Easter 2019: Seeing and Believing

John 20:24–31 CSB

24 But Thomas (called “Twin”), one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 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.” 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.” 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.” 28 Thomas responded to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” 30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. 31 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.

Bookmarks & Needs:

B:John 20:24-31

Housekeeping Stuff & Announcements:

Welcome, introduce yourself. Invite guests to the Parlor following service.

Dale Brannon went to be with the Lord on Friday evening. Plans have not been made yet for a service, but I would anticipate that it will be this week sometime. We will be doing a One Call Now and posting to social media once plans have been made. Please keep Rosetta and the family in your prayers.

In the coming weeks, EHCA is going to be holding several end-of-year programs that you are welcome to come to and see a little of how great our school is.

Our preschool program will be on May 2 at 6:30 pm

Our elementary school program will be on May 14 at 6:30 pm

8th grade graduation will be on May 21 at 6:30 pm

All of these events will be held here in our auditorium, and are no cost.

Next Sunday morning, May 5, during our Family Worship service, we will be recognizing those in our Student Ministry who are graduating from high school this year. Then there will be a come-and-go reception sponsored by their parents in Miller Hall from 3-5. Plan to be here to recognize and celebrate with our grads.

Finally, the deacons will be hosting a “Senior Singles” banquet on May 10 at 6 pm in Miller Hall.

Opening:

John 20:30–31 CSB

30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. 31 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 - Include Sri Lanka and Brannons.

Connect to Easter (last week)

Last week was Easter (seems like a lot longer ago than that). We considered the fact that Easter Changed Everything, and I shared how the message of the Gospel, of which the resurrection is a central pillar, had changed my life, and we saw in Scripture how it changed Paul’s life.

This morning, we’re going to look at an event that took place a week after Easter. But first, we just need to be reminded of what had happened on that first Easter weekend:

The world had basically turned upside-down for Jesus’s disciples in the week prior to Resurrection morning. They had come into Jerusalem following Jesus to triumphant shouts of “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” It’s sort of the high point of the public ministry of Jesus.

Most of the week was spent in ministry and teaching, and then late on what we might call Thursday night (or super early on Friday morning), Jesus had been betrayed and arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was tried before Annas, before Caiaphas the high priest, and before Pontius Pilate, when a crowd of Jews, many probably who had cheered His arrival, now cried out for His death.

Jesus was taken out to the Place of the Skull, called Golgotha, and crucified there. He died on the cross on Friday afternoon, His body was taken down and placed in a new tomb by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. The massive stone was rolled over the entrance. A guard was placed to make sure no one would come and disturb Jesus’ body.

His disciples hadn’t believed when He had told them what was going to happen. They retreat into defeated hiding, their leader and the One they had thought was the Messiah was dead. But Sunday was coming.

Sunday morning, some of the women went to the tomb to properly take care of Jesus’ body, if they could manage it with the stone and all. They find the stone moved, the tomb empty. Mary Magdalene runs back to tell Peter and John, who run to the tomb and find it just as she said.

Then Jesus appears to Mary, who still hadn’t understood. But then she does. She goes back and tells the His disciples that she has seen Jesus. But still they don’t believe.

Then that night, most of His disciples are gathered together, with the doors locked because they were afraid of the Jews. Suddenly, Jesus appears among them, shows them His hands and his side according to , and commissions them, sending them out to preach the good news of the Kingdom of God, declaring what the Father has done in raising the Son, and giving them an anointing of His Holy Spirit for the task, according to .

But one disciple wasn’t with them: Thomas.

Crucifixion

Disciples scared and scattered

Jesus appears to the disciples and commissions them (20:19-23)

1: The Doubt of Thomas

Who can tell me what Thomas’s nickname is through all of this time? Doubting Thomas. In fact, his name is still a byword for someone who is skeptical of believing something without direct personal experience. Maybe not what you want to be famous for...

Students: What do you do when you stay home sick from school?

When I was a kid, I remember times when I would stay home sick from school. The Internet didn’t exist back in the late 70’s and early 80’s, we didn’t have Netflix or Amazon Prime or Hulu back then, or mobile phones or tablets. I couldn’t keep up with what was going on with my friends at school like you can now. I laid in bed and watched the worst that our 4 channels of TV (no cable either) had to offer: soap operas. I eventually really did care if Luke and Laura ended up together.

But anyway, I’d get over my sickness and go back to school. I remember several times when I’d go back and hear about some of the things that went on while I was out, and I didn’t believe it. I had missed it, so it must not have happened. Anyone else ever experience this phenomenon?

Illustrate doubt (missing school when you’re sick?)

