In Jesus Holy Name April 14, 2024
Text: Luke 24:38-39 Easter III Redeemer
“Doubt Cannot Hide the Resurrected Jesus”
On this Sunday after Easter Jesus meets His disciples in the Upper room where they had been hiding since the tragic death of their Lord on Friday. They have heard stories from the women who found the tomb of Jesus empty. They have heard the story of the two disciples who met Jesus on the road to Emmaus. The eleven were not convinced. Their minds just could not believe.
I appreciate Pastor Jim’s message last week when he took us on a journey with Thomas. Pastor Jim reminded us that Thomas was not the only one who doubted the words of the women who had visited the empty tomb of Jesus, so did the eleven.
When Jesus enters their hiding space, they did not recognize Him. Jesus said: “Peace be with you.” “Why are you troubled and why do doubts rise in your minds?” He knew they were no different than Thomas. Belief in His resurrection had to move from their “mind” to their “hearts.”
Christian author Kathleen Noris has written: “To believe is not a matter of the mind but a matter of the heart.” For what we “believe” is what we give our heart to. We can read the bible from cover to cover and subscribe to all the ethics suggested; we can come to church, follow the liturgy in proper fashion, perhaps even listen intently to the sermon; but unless all that we see and hear becomes part of us, (part of our character, our inner being) well, then nothing is life changing.”
It all happened for two disciples on the Emmaus Road and for the disciples in the Upper Room. It had been a long day. The two had much on their minds. But their fellow traveler stirred a fire in their hearts. So they welcomed him in. They pulled out an extra chair, poured some water in the soup, and offered bread. Jesus blessed the bread, and when he did, “their eyes were opened, and they recognized him”. (Max Lucado)
Sure, a couple of women had returned from the tomb in hysterics, going on about how “they did not find the body of Jesus there.” They told how they’d seen “a vision of angels who said that Jesus was alive;” but no one was going to convince these disciples in the upper room of anything like that!
Jesus’ own followers did not expect Him to rise from the dead, even He had told them He would rise. They were fearful and shocked when He did. The resurrection was supposed to take place only at the end of time. The Resurrection of Jesus establishes Christianity as a faith that is based in the reality of history.
The Resurrection did not happen in the disciples’ minds. It happened in time and space with physical and historical evidence to support it. This is why Jesus said: “Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see, a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.”
We should not be too hard on the disciples. Faith, belief in Jesus as the Savior who would replace forgiveness of sins with the cross rather than in the temple was a radical transition for Jewish men and women. Fatih, belief in Jesus as Savior depended on being in the physical presence of Jesus, when He touched people who needed healing; or when he raised children and Lazarus from death. Only Jesus had the Holy Spirit. So, it was necessary for Jesus to appear physically and thus enable them to believe.
What did Jesus say to Thomas: “:..because you have “seen” me you believed”… but in the future blessed are those who believe but have not seen….because in the future the Holy Spirit, my Spirit will replace my physical presence and create faith and belief. (3rd article stuff)
We must admit that doubt has a stubborn power to control our emotions and what we believe to be true. During their wilderness wanderings, the Israelites had clear and visible proofs of God: a pillar of fire leading them, daily provisions of manna, God’s own presence with Moses on Mt. Sinai and in the Tent of Meeting. Yet these very people who had been liberated from slavery by the Ten Plagues, who had manna digesting in their stomachs, often doubted and whined about missing the pleasures of Egypt. After 40 days of not seeing Moses in their doubt they fashioned pagan idols to worship.
Doubt is a normal human problem. Billy Graham tells this story about his
grandfather who was also an evangelist. Both he and his grandfather experienced times of doubt.
Billy had already been an evangelist with Youth For Christ and had preached across Europe in the aftermath of World War II. He had held his first “Billy Graham Crusades” in places like Charlotte, N.C, and Grand Rapids, Mich. He was also the president of Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minn., the youngest college president in the country. however. His crusade in Altoona, Pa., had been—in his own words—“a flop.” He began to doubt that he would be an evangelist.
