“Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.’
“Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’” [1]
What will it take for you to believe what Christ the Lord says? I’m not speaking to outsiders; I’m speaking to people who profess to believe Him. But I’m asking what it will take to believe Him. Jesus says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” [MATTHEW 28:18-20]. What will it take for you to believe that He is always with you? What will it take before you fulfil the command to make disciples as you are going? It is not possible to say you love Christ when you neither obey Him or rely on the promises He has given.
The Son of God says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” [JOHN 14:27]. What will be required before you begin to walk in peace though the world about you rages? Why do so many professed followers of Christ torment their souls by failing to rest in Him?
The Master commands His followers to love one another. Jesus has said, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another” [JOHN 15:12-17]. What sort of love is it that allows us to say, “I’ll love you if..?” What will be required before we begin to love one another deeply from the heart?
The promises of the Saviour, and the commands that He has given, are meant for those who follow Him to seize and to obey. We hear the stories related by others throughout the centuries since our Master conquered death, and we don’t doubt that these are true accounts of others who went before us; and yet, we act as though we have an exemption from obedience. Like Thomas, we bluster, “Unless I receive a special dispensation, I will not believe, I will not obey.” Nothing much has changed; we still demand God’s special dispensation for ourselves.
CASUALLY DISMISSING THE TESTIMONY OF WITNESSES — When the other disciples related what they had witnessed when the Risen Lord had appeared in their midst, Thomas rejected the report, responding, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe” [JOHN 20:25b]. This was an incredibly strong statement, but we have every reason to believe that Thomas was given to taking bold positions. However, the words Thomas spoke and the emphatic manner in which he expressed himself is no less strong than the response we Christians pronounce to some testimonies we may have heard. Rather than using sanctified caution as we ought, we can be amazingly stern in rejecting the testimony others may present when they speak of God’s gracious work. It is one thing to seek confirmation of God’s work in our own lives, but we too often neglect the need to be generous toward others when we hear of His powerful work in their lives.
With the exception of Thomas, who had been absent, the other disciples, the ten who were left, had seen the Risen Lord. That appearance went this way. “On the evening of that day, [the day when Jesus rose from the dead], the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld’” [JOHN 20:19-23].
Jesus conquered death by rising from the dead. Mary Magdalene had gone to the tomb intending to prepare Jesus’ body for burial, only to discover that the tomb was empty. There was no body in the tomb because Jesus had risen from the dead. She rushed back to tell the disciples, and Peter and John ran to the tomb to verify for themselves that Jesus’ body was not in that crypt. Bewildered, they went back to the others. Perhaps they were fearful that their presence at the tomb would invite a new wave of persecution. Thus, they turned away and hurried back to the home where they had hidden themselves from the prying eyes of the Jewish leaders.
In their haste to get away, these two “bold” men left Mary alone at the tomb. Left alone, Mary began to weep, distressed because she believed that the body of the Master had been taken. There could be no funerary preparation for the body, as custom dictated. How would His disciples be able to demonstrate their love for Him? Now, His memory would fade and be lost! Mary desperately needed assurance; and it was the Risen Christ Who gave her that assurance.
Overjoyed that the Master had given her the assurance she needed by revealing Himself as being alive, Mary rushed to the place where the disciples had secreted themselves so she could tell them, “I have seen the Lord!” As she related this joyous news, she also summarised the conversation she had had with the Risen Saviour. We aren’t told how the disciples reacted to this, but the fact that they locked themselves in until the evening tells me that they were struggling to fully understand what Mary had told them. They could hardly believe her!
The disciples were still locked in a room as though they could lock out the evil that threatened them, the very evil that they were certain had conquered the Master. They reasoned, “If evil could overwhelm Him, what might that same evil do to us?” These disciples were not unlike many of us when evil struts about, boasting that it is stronger than God, stronger than the One Who hung the stars in place, stronger than Him Who holds the power of life and death. They were cowed and they quailed at the thought that evil was afoot. They felt threatened; they acted just as we too often act when evil threatens—and evil is always prepared to threaten.