This is what happened to Thomas:

John 20:24 CSB

24 But Thomas (called “Twin”), one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.

Why was Thomas not there? We don’t know. Maybe he was sick on Easter Sunday. Maybe he just couldn’t bring himself to meet with the disciples since Jesus had died. Maybe something else kept him away, because Sunday was a regular work day in Hebrew life. Regardless, he wasn’t there.

Warren Wiersbe in his commentary made a bit of a tongue-in-cheek joke: “Remember Thomas when you are tempted to stay home from church. You never know what special blessing you might miss!”

Maybe he was out sick on Easter Sunday. Maybe he just couldn’t bring himself to meet with the disciples since

Now, as I said, Thomas gets a pretty tough rap over this passage of Scripture, but we shouldn’t be too surprised by his skepticism. Thomas was at best a realist, but perhaps he was even more accurately a pessimist: he had a knack for seeing the downside.

There are only three passages of Scripture where we actually have direct quotes from Thomas, but these can help us form a bit of a character sketch of Thomas. All three of them are in John.

John 11:13–16 CSB

13 Jesus, however, was speaking about his death, but they thought he was speaking about natural sleep. 14 So Jesus then told them plainly, “Lazarus has died. 15 I’m glad for you that I wasn’t there so that you may believe. But let’s go to him.” 16 Then Thomas (called “Twin”) said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go too so that we may die with him.”

John 11:14–16 CSB

14 So Jesus then told them plainly, “Lazarus has died. 15 I’m glad for you that I wasn’t there so that you may believe. But let’s go to him.” 16 Then Thomas (called “Twin”) said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go too so that we may die with him.”

Lazarus has died, and Jesus is planning on doing a great miracle of raising him from death. But Thomas the Pessimist steps up and says, “Let’s go too so that we may die with him.” Some commentators argue that this is some passionate, heroic statement, and we romanticize it.

But I don’t read it that way. It doesn’t make any sense to me in that light. Lazarus hadn’t died in battle or fighting a fire or crime. He got sick and died. There’s nothing heroic in rushing off to catch pneumonia or tuberculosis or whatever so you can die of natural causes in the same way as someone else.

I read this (and again, this is my opinion) in a more negative light. “Lazarus got sick and died? Great. Let’s all go too so we can die with him.” Maybe I’m reading it a little darkly, but to me it makes more sense, especially in light of the other two times we hear from our friend Thomas.

John 14:1–7 CSB

1 “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if not, I would have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you. 3 If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also. 4 You know the way to where I am going.” 5 “Lord,” Thomas said, “we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

To this point, Jesus has told the disciples that He was going to be going away, that He would be killed. Here, Jesus commands His disciples to not let their hearts be troubled and to believe in Him. Then He gives this great picture of what heaven will be like: Those who believe will have a place specially prepared for them by Jesus, with the promise that He will come back and take us to Himself, so we can be with Him forever.

Then He told them that they knew the way to where He was going, which was to lose their lives for His sake. But Thomas just doesn’t get it. He says, “We have no clue where you’re going. How can we know the way there?” He wasn’t getting it. He wasn’t believing.

So Jesus tells Him that He Himself is the way, and that no one can come to the Father but through Him, because to see Him was to see the Father. That’s our second picture. Our third picture comes from our focal passage today:

Character study of Thomas the Realist (or maybe Pessimist).

John 20:25 CSB

25 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.”

When it says that the disciples were telling him, this is saying that the other disciples “kept on telling him” that they had seen Jesus. All week, I suppose. These guys were evangelizing Thomas. Anyone from evening service remember what we’ve been using for our definition of evangelism? “Teaching the Gospel with the aim to persuade.” They were telling Thomas the Good News that Jesus was alive, and he just refused to believe it.

So Thomas sets up a standard. He wants to experience what the other disciples had experienced: He wants to see, to touch even, Jesus’s hands and side. When he says that if that doesn’t happen, “I will never believe,” I think the CSB does a great job rendering this. In the Greek, Thomas says literally, “I will NOT NOT believe.” In English, a double negative is a positive. But in Greek, it’s a multiplier. Thomas says that unless his conditions are met, he will never ever believe.

The disciples “kept on telling him”. They were evangelizing.

It’s odd to say it, but Thomas was lost. He was an unbeliever. He was trusting his own litmus test for truth more than the testimony of his friends, whom he should have trusted. He’s a pessimist of anything that he doesn’t have personal, experiential knowledge of.

Those who are resistant to the Gospel also do this.

Fortunately for Thomas, Jesus answers:

Thus, Thomas was an unbeliever.

Do we see it this way? It’s an all or nothing proposition. Either you believe in Jesus, or you don’t.

Thomas trusted HIS litmus test more than the others’ testimony. Are we this way?

2: The Evangelism of Thomas by Jesus

John 20:26–28 CSB

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.” 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.” 28 Thomas responded to him, “My Lord and my God!”

