8 7 2016 “Thomas: Believing the Risen King” John 20:24-31
“Inquiring minds want to know?” was the caption on a supermarket tabloid for years. Most people are innately curious. People are also generally skeptical: they want proof or evidence in order to be convinced. We saw last week the disciples’ were overjoyed in seeing Jesus alive; they were convinced because they SAW the Risen Lord, but one of the 12 was not with them. We pick up that story in John 20:24 (NKJV):
24 Now Thomas, called the Twin (or Twice), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said to him, (They were telling Him of the evidence!) "We have seen the Lord." So he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."
26 And after eight days His disciples were again inside and Thomas with them. (They were mindful of the hatred of the Jews; that didn’t change but increased. They hated Jesus and they would hate His followers; that pattern continues to today.) Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace to you!" (Jesus uses the same greeting as the week before and makes the same type of miraculous, supernatural entrance.)
27 Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving (apistos-WITHOUT faith, faithless), 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 those who have not seen and yet have believed."
1. The Problem of the Unbelieving: Faith-LESS
I don’t think that it occurred to Thomas that he would gain such notoriety with a few sentences: He became known throughout history as “doubting Thomas” and the saying “seeing is believing” has no doubt caused many people to NOT BELIEVE. Although this story stands as a firm warning against rejecting the Risen Christ, millions of people throughout history have done just that: They have rejected the Crucified and Risen Lord Jesus Christ.
The Problem with Thomas was not that he doubted, as it says in some translations, but that he was “without faith.” He was UNBELIEVING. He was still FAITHLESS and without trust in the Savior. He said: “Unless I SEE, I WILL NOT believe that Jesus is risen.” The word that Jesus uses to describe him in verse 27 is “unbelieving” (apistos); It means to be without FAITH or to be full of faith-LESS-ness. (The King James Version uses the word “faithless” which is very powerful!)
It is really astounding to hear Thomas’ declarations of distrust when you compare his dedication to Jesus in John 11:16 right before Lazarus’ resurrection: “Then Thomas (called Didymus, Twin) said to the rest of the disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." When he could SEE Jesus alive, he was ready to die with Him, but now that Jesus HAD died, he could not trust what Jesus had promised him, nor did he trust the testimony of those who HAD seen Jesus!
Listen to these other warnings concerning those who are without faith. Jesus said in Matthew 17:17: (as well as Mark and Luke, using the same word) "You unbelieving (apistos) and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you?"
In 1 AND 2 Corinthians, Paul uses the word to refer to strictly to UNBELIEVERS, those who are without saving faith. I use just one verse out of the 12 examples, from 2 Cor. 4:4: “The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving (apistos) so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
Listen to God’s stern warning from Revelation 21:8: “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." (Jesus expanded all of these sins to include the areas of mind and heart.)
All people BELIEVE in something, and they all believe something about Jesus, but Jesus is not concerned about your individual “VERSION” of what you choose to believe about Him, but do you believe in who Jesus really is and the essence of why He came. It wasn’t enough for Thomas to believe Jesus was a good man to follow and maybe even die for and exclude the fact that Jesus arose from the dead!
In the great chapter of resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15, in verse 17 Paul exclaims: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.” If you believe in anything or anyone, it must be in the Resurrected Jesus since sinners are justified by His Resurrection. If not, your faith is useless and dead and you are still dead in your sins. Jesus made it clear in John 3;18: 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
C.S. Lewis wrote "I have to believe that Jesus was (and is) God. And it seems plain as a matter of history that He taught His followers that the new life was communicated in this way. In other words, I believe it on His authority. Ninety-nine percent of the things you believe are believed on authority... The ordinary person believes in the solar system, atoms, and the circulation of the blood on authority--because the scientists say so. Every historical statement is believed on authority. None of us has seen the Norman Conquest or the defeat of the Spanish Armada. But we believe them simply because people who did see them have left writings that tell us about them." (C.S. Lewis "A Grief Observed")
2. The Petition to the Unbelieving: Place your trust IN ME.
So Jesus appears to ALL the disciples and AGAIN says: "Peace be with you." 27 Then He said to Thomas, "Reach (Phero) your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put (Phero) it into My side and do not be unbelieving, (apistos-WITHOUT faith, faithless) but believing.” In other words, Jesus commands Thomas to Be Faith-full!
From a human standpoint, I always thought that Jesus would have been somewhat perturbed with Thomas, but that’s not the case: Jesus is urging Thomas to come closer to Him: Don’t stay AWAY from me and remain in unbelief! If you MUST, place your finger right in the holes of my hands and put your entire hand into my side where my blood and water ran out if that’s what it takes. Jesus’ petition to the unbelieving is always the same: Turn from your sin and unbelief and place your trust IN ME alone. Here I am; I came to DIE FOR YOU, and I have RISEN for you, so don’t stay away from Me, but find your eternal rest IN ME. IN ME you will be full of faith, but apart from me you will be WITHOUT FAITH.