Despite the palpable fear the disciples felt, fear that fed upon the fear others were feeling, there was no denying an incredible event had taken place. Moreover, there were a large number of witnesses to all that had happened. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Salome, Peter and John, Cleopas and the other unnamed disciple, together with the remainder who had heard multiple times the multiple accounts these disciples were eagerly telling and retelling. Some of them had actually seen and heard the Risen Lord. Mary Magdalene had even touched Him! The Risen Saviour had to gently command her to stop clinging to Him [see JOHN 20:11-18]!
Now, added to these who were giving their witness to what they had seen and heard were the other disciples—James and Andrew, Levi, and Judas the Zealot, and all the rest. None of them were able to quit talking about what they had witnessed or what they had heard. We can almost hear Andrew yet again asking others, “Tell me again what you saw!” And Levi asking for the fourth time, “Tell me what He said!” These disciples were only too ready to repeat what was quickly becoming familiar for anyone willing to listen. They were being transformed because they had met the Risen Lord of Glory; He had changed their perspective. The message that each one was telling was vibrant, vigorous, and vocal: “He is alive!”
Quietly taking in all that was being said was Thomas, who was also known as Didymus—the Twin; and he wasn’t about to accept some excited stories as these other disciples regaled one another with what they had witnessed and what they were claiming had been said. Thomas shook his head, convinced that they were collectively suffering some form of mass hysteria. He was certain that he was witnessing a tragic joke. It was as if each of the disciples had decided he or she so badly wanted Jesus to be alive that each one had deluded himself or herself into believing that the Master was alive. Thomas was adamant, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” Something was clearly wrong with these others who were jabbering without making sense. Perhaps they had succumbed to some sort of mass delusion. Perhaps they wanted so desperately to believe that Jesus was alive that they began to imagine that they had heard His voice. However, everyone knew that people don’t come back to life. Those who were crucified were dead, and there was no second chance at living. The cross imposed its gruesome will on anyone who was crucified, and all were powerless to reverse the ensuing death.
“Everyone knows” is a statement that should be banished from the Christian vocabulary. Everyone doesn’t know! And that holds true for every concept that one can possibly imagine. Under the most propitious conditions the most learned among us can have a measure of knowledge, but we can never know the full reasoning behind assertions that others may make or decisions they may make. It is the height of laziness to attempt to support your supposition by an appeal to what you imagine to be common knowledge. Common knowledge is the stuff of bias, the resort of those unwilling to dig into reality, the resort to emotion rather than reason.
Allow me to make another significant observation about the fact that those who saw the Risen Lord were excitedly telling what they had witnessed while one who had not seen the Risen Saviour had nothing to say. They were excitedly speaking because those who have met the Risen Christ cannot help but tell others of what they have seen and heard. Those who have met the Risen Lord cannot remain silent. Those who have never met the Saviour will question what is said, or they may attempt to speak of the experience of others in a desultory fashion.
Let that thought penetrate your mind to apply it to the experience among the professed people of God in this day. Those who have met the Risen Lord cannot help but speak of what they have witnessed. They are transformed and they cannot be silent. They are compelled to speak by what they have experienced, standing firm in the face of the doubt others may have.
Perhaps you will recall Peter and John when they were challenged by the Jewish Council which commanded them to quit speaking about Jesus had a ready and pointed answer to that demand. Presented with such an unjust demand, the disciples responded to the Jewish leaders, “Whether it is right before God to obey you rather than God, you decide, for it is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard” [ACTS 4:19-20 NET BIBLE]. It was impossible for these two men not to speak because those who have met the Risen Saviour cannot remain silent. If professing Christians are silent before their neighbours or before their families, one must question whether they have ever met the Risen Lord of Glory. Regardless of how religious a person may be, those who have not met the Risen Saviour will never share the same excitement. Those who are unsaved cannot speak of Christ or of salvation for they have nothing of which they may speak. The experience of the unsaved is seriously wanting.
Within the assembly of the righteous, when others tell of having met the Lord, we need to listen carefully so that we can assess the reliability of what these are saying. We need to hear, actually hear, the testimony that witnesses give. It is essential that we listen to hear if what they are saying honours the Risen Lord or whether it exalts the one giving the testimony. If what is said honours the Lord, it will be easy enough to correct whatever minor discrepancies may be evident. If what is being said exalts the one speaking, it may or may not be possible to correct what they are saying. Speaking to honour the Lord reveals that the root of righteousness is present; speaking to exalt self demonstrates that a bitter root contaminates that life. And a bitter root contaminates the assembly of the righteous, just as we are warned: “See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God, that no one be like a bitter root springing up and causing trouble, and through him many become defiled” [HEBREWS 12:15 NET BIBLE].
