John 20:11-23 “Sent by the Risen Savior”

1:12But here's the deal: we cannot prove that the planets in our solar system revolve around the Sun. That's why it's called the heliocentric theory and not the law of heliocentrism. So, how come nearly everyone believes? That the planets in our solar system revolve around our sun. Well, that's because it's a reasonable conclusion based on thousands of years of scientific research. You see, friends, many things in the realm of science, whether we're talking about heliocentrism or plate tectonics or evolution, are not facts, but theories.

1:59People look at the evidence and they draw conclusions that cannot be proven. And based on the evidence, some are more reasonable conclusions than others, but all of those conclusions are statements of faith, not fact. Why is this important? Because in our society, especially in a university context like ours, we are routinely presented with a false dichotomy. We are told there is science and there is faith. Science excludes faith, and faith excludes science. But every time I hear that, I keep thinking about that scene from the Princess Bride.

2:52You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. When people use the word faith, most of the time what they mean is fantasy. What's a fantasy? A fantasy is something that you wish were true in spite of a lack of evidence or in spite of evidence to the contrary. So, my belief that any of my Dallas sports teams are ever going to win a championship ever again is a fantasy.

3:35There is no evidence to believe that that is true. And actually, there's a great deal of evidence to the contrary. But anyway. So, what is faith? Faith is evidence-based belief in something you cannot prove. Faith is evidence-based belief in something you cannot prove. Friends, this morning we're in one of my favorite texts in the Bible. In the first part of chapter 20, we saw that Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to Mary Magdalene and then to the other ten, or ten of the other disciples, I should say. And there was compelling evidence that Jesus rose from the dead. The stone was rolled away. The tomb was empty. The cloths that Jesus had been wrapped in were lying there in the tomb.

4:31The facecloth that covered his face was folded up neatly and in a different place by itself. So, if Jesus' body had, in fact, been stolen from the tomb, the robbers sure didn't seem to care much about getting caught because they obviously took their time. And then Jesus himself presents evidence that he was alive. He appeared first to Mary Magdalene and spoke to her. She recognized him not by his body, but by his voice. And then he appeared to ten of the other disciples, and they too recognized him as he spoke to them. He showed them the marks in his hands and the marks in his side.

5:13But in God's providence, one of the disciples was not with them. And this particular disciple is a skeptic. And what that means is that Jesus has the opportunity now, through John's gospel, to speak to every skeptic, every single person that has doubts, all throughout human history. And so, what we're going to learn this morning is that Christian faith is not a fantasy, but a reasonable conclusion that leads to eternal life. So, let's pick up here in verse 24.

6:00The text says, Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the twin, was not with them when Jesus came. Now, the first thing I want you to notice is that John goes out of his way to identify Thomas. And I don't think that's because John is trying to shame him and put him down for his lack of faith. It's important to know that according to reliable historical accounts, Thomas went on to become one of the greatest evangelists in the early church.

6:34Reliable historical accounts say that he took the gospel as far as India before he was martyred for his faith. So John seems to be telling his readers, you guys know Thomas, the famous apostle. He struggled with doubt. He had questions. So if you doubt, if you have questions, you're in good company. Now, when Jesus appeared to the disciples in the locked room earlier that evening, Thomas was not there. Where was he? We don't know, but he was not there.

7:15So let's pick up in verse 25. 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. Now, on the one hand, Thomas's doubt is completely understandable. The disciples are saying that they have seen Jesus, whom they all know, was crucified, died on the cross, and was buried. They all know that.

8:03On the other hand, these are his closest friends that he has walked with every day for the past three years. All of them ran away from Jesus in the garden, scared for their lives. All of them stayed away, ultimately, except for John. None of them went to the tomb on Easter Sunday morning when Jesus said that he would rise, except for the women, including Mary. In other words, what is the likelihood that they're lying to Thomas about this experience?

8:43What for? They're all scared to death. They're still scared to death. That's why they're hiding in locked rooms, seemingly wishing to put the past three years behind them and hopefully get on with their lives. There is absolutely no incentive to make up this. Story that Jesus rose from the dead. And yet, Thomas does not believe his friends. He is emphatic in his statement: unless I see, I will never believe. Many of you know that a team of us went down to South Texas over spring break on a mission trip. And one evening during the trip, our team went to a local park to pass out drinks and snacks, to invite people to Rosaka City Church, to pray with them and to share the gospel. And almost right away, I got into a long conversation with an older man who knew the Bible forwards and backwards. Y'all, I'm telling you, I've never seen anything like it. He had a photographic memory.

9:50Any verse that I would quote, he would tell me the exact reference. He himself quoted scripture word for word with a picture-perfect memory. But he didn't seem to believe it was true. So I asked him, do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead? He said, no. So I asked him, why not? He said, because I wasn't there. So I pressed him. I said, do you think that World War I happened? Do you think the Titanic sunk? He said, I don't know. I wasn't there.

10:37In other words, this man trusted no one but himself. He was just like Thomas, who said, unless I see, I will never believe. But I want you to listen to C.S. Lewis. He's talking about the authority of the Bible. He says, don't be scared by the word authority. Believing things on authority only means believing them because you've been told them by someone you think trustworthy. 99% of the things you believe are believed on authority. I believe there is such a place as New York. I haven't seen it myself. I couldn't prove by abstract reasoning that there must be such a place. I believe it because reliable people have told me so. A man who jibbed at authority and other things, as some do in religion, would have to be content to know nothing all his life.

11:40Now, let's think about what Thomas said for a moment. He said, unless I see, I will never believe. Well, look on the screen at Hebrews 11:1. We have a definition in the Bible of faith. Now, faith is the assurance of things hoped for. The conviction of things not seen. So, according to Scripture, what is faith? It's being sure of things you hope for and being convicted about things that you cannot see. Faith and sight are mutually exclusive. Faith and sight are mutually exclusive. When you see something, you don't believe it, you know it. And there's a difference. I want you to look at Romans chapter 8 on the screen. Paul says, For in this hope we were saved. Now, hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

12:53So think now about the other ten disciples. Did they believe that Jesus was alive? No. They knew Jesus was alive. They saw him with their own eyes. They talked to him. They touched him. They did not believe that Jesus was alive. They did not hope that Jesus was alive. They knew Jesus was alive. Hope that is seen is not hope. Who hopes for what he sees? That's what Paul said. So what is Thomas doing? He's making the exact same mistake. That modern people make all the time.

13:33He's using the word believe, but what he means is no. If Thomas had said, unless I see the marks in his hands and place my finger into the mark of the nails and place my hand into his side, I will never know, then we could all say amen. That's exactly right. Unless Thomