June 10, 2018
Evening Service

This morning we saw Mary Magdalene and the other ladies find the empty tomb as they were looking for the body of Jesus.  She ran and got the disciples and they saw only the burial linens where a body should have been laying.  Shortly after Mary was filled with joy as the resurrected Jesus spoke to her.  She later shared this with the disciples and I am sure that left them full of questions.  We used these scriptures to review the spiritual implications that were completed by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.  Tonight we will see Jesus appear to the disciples as well.

John 20:19-23  Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace to you!”  (20)  And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.  (21)  Then Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you. As My Father has sent Me, even so I send you.”  (22)  And when He had said this, “He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  (23)  Of whoever sins you remit, they are remitted to them. Of whoever sins you retain, they are retained.”

·        The disciples hope became sight that very evening as Jesus appeared to all but one of them as they were assembled together.  They were still in fear of the Jewish authorities and had all the doors locked when Jesus miraculously was in the room with them.  “Peace to you” was a common Jewish greeting, but it certainly had extra meaning on this night of uncertainty.  They rejoiced as He showed them the scars on His hands and His side.  This reminds me of the song that says our wounds will all be healed in heaven but we all still have our scars.  Jesus will wear the scars of our sins for eternity.  They will be evidence of His love for us.

·        With a second pronouncement of peace, Jesus also commissions them as His witnesses.  He then proceeded to breathe on them to receive the Holy Spirit.  This may have been just a foretaste of the true filling they will receive in Acts 2.  It was the breath of God that gave Adam life making him different from all the other things created.  It is now the breath of God that symbolically gives these men eternal, spiritual life.  It gave them power to God’s work here on earth.

·        That power was now to be used to share the gospel message of Christ to others and inform them that through believing their sins are forgiven or through unbelief they have retained them.  This begins the transfer of authority Jesus is handing down to these men to continue the work of spreading the news of salvation to the world.

·        How long after He left them do you think it took them to speak again?  There had to be such a lively discussion that followed and I will bet very little sleep with the new found energy levels.  He was alive and well!

 

John 20:24-25 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.  (25)  The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I shall see the print of the nails in His hands, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

·        If you miss church you miss something.  Thomas was not with the other disciples for whatever reason, but he really missed out.  We really don’t know when God is going to move in a mighty way and we should do our best to be faithful to the assembly.

·        Thomas now will always be remembered unfairly as “Doubting Thomas.”   He was a doubter, but his doubts had a purpose; he wanted to know the truth.  It is okay to express doubt if it drives us to dig deeper becoming a seeker.  Then when we are presented with the truth and our questions are answered we place that doubt away and don’t make it a way of life.  Doubt encourages us to rethink things and reinforce what we do believe.  Our faith only becomes true when we own it as our very own.  It gives our faith roots to withstand trials because we have questioned it ourselves and found it to be true.

·        Have you struggled with doubt?  Take encouragement from Thomas and don’t stay there very long.  Study, pray and consult others to help you overcome those times of doubt.  I believe that is one of the many reasons God has put us together as a body of believers (church) so we can help one another through these types of issues.  “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and it will be opened.”  (Matt. 7:7)  God will not hide things we need to know from us.  Some answers will come with maturity and others may not be for us to ever understand, but do not wrestle these things to your destruction.  There are things that we will understand only in heaven.

 

John 20:26-29 And after eight days the disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said, “Peace to you!”  (27)  Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here and behold My hands; and reach your hand here and thrust it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.”  (28)  And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”  (29)  Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me you have believed. Blessed are they who have not seen and have believed.”

·        It took a week, but Thomas’ doubts were erased as Jesus again stood in their midst.  Notice He did not scold Thomas for his doubts because He knew his heart was pure.  He even invites him to touch His hands and side to remove any doubt.  We too need to be patient with those who doubt and pray for the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth to them along with pointing them to the scriptures.

·        I absolutely love Thomas’ response to the proof that his doubts were not true; “My Lord and My God.”  There is no greater affirmation of faith can be found that this statement.  That is the reaction we should give as well when He answers our doubts for us.  “I believe Lord help my unbelief.”

·        Jesus quickly affirms what Thomas said as truth; He is the Lord of lords and King of kings.  It is next that He makes a wonderful promise to us.  “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed” Our faith does not have the benefit of seeing Jesus in the flesh, but we have been given all the proof we need to come to the same conclusion as Thomas.  Jesus calls us blessed.  I love how Peter puts this in his first letter.

 

1 Peter 1:3-9  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has regenerated us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  (4)  to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and unfading, reserved in Heaven for you  (5)  by the power of God, having been kept through faith to a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time;  (6)  in which you greatly rejoice, yet a little while, if need be, grieving in manifold temptations;  (7)  so that the trial of your faith (being much more precious than that of gold that perishes, but being proven through fire) might be found to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,  (8)  whom having not seen, you love; in whom not yet seeing, but believing in Him you exult with unspeakable joy, and having been glorified,  (9)  obtaining the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

·        Isn’t that what this is all about?  To obtain the salvation of our souls.  Remember we began our study of John with these verses from this chapter and have reinforced them throughout it.

 

John 20:30-31 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book.  (31)  But these are written so that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life in His name.

·        John carefully selected the content of his gospel to help us to truly understand who Jesus was.  He emphasizes Jesus’ humanity, royalty and deity to convince his readers to believe that it is only through Jesus that we are provided salvation and through believing in Him we can attain life eternal.

·        Jesus came with that mission upon His heart and handed it over to these men to carry on with the help of the Holy Spirit.  They set up churches in every city and authorized them to continue the mission.  We here at the Bride of Christ continue to carry that torch of sharing the good news of Jesus to the world so they may also attain life through believing.  May God use us mightily to complete His work!

 

Father thank you for these men who carried on  despite all the trials and tribulations they faced; please help us to be faithful to our calling as well.