That You May Believe

He is Risen! He is risen, indeed!

It is exciting to be celebrating the resurrection of Jesus together! The resurrection is what makes our faith unique in all of the world! There is no other faith or religion that has the resurrected Savior, the great I AM, as the core of their faith. When you read the biographies of any other religious figure, you will find that they died.

Only when you read Jesus’ biography do you read of the resurrection, and the fact that He is alive forevermore! He is alive! He is present with us today! He is working still today! He is interceding. He is showing love and faithfulness. He is giving power. He is giving truth and grace! He is alive and working today! He is the victory!

That is what John really wanted to get across in his account of Jesus’ life. Today, as we study in John’s gospel we are in chapter 20, the chapter where John reaches the climax in his book, and tells us why he bothered to write this all down.

John 20:31 NIV

But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

John wants us to believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing we will have life in his name.

Do you believe?

Believe is a key word which we want to pay attention to as we read. The root word for believe is found 101 times in the Gospel of John, 5 of those occurrences are in this chapter.

This is the climax of the account of Jesus’ life. Let’s read what he wrote, and consider how this is meant to help us believe.

The purpose of believing is that we may have life.

Life is another key word in the gospel of John, occuring 56 times.

Do you have life? The life John was writing that we may have?

If that is the point of the writing, and the climax of his writing, let’s take time to consider these things carefully.

Let’s work our way through the chapter together. First, let’s pray and ask the Spirit to guide our thoughts, and lead us into truth. Let’s ask the Spirit to help us fully understand, and know Christ more from our study this morning.

Prayer

Let’s begin reading John 20.

John 20:1–10 NIV

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

Scene 1: The Tomb

John 20 is essentially like a play with four acts, or scenes. This is the first scene.

Here we find Mary Magdalene going to the tomb early in the morning. She finds the stone rolled away from the tomb, and according to the other accounts, she went and saw that the tomb was empty.

She goes and tells the disciples that the body is gone.

Peter takes off for the tomb, and John quickly follows, running and passing Peter.

John gets to the tomb, and looks in.

Now there is something interesting here in the text. There are three people, and three different words used for look, or see.

Seeing and believing

The word used here for John looking, is the same word used for Mary seeing that the stone was removed. They gave it a quick look.

Peter shows up,goes in, and looks. But the word here is one for looking for the details. He sees the linen strips that were used to wrap Jesus for burial, and the cloth that had been wrapped around his head.

Finally, John goes in and sees, but this word is yet another word, which indicates seeing with comprehension. John saw and understood that Jesus was truly gone, he had risen. John saw, and believed!

Aha! This is what Jesus had talked about!

They had not figured this out from the scriptures, but from what they observed.

Now, they observed that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead.

This is a miracle! This should change everything for everyone who hears! However, many do not believe. Why not?

Let’s keep reading.

John 20:11–18 NIV

Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

Scene 2: Jesus appears to Mary

In this second scene, Peter and John have left the tomb. Mary is still there, and now she looks into the tomb again, this time, like Peter, looking at the details.

Now she sees two angels seated in the tomb.

When she turns around, she sees the detail of Jesus standing there, but she doesn’t have the comprehension of what she is seeing yet.

It is finally when Jesus calls her name, that Mary is finally...

Seeing and believing

Mary recognizes the voice of the One who had healed her and loved her. She hears the voice of the teacher she loved, and she finally sees and believes.

Jesus is alive!

Then, she goes and tells the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!”

Why didn’t she believe he was alive before?

Let’s keep reading.

John 20:19–23 NIV

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Scene 3: Jesus appears to the Disciples

What a miracle! Jesus appeared in the locked room with the disciples!

I love his message to them, “Peace be with you!” His words are not, “why did you abandon me?” They are not, “Why are you hiding in fear? Why aren’t you rejoicing?”

No, Jesus wants them to know Peace.

Seeing and believing

Jesus shows them his hands and feet, and then it says that the disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Once again, this is the seeing with comprehension. They finally got it! Jesus was alive!

Jesus did what He said! Jesus rose again! He is the Lord!

Why now? Why didn’t they believe before?

Let’s read the next portion.

John 20:24–29 NIV

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. 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; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Scene 4: Jesus appears to Thomas

For some reason, Thomas was not with the rest of the disciples on that first day of Christ’s resurrection. When they told him, “We have seen the Lord,” Thomas would not believe. The sense of the verbs are that they disciples didn’t just tell him once. They were telling him over and over. Imagine you just saw the Lord, and wanted Thomas to know about. Would you say it just once? No! You would keep pressing it, hoping he would get it.

Unfortunately, Thomas would not believe. Notice in verse 25, it was a conscious choice he made. “Unless I see… I will not believe.”

Seeing and believing

Once again this is that word for seeing with comprehension. Thomas wasn’t getting it, and he would not believe.

Then, we see Jesus appearing again the next Sunday, and this time Thomas is there.

Now, look at what Jesus said to Thomas. Only, this time, I am going to use the New American Standard Translation.

John 20:27 NASB95

Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.”

I wish the NIV translators didn’t use the word doubt. Though that is what Thomas undoubtedly had… doubts.

But Jesus does not rebuke him for doubting. jesus literally tells him, stop being NOT believing, but believing.

Thomas believes, and exclaims, “My Lord and my God!” You don’t get much clearer in seeing that Jesus is fully God!

To which Jesus says,

John 20:29 NIV

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Seeing and believing?

Thomas finally sees with comprehension. The light bulb went on.

Jesus tells him this is good, but Jesus goes on to say, blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

Seeing is not necessarily believing.

There can be comprehension without physically seeing the details.

As we have seen, many saw Jesus, many saw what Jesus did, all of his miracles, but they did not believe.

Some were like Thomas, they had their doubts. But the problem is not the doubts, it is the choice to not believe.

The ones who are blessed, are not the ones who lived in that time when Jesus was here on the earth.

The ones who are blessed are not the ones who got to see Jesus performing the miracles.

The ones who are blessed are not the ones who saw the risen savior.

The ones who are blessed are the ones who believe!

John goes on to say,

John 20:30–31 NIV

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

In this gospel, we have seen signs that Jesus performed.

The water to wine, John 2:1-12

Healing the nobleman’s son, John 4:46-54

Healing the lame man, John 5:1-7

Feeding the 5000, John 6:1-14

Walking on water and stilling the storm, John 6:15-21

Healing the man blind from birth, John 9:1-41

Raising Lazarus from the dead, John 11:17-45

And, now rising from the dead

Believe!

Many who saw those miracles, those signs, did not see and believe. That is why they crucified him.

Jesus says, we are blessed if we believe, without seeing these signs.

And what are we to believe?

That Jesus is the Messiah - the anointed one. That Jesus is the one who came to save us from our sin, and reconcile us to our god and Creator.

That Jesus is the Son of God, that is, the second person of the triune God, fully equal with the Father.

And that by believing we may have life in his name?

What is his name?

I AM the bread of life

I AM the light of the world

I AM the door of the sheep

I AM the good shepherd

I AM the resurrection and the life

I AM the way, the truth and the life

I AM the true vine

Believing in him, who he is and what he has done as the messiah, we will have life in his name!

Believing you will have life!

What is life?

The bible says that we are dead in our sin.

When we believe, it is like we are resurrected with Jesus! We will have life!

We will know God.

We will have peace!

We will have hope!

We will have joy!

We will have love!

Do you believe? Do you have life?

Jesus is risen!