John 20:24-29

Easter Sunday Morning Bible Study

March 27, 2005

Introduction

Area 51

You’ve all heard of the Air Force’s ultra-high-security, super- secret base in Nevada, known simply as “Area 51?” Well, late one afternoon, the Air Force folks out at Area 51 were very surprised to see a Cessna landing at their “secret” base. They immediately impounded the aircraft and hauled the pilot into an interrogation room. The pilot’s story was that he took off from Vegas, got lost, and spotted the Base just as he was about to run out of fuel. The Air Force started a full FBI background check on the pilot and held him overnight during the investigation. By the next day, they were finally convinced that the pilot really was lost and wasn’t a spy. They gassed up his airplane, gave him a terrifying “you-did-not-see-a-base” briefing, complete with threats of spending the rest of his life in prison, told him Vegas was that-a-way on such-and-such a heading, and sent him on his way. The next day, to the total disbelief of the Air Force, the same Cessna showed up again. Once again, the MP’s surrounded the plane, only this time there were two people in the plane. The same pilot jumped out and said, “Do anything you want to me, but my wife is in the plane and you have to tell her where I was last night.”

The man’s wife was a bit skeptical. We’re going to look at one of the Bible’s favorite skeptics.

:24-29 Thomas believes

:24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus,

Thomas – Thomas – “a twin”; Didymus also means “twin”

Like calling him “Ricky Ricardo”, both names for Richard.

This is the man that gives us the phrase “doubting Thomas”

What do we know about Thomas?

1. He was a brave man.

At one point, he was willing to die for Jesus.

Joh 11:16 Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellowdisciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.

2. He was not afraid to ask questions

It was Thomas who asked Jesus –

Joh 14:5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?

If it weren’t for Thomas’ question, we might not have a record of Jesus responding to Thomas, saying,

I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (Joh 14:6)

:24 was not with them when Jesus came.

For some reason, Thomas wasn’t with the other disciples the previous week when Jesus appeared to them in the upper room.

Lesson:

Don’t miss the Lord!

Warren Wiersbe writes,

“Thomas is a good warning to all of us not to miss meeting with God’s people on the Lord’s Day. Because Thomas was not there, he missed seeing Jesus Christ, hearing His words of peace, and receiving His commission and gift of spiritual life. He had to endure a week of fear and unbelief when he could have been experiencing joy and peace! Remember Thomas when you are tempted to stay home from church. You never know what special blessing you might miss!”

Illustration

Missing Church

It was Palm Sunday and Sue’s five-year-old son had to stay home from church with a neighbor, because of strep throat. During the service the pastor handed out palm branches and invited people to participate in a drama, holding them out as a character dressed as Jesus Walked down the isle. It was quite a dramatic moment. When the family returned home carrying their palm branches, the youngster asked what they were for. His mother explained, “As Jesus walked by, People held them over his head.” “Wouldn’t you know it,” the boy said with a pained look on his face, “The one Sunday I don’t go to church, Jesus shows up!”

(Heb 10:24-25 NKJV) And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, {25} not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

:25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

said – imperfect – they were continually talking to Thomas about Jesus’ appearance.

not – ou me – doubly strong “negative”; never, certainly not, not at all, by no means

In a way, I kind of admire Thomas, to a point. He was not willing to just “go along with the crowd”.

He’s a “skeptic”

Illustration

A skeptic is a person who when he sees the handwriting on the wall claims it’s a forgery.

Illustration

The Mills of Lowell

Lowell, Massachusetts, is an old New England Mill town. Many of the Mills have been declared National Historical Sites and are included in a Federal Park. The problem was what to do with the other mills, and how to attract more tourists to the area. One bright young marketer pointed out that Germans like to travel with their dogs, and this was difficult in the U.S. “Why not make the mills into canine hotels?” he suggested. The plan was adopted on a trial basis, but not without some skepticism. Several months later, the skeptics approached the young man to ask how the experiment was going. “Just listen!” he said, ... “The Mills are alive with the hounds of Munich!”

Thomas is a skeptic. How do you think Jesus will treat a skeptic?

:26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

This is actually taking place the following Sunday evening.

Even though the doors are shut, Jesus literally “steps into” their presence.

Peace – There’s more than just a common greeting here.

Lesson:

There’s no peace in unbelief.

Jesus came to give us peace.

(John 14:27 NKJV) "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

His peace is the opposite of anxiety. His peace is the opposite of fear.

(John 16:33 NKJV) "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

His peace can be in our hearts even when we’re going through tough times out in the world.

There’s a connection between having God’s peace and trusting Him.

To the woman who came and washed His feet with her tears, Jesus said:

Lu 7:50 Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.

To the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years, and finally got through to touch just the hem of Jesus’ garment:

Lu 8:48 And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.

I wonder what kind of turmoil Thomas has been in all week, as his friends keep telling him that Jesus is alive, but he keeps refusing to believe.

:27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

Jesus uses a little different language than what Thomas used. Thomas said he wanted to “thrust” his hand into Jesus’ wounds. Jesus said, “Come bring your hands over here …” It’s not a sense of bitter rebuke but reaching out.

Lesson:

Jesus wants the honest skeptic to believe.

Jesus will accommodate the skeptic who really wants to know the truth. Jesus said,

Mt 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

I believe that if a person is sincerely seeking after God, and not just looking for excuses for their behavior, that they’re going to find Jesus. He’s not going to ask you to put your brain on hold. There is plenty of evidence.