Will Graham, Billy’s grandson, remembered something his grandfather had told him about his own struggle with doubt. A contemporary of Billy, Charles Templeton, who had has also worked with “Youth For Christ”, after attending Princeton Theological University, began to believe that Jesus was not the answer to all of life’s questions and needs, but rather that education would solve humanity’s problems.
Billy Graham returned to the Christian Camp at Forest Home to pray. He walked out into the woods and set his Bible on a stump—more an altar than a pulpit—and he cried out: “O God! There are many things in this book I do not understand. There are many problems with it for which I have no solution. There are many seeming contradictions. There are some areas in it that do not seem to correlate with modern science. I can’t answer some of the philosophical and psychological questions (my friend) Chuck Templeton and others are raising.”
And then, Will Graham said: “my grandfather fell to his knees and the Holy Spirit moved in him as he prayed, “Father, I am going to accept this (Bible) as Thy Word—by faith! I’m going to allow faith to go beyond my intellectual questions and doubts, and I will believe this to be Your inspired Word!”
Doubt, it happened to the disciples, it happens to all of us. It is the Holy Spirit that spoke to Billy Graham’s heart, not mind. The next day he preached the gospel and 400 people committed their hearts to follow Jesus. The staff said, “My grandfather preached with authority they had never seen before.”
(https://billygraham.org/story/the-tree-stump-prayer-where-billy-graham-overcame-doubt/
Philip Yancey writes: “Doubt is something almost every person experiences at some point, yet something that the church does not always handle well. I’m an advocate of doubt because that’s why I became a Christian in the first place.” Doubt made him search the bible and pray.
Jesus was not threatened with the doubts of the disciples, nor is He threatened by doubts that come into our lives as we live out our faith, learning to trust Jesus. GK Chesterton, Christian theologian said: “The worst moment for an atheist is when he feels a deep sense of gratitude and has no one to thank.”
As human beings we are learning, like the disciples to relate to an invisible God who often seems silent, and deaf to our cries. Instinctively we want God to micro-manage life on earth, by constantly performing miracles that alter the laws of nature.
In 1527, Martin Luther, wrote the hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” recorded, “For more than a week I was close to the gates of death and hell. I trembled in all my members. Christ was wholly lost.” He later reflected, “the content of the depressions was always the same, the loss of faith that God is good and that he is good to me.”
I was thinking about “the doubt of the disciples” and the doubt that can creep into our own lives and was reading some sermons on this topic by (Henry Drummond 1851-1897) He wrote: “Doubt is can’t believe; unbelief is won’t believe. Doubt is honesty; unbelief is obstinacy. Doubt is looking for light; unbelief is content with darkness.” This is why Jesus opened the minds of the disciples so that they could understand Scripture and remove their doubt.
James 1:6 says, “Anyone who doubts is like a wave in the sea, blown up and down by the wind.” Doubt, is a nosy neighbor. He’s an obnoxious guest. He’ll pester you, he’ll irritate you, he’ll kick the stool out from under you and refuse to help you up. He doesn’t offer any solutions; he only raises questions. (Max Lucado)
Had any visits from doubt lately? If you find yourself going to church in order to be saved and not because you are saved, then you’ve been listening to him.
Nothing is more central to Christianity than the resurrection of Jesus. It is the assurance of life after death. I can guarantee that even when “doubt” slips into your life and you wonder about God’s love or His presence and power to meet you in the middle of a storm, there is a unbreakable string tied to your heart, not your mind….. that keeps you connected to faith in the resurrection of Jesus. The unbreakable string is the Holy Spirit’s life line.
Open your bible. That’s what Jesus told his disciples. “This is what is written: “The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third days and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in the His name to all nations…..” “stay in the city until your receive my Holy Spirit.” For then as my disciples you will no longer need my “physical body present” for my Spirit will live in your heart.
This is our world of faith. We too must learn to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit as He speaks through the scriptures, through prayer or personal devotion time. Here is a key verse. Hebrews 10:10, 14 (read) On going “sanctification.”
Amen.
