Title: “Jesus Encounters an Agnostic” Script: John 20:24-29
Type: Expository Series Where: GNBC 4-23-23
Intro: What is an agnostic? An agnostic is a person who believes that nothing can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena; one who neither claims faith nor disbelief in God. One of the greatest apologists for the Christian faith in all of history was CS Lewis. Lewis was born in Belfast in 1898 and had an idyllic childhood until his mother died with he was 9 yrs. of age. His grieving father immediately sent Lewis and his brother to a boarding school in England, where the headmaster was later verified to be insane! By the age of 17 yrs. Lewis wrote the following: “I believe in no religion. There is absolutely no proof for any of them, and from a philosophical standpoint Christianity is not even the best.” Over the next decade Lewis would serve as an officer in WWI, surviving the war go into academia. God began to work in his heart when picked up a book by George MacDonald to read on a train ride. By 1929 Lewis declared himself to be “the most reluctant convert in all of England” when he shifted from atheism to theism. Two years later, after an uneventful visit to a zoo, while riding in the side car of his brother’s motorcycle, Lewis came to full faith in Christ. Lewis wrote to his lifelong friend, Arthur Greeves the following profession, “Christianity is God expressing Himself through what we call ‘real things’. . . namely, the actual incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection (of Jesus Christ)”. Today we will examine the conversion of a one time agnostic whose encounter with Jesus left him forever a changed man.
Prop: Today we’ll notice 3 important elements of Jesus’ encounter with an agnostic.
BG: 1. John alone, of the Gospel writers, records this event. The 11 surviving disciples together.
2. Encounter is with Thomas, the disciple with whom “Doubt” is ascribed. Agnostic.
3. In this passage Jesus adequately addresses Thomas’ doubts about the Lord’s Resurrection.
Prop: Let’s examine Jn 20:24-29 to notice 3 important elements of Jesus’ encounter with an agnostic.
I. Thomas Becomes an Agnostic When He Misses Xst’s Easter Evening Appearance. Vv.24-25
A. Alienation from Fellowship Feeds Doubts and Fears.
1. We are negatively introduced to the Absent Disciple in this Encounter.
a. Thomas isn’t present when the Lord appears to the rest of the disciples on the evening of the Resurrection. We do not know where he was. There is no indication given in the text. There is also no criticism offered in the text. He simply wasn’t there when Christ miraculously presented Himself alive to the 10 disciples.
b. We do not read many words ascribed to Thomas in the Gospels. We know he was zealous and passionate, by the first words recorded are in Jn. 11:16 when Jesus says He must go to Jerusalem to die. "Let us also go, that we may die with Him", but because of his doubt in this passage about his colleagues' enthusiasm concerning the resurrected Christ, tradition has dubbed him Doubting Thomas. Assuredly he was a twin. His Hebrew name, Thomas, comes from the root for “twin” and of course, “Didymus” meant twin in Greek.
2. Thomas Allows His Unbelief to Overpower the Appeal of the Evidence.
a. Thomas has enough evidence to be a believer, but he choses to be a doubter. I believe this is to greater or lesser degree the case with everyone who is an atheist or agnostic. We know from General Revelation (That which is given to all men at all time.) that there is a God. Ps. 19:1 declares: “The heavens tell of the glory of God; And their expanse declares the work of His hands.” But our response is: “There is no God and random, unintelligible chance and time created everything out of blobbish goo.”
b. Illust: In the words of a certain assistant pastor this past week: “I may not be a smart man, but I do know that a theoretical and purposeless random explosion o mystery matter does not give rise to intelligibility, truth, knowledge, natural laws, logic, the uniformity of nature, morality, and human values.” (Zach Ilten meme). Thomas has done, like many of has done in the past and many today, checking our theological brains at the door out of hurt or pain. Thomas saw Jesus die. His purpose in living died on that cross. He is not going to be fooled.
B. Don’t Allow Your Personal Unbelief to Overpower an Appeal to the Evidence of Christ’s Resurrection.
1. Unbelief, not evidence is always the issue of faith in Christ.
a. Thomas has enough evidence. The issue in our coming to faith in Christ is never a lack of evidence! The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most attested to and provable event in ancient history. Here Thomas has the testimony of the other 10 disciples. They excitedly tell him of their own experience: “We have seen the Lord!” They were his best friends. They had intimately shared life together for 3.5 years. They, like he, had witnessed the Savior’s death. They too were scared and grief stricken and now, now they are proclaiming Christ’s resurrection! The testimony of the 10 disciples should have been enough evidence to bring Thomas from doubt to devotion. Yet, read v. 25 – “Not unless I…”
b. Illust: Back in HS, as God was moving me towards personal faith in Christ I was driving with two friends to go see the British Rock Band, “The Kinks”, who were playing at Indiana University. I wouldn’t say that I was a Christian yet, but my best friend was, and we were witnessing to our other friend, Simon. Simon had moved to the US from England as a Sophomore. Brilliant kid. Back in England had compulsory RE (Religious instruction) in those days (Personally, I think is a horrible idea.) So he knew the Bible way more than this lapsed Methodist did! However, as we were driving I said, “Simon, you just have to believe in Jesus and you can be saved.” I have never forgotten his response: “It can’t be that easy, Chris.” “It cannot simply be a matter of believing.” Let me tell you friend, that’s exactly what the problem was for Thomas. Unbelief.
