Now What?

A week after the resurrection…now what? We get the answer as we look into the rest of John 20. We left off when Mary Magdalene saw Jesus, returned to the Disciples to tell them she had seen Jesus.

Now, in the evening of that first day, Jesus is going to make His appearance to the disciples, and in so doing, will transform their fear with forgiveness, and grant them true peace with God. He then commissions them so the work of God is continued by the response of the church to the mission of God through the Spirit of God.

The Peace of God (19-20)

On Sunday evening…the imagery here is that the darkness still seems to grip the disciples. But this first day of the week will also become their greatest day of rejoicing. It’s why we gather on Sunday now.

But they are also in hiding because they were afraid of the Jews. Fear of the world can seize the heart of the strongest of Christians. The heart, encased in fear, is a heart that is not focused on God’s power but on the power the world says it has.

If that describes you Christian, just remember 2 Timothy 1:7

2 Timothy 1:7 CSB

7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.

By divine mystery, Jesus appeared to them!

In this appearing, the basic elements of a theophany are present:

Fear, the calming word of peace from God/Christ, and a commissioning of a task.

You’ll see the elements mostly present here, especially the message of peace.

It should remind us of Jesus’ words in John 14:27

John 14:27 CSB

27 “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful.

He spoke the words of peace here, but that is only a part of the equation.

You’ll remember that in Algebra you learned to solve for x? You’d have something like 4x + 2 = 14 where you’d solve for x. x=3

The X of this equation, that which makes the equation true is found as Jesus shows the disciples His HANDS and His SIDE! The disciples rejoiced. This peace was prophesied in Isaiah.

Isaiah 53:5

Isaiah 53:5 CSB

5 But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds.

It is the cross that brings peace between God and man. Jesus gives this peace to all who come to Him in faith.

Romans 5:1 - “Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Colossians 1:20 - “and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross...”

Ephesians 2:14 - “For He Himself is our peace...”

The Mission of God (21) - Here is the commissioning of the disciples.

Now that Jesus established peace and freely gives peace, the disciples are free to obey and live by faith, thus Jesus commissions them to serve the Mission of God.

God is the first and foundational missionary. Just as I would describe God as loving, or gracious, or holy, so also should I describe Him as missionary. His mission predates the Great Commission, and even the sending of the Son incarnate. I really begins in Genesis 1:1 with God as Creator.

Specific to the context here, Jesus makes it very clear that He was sent for a purpose. Salvation. The entire life of Jesus can be summed up in that His mission was to glorify God in securing eternal life for everyone given to Him by the Father. John 17:1-2. Turn to Romans 5 for a moment and let me show you how Paul outlined it for you...

Romans 5:17 - “by the one man’s trespass, death reigned...”

Romans 5:18 - “through the one trespass there is condemnation for everyone...”

Romans 5:19 - “through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners...”

Enter the Mission of God for salvation through Jesus

Romans 5:17 - “how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.”

Romans 5:18 - “through one righteous act there is justification leading to life for everyone.”

Romans 5:19 - “through one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.”

So we are thinking of salvation. In the context of salvation, "God’s work of redemption, saving fallen creation from the penalty and power of sin, has missional implications.” - Scott Hillbreth

The missional implication is that God’s saving work through Christ is not just something done to us or for us, IN LIGHT OF JOHN 20:21, MATTHEW 28:16-20, MARK 16, AND LUKE 24 - THE MISSION OF GOD is something the church participates in here and now.

1 Peter 2:9- Peter said we are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession —> THAT’S WHO WE ARE; OUR IDENTITY

...so that you may proclaim the praises of the One who call you out of darkness and into His marvelous light. —> THAT’S WHAT WE DO!

If you believe in Jesus, then you become a part of a special, redeemed people, who then actively participate in God’s mission to all the world.

This was Jesus’ invitation to the 12… “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.”

The mission is lived out by the disciples in the rest of the New Testament. They do so, not of their own power, but that of the Holy Spirit

The Spirit of God (22)

Now, the great truth about God is that He doesn’t just say, “Here’s your objective, go get’em boys.” Oh no…God sent the Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, to equip, empower, and embolden the Church on mission.

