Unbelieving Thomas
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One Week Later
One Week Later
The Disciples of Jesus were in the closed room
it was the first day of the week
Jesus rose from the dead some time after 6 PM the night before
the people in the room believed in the risen Lord
but Thomas was not there at the Sunday evening service
so he did not see Jesus
but they told him, all of them “Jesus is alive”
but he remained unconvinced with the eye witness testimony
there was nothing they could say that would change his mind
Read John 20 24-31
PRAY
Refused to Believe
Refused to Believe
no matter what anybody said
all of their arguments
their happy faces
their at being in peace
Thomas still refused
Now Thomas, one of the twelve, who was called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe!”
earlier we see Thomas saying
Then Thomas (the one who is called Didymus) said to his fellow disciples, “Let us go also, so that we may die with him.”
The Sanhedrin wanted to stone Jesus, so they went to the other side of the river
but Lazarus was dying
so Jesus said lets go back
“lets go die with Him”
Loyal to Jesus but gloomy
again in John 14 we see Thomas in his unbelief
what are you talking about ?
A natural born Pessimist
a loner? grieves by himself?
wants to be away from the crowd
someone like Eeyore from Winney the poo
Is Thomas a believer at this point?
Now I make known to you, brothers, the gospel which I proclaimed to you, which you have also received, in which you also stand,
Paul here is reminding them the gospel that they believed
by which you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the message I proclaimed to you, unless you believed to no purpose.
this is the gospel that every one has to believe to be saved
For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures,
and that he was buried, and that he was raised up on the third day according to the scriptures,
Thomas at this point in our account does not believe in the resurrection of Jesus
last week the rest of them believed when they met Jesus
Jesus breathed into them the Holy Spirit
and since then thy have been telling the gospel to Thomas with joy.
but he continues to not believe
this might be the way people are today
or maybe the way you were at one time
someone was telling you the gospel and you refused to believe
no matter what the evidence
until....
Jesus made His Appearance
Jesus made His Appearance
again they are behind locked doors
Thomas was with them this time
And after eight days his disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Although the doors had been shut, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said, “Peace to you.”
suddenly Jesus was there
again he said Shalom ( may you be whole)
may the peace only God can give y be yours
He walked over to Thomas
Then he said to Thomas, “Place your finger here and see my hands, and place your hand and put it into my side. And do not be unbelieving, but believing!”
He came down to Thomas level to meet him there
Thomas was being irreverent to the risen Lord
but he was safe because he was not going to see Him again
the unsaved today are irreverent toward Jesus because they don’t believe He is real
they don’t ever expect to ever see Him
it’s not until some one is confronted by Jesus through the Holy Spirit is ones eyes open to the truth
Jesus meets them where they are at, on their level
Thomas put your fingers here, take your hand and put it in my side
At this point Thomas eyes were open
he instantly became a believer
John 20:28 (LEB)
Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
this was the prayer Thomas Did
My Lord and My God
that if you confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses, resulting in salvation.
Thomas believed and confessed Jesus is his Lord
Jesus acknowledged Thomas belief
Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me, have you believed? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”
If you are needing more evidence to believe
be like Thomas and ask Jesus for more evidence to believe
We believe because of the evidence of what is written in God’s word
God blesses faith without sight
James Montgomery Boyce
What is faith? Faith is believing God on the basis of his Word and then acting upon it. This is true faith. It is this that God blesses. God promises a blessing upon those who have faith.
Believe
Believe
Why did John write his Gospel
John is now going to give us the reason for his gospel
Now Jesus also performed many other signs in the presence of the disciples which are not recorded in this book,
but these things are recorded in order that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
the book of John is written that there is enough evidence that Jesus is God
John wrote to put Jesus in His rite full place
as the Son of God
as God the Messiah
to give us all we need to believe
faith or belief occurs 101 times in the book of John
The key verse in the Bible is
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
we saw the mission of Jesus last week
The saying is trustworthy and worthy of all acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
Jesus came to save sinners
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save those who are lost.”
came to save those who are lost
who are the sinners?
who are the lost?
if we say every one is a sinner and lost; then Jesus failed in His mission
turn to Luke 18 9 lets look at two men
9-12
the first is a self righteous man, who is not a sinner
not lost, does all the right things in his own mind
the overwhelming amount of good things he has done heavily outweigh the bad things
The second man
V 13
knows he is lost, he is a sinner
knows there is nothing good in him
know that without divine intervention he would be eternally lost
V 14 the second man was Justified as a result of his need
Do you admit your need of a savior
do you admit you need the saving power of Jesus
do you admit you cant do this on your own
do you admit you are a sinner and without Jesus you are lost
the book of John was written that you will have all of the evidence to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved
will you believe?
why was Thomas not there in the first place?