Illustration

One man who was highly skilled at dealing with evidence was Dr. Simon Greenleaf. He was the famous Royall Professor of Law at Harvard University and succeeded Justice Joseph Story as the Dane Professor of Law in the same university. The rise of Harvard Law School to its eminent position among the legal schools of the United States is to be ascribed to the efforts of these two men. Greenleaf produced his famous three-volume work, A Treatise on the Law of Evidence, which still is considered one of the greatest single authorities on this subject in the entire literature of legal procedure.

Greenleaf examined the value of the historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ to ascertain the truth. He applied the principles contained in his three-volume treatise on evidence. His findings were recorded in his book, An Examination of the Testimony of the Four Evangelists by the Rules of Evidence Administered in the Courts of Justice.

Greenleaf came to the conclusion that, according to the laws of legal evidence used in courts of law, there is more evidence for the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ than for just about any other event in history.

Illustration

An orphaned boy was living with his grandmother when their house caught fire. The grandmother, trying to get upstairs to rescue the boy, perished in the flames. The boy's cries for help were finally answered by a man who climbed an iron drain pipe and came back down with the boy hanging tightly to his neck. Several weeks later, a public hearing was held to determine who would receive custody of the child. A farmer, a teacher, and the town's wealthiest citizen all gave the reasons they felt they should be chosen to give the boy a home. But as they talked, the lad's eyes remained focused on the floor. Then a stranger walked to the front and slowly took his hand from his pockets, revealing severe scars on them. As the crowd gasped, the boy cried out in recognition. This was the man who had saved his life. His hands had been burned when he climbed the hot pipe. With a leap the boy threw his arms around the man's neck and held on for dear life. The other men silently walked away, leaving the boy and his rescuer alone. Those marred hands had settled the issue. And so it is with Jesus. His nail-pierced hands remind us that he has rescued us from sin and its deadly consequences.

Jesus Himself said,

(John 15:13 KJV) Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Jesus loved us so much that He took the penalty for our sins by dying on a cross.

And now Thomas sees the wounds.

:28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

Thomas is not saying this out of surprise. He is addressing Jesus.

He is acknowledging Jesus as his Lord and his God.

Note: Jesus never corrects him. Jesus accepts this worship from Thomas.

The Ten Commandments start with a command to worship no other god other than the True God (Ex. 20:2-5). Thomas and Jesus both know this.

When John was writing down the things he saw in Revelation, at one point John falls down to worship the angel that was before him. And the angel said,

Re 22:9 …See [thou do it] not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

Yet when Thomas calls Jesus his Lord and his God, Jesus accepts it.

Many times in the New Testament, Jesus claimed to be God:

(John 10:30-33 NKJV) "I and My Father are one." {31} Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. {32} Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?" {33} The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."

C. S. Lewis, the great Christian writer and professor at Oxford and later Cambridge, wrote in his book Mere Christianity:

“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 a 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 up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

Why is this important?

Because when Jesus died on the cross, He didn’t just give up an ordinary, finite, human life. He gave up an infinite life. If He was simply a man, His death would have perhaps paid for one man (as long as He didn’t sin Himself). But because He gave up an infinite life, He could pay for the sins of the world.

:29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

blessed – makarios – blessed, happy. Jesus is saying that those who believe without seeing are “blessed”, or, “happy”.

Jesus is talking about us here.

Lesson

The joy of faith.

It’s hard when we find ourselves like Thomas, wanting some kind of proof to believe or follow the things before us.

But there comes a point in life where we are going to have to learn to trust God, to take Him at His Word. When we get to that point, we’ll find ourselves happier.

Peter wrote,

(1 Pet 1:8 NLT) You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him, you trust him; and even now you are happy with a glorious, inexpressible joy.

For some of you, it starts by believing that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died on a cross to pay for your sins, and that He wants to come into your heart.

For others of you, it continues by learning to trust God’s promises, like,

(Rom 8:28 KJV) And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Is this true? Do you believe it? You may not “see” it right now, but is it still true? Joy will come from taking God at His word.

Illustration

When our church first started, we met at the YMCA in Fullerton. They had a fellow assigned to us to help us learn our way around the Y. For two and a half years, many in our church prayed for this Jewish, agnostic fellow named Bill Cable, and many have witnessed to him about the life that is found in his Messiah, Jesus. Bill had been around a lot of churches. Bill had already heard plenty about Jesus. With us, he started by sitting out in the lobby, listening to the music. He eventually would come into the service and sit in the back.

A lot of us spent time loving and talking with Bill. One day around Easter time, one of the fellows in our church was given the privilege of praying with Bill as he finally opened up his heart to his Savior, and Jesus gave him eternal life. He told the brother that he felt that God had brought him to our church, and that he even wanted to be baptized at our next baptism.

The following Sunday, Bill was chatting with another member of the church, telling him about the new joy in his life, and the changes that Jesus had made.

The next Friday morning, Bill was hit by a car while riding his bicycle, and died.

But I’ll tell you where he is today.

He’s in heaven, with his Messiah, worshipping before the throne of God, because he finally allowed his Messiah to pay for his sins.

Bill was a reluctant skeptic for a long time.

To many of us, he told us over and over through the years that he wasn’t ready for Jesus.