2. Agnostics Often Ascribe a Double Standard to Christianity as opposed to the world.
a. Illust: Go to the Classics Department of any University. No one will have a problem with quoting the authorship of Sophocles, Plato, or Homer, while denouncing the reliability of Scripture from the other side of their mouth. These Greeks are standard bearers in the department. Yet we have less than 200 manuscripts of Sophocles plays written nearly 800 yrs after his death! We have again, less than 200 manuscripts of Plato’s Tetralogies, the earliest written at least 1200 years after his birth! Homer was the great 8th cent. BC Greek poet. We have roughly 2000 manuscripts of The Iliad, written at least 400 years after the author’s death. Now, compare this to the evidence for the accuracy of the Bible. Of just the 5,800+ Greek New Testament manuscripts, there are more than 2.6 million pages! Combining both the Old and New Testament, we have more than 66,000 manuscripts and scrolls! ANSWER: That equates to one mile of New Testament manuscripts (and 2.5 miles for the entire Bible), compared with an average four feet of manuscript by the average classical writer! It isn’t for a lack of evidence. It is for a lack of faith! It is active unbelief!
b. At some point, everyone who claims to be an atheist or an agnostic will give themselves away. Their rejection of God is ultimately a moral issue, not an intellectual one. The evidence is there. It is compelling.
C. Applic: Let me tell you, do you know what contributed to Thomas’ doubts? Isolation. He wasn’t with the other disciples when Christ first appeared. He was away. He was off on own. Isolated. Friend, doubts, fears, and troubles are magnified when we isolate ourselves from the Church.
II. Jesus Invites an Agnostic to Examine the Evidence for His Resurrection. Vv. 26-27
A. Christ Appears to an Awestruck Thomas in the Midst of His Doubt and Gloom.
1. Christ makes a special visit to attend to Thomas’ doubts.
a. It is now Monday, a full eight days after Christ’s appearance in the Upper Room to the Disciples on Resurrection evening. Here again, we see the disciples are still gathered in the Upper Room, Thomas is now present. For the past 8 days he has been listening to the excited testimony of the other 10 disciples. Yet, to this point Thomas isn’t having anything to do with believing in the resurrection. Hadn’t he firmly declared his position?” (Re read v. 25 with emphasis!) “No one is going to fool me!”
b. Again, belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ is not a matter of a lack of proof or evidence, rather, it is a problem with the human heart. Thomas has a very troubled heart. I think it is an emotional response to the pain and hurt he experienced at the Savior’s death. I think in some way he personally felt betrayed and he allowed the grief to be too much for him and he turned his back on all the evidence. Illust: In 35 yrs of pastoring I have seen essentially 2 responses to tragedy: 1. Rejection of God. 2. Clinging to God. Illust: For 70 yrs. of life my grandfather held God at arms-length because his only brother had died @15 yrs from a brain tumor. Yet God was not done with that stubborn old man, and after the death of my grandmother, he desperately reached out to and clung hold of Christ until his death several years later.
B. Jesus Affirms the Truth that Unbelief, Not Evidence, is the Real Obstacle to Faith in His Resurrection.
1. Notice Jesus’ Statement as He once again enters the Upper Room.
a. V. 26 – “Peace be with you!” Here Jesus does it again! Glorified body is not constrained by the laws of nature. One moment Jesus is not there and the next He is! Now, I am sure it was still shocking for the rest of the disciples, but I personally think this statement is specifically for Thomas: “Peace be with you.” Why? Agnostics and atheists have lives that are filled with anger, fear, depression, doubt and discouragement. Chris, how do you know that? The terror of an eternal nothingness upon death, the meaninglessness and purposelessness of my existence, the randomness of chance of would crush my soul.
b. Illust: The great English philosopher GK Chesterton once addressed this when he said: “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. Rather it has been found difficult and left untried.” Thomas is still in a place of doubt, but if this resurrection is real it is going to change his life. Same is true for you and me today.
