Scripture Introduction
People write for many reasons. Some seek fame or wealth, others self-fulfillment or to aid in their own learning. Some books teach skills, others simply entertain. The Apostle John’s purpose was: “that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah” – God’s promised redeemer. And central to belief is assurance that the same Jesus who was crucified, dead, and buried, also rose again on Sunday morning, 2000 years ago. Jesus is now with the Father, so we do not see him bodily. But before he ascended, he appeared to reliable witnesses so that we would know for certain that his gospel is true. We read their story and its relation to the purpose of this book in John 20.
[Read John 20.19-31. Pray.]
Introduction
Most of us know him as “Doubting Thomas.” So familiar is his insistence on visible proof of the resurrection, that his name has become a byword for anyone who refuses to believe. In spite of his bad press, however, we probably should judge Thomas more generously. For example, after Lazarus died, Jesus tells the disciples that they must go and see him. Thomas mistakenly thinks that this will be the end of all of them, and says to the guys: “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” So Thomas is a courageous man, if a bit melancholy. One commentator said he “finds the best things too good to be true, and usually imagines that the worst foreseen possibility will be realized” (E. H. Titchmarsh, “Thomas,” in DCG, 2:729). In other words, with Thomas the glass is half-empty.
We also need to remember that the other disciples saw the resurrected Jesus. They were together on that first Sunday night when Jesus appeared. So when he says, “I will never believe unless I see,” it was in response to the other disciples saying, “We have seen.” They doubted before they saw.
Notice, third, that Thomas’ profession of faith, “My Lord and my God!” culminates John’s Gospel. Chapter 21 is an epilogue; the main story ends here – a story written to bring you to faith – to bring you to the same conclusion as Thomas. This one who doubts so much provides the perfect profession of faith. John asks us to do the same.
In 1943, Dorothy Sayers created a series of dramatic readings from the life of Christ for broadcast on the BBC. They are published under the title, The Man Born to Be King. For each of the plays, Sayers offers notes on the characters and the way they should be read. She writes this about Thomas’ profession: “It is unexpected, but extraordinarily convincing, that the one absolutely unequivocal statement, in the whole Gospel, of the Divinity of Jesus should come from Doubting Thomas. It is the only place where the word ‘God’ is used of him without qualification of any kind, and in the most unambiguous form of words (not merely theos but ho theos mou with the definite article). And this must be said, not ecstatically, or with a cry of astonishment, but with flat conviction, as of one acknowledging irrefragable evidence: ‘2 + 2 = 4’, ‘That is the sun in the sky,’ ‘You are my Lord and my God.’”
I would think that each of us, at times, has doubts. For that reason, I think it is helpful to remember that the “incredulity of Thomas has done us more good than the faith of Mary” (Gregory, Quoted in J. C. Ryle, John, 3.467-468). If Thomas had never doubted, we would not have such a full and clear proof that Christ rose from the dead. So God records this event to deliver our souls from doubt and to teach us some benefits that Christ imparts to his own. Thomas recognized the resurrection as the perfect proof of Jesus’ deity. May his testimony stir up the same faith in our souls this morning. That it may be so, notice, first…
1. Because of Jesus’ Resurrection Appearances, We Are Comforted by Gospel Peace
The Jewish leadership hated Jesus. He wrested power from them and condemned their self-righteousness. To men who thought much of themselves and longed to look good in the eyes of others, Jesus was cursed as an enemy to be crushed whatever it took. Even partnering with pagan Rome and bearing false witness against an innocent man were small costs to win this war.
With such vehement opposition against their friend and teacher, we are not surprised that the disciples (v. 19), “for fear of the Jews,” gather behind locked doors. Certainly, they act less courageous than those who had been with the Lord probably should, but at least they overcame their fear enough to meet together. They struggle against the weakness of their flesh, and meet in spite of the danger. Suddenly he appears.
To me the natural reading of the text implies that Jesus passes through matter in some supernatural way, even as he walked on water earlier in his ministry. Matthew Henry, however, is among those who think he must have opened the door: “though the doors were shut, he knew how to open them without any noise, and come in so that they might not hear him.” John Calvin, on the other hand, doubts either that the doors were opened or that he passed through them, but warns us against speculating too much about something which God chose not to tell us. Instead, Calvin says, “This…contains a manifest proof of Christ’s divine power. We must understand that Christ did not enter without a miracle, to give a proof of his divinity, to make his disciples more attentive,… and to confirm the authority of his resurrection” (202).
However he did it, Jesus’ words after his miraculous entry are especially important: “Peace be with you.” He repeats the same in verse 21 when he commissions the disciples; and he gives the same greeting to Thomas a week later. So three times in eight verses John records Jesus saying, “Peace be with you.” Let’s think about that.
These men have ample reason for anxiety. They feared for their lives, for the Jews who killed Jesus also wanted them dead; they felt guilty for denying the Lord; and they were uncertain of the future, now that Jesus was gone. In the midst of such turmoil of heart and mind, what do they hear?
• Peace be with you – not blame for your mistakes
• Peace be with you – not fault-finding
• Peace be with you – not a word of rebuke, nor a hint of, “I told you that you would fall away.”
“Peace” in Hebrew is, [Hebrew word](sh’lôm) – a traditional greeting among Jews. But it means more than simply, “Hello.” Shalom (according to the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament) implies “completion and fulfillment, a state of wholeness and unity, a restored relationship.” [D’s story of the tape measure, and the joy of restored relationship.]
Jesus’ ministry is about shalom. Peace was the song of the angels at the birth of Messiah; peace was the subject of many sermons preached by Messiah; peace is the promise of God’s presence when the Kingdom is restored to Messiah. Grace and peace are used together seventeen times as a New Testament greeting because wherever grace is fully accepted, peace wins.
“Peace be with you,” carries the very essence of Jesus’ work. Mankind declared war on God beginning in Genesis 3; now God in human flesh declares peace on mankind. No longer need there be enmity with your creator – Christ earned reconciliation. No longer need you be filled with turmoil and guilt over your failures – Christ delivers peace of conscience. No longer need we hate our enemies and seek their destruction – Christ has made the two one, breaking down the wall of hostility.
I’m sure that some of us here today have reasons to be anxious. We feel guilty; we worry; we have conflicts with people and problems in life that threaten to overwhelm our souls. Turmoil often characterizes our thoughts and hearts. But the message of Christ Jesus is called “the gospel of peace.” Instead of locking the doors from fear, let us invite the Lord into our lives, and hear him speak peace to us as surely as he did to his disciples. The resurrection assures us that the battle has been won and peace has been declared!
2. Because of Jesus’ Resurrection Appearances, We Are Confident of Gospel Proofs
Thomas is known for surpassing all other disciples in doubt; but in the end his answer passes all others in faith. John 20.28: “My Lord and my God.” He saw Christ, now he knows the gospel is true!
David Reed has much experience to draw from when teaching Christians to evangelize Jehovah’s Witnesses. He was a preacher and elder there for many years. Now his book, Jehovah’s Witnesses Answered Verse by Verse is in its 32nd printing and has sold more than 250,000 copies. As he notes, John 20.28 troubles many in that cult because they refuse to accept the deity of Christ so clearly given here. From his work he has observed two responses to this verse.
Less knowledgeable Witnesses may “brush it off by saying, ‘Thomas was just exclaiming his surprise. If we saw a friend return from the dead, we, too, might say, ‘Oh! My God!’ Thomas didn’t mean anything by it.” That answer might seem possible in our day and age when God’s name is treated as a curse word. But a devout Jew, like Thomas, would never have blasphemed in that way. Additionally, if that had been Thomas’ meaning, Jesus would surely have rebuked him. Instead, he acknowledges that Thomas has finally “believed” – finally believed what? That Jesus is both Lord and God!
A better trained Witness knows to move quickly to different verses, as they are taught to do in the Watchtower Society’s book Reasoning from the Scriptures. They will show you verse 31 of John 20 and say that Jesus is only the Son of God. They will go back to verse 17, where Jesus calls God, “my God and your God.” They will claim that these other verses eliminate the possibility of a divine Christ.
But that will not suffice. Thomas recognizes that a resurrected Christ proves his deity. He is neither the archangel Michael nor some created, god-like being. Here is proof of what the church has always believed: “God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father.”
The Gospel which Jesus preached, this proclamation of peace by grace, through faith, is pretty far-fetched. It is too good to be true – unless Jesus is God. And the resurrection proves the deity of Christ, and with it the gospel. We have the certain faith of the Doubting Thomas. Not a faith contrary to reason – he saw him with his own eyes.
Now we must believe without seeing. Jesus says as much in a bit of a rebuke to Thomas: “I’m glad you have finally believed, now that you have seen with your own eyes and touched with your own hands. But it would have been better if you had believed last week, on the testimony of your brothers, my disciples. From now on, the greater blessing belongs to those who hear your story and believe my gospel.” These resurrection appearances of Jesus give us confidence in that Gospel.
3. Because of Jesus’ Resurrection Appearances, We Are Committed to Gospel Preaching (John 20.21-23)
The exact meaning of these verses is much debated. We might, at some future time, consider the various ideas and reasons, and so explain the conclusions I reach and why. Today, however, we have time only to mention the three main points.
First, Christ breathes spiritual life into his disciples just as God breathed life into Adam and Eve in Genesis. Jesus shows that no one preaches the gospel or ministers in power without his sovereign gift of life. This is a visual demonstration of the fact that apart from him, we can do no good thing. Christ is the source of ministry; that is why he breathes on them.
Second, Christ gives the Holy Spirit. Not that they were without the Spirit before, as if they had never been converted. This is the special anointing for preaching the Gospel, the same pouring out of the Spirit we pray for when we lay hands on the officers in ordination. The Holy Spirit is the power for ministry.
Then, third, Christ attaches true spiritual significance to the preaching of the Gospel. This is not carte blanche permission for pastors to dispense forgiveness or grant absolution, as some churches teach. Only God forgives sins. It is, instead, the assurance that the when the gospel of grace is rightly preached and truly believed, then the forgiveness promised in the Gospel is granted. When I say, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household,” that is a real promise. Not because I forgive, but because God has bound himself to the proclamation of that message, and will fulfill its promises. There is no difference between my saying it and Jesus saying it. The truth is in the message, not the preacher or the church. And the resurrection proves that the gospel preaches has the power to give peace between God and his people.
4. Because of Jesus’ Resurrection Appearances, We Are Cheered by Gospel Promises (John 20.30-31)
Fanny Crosby’s hymn, To God Be the Glory, has this verse: “O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood! To every believer the promise of God; the vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives.”
That moment, from Jesus, a pardon receives. This is the promise of the gospel: vile offenders and self-righteous Pharisees alike are offered free and full forgiveness, if they will, with Thomas, cry out in faith, “My Lord and My God.”
The resurrection proves that God himself has fought the battle against sin and won the victory of peace. Now he offers to you:
• the assurance of God’s love,
• peace of conscience,
• joy in the Holy Spirit,
• and increase and perseverance in grace to the end.
Open your heart and soul to the blessed assurance which comes from knowing God as your Lord and Savior. Amen.