Apollos was one who had a testimony that wasn’t as precise as one might wish, but it was obvious that his heart was committed to honouring God. Luke writes of him in Acts, “A Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus” [ACTS 18:24-28].
Apollos clearly wanted to honour the Lord. He had an incomplete understanding of discipleship, having only known the teachings of the Baptist. However, a godly couple, Priscilla and Aquila, were willing to invest time with Apollos in order to ensure that he understood the message of the Lord and the manner in which disciples are to serve the Saviour. Because the heart of this disciple was seeking God’s honour and not his own promotion, he responded with grace to the instruction Priscilla and Aquila provided. Apollos would go on to stand out among the early disciples among the Gentiles, even appearing to rival Paul in stature among some of the churches as revealed in Paul’s mentions of him [see 1 CORINTHIANS 1:12; 3:4-6, 22; 4:6; 16:12].
This brings us to a truth that must be acknowledged. Those who deliver their witness to an event will not agree in every minor detail. The reason this is true is that each witness sees matters from his or her perspective. The mind is finite and capable of absorbing only that which is actually observed. Therefore, each witness will contribute a general account that accords with other witnesses, differing in minor matters. If witnesses agree fully, even in minor details, it is a reason to be cautious about accepting the validity of what is being related.
Consider Jesus’ view of those who present a less than perfect testimony. The exchange is recorded in John’s Gospel, where we read, “John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’ But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. For the one who is not against us is for us. For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward’” [MARK 9:38-41].
This should not be taken to mean that we should accept outright error; it does mean that we need to be cautious in attacking those who are not in full agreement with our view of doctrinal matters. Focus on the essentials. I’ve often said, and I will say again, that we listen to see if those who are speaking honour the Saviour and His perfect work to redeem lost people. The essential doctrines on which all Christians must agree hold that Jesus Christ is very God, that He presented His life as a perfect sacrifice because of sinful people, He was buried and rose bodily on the third day, after which He walked among those to whom He presented Himself before ascending into Heaven bodily where He is seated at the right hand of the Father. Now, to all who receive Him as Master over life He grants eternal life. And He is coming again to receive His own and to judge mankind. The authority for this Faith is given as the Word of God which is to be received as truthful and without error.
I must remind you that I am not suggesting that we check in our brain at the door. Just because someone declares that what they are saying is true doesn’t make it true or accurate. We are to exercise discernment when we hear testimony. Testimony concerning one’s experience of grace that is not backed by a transformed life is suspect always. Testimony of fanciful experiences that are claimed to be evidence of the Spirit’s working should be regarded with scepticism until the assembly has prayed and sought the face of the Lord on the matter. However, when the testimony is substantiated by a godly life that demonstrates transformation, we should be most careful before rejecting what is said.
Ultimately, we have received the Word of the Lord by which all statements concerning the Faith are to be judged. In the case of the disciples in our text, they had received multiple statements from the Master before His Passion that spoke of His crucifixion and resurrection. Jesus had told this very disciples, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” [LUKE 9:22].
The issue was not that the disciples had not been told all that would happen, they had not believed the Master when He had spoken! Recall this incident that is recorded in Luke’s Gospel. “ [Jesus] said to [the Twelve], ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.’ But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said” [LUKE 18:31-34]. They didn’t believe because they were focused on the immediate rather than the ultimate. And God constantly challenges us to look to what He is doing for the future.
CONFRONTED BY UNDENIABLE EVIDENCE — “Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God’” [JOHN 20:26-28]!
For a week and a day the disciples eagerly spoke with one another, excitedly telling of their experience of having seen the Master. He had been right there! And though they were certain of what they had witnessed, they were nevertheless yet in fear for their own lives. So, they continued to meet in secret, speaking in hushed, though admittedly excited, tones. They were quite certain that what they had witnessed was not an illusion, it wasn’t some strange figment of their collective imaginations; Jesus Himself had been there and had spoken with them. They recognised His voice. No doubters could shake the knowledge of what they had seen and of the voice they had heard. For eight days Thomas had steadfastly refused to cut them any slack. He hadn’t seen Jesus! There must have been a rational explanation, and he was determined to find that explanation if only to prove himself right and to compel the others to accept the delusion that had deceived them all.