Now understand the Spirit of God has been active from the beginning, read Genesis 1.

But we need to understand the Holy Spirit is not a commodity, like an outlet you plug into to receive some special spiritual power.

But when Jesus says “Receive the Holy Spirit” He is commanding them to receive God in His Trinitarian fullness.

And what happens in this moment is not another Pentecost, or John’s Pentecost, but here Jesus is setting them up to establish the newly created people of God, The CHURCH, who will be led by the Spirit of God to become God’s temple(dwelling place), called to declare the peace of God through Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of Sins. It is a glimpse of what will come 50 days later on the day of Pentecost.

Rightly it is said that the Spirit is not an additional gift from God but a continuation and magnification of the gift of the Son from the Father. - Edward Klink III, ZECNT-John, p. 868.

The Ministerial Authority of God (23)

As a part of their witness to Him, the disciples would have His authority delegated to them. Now this verse has been controversial…still is. Scripture teaches that God alone can forgive sins. (Mark 2:7) The NT never records the Apostles absolving anyone of their sins.

The language - “they are forgiven,” and “they are retained” gives the sense of a past action with continuing results in the present.

What Jesus is saying is that Christians can declare that those who genuinely repent and believe the Gospel will have their sins forgiven by God. On the other hand, Christians can warn those who reject Jesus Christ that they will die in their sins. (Hebrews 10:26-27)

We can faithfully say, because of the authority of Scripture, that a sinner is forgiven or unforgiven based on how that person responds to the Gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ alone.

The authority to do this comes because God has given us His Word as the ultimate standard by which to judge. Their authority does not come from anything within them; it is not based on their righteousness, spiritual giftedness, or position in the church. It comes from the Word of God, so if the Word of God calls it sin…it is sin. Sin that Jesus died for, and that in His death can be forgiven if you’ll trust in Jesus.

The Church will proclaim this message faithfully by the power and indwelling Holy Spirit.

The Appearance to Thomas

Are we Christians gullible? Sometimes we are, but John gave us one here named Thomas who was not. One guy said Thomas must have been from Missouri, the “Show Me State.”

We know he wasn’t with the Disciples when Jesus appeared the first time. So the disciples that did see Him continued to tell him they’d seen Jesus. It’s almost like Thomas had enough of his faith that was crumbling all around Him.

We know Thomas because is famously called, “doubting Thomas.” But there is also a sense in which Thomas is in rebellion.

Thomas is in this story for us, because we have to relate to Jesus, when we hear the Gospel message, just like Thomas. We have to believe without seeing Jesus.

But Thomas rejected that belief. He is acting in unbelief at the testimony of the disciples. How about that…the disciples are proclaiming the risen Christ and one of their own rejected their message.

Thomas claims he will not believe without physical evidence that is concrete. He needs to see and touch the wounds from the cross. Reminds me of the one time atheist, Lee Strobel, who investigated the claims of Christ and found them to actually be true. He wrote a book about his investigation, THE CASE FOR CHRIST.

So a week later, Thomas has now listened for a whole week to the disciples who saw Jesus. He went a week without the proof he was looking for.

Here is why I’d say Thomas is rebelling rather than doubting. He is willing and able to believe, but only on his terms. He is wanting things to be the way they were when he could relate to Jesus face to face. A refusal to relate to God on God’s terms at the heart of the matter is rebellion, not doubt.

But Jesus appears a week later, and Thomas is given what he was looking for in proof. Jesus speaks to him and provides the evidence.

20:27 - With evidence is this command, “Don’t be faithless, but believe.” Thomas wasn’t acting as an unbeliever, but was acting in an unbelieving manner. “Do not continue in your unbelief, but show that you do believe.” Show yourself to be a believer...

20:28 - Thomas responds with this confession in the most appropriate way, “My Lord and my God!” Here again, now Thomas as seen, and believed.

Thomas addressed Jesus as Lord and God. It is His identity and shows a dimension of this personal relationship. It was the Christ of the cross who reached Thomas in that moment. Thomas’ faith is confirmed by Jesus, “you have believed.”