2. Jesus Invites Thomas to examine the evidence of His resurrection. V. 27
a. Read v. 27. Jesus challenges the once doubtful Thomas to examine the evidence! Look at the evidence friend. Only One Person was ever scarred for your salvation! Only One Person ever lived a perfect, sinless life. Only one Person raised Himself bodily from the grave! Take time to ponder the evidence for Christ’s Resurrection and it’s application. Thomas sees Jesus! Jesus pours out grace not scorn upon Thomas. But the rebuke stemmed from love. It didn’t negate the abundant grace that Thomas experienced. We don’t know whether Thomas actually did it. At that point, he didn’t need to touch Jesus, because He knew that He really was alive.
b. Illust: Years ago the British agnostic Thomas Huxley had to leave early one morning to go from one speaking assignment to another, so he got into a horse-drawn taxi to go from his hotel to the train station. He assumed that the hotel doorman had told the taxi that they were to go to the train station. So when he got in, he simply said to the driver, “Drive fast.” Off they went. After a short while, Huxley, who was familiar with the area, realized that they were actually going in the opposite direction from the train station. He yelled to the driver, “Do you know where you’re going?” Without looking back, the driver replied, “No, sir, but I’m driving very fast!” Obviously, it doesn’t do much good to go fast if you’re going in the wrong direction! Yet, many people are like that. They’re going full speed, but they haven’t stopped to evaluate where they ought to be going. They haven’t examined the evidence. Before you know it, life has whizzed by, but you haven’t spent it aimed in the right direction.
C. Applic: Jesus offers Thomas evidence of His death and resurrection and then challenges him: “And be not unbelieving, but be believing.” St. Thomas Aquinas once said: “To the one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one w/o faith, no explanation is possible.”
III. An Honest Agnostic’s Awesome Admission. Vv.28-29
A. Thomas’ Awesome Admission. V. 28
1. Thomas’ Admission
a. Thomas’ spontaneous confession, “My Lord and my God,” is one of the greatest testimonies to the deity of Christ by an individual in the Gospels. This confession reminds me of John 1:1, 14, & 16: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth…. For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.” Thomas knew that Jesus was God and also that He was full of grace toward him in spite of his sinful doubts. And now he was awash in the riches of Christ’s grace.
b. Here we are, at nearly the end of Christ’s earthly ministry and Thomas has made one of the greatest professions of faith in the Bible.
2. Nathaniel’s made a similar profession early in the ministry of Christ.
-Nathanael, whose name is spelled Nathaniel in popular modern usage, was one of the disciples called by Jesus (John 1:43). Nathanael was from Cana in Galilee (John 21:2) and was brought to Jesus by his friend, Philip, who also became one of Jesus’ disciples. Nathanael was one of the first to express belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God (John 1:49). His name means “God has given” in Hebrew. Interestingly, Nathanael is only mentioned in the Gospel of John; the other three gospels identify him as “Bartholomew.” In Jn. 1:43 the story begins. Philip tells Nathanel that he had found the Messiah. When he said Jesus was from Nazareth, Nathanel, like Thomas in this passage, uttered a disparaging doubt: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (v.46). However, a doubting Nathanel still goes with Philip to meet Jesus, Who instantly ascribes positive character quality to the agnostic. Then, Jesus, who had never me Nathanel before, told him insight into his activities that no one save God, could have known. The started man’s response: “You are the Son of God, the King of Israel.” (Jn. 1:49) One awesome admission at the beginning of Christ’s ministry made by previous skeptics.
B. Christ’s Victory over the Tomb’s Seal, Sealed His Victory over Sin and Death.
1. Christ’s tomb was empty.
a. One incontrovertible fact, with which both the disciples and the Jews agreed, is that Christ’s tomb was empty. If not, when the disciples began proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus a few weeks later (which was the central point of their preaching), the Jewish leaders could have simply marched to the tomb, produced the dead body of Jesus, and the disciples would have been laughed out of town. But they didn’t, because they couldn’t!
b. Study the Gospel accounts of who Jesus was, of what He taught, of the miracles He performed, of the prophecies He fulfilled. On more than one occasion He predicted His own death and resurrection (John 2:19-22; Luke 9:22). His encounter with doubting Thomas shows that His purpose was to bring Thomas into a place of full faith in His deity (20:27). When Thomas answered, “My Lord and my God,” Jesus did not rebuke or correct him for overstating things. Rather, Jesus commended Thomas’ correct perception and faith (20:28-2).
2. Examining the Evidence of Christ’s Resurrection Requires a Decision By Each of Us.
a. Who is Jesus Christ? Illust: I began this message referring to CS Lewis: ““I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” (Mere Christianity)
b. Who do you say Jesus is? To paraphrase Lewis, your options are: Mad, Bad, or God! Friend, there is overwhelming evidence for trusting yourself to Christ. He is Who He said He is. His resurrection proved it.
C. Applic: One of the greatest testimonies to the truthfulness of the resurrection of Jesus was the changed lives of His followers. All cowering in the upper room. But that will all change. Oh, and “Doubting Thomas”, what will the rest of his life look like? This one time doubtful skeptic put his faith and trust in Christ and became the first missionary to India, where about 25-30 yrs after this event, would be martyred for his faith in Christ. God’s in the business of changing skeptics. How about you?