Then, on the eighth day it happened. There they were, all eleven of them, and unlike the other times, Thomas was there as well. The doors were locked. After all, those wicked Jewish leaders who had executed the Master were still in charge. Who knew what they might do to the disciples if they were given an excuse. These erstwhile followers of Jesus couldn’t be too safe. So, they met only behind closed doors and spoke in whispered tones lest some passing individual should hear their voices and betray them to the leaders of the Jews. Who knew what might happen if they failed to take these extreme precautions. Their fear was real; it was palpable.
They had come together in twos and threes, looking furtively about as they approached the house and quietly knocking at the door in order to alert those inside without alerting any nosy neighbours to their presence. Thomas had approached the house furtively, perhaps by himself or perhaps with one or two of the other disciples. After quietly rapping at the door, he had been admitted and the door was quickly shut and again locked. These followers of the Way did their best not to draw attention to themselves as they met. We can understand that, can’t we? Remember how we parked our cars down the street away from the place where we gathered to visit with friends during the Covid lockdowns. We didn’t want to draw too much attention from neighbours when we went to dinner in the home of our friends. We were intimidated by the threat that the authorities might swoop down on us. They could fine us, or perhaps even jail us; and we certainly didn’t want that stigma attached to us. None of us were eager to have to put up with the aggravation that would come if we drew attention from the wrong people.
At last, each of the remaining Apostles were inside; no one else would be coming. Any further knocks at the door would be met with suspicion. Suddenly, they were startled, not by a knock at the door, but by the presence of Jesus. I mean, one minute they were alone with no one else in the house; the next moment, there was Jesus standing in their midst! What happened could not be explained—it just was! Standing there, the Master fixed His gaze on Thomas. Right in front of everyone, Jesus held out His hands and invited Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands.” Then, lifting the folds of his robe, he again invited Thomas, “Put out your hand, and place it in my side.” Then, in a final, gentle rebuke to the disciple who had doubted the report of the others, Jesus said to Thomas, “Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Well, what else could Thomas say, but, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus, this living Saviour Who had somehow conquered death, rising from the tomb, was in truth Thomas’ Lord and his God. Jesus was alive!
Thomas might have been embarrassed by the fact that his doubt was exposed by the reality of the Risen Saviour, except for one significant point—Jesus was alive! The Master was alive and He was standing right there. All doubt was gone! There was no further question! Jesus was alive!. And He knew everything that had been going through Thomas’ head; Jesus knew every doubt and Thomas’ sense of superiority to the other disciples. Jesus knew it all!
Every doubt that had previously found residence in Thomas’ mind evaporated as surely as the morning dew evaporates under the unrelenting heat of the morning sun shining on the meadow. It would have been impossible to continue questioning how He could conquer death when it was apparent that He had conquered death! Hell couldn’t hold Him. The grave was empty because the Master was alive. Jesus was alive. Thomas couldn’t get over the fact. And we would do no better than Thomas did had we been there. Actually, we who have met the Risen Saviour still can’t get over the fact. We can’t explain what happened—it just happened!
On one notable occasion as Jewish antagonists were seeking an excuse to condemn Jesus, and they challenged the Lord, “If you are the Christ, tell us” [LUKE 22:67a]. You will perhaps remember His response to those men who were pressing Him for an answer at that time. Jesus said, “If I tell you, you will not believe, and if I ask you, you will not answer” [LUKE 22:67b-68]. They didn’t actually want an answer; and if an answer was given, they would brazenly dismiss it out of hand. So many of you who have not believed are not struggling to believe; you are struggling to find an excuse not to believe. The evidence that Jesus is alive is available to anyone who seeks the truth. Your problem is that you are not seeking Him; you are trying to find a reason not to believe!
Challenged by Jews who actually professed to believe Jesus, though they were practising only a partial faith, Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” [JOHN 8:31b-32]. You will recall that this statement brought forth a violent response from these proud Jews. “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’” [JOHN 8:33]? Though they claimed they believed Him, they were insulted because they understood that He was saying that the freedom they imagined was theirs was not freedom at all!
