Do not disbelieve but believe

John 20:19-31 ESV

On the evening of that day, 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.”  Now 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.”   Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Rev. Dan Whang

If doubt is something that you deal with, this passage is for you. This situation is the most blatant display of doubt. Thomas' doubt is the climax of the gospel of John. It is the reason for his book.

The Christians were living in fear. Jesus appeared to be dead. They were afraid of the Jews. And they had locked themselves away. And somehow, Jesus teleports among them. He appears to many of the disciples. They go to Thomas and he says he would not believe unless he saw Jesus with his own eyes and felt His wounds.

Doubt demands conditions and treats the truth with contempt.

Thomas demands to see and touch. The other disciples had seen Jesus, but Thomas wants to touch the wounds. He places demands above that of the other disciples. They saw; he demands to touch. Faith calls us to believe even without being able to see or touch.

There is a difference between a stubborn unbeliever and a honest doubter. An honest doubter seeks truth and looks for it, but once they find it. They rejoice. The stubborn heart of unbelief does not believe and takes joy in being skeptical.

Jesus erases Thomas' doubts by showing him His wounds.

Jesus shows up again and presents how wounds to Thomas. Not only that, but Jesus repeats Thomas' doubts word for word. Jesus knew Thomas' doubts and did not hold a grudge against him. Jesus is gracious, merciful, and patient even in the face of Thomas' audacious demands for proof. Jesus did not only give evidence, he still called Thomas to believe. The evidence demands a decision, a verdict. To have faith or not.

Thomas' renewed belief was expressed by a propositional and personal confession.

It is not clear whether Thomas actually placed his hand in Jesus' side. But he sees Jesus and confesses: Jesus is Lord and God. He is my Lord. Jesus is not only the almighty God of the universe. He is my personal God. It is not just personal experience, it is also backed by the bible.

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

Jesus says this to Thomas. His disciples see him. That is required for them to be apostles. They were personal eyewitnesses to Jesus' life and resurrection. John writes this book towards the end of his life. They were written for us to read and believe, without seeing Jesus with our own eyes.

Application: Prayers to battle doubt

Deuteronomy 11:18-21 ESV

“You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.

Jesus, hide these written words in my heart

Jesus, direct my heart into your love and steadfastness

Jesus, help my unbelief

The Resurrection

John 20:1-18 ESV

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes.  But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”  Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

Rev Dwight Yoo

Reliability

John writes as an eyewitness to the resurrection. This is no metaphor. He writes this as historical fact. Most people will choose not to believe because science says that people do not resurrect. But how about people during Jesus' times? Jews believed that people would be resurrected at the end of time. The Greeks believed that the body was bad. They thought that upon death, the spirit left the body. Bodily resurrection made no sense. No one expected Jesus to come back. The disciples were confused as to what happened. Mary thought that his body had been stolen by grave robbers. And then his disciples saw the resurrected Jesus.

No one here has seen the resurrected Jesus. All we have is eyewitness accounts. The women were the first to say they saw a resurrected Jesus. Women of those times were not seen as credible. Their testimony was not admissible in court. If one were to make up a story, no one would choose them as the first witnesses. If the body was stolen, why were the burial clothes still there? And if it was stolen, why did the body not reappear with all the attempts to discredit Jesus' and his followers? Grave robbers would have made lots of money to produce the body... And not just that, but hundreds saw Jesus. A single person may be hallucinating, but group hallucinations? Not only that, but many went to grisly deaths, still testifying to a resurrected Christ.

Result

The resurrection of Jesus announced the death of death. Death is no more. All of us face death. It is the great equalizer. It does not matter whether you are rich, poor, educated, smart, or foolish. We all must face death. But the resurrection promises more than death. For those who believe in him, we are promised resurrection. In his resurrection, creation is being renewed. It is being made new. Everything will be similar to how it is now... But gloriously better. Not only that, but all the suffering in this life will bring us joy in heaven. We are not saved from suffering. But though suffering, we will find joy.

Response

Many people believe in the historical Jesus. But the resurrection requires more. The resurrection says that Jesus is God. He is more than a simple moral teacher or good person. If he is God, he can rightly call us to submit our entire lives to him. How do we know that God is trustworthy? Before God asked you to lay down his life for Him, Jesus laid down his life for you.

Jesus meets Mary.. And then sent her to announce his resurrection to the others. He sent her to proclaim the risen Christ. That is the same call we have today. May this Easter be more than a celebration, but also a proclamation: Jesus lives!

Jesus: I thirst

John 19:16-42 ESV

So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”   When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things, but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”  Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.  After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.”  A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.  Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”   After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Jesus is an innocent sufferer. He felt suffering for doing no wrong.

