John 20:19-31
Why we believe what we believe
In Hebrews 11 verse 6 it says:
‘without faith it is impossible to please God,
because anyone who comes to Him
must believe that He exists’.
The writer of John’s Gospel gave us the beautiful words in 3 verse 16:
‘For God so loved the world
that He gave His only-begotten Son,
that whosoever believes in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life’.
For over a thousand years
Christians who could not read the Bible for themselves,
and relied on priests and popes,
many of whom were corrupt,
were tricked into thinking salvation was only obtainable
for those who bought religious relics,
made religious pilgrimages,
and bought forgiveness certificates.
Then, around 1517, Martin Luther re-discovered the truth of the Gospel,
that sinners, that we, are justified by faith.
It was not Luther’s own teaching; it was 1500 years old!
St Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians, chapter 2 verses 8-9:
that a sinner is justified by faith,
not by works, lest we boast,
or lest we worry that our good works are not good enough.
The key word in Christianity is ‘believe’.
Every verse in the Bible teaches us something,
and John 20 verse 29 is very important,
because here we see the humanity and the honesty of Thomas.
He was no one’s fool; he was not easily conned.
He was possibly a little cynical, and certainly very sceptical.
Someone told him that a dead man had come back to life,
and not unnaturally, he doubted.
He was maybe there when Jesus brought Lazarus back from the dead,
and maybe witnessed Jesus raising Jairus’ daughter,
and was maybe also around
when Jesus restored the widow of Nain’s dead son to his mother;
but, he probably thought along the lines:
I saw Jesus perform those miracles,
but I saw him die on the cross,
and I helped to carry his body to Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb,
and I saw the men rolling that big,
heavy stone over the entrance of the tomb,
so that grave robbers and wild animals could not get in.
So, you can imagine his brain ticking over when the disciples tell him:
‘We have seen the Lord’;
how could this be? ? ?
Could the others have had a collective hallucination?
Could their imaginations have been taken over by wishful thinking?
For a week, Thomas may have felt sorry for those poor, deluded,
misguided disciples.
He may have prayed for them to come back to their senses,
back to sad reality.
Maybe he thanked God that he had not been fooled;
thanked God that his feet were firmly on the floor!
Then, a week later, even though the doors were firmly locked,
no possibility of trickery or doubt now,
Jesus appears to the disciples again,
and Thomas is an actual first hand eye witness to this incredible event;
and not only that, but Jesus knows about Thomas’ doubt,
and Thomas’ demand for incontrovertible proof.
Verse 28 seems very mild, considering;
‘Thomas said to Him: “My Lord and my God”.’
I don’t know about you, but if I had been Thomas,
I would be grovelling on the floor,
probably unable or too afraid to speak any words.
The important thing is – he believed the evidence of his own eyes and ears.
No more relying on other people’s experiences,
which – you never know – could be lies or honest mistakes.
Now, Thomas had proof,
had certainty,
had confidence,
and could go out and tell the Good News to others;
and tradition has it that he took the Gospel message to India.
Jesus’ words in John 20 verse 29 were not only for ‘Doubting Thomas’
but for all ‘who have not seen, and yet have believed’.
Notice - according to Jesus WE are more blessed
than the disciples;
WE are more blessed than those first eye witnesses,
because we believe even though we have not seen Jesus with our own eyes,
or heard His voice with our own ears,
or touched Him with our own hands.
Jesus knows all about the forces that work against faith;
the forces of Anti-Christ.
He suffered death at the hands of those forces,
but rose from the dead, defeating them;
because the force of Good is stronger than the force of Evil.
He knows we are surrounded by scepticism, cynicism and doubt.
He knows that we are challenges and mocked by enemies of the Gospel.
He knows all about the Atheists, Agnostics, Secularists, Humanists,
Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Sikhs
and all the Sects
who do their very best,
or I should say do their worst,
to put down the Gospel
and those who believe in it.
So, the next time we experience doubt,
we should remember that even the disciple Thomas doubted;
and that if we continue in our faith; if we persevere,
we shall be justified,
and we will be so pleasing to God
that He will want us to spend eternity with Him.
Verses 30 and 31 are very significant too, inspired and inspiring.
We know, from the four Gospel writers,
that Jesus healed the sick,
made the lame walk,
made the deaf able to hear
and the dumb able to speak;
that he made the skin of lepers clean and healthy
and that He even raised the dead,
but verse 30 tells us that He did ‘many other miracles’ too,
which were ‘signs’, evidence, of Who He was.
And then verse 31:
“But these events, these teachings, etc.,
are written, we believe not only by the disciple and apostle John,
but under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that by believing we may not only have 70-80 years of earthly life,
but have eternal life in His name.”
Did everything that Jesus ever said and did get recorded in the Bible?
I would doubt it.
Even if we put together the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,
we would still not get a comprehensive record of everything
Jesus ever said and did, over 33-34 years.
If our New Testaments were fully comprehensive,
containing a full biography of Jesus
they would be so big that we would probably never be able to read them,
which is why John, being honest, says:
“Jesus did many other miraculous signs
in the presence of his disciples which are not recorded in this book.”
So, what was the point of writing down what did get written?
John gives us the answer to this question:
so that people at that time and in the centuries to follow,
might believe and by believing have life in His name.
We do not need to know everything that Jesus said
and we do not need to know everything He did,
or who He met or where He went or why.
All we need to know is that He gave up His divinity
in response to His Father’s will that He take on humanity.
All we need to know is that He taught people that God is love
and that God will forgive all who come to Him, no matter how sinful,
in a true spirit of humility and repentance.
All we need to know is that one day we will face a judgement
and where and how we spend eternity depends on that judgement.
And all we need to know is that we do not need to fear that judgement
or worry about where we will spend eternity,
because of the love, and mercy and grace of God.
And all we need to know is that we benefit from that love of God
by faith, by trust, in His abundant grace and mercy.
God has revealed to us all that we need to know,
all that we can understand
and says to us: ‘Trust Me about the rest’.
Why are there wars?
Why do people die in famines?
Why is there no peace in the Holy Land?
Why did a loved one die?
Why do bad people seem to get away with it?
Like Thomas, we all have questions; we all have moments of doubt.
God has given us brains and rationality; we all want answers,
and the answer we have to be content with for the time being,
is ‘God knows’, but at least He knows, and He cares.
By faith, we believe that God will reveal all in the fullness of time,
but meantime we are consoled by the fact,
the historical fact, the Gospel truth,
that He has revealed to us His Son and His salvation.
So let us not put our hope in politicians,
or even in religion,
or in churchianity,
or in our own goodness,
but in the truth of the Gospel as inspired and preserved and opened to us
by the Holy Spirit;
let us put our trust in the love of God
and the merits of Jesus Christ,
which are available to all who believe,
even with faith as small as a mustard seed.
Now, may the peace of God that passes all human understanding
keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, now and forever, Amen.
