with me:
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.”
There are two proofs that we need to unpack here. First there is this:
Jesus restores their peace.
Jesus restores their peace.
If you are paying attention, you’ll note that this is the second time in this passage that Jesus says “peace be with you.”
To wish God’s peace upon people is still, to this day, a standard middle eastern greeting.
But that Jesus repeats this greeting points us to an emphasis on the peace that He brings.
Recall that in the midst of His arrest, His trial, and and crucifixion, the disciples all scattered, and Peter outright denied that He even knew Jesus.
Yet the greeting that Jesus brings them in His resurrection is His peace.
Jesus hadn’t come as a ghost to haunt them.
He wasn’t appearing to bring condemnation for their rejection or their fear.
Jesus had come because He is alive and He wanted His friends to have His peace again!
Secondly, there is this:
Jesus commissions them.
Jesus commissions them.
“As the Father has sent me, I also send you.”
Like we talked about, If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, our faith is worthless.
What would be the point of ghost Jesus coming and telling the disciples to go out and share the Gospel?
That Jesus sends the disciples points us to the reality of His physical resurrection.
It also is a demonstration that Jesus remains in authority.
Matthew 28: 18-20 echoes this passage and it also points us to the authority that Jesus has to send us as our resurrected Lord.
Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Jesus is with His followers, even as He was with His disciples. He is alive, He is in charge, and He has sent us to share the Gospel with others.
Look at verse 22:
After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
The last of the proofs we see in this passage is this:
Jesus breathes on them.
Jesus breathes on them.
This is a direct reference to Genesis 2:7
Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Jesus breathing on the disciples points us to two truths about Him.
First, Jesus is alive!-dead men don’t breathe!
Secondly, He is the source of life!
All throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus promises His followers new life. Now, in this passage, He delivers on that promise!
Even as God gave man life through breath, Jesus gives us life in the Holy Spirit through breath!
It is the presence of the Holy Spirit in us that brings the new life we have in Christ.
The Holy Spirit enters into a believer in the moment that you choose to follow Jesus.
In this passage, we have a preview of the Spirit’s coming, which happens on Pentecost.
And with the Spirit comes the sharp division of hearts.
When Jesus talks about those we “forgive” or “retain”, He is talking about the Holy Spirit, not us.
As we carry the Gospel to the world around us, the Spirit goes with us. And, there will be two types of hearers:
Those who receive the Gospel and are freed from sin and made alive by the Spirit
Those who reject the Gospel and remain dead in their sins.
The words breath and Spirit have the same root in Greek, so that as followers of Jesus we are to be filled with His breath!
This breath of Jesus is the last of the proofs we are offered of the resurrection this morning, but it is not the end of our passage because we still have to deal with Thomas.
The doubt of Thomas in this passage is so profound that we turned it into an idiom.
You call yourself a doubting Thomas when someone says something you find hard to believe.
You call someone else a doubting Thomas when they don’t believe you or have faith that you can accomplish what you say you will do.
It is impossible to walk in a life of faith and never struggle with doubt.
However, in those moments, we must come back to the source of our confidence and allow Him to deconstruct our doubt.
When we fail to deal with our doubt, it becomes a barrier to obedience, peace and blessing in our walk with Christ.
Look at verse 24:
But Thomas (called “Twin”), one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were telling him, “We’ve seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “If I don’t see the mark of the nails in his hands, put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
The first warning for leaving doubt unchecked is this,
Doubt is a roadblock to obedience.
Doubt is a roadblock to obedience.
Thomas missed the moment of Jesus’ appearance.
He misses seeing Jesus in person.
He misses His commissioning of them.
When He returns and hears the joyous news, he chooses doubt over belief.
He conditions His belief: Unless I see… Unless I touch…
In that moment, He is unable to move forward
Doubt keeps Thomas from stepping into mission.
Have you ever met a salesman that didn’t have confidence in what they were selling?
It’s like a car salesman that is selling Chevys but drives a Ford.
How can I have confidence in what you are selling when you don’t?
I once listened to a phone salesman talking with a customer.
The customer asked about the features of a phone
The salesman had no clue about the features and didn’t even know if they had any to sell.
The salesman’s doubt and lack of understanding meant a customer leaving.
We aren’t salesman, but if we don’t deal with our doubts the same principle applies.
God can’t bring growth to you in faith if you don’t have faith.
You are going to have a hard time helping others to believe if you don’t believe yourself.
My kids might not always know why I’ve asked them to do something, but they have faith I want good things for them.
Obedience requires us relying on Jesus, even when we have questions.
Doubt is a roadblock to your obedience to the command to know Jesus and make Him known.
Look at verse 26:
A week later his disciples were indoors again, and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
The second warning for leaving doubt unchecked in your life is this:
Doubt robs you of peace.
Doubt robs you of peace.
Eight days pass between when the rest of the disciples see Jesus and when Thomas does.
When Jesus enters, He again greets them with peace.
But Thomas lived without it.
His doubt left Him in anguish all that week, while the rest of the disciples were filled with peace and joy.
Peace and joy were available to Thomas, but he was trapped from reaching it by His doubt.
That is what doubt does…
Doubt destroys peace.
When has doubt in the Lord ever left you in a place of peace? Isn’t doubt the front door to our worries?
Doubt prevents us from walking in the trust of the Lord.
Doubt robs us of our rest and fills us with stress.
Doubt plagues us in the long hours of night, as we try to solve things only God can handle.
What is it that brings peace into the lives of the disciples?
Is it not their belief in the Lord? Sure, they had the benefit of seeing Him, but faith had given them peace.
While we may wish that we could have been among those that saw the risen Lord with our own eyes, it is doubt that robs peace.
Doubt holds you hostage longer than necessary. Peace is available, but doubt delays it.
You can encounter the Lord, Jesus Christ.
You can experience His peace, and the thing that most often robs us of it is doubt.
Let’s continue, verse 27:
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Don’t be faithless, but believe.”
Thomas responded to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”
The last warning for leaving doubt unchecked is this:
Doubt steals the blessings of faith.
Doubt steals the blessings of faith.
Thomas gets exactly what He asked for here.
Jesus appears and invites Thomas to touch His hands and His sides.
He makes His intention in this clear: Jesus wants Thomas to believe.
When Thomas puts his hands in the holes, His response really is another proof of the resurrection.
All of his doubts dissipate as he declares to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!”
At first glance, it would be so easy to feel jealous of Thomas here.
One week into his doubts, they are relieved by absolute, tangible proof in front of Him.
But while we might feel slighted in those moments we still struggle with doubt, remember that because we have not seen our faith is greater.
Greater blessing comes, not through seeing, but through believing.
Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.
Thomas saw and believed, but he did not get to experience what it looks like to live by faith.
Faith is when we rely on the promises of God.
We don’t just cross our fingers, and clinch our teeth, hoping for the best; we truly believe in what we can’t see, and we act on the promises of God.
We can’t see the results; in fact, there may be evidence to the contrary.
And when we do this, we get to see God move in extraordinary ways.
And so the question we are left with this morning is this:
What will you do with these proofs and your doubt?
Jesus has shown up for the doubters-But He is calling you out of your doubt
Jesus is offering you peace, but you can only receive it by faith
Jesus is sending you out, but your doubts will keep you locked in.
Doubt will always need more
But in Faith, Jesus is already more than enough.
Dead men tell no tales, but the Risen Christ gives tales to tell, with peace to be spoken, wounds to be shown, and abundant life to offer.
The worship team is going to come and lead us in a time of reflection.
-I would invite you This morning to step out of doubt.
-Step into belief
-And carry the Gospel with peace
Pray.
