Sermon Tone Analysis

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:

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:

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.

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.

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.