Verse 29 clearly shows that this is how we operate today. Thomas is in this Gospel to show how we must trust in Jesus by faith, not sight. We must believe without seeing the risen Christ. And you are included in this beattitude. From the moment Jesus spoke these words, to today, and until He returns…this is who we are in Christ. We are a people saved by grace, through faith.

The Purpose of the Gospel

We don’t know how many other signs Jesus did. But we get a clear understanding of the purpose of John’s Gospel. The evangelist reminds us that God commissioned him to pen this eye witness account “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.”

Just one goal, that every reader come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. It isn’t a guideline for moral living, or a book of history…It is stated clearly that John invites you to participate in God, made possible by a relationship with Jesus Christ and so become a member of His family and an active participant in His Mission to the world.

Conclusion:

We obtain life by confessing Jesus is Lord, and then commit to follow Jesus as Lord.

Confess Jesus is Lord

Confess doesn’t mean an admittance of guilt but a declaration of certain truths.

Jesus is Messiah, promised Savior of the Old Testament.

Jesus is the Son of God. He is fully God and fully man.

Jesus rose from the dead. If we deny the resurrection, then we do not believe.

How do we know what to believe? We know what to believe because of the truths revealed in God’s Word.

Unlike Thomas who didn’t believe the disciples testimony, we have to believe their testimony. Just like the first converts in Acts 2.

Through the inspired words of God we can grasp who Jesus is, and we learn to confess the truths that bring salvation. We confess in faith and trust.

Commit to Following Jesus As Lord

Belief isn’t just intellectual exercise. You have to commit yourself to grasp these truths on a personal level.

Thomas calls Jesus Lord (Master), and God. There is a relational level to this. Thomas realizes that as he is standing before Jesus, that He alone is the one who has the power over life and death…thus Jesus has the right to rule his life. Thomas submits himself to the leadership and lordship of Jesus.

This is why you cannot become a Christian with a gun pointed at your head, or a sword pointed at you because it isn’t about the words you say but rather the personal decision to commit yourself to Jesus as your Lord. It is first a matter of your heart. Confession without the commitment of your life to Jesus might help you feel better about yourself but it will not save you. You MUST COMMIT to follow Jesus as LORD.

This is not an affiliation, He is not an acquaintance. We hold these truths dear, but they also translate to how and why we live on the road of commitment…there is a willingness to obey Jesus, to endure in obedience. We must confess and commit.

What do we do once we have life in Christ?

We live in relationship with Jesus.

This is the very purpose of this Gospel. That you may have life, which means a relationship with Jesus.

Our assurance in this Jesus’ victory over the grave. The promised life comes through relationship with Him. Once you trust Him for salvation, you are placed in Him. Like adopted children, we become a member of His family. Everything now revolves around Him.

We Live on Mission for Jesus.

His mission is our mission. We aren’t going to die on the cross, but He does call us for a great adventure and glorious purpose.

He has commissioned us to take the Gospel to those who have not heard so they can believe in Him, receive forgiveness of sins, and have eternal life in Him.

We are sent just like Jesus…(not as God in the flesh) but rather to walk in obedience, empowered by the Spirit all to proclaim the message of salvation.

Paul calls the church “ambassadors” for the purpose making the appeal to the world, “Be reconciled to God.”

What good is a lifeguard if he or she only stood on the shore yelling instructions on how to swim to the one who is drowning? Jesus went in and fetched us out of the water. He gave His life for ours.

We live in the blessing of Jesus.

That blessing is peace with God. Three times in our passage Jesus issued peace to those whom He appeared to. When they see Him, they rejoice, their fear is gone. This is exactly what Jesus said He would do. “MY peace I give you...”

We are told by Paul to not be anxious about anything…but to pray…and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

This Gospel was written to help us understand that there is a greater pleasure in this life than the pot holes and gutters we so often end up in. Jesus offers the ultimate treasure. Eternity with Him.

In this relationship there are innumerable blessings that flow from God that motivate our mission to bring others along so they too can enjoy a lasting relationship with God through Jesus Christ indwelt by the presence of the Holy Spirit.