Remember Jesus’ teaching in John 15:4: "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear (same word as reach or put in John 20:27(Phero, put or put forth) fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides IN Me and I in him, he bears (Phero) much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
Jesus’ petition and plea is not without authority but by the authority of God, Himself, for Thomas and for YOU and me to believe. His plea is authoritative but it also comes with a plethora of evidence.
Here is how Jesus has proven His Deity: 1. By His signs and miracles. No mere human could do what He did. 2. By all of the fulfilled prophecies in Himself. There are literally hundreds of them from His birth to His ascension. 3. By His sinless life. No one has ever kept God’s law perfectly. 4. By the miraculous conversion of skeptics. All sinners are enemies of God but those whom God has chosen are miraculously converted, no matter how skeptical. 5. Now by a dead man walking, by HIS OWN RESURRECTION. He was dead but now He is alive so He indeed is the Son of God, Messiah, the ONLY Savior for condemned sinners.
3. The Proclamation of Personal Faith: MY LORD and MY God
The Crucified and Risen Savior will draw those whom God has called to make a Proclamation of Personal Trust and faith IN HIM. When JESUS gives the command “to NOT BE UNBELIEVING but BELIEVING”, then YOUR RESPONSE can only be similar to that of Thomas in Verse 28: “Thomas answered and said to Him, "MY LORD and MY GOD!" Notice that Thomas does NOT say, “My Teacher” or “Good Teacher” or “Rabboni” or “Are you REALLY the Son of God?”
He says, “You are My LORD, MY “kurios”, MY SOVEREIGN LORD, and you are MY God.” And Jesus does not REFUTE this declaration of His Deity and Godhead!!!! Thomas’ proclamation is the reality of every sinner who comes close enough to the grace and love of God displayed in Christ that he is able to SEE and BELIEVE. It is the proclamation by sinners who have been forgiven by God in Christ to use the possessive word “MY” Lord and “MY” God. Jesus IS LORD and JESUS IS GOD and proven beyond any doubt by His self-proclamation and by every mighty act which supports His Words while on earth as the Eternal Word revealed in the Flesh.
4. The Possession of Faith: You are Blessed and faith-FULL
In John 20:29, Jesus says to Thomas, "Because you have seen ME, have you believed? BLESSED are they who did not see, and yet believed." The word “blessed” (maKARios), used 50 times in the New Testament, has NOTHING to do with external wealth or possessions. True “BLESSEDNESS” is from God alone, by grace alone, through faith alone, not works, through God’s Word alone in Christ alone, the crucified and RISEN KING, for HIS GLORY alone! BLESSEDNESS is receiving forgiveness and a new heart from a Gracious and Loving God. That Heart of Faith trusts GOD Alone for salvation, as well as for all things in life.
In Matt. 5, early in Jesus’ Ministry, Jesus began with these words: 3 "Blessed (maKARios) are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 "Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, (BECAUSE YOU ARE BLESSED) for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
If you have NOT seen Jesus, but YET you believe with all your heart that He is God in the Flesh, who came to save YOU from YOUR sins, THE POSSESSION of FAITH in HIM means that you are truly BLESSED, not because of what you have done, but solely because of what HE HAS DONE! He has BLESSED YOU with the gift of FAITH in HIM and so you are FAITH-FULL, no longer UNbelieving and faithLESS. You are FULL of Faith in HIM! PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME! To God alone be the Glory. HE is the BLESSED ONE and I am IN HIM!
In the book of Revelation, Jesus gives us these words:
Rev. 1:3: BLESSED is he who reads (with his eyes) and those who hear the words of this prophecy,(with your ears) and keep those things (with your heart and life) which are written in it; for the time is near.
Rev. 14:13: BLESSED are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.
Rev 16: 15: Jesus says: “Behold, I am coming as a thief. BLESSED is he who watches, and keeps his garments, (the garment is the blood of Christ and His righteousness) lest he walk naked (that your sin be exposed and not forgiven-HIS BLOOD is the only covering) and they see his shame.”
Rev. 20:6: BLESSED and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power.
Rev. 22:7: “Behold, I am coming quickly! BLESSED is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” (The words of Revelation begin and end this way.)
Rev. 22:14: BLESSED are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.
John 20:30 ends with: “Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these have been written so that you may believe (so that you receive the BLESSEDNESS of God) that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”
Without seeing Him in the flesh, you BELIEVE in your heart and confess with your mouth, that Jesus is THE BLESSED ONE who came in the NAME of the LORD?
Rev. 19:9 says: BLESSED are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!”
If you have been called to THAT SUPPER, then you are called to proclaim His death NOW, until He comes again, not only in the Lord’s Supper, but in the new life that you have been given by His Grace. Praise God for the fullness of faith in the Lord Jesus, in His life, death, resurrection, and ascension, and in His imminent return.
{It is the same Jesus who, on the night that He was betrayed, took bread. We have the opportunity to Proclaim that the Risen Jesus is MY RISEN LORD. My Risen King. }
OUTLINE
1. The Problem of the Unbelieving: They are faithless.
2. The Petition to the Unbelieving: Place your trust IN ME.
3. The Proclamation of Personal Faith: MY LORD and MY God
4. The Possession of Faith: You are Blessed and faith-FULL.
