Experiencing The Power Of Resurrection

The resurrection of Christ is Indeed the greatest of all celebration for us because it is the day that marks the total victory that Jesus gained for us from sin, sickness, bondage and death. He is risen (Cristos Aneste) – so we have a reason to live and a reason to celebrate. However, in order to celebrate the risen Christ, we must experience the ‘Power of His resurrection’. It is very dangerous if our faith is built on head knowledge. Unless we experience the power of His resurrection we may easy get disillusioned and dishearten and eventually lose our faith.

The Gospel of John was declaring to us: faith in the risen Savior is what makes us who we are. You cannot be a Christian if you DO NOT believe that God not only exists but that He sent His only begotten Son to die for your sins and He rose again from death on the third day.

That’s what Jesus said in John 11:25 “I am the resurrection and the life. He who BELIEVES in me will live, even though he dies”. Jesus is talking about the promise of eternal life for those who belief. We have a life and hope beyond the grave because Christ is risen.

John truly believed in Christ. He’d been with Jesus. Listened to Him teach. Watched Him perform miracles and heal the sick. And, he’d watched Him die, and seen Him raised from the grave. Faith is essential if you’re going to be a Christian.

The key word in the Gospel is the verb "believe" (Gr. pisteuo), which appears 98 times. This phenomenon shows that John wanted to stress the importance of active vital trust in Jesus.

Today we are going see a narrative about another disciple of Christ who totally contradicted to the emphasis that John was trying to make. The Apostle Thomas.

1. Thomas

Thomas was a lot like John. He’d been one of the Apostles. He had walked with Jesus too. He’d listened to Jesus’ teachings He’d loved Christ, and walked with Him wherever He went.

When Jesus said He was going to Jerusalem and it’s obvious that people there want to kill Him

“… Thomas...’said to the rest of the disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him.’” John 11:16

And when Jesus tells His disciples that “In my Father’s house there are many rooms”… and I’m going to prepare a place for you. And Jesus concluded by saying “You know the way to the place where I am going." John 14:4

At that point – it’s Thomas that pipes up and says: "Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" John 14:5

And Jesus responds: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

In Thomas we have the picture of a committed follower of Christ. He loves Jesus. He walks with Jesus. He’s willing to suffer and even die for Jesus. But he had some questions. He has some doubts.

a. His faith was only theoretical and he lacked the experience part of it. That is why when Christ was crucified on the cross, Thomas left the other disciples. He could not accept what he saw. He could not accept what Judas, Peter and the rest of the disciples did. I belief Thomas was frustrated with the surrounding events (Triumphal entry to the cross); he was frustrated with fellow disciples-so he decided to isolate himself from the others. That is the reason why he missed the witnessing of Christ’s resurrection. He only expected the best and when the worst came along the way – he was not able to accept it. He became dishearten, disillusioned and frustrated – so he left. Our faith cannot be established on emotions and on people who surrounds us be it our own family or friends or even Church members, but it should be on the Lord alone. Thomas lacked that though he was with Christ for 3.5 years. His faith was determined by others action. That’s the dangerous when we build our faith and dedication based on human and NOT God.

Friends, today our faith can also waiver if it is based on emotions or base on others experience and testimony. We need to experience Christ personally. We need to experience the resurrection power of Jesus Christ in our life. We need to pray and ask of God to grant us such kind of powerful experiences and encounters with the Lord whenever we read the Bible. You and I may not have encounter experience of Thomas but we have the life giving and life changing Word of God with us. Pray and ask God to take us into deeper revelations as we read HIS Word and aspires to live accordingly.