Ultimate proof that Jesus is God

Welcome: Welcome to Hype Student Ministries. We want to welcome the 5th graders and their parents to Hype’s 5th grade night. For our regular Hype students please help our guests feel welcomed and loved.

Introduction

Who is someone who is popular in society?

So let’s say you and your best friend are sitting next to each other for lunch and your best friend turns to you and says, you wouldn’t believe who I met at Uncle Bobs and had Ice Cream with. It was (name of celebrity)!! He/she was at Uncle Bob’s in line of front of me. (name of celebrity) even bought my ice cream for me and he/she wanted to sit down at the same table and talk with me!

I don’t know about you but if my best friend just said that to me, my first reaction would be, “There is no way that (celebrity name) was at Uncle Bob’s in Eureka. There was no way! I would then ask my best friend to prove that (celebrity name) was actually at Uncle Bob’s. I would need see pictures. I would need to see a signature or something as proof that my best friend was really telling the truth.

What proof would you need to see that your friend is telling the truth?

If you’ve been at Hype this year, you would know that we have been going through the gospel of John this school year. Up until this point, we’ve seen Jesus claiming that He is God in flesh. He is the messiah or savior that the prophets in the Old Testament talks about. This is something that would be crazy for the average person to hear. You have another human declaring that His is God. But we see that throughout Jesus’ 3 year earthly ministry many miracles and signs to show that He is who He says He is. But the majority of the jewish religious leaders have doubted that Jesus is actually son of God and they’ve accused Jesus for lying and are so angry with Jesus that they want Him to die. They don’t believe the claim that Jesus is really God’s son. They believe that there is not enough proof. But Jesus is gaining popularity and is teaching things that are against their laws. The jewish leaders are so angry with this that they think it’s best to kill Jesus and they have Him crucified on a cross which we talked about last week. It would have seem that the Jewish religious leaders were correct as Jesus dies and is buried in a cave covered with a huge stone. How could someone who declares He is God be dead? What happens next catches everyone off guard, even Jesus’ disciples.

With all that said let’s start reading our passage for this tonights lesson.

Please open your scripture notebooks with me to John 20.

Read John 20:1-18.

John 20:1-18

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 20

20 On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark. She saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she went running to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said to them, “They’ve taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they’ve put him!”

3 At that, Peter and the other disciple went out, heading for the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and got to the tomb first. 5 Stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then, following him, Simon Peter also came. He entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. 7 The wrapping that had been on his head was not lying with the linen cloths but was folded up in a separate place by itself. 8 The other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, then also went in, saw, and believed. 9 For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to the place where they were staying.

MARY MAGDALENE SEES THE RISEN LORD

11 But Mary stood outside the tomb, crying. As she was crying, she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 She saw two angels in white sitting where Jesus’s body had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“Because they’ve taken away my Lord,” she told them, “and I don’t know where they’ve put him.”

14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know it was Jesus. 15 “Woman,” Jesus said to her, “why are you crying? Who is it that you’re seeking?”

Supposing he was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you’ve carried him away, tell me where you’ve put him, and I will take him away.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

Turning around, she said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!”—which means “Teacher.”

17 “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus told her, “since I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them that I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”

18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them what he had said to her.

Let’s pause here and reflect on what we just read.

Here we see that followers of Jesus, both men and women, had mixed reactions to finding the empty tomb. Mary Magdalene and other women upon the seeing the empty tomb thought that Jesus was still dead and that his body had been stolen. Peter and John on the other hand, believed that Jesus was alive but they didn’t understand how or what it meant.

We then see...

Jesus reveals himself to Mary Magdalene first.

This is key to note. Think about this.

Women in society during this time period were not seen as credible sources.

But Jesus decides to reveal himself first to Mary. A woman who had seven demons casted out of her by Jesus. Someone who would not have been seen as credible at all. You would think that this would hurt the testimony of believers. But...

This is one of the proofs to believe in the resurrection.

Women were the first to spread the news about Jesus’ resurrection.

Think about this for a moment. If Jesus was just a hoax and He wasn’t really God in flesh but rather just some crazy human being who was trying to rebel against society. Wouldn’t his followers try to make a story that was the most credible in order to sway people to believe in it? Even if that was the case how many people would be willing to die for a lie?

But that’s not what we see. We see Jesus’ disciples being willing to die because they had the truth, they knew that Jesus is God. The majority of the disciples would be killed by persecution. They believed because not only did women see the risen Jesus but they did as well.

Let’s keep reading to see what happens next.

John 20:19-31

Read John 20:19-31.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 20

19 When it was evening on that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because they feared the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

20 Having said this, he showed them his hands and his side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.” 22 After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

THOMAS SEES AND BELIEVES

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.”

THE PURPOSE OF THIS GOSPEL

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.

There are three things to note from this passage.

1. Jesus brings peace.

v. 19-23

How does this happen?

Jesus, because of His love, has provided the perfect sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins so that we can have a right relationship with God. Which provides us peace.

2. True Believers Submit to Jesus.

v. 24-29

My Lord and my God.

What are we saying when we declare Jesus as Lord? Jesus is King.

What are we saying when we declare Jesus as God? Jesus is creator.

3. Believers Receive Eternal Life.

v. 30-31

These things are written so that you and I may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and have life.

What should our response be to this truth?

If you have not yet accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior. An appropriate response to this truth is to confess your sin to God and acknowledge that you need to be saved from your sins. Ask God to forgive you and to declare Jesus as Lord and God of your life.

If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior. An appropriate response to this truth is to ask the Spirit to show you areas of your life where you sin and desire to be in control of your life. When God reveals those to you, repent and confess your sin and ask for forgiveness.