On yet another occasion as He was questioned by people seeking to find a flaw in Him, Jesus commended a scribe who gave a wise answer to Jesus’ query. We witness Jesus saying, “You are not far from the kingdom of God” [MARK 12:34]. What elicited that gentle response from the Master was the scribes answer to a question Jesus asked? Jesus had just exposed the ignorance of the arrogant Sadducees. The scribe inserted himself into the discussion by asking, “Which commandment is the most important of all” [MARK 12:28b]?
Jesus gave this scribe a “twofer,” two answers for one question. Jesus wisely suggested, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” [MARK 12:29-31].
Speaking almost unconsciously, the scribe revealed a sense of awe at the answer Jesus had given. “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices” [MARK 12:32-33].
It was this wise response that brought forth the Master’s commendation of this scribe. Jesus saw that this man was drawing near to becoming a twice-born individual. The man confessed that we are each responsible to love God with our whole being; and he recognised that if we love God with all that we are, we will love our neighbour as ourself. Jesus saw this as not only commendable, but as demonstration that the man was very close to grasping life itself. All that would be necessary for this scribe to be twice-born would be for him to receive Jesus as Master over his own life.
WHAT WILL BE REQUIRED BEFORE YOU BELIEVE? “Jesus said to [Thomas], ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’” [JOHN 20:29]. Jesus challenged Thomas about his unbelief, pointing to the compelling evidence that changed the disciple’s mind. He then pronounced a benediction on all who would believe though they would not see the Risen Saviour. And that includes all who confess Jesus as Master over life on the authority of the Word of God and because of the testimony of their parents or on the basis of the preaching of the message of life in Christ the Lord.
I ask, “What will be required for you to believe?” Will the Master be compelled to actually come into your kitchen as you are preparing your evening meal in order to rebuke you? Or is it not enough that He has spoken through the Word that He has given? Is it somehow insufficient that the Spirit of Christ speaks to your heart to tell you of His love and to instruct you in what the Master wants of you? Did you not have a praying mother who called your name in prayer before the throne of God? Was your father not a praying man who spoke to you with tears in his eyes, asking why you would not believe? Was there no church of the Lord Jesus declaring the Word of Christ and praying for your salvation? Dear friend, if you die and go to hell, you will have to step over the love of your mother and the pleas of this church.
I’m not suggesting that you should uncritically accept whatever someone says just because they claim to be a Christian. Neither am I suggesting that you should immediately reject everything that someone says simply because they happen not to salute your flag. It should be obvious that we need to listen to the claims people make, evaluating what is said in light of the Word that God has given for our benefit.
Jesus had repeatedly told the disciples that He would be crucified and then He would be raised from the dead. Recall Peter’s testimony revealing that he understood who Jesus was. The account Levi provides is as follows. “When Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’ Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ” [MATTHEW 16:13-20].
The verses immediately following make it obvious that this event was a turning point in Jesus’ interaction with His disciples. We read, “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” [MATTHEW 16:21]. Focus for a moment on that introductory clause, “From that time.” To this point, Jesus had been intent on teaching in a broad fashion the truths of the Kingdom of Heaven. Now, the time was short and it was necessary that He focus on His mission and instilling understanding in the disciples.
The pace of Jesus’ teaching about what was to happen increased, as we see when reading, “As [the Disciples and Jesus] were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.’ And [the Disciples] were greatly distressed” [MATTHEW 17:22-23].
Again, Matthew points out that the teaching of the death and resurrection of Jesus was kept before the Disciples, writing, “As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day’” [MATTHEW 20:17-19].
Nor was it only to the Disciples that Jesus told of His pending death and resurrection. We are told of an occasion when the Pharisees were seeking a sign, and Jesus pointed to His death and resurrection. Admittedly, His words were more obscure than when He spoke to His Disciples, but He did speak of His resurrection. Here is the way in which Matthew presented this incident. “Some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, ‘Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.’ But he answered them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth’” [MATTHEW 12:38-40].
The point of reminding you of what is recorded is to encourage you to believe the account that we are given. If you believe this blessed account, then look to the Risen Christ as Master over your life. Acknowledge Him as Lord of life, inviting Him to take control of your life. He promises in His Word, “If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with his heart and is justified, and declares with his mouth and is saved” [ROMANS 10:9-10 ISV]. The Word continues, “Everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved” [ROMANS 10:13]. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