John 20:26–27 CSB

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.” 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.”

He appears as before.

Jesus appears as before. He shows up behind locked doors with a greeting of peace.

He appears as before.

Then He looks right at Thomas and offers the proof that Thomas had asked for: “Go ahead, Thomas… put your finger in my hands… look at them. Put your hand in my side.”

And then he says this: “Don’t be faithless, but believe.” There’s a command here. To stop continuing in unbelief. But then, the only alternative, is to be a believer.

And He commands Thomas to stop being an unbeliever, but to believe.

Do we see it this way? It’s an all or nothing proposition. How I like to look at salvation is as a surrender: It’s not something that you can work your way into. It’s not something that you can jump through the appropriate hoops in order to have. It’s really a stopping. It’s a stopping of our unbelief.

"The only thing of our very own which we contribute to our salvation is the sin which makes it necessary." - William Temple, Archibishop of Canterbury in the early 20th century

I have to put a fine point on this part: There is no middle ground. Either I believe in Jesus, or I don’t. And sadly, the default state of mankind is unbelief. So in order to be saved, we have to stop walking in our unbelief, trusting the way of Jesus instead.

3: The Salvation of Thomas

John 20:28 CSB

28 Thomas responded to him, “My Lord and my God!”

This is a declaration of belief and submission.

This is a declaration of belief and submission.

Thomas declares that Jesus is his Lord: Master, the One in charge of his life.

Thomas declares that Jesus is his God: that He is the One in charge of everything.

Thomas’s unbelief ends here. He has surrendered, and stopped walking in his unbelief.

But we need to remember: Thomas wasn’t saved because he saw. He was saved because he believed. We have been provided what we need to believe! We have the Word of God.

Romans 10:17 CSB

17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.

4: Jesus’s Response to Thomas

4: Jesus’s Response to Thomas

John 20:29 CSB

29 Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”

The rhetorical question: “Have you believed because you’ve seen?”

The first part of Jesus’ response is observational. Thomas saw, and Thomas believed. But then Jesus gives another piece, one that’s meant for you and me.

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”

We, if we will surrender our lives to Christ in faith, will be blessed as a result. We don’t see Him physically, but we have the truth of the message of the Gospel. Look at how Peter spoke about this in his first letter:

1 Peter 1:8-9

1 Peter 1:8–9 CSB

8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; though not seeing him now, you believe in him, and you rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

We are blessed, rejoicing with inexpressible and glorious joy, through our faith in Jesus, because we are receiving (both now and later) the salvation of our souls!

The seeing takes place on the other side of belief.

Closing

The Purpose of John’s Gospel

John 20:30–31 CSB

30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. 31 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.

Jesus had many other signs that John didn’t write

Jesus had many other signs that John didn’t write down. John gave us exactly what he wanted to give us.

What John has given us, he has given so that we (the readers) may believe that Jesus is who He claimed to be, and so that we might believe and have life. Here in verse 31, we find John’s point for the entire book: so that we would believe and have life in His name.

In a way, Thomas asked for this experience on our behalf. Jesus ascended to be with the Father, where now He sits at His right hand, ever interceding for us. He’s not physically present with us like He was during His post-resurrection ministry. What we have is exactly what Thomas had: the testimony of the apostles, brought down to us through generations of time in the Scriptures.

Jesus ascended to be with the Father, where now He sits at His right hand, ever interceding for us. What we have is exactly what Thomas had: the testimony of the apostles, brought down to us through generations of time in the Scriptures.

Do we demand our way, saying that we refuse to believe if we don’t get it?

You can believe because of the testimony of the Scriptures. You can believe because of the testimony of the other believers in this room.

Repent and believe the Good News!

Mark 1:15 CSB

15 “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Invitation to surrender to Jesus. Come and share with us. We would love to pray with you and encourage you.

Invitation to join EHBC.

Thoughts:

Invitation for other responses.

Talk about seeing and believing (Polar Express?)

Call down band and pray.

Then talk about Thomas the pessimist. (NAC says “realist”)

Remind about parlor, and turn over to Michael.

Talk about seeing and believing (Polar Express?)

Talk about seeing and believing (Polar Express?)

What will it take for you to believe?

Quote from William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury: “The only thing we contribute to our salvation is the sin that makes it necessary.”

Faith of a child: It doesn’t mean blind belief. It means once you believe, you’re all in, and you marvel at what you experience. ? This is where Thomas ends up.

Faith of a child: It doesn’t mean blind belief. It means once you believe, you’re all in, and you marvel at what you experience.

This is where Thomas ends up.

Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

v. 26, xf 14:27

Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

In raising Lazarus, you could argue that Jesus performed a resuscitation: Lazarus would die again. In the Resurrection of Jesus, He would never die again.

? 36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him.

Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.