Have You Seen Jesus?
Video presentation (Acts video Day after Resurrection)
Question: Have you seen Jesus? I’m not talking about physically seeing him because we won’t see Jesus physically again until the day comes for His return. In that day every eye shall see, every knee shall bow, every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord. Think about Thomas. Everybody calls him the doubting guy because he did not believe that Jesus came back from the dead. Would you if you were in his shoes? Think about it. He saw his teacher, his friend taken into custody & then later executed. Think of the pain & agony he was going through. He lost someone very special to him. Now people are saying he’s alive? Thomas was a very rational person. He was born in Missouri you might say. How can the dead come back to life? Remember what Jesus said to Thomas? It’s in your Bibles too. Let’s read it again.
John 20:26-29 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though 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; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
The resurrection of Jesus Christ was a miracle. Sometimes its hard for us to believe in miracles. We pray & pray to God for miracles. And sometimes when the prayer is not answered in the way we want it to be we lose faith. I prayed & prayed that God would heal my dad. I told God that I still needed my dad in my life. I made bargains, I pleaded, but my dad still died. And yes for awhile I was angry at God. I felt let down in my faith. Just like Thomas. He must have felt that God let him down too. But there was Jesus standing before him. Jesus said to Thomas, stop doubting & believe. I say to you this morning. Stop doubting & believe. Open your heart to Jesus. Yes, its true. Jesus is alive! And he loves you. He has a purpose for you for your life. You were created for a purpose. Stop doubting & believe.
I was talking to someone the other day about Jesus & celebrating Easter. Do you know what this gentleman said to me? He said, “It’s difficult for me to get excited about knowing someone when I’ve never met them let alone seen them.” That’s the problem with the world today. Many people are not excited about Jesus because they have never met him. They’ve never seen him. For many people, Jesus was just some guy who lived over 2000 years ago. So what? You remember what else Jesus said to Thomas? Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
Thomas was blessed because he was able to spend three years of his life personally with the God of the Universe. He was able to see him, talk to him, touch him every day for three years. But you know what? Jesus calls us blessed! Why? Because we believe even though we haven’t seen him in the flesh. That is what is so special about faith. Faith is believing in nonphysical things, attitudes or ideas. I love my wife. My wife believes I love her. And I believe my wife loves me. Love is not something that you can always see.
So, how can we help people like my friend get to know Jesus when he’s never seen him? How can we see Jesus today?
1. We can see the historical Jesus.
Josh McDowell in his book, EVIDENCE THAT DEMANDS A VERDICT, talks about a debate he was having with a female Marxist. He could not believe his ears when she said that, “Historians today have fairly well dismissed Jesus as being historical...” Not only do we have the New Testament as proof of the history of Jesus but there is plenty of non-biblical sources proving that Jesus Christ existed as well. Yes, Jesus did live on this planet over 2000 years ago. Sometimes I have wished that I lived back then so I could have seen Jesus myself. I wish I could have talked with him, listen to him tell the parables, see him do the miracles. But I cannot go back in time. So, what can I do? How can I see Jesus? How can I get to know him? Simple. The answer is right here. (hold up Bible). If I want to know Jesus, all I have to do is read about him in the Gospels. So can you! Don’t tell me the Bible is boring to read. This book is full of adventure, mysteries, sex, romance, wars, treachery, good guy vs. bad guy. And its not difficult to read either. There a lot of modern day translations in many different languages & different age levels. Do you want to see Jesus? Then read about his life. Read about the miracles he did. Read the stories that he told. If you can’t read, then watch the video! Nobody has any excuse for not getting to know Jesus through the Bible. It’s simple. Either you want to know Jesus or not. How else can we get to know Jesus? How else can we see him?
2. We can see Jesus in each other.
Before Jesus went back up to heaven, he told us he will be with us until the end of time. When the time came, Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit to be with us. In his teachings Jesus gave us specific instructions on how to live. Listen to some of theses instructions & imagine Jesus telling you these things.
John 15:12-13 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
Mark 10:42-45 Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
John 13:12-16 "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me ’Teacher’ and ’Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
If we choose to live as he calls us to live then we will be able to see Jesus in each other. Jesus even told us a parable about this. Listen to the parable out of Matthew 25
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. "Then the King will say to those on his right, ’Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’"Then the righteous will answer him, ’Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ "The King will reply, ’I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
Do you want to see Jesus? Then look to your neighbor. Look at the person in need of help. Help them. Love them. Serve them. Forgive them. When you do then you will see Jesus.
Conclusion:
John 20:30-31 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
My friend, stop doubting. Believe. The Bible is true. God loves you. Jesus died for you. Have you seen Jesus?