He is fully human. He feels pain. He was probably so thirsty because of all the fluid loss from blood loss. But even more so than water, he was lacking something more important than just water. It was also spiritual thirst. He was experiencing being cut off from his perfect relationship with God, the father. When Jesus was nailed to the cross, God turned from Jesus. Jesus experienced hell. God is all that is good and all that life consists of. An existence without any good and loss of all that makes life good... That is hell.

Why? What is the point of this? Jesus hung upon that cross for us. Because we looked for satisfaction in everything other than God. But these are empty wells... They cannot satisfy our spiritual thirst. They may fill us for awhile, but it does not last. Even for those who know this, still do it. We know that satisfaction is doing in God alone; yet still we seek out satisfaction in other things. We are not immune, even though we know it. We still seek out things that will just leave us thirsty and disappointed. Jesus died so that we would not experience a terrifyingly insatiable thirst. The blood and water that came from Jesus' side represents the cleansing and the price of our sins. Life comes with Jesus, he does not give it. It comes from being with Him.

Jesus is the living water. He is the only one who gives us living water. But this water does not always taste the same. Sometimes, it is sweet and goes down easy. But other times, it tastes horrible. The Christian life is not always a cake walk. Sometimes, when God makes things difficult, we are tempted to consider drinking something else. But this is the water of life, not poison. Jesus drank of that cup and finished it. We are only given things that are good for us. It is not the wrath of God. The cross guarantees that everything God brings into our lives is for our good.

On trial

John 18:28-19:16 ESV

Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover. So Pilate went outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” They answered him, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.” This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die.   So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?”  Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”  Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world— to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”  Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him. But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” They cried out again, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.

Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”  From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus,

Rev. Charles Han

Crucifixion was a capital punishment meted out to people who were charged, tried, and convinced.

Firstly, Jesus was tried by the priests. He was tried and convinced by the leaders. Jewish people were not allowed to mete out capital punishment. That was for the Roman government. This whole scene is one of injustice.. Gross miscarriage of justice in these scenes.

The kingship

Pilate saw this as largely a theological matter. The priests wanted the death penalty. They convicted him of blasphemy, but they don't say that. They try to make Jesus out as a danger to the state of Rome. Pilate wants nothing to do with this. But the Jewish leaders press him. So Pilate asks Jesus, is he the king of the Jews? If he said no, he would invalidate his entire ministry. If he said yes, that would make him a revolutionary... One who was fighting for the Jewish people and worthy of the death penalty. So Jesus answers, saying that he was a king, but not of this world. Neither Pilate nor the chief priests had a category for this man. He spoke in both political and theological terms. He was a revolutionary, but not in the categories of the world. His kingdom operated based on those who saw themselves as morally bankrupt. Not money and power of this world. The people of his kingdom operated on the giving away of power and wealth. This picture asks of us... Of what kingdom are we operating? The usual way to deal with revolutionist is to kill them. But what about this one? Killing him does no good. It just launches and empowers his movement...

The sentence (substitutionary death)

Pilate declares him innocent. Jesus makes no threats, his servants aren't trying to free him, a quiet demeanor, no attempts to defend himself. Pilate wanted to please the crowds, but he wanted to free Jesus. So he tries a couple of things. He tried to free him by offering the freeing of a man... But they choose to free a robber and murderer, Barabbas. Pilate has Jesus shamed via a flogging knowing this was an innocent man. But the mob is not appeased. They want this man to die. So the leaders press harder, they say that if Pilate is wrong about Jesus, Pilate's position could be in jeopardy. Pilate is struck with fear. So Pilate condemns Jesus to death, after finding him innocent of any crime. The most important detail is that Barabbas, a known revolutionist, murderer, and robber, walks free and Jesus... An innocent man is put to death. This is the gospel. We, self acknowledged sinners, are set free, while Jesus dies on our behalf.

The real trial

Pilate is really the one on trial. Pilate asks, are you king of the Jews? Jesus doesn't answer. He asks Pilate, who do you think I am? Pilate is placed on the stand instead. Is Jesus the king, the savior? Jesus says that he is on the side of truth. Pilate makes a dismissive statement... What is truth? He implies that there is no absolute truth. Jesus says that those who follow him walk in the truth. Everyone else is living in falsehood. Jesus is the son of God. That is not a question here. We are much more like Pilate. We are the ones on trial here. We are not given a choice of neutrality about Jesus. We might be more swayed by the crowds than by Jesus. We are either following Jesus or we are still in our sins. There is no middle ground with Jesus. We are either for him or against him. Behold this man... Who is he? Is he a king? Is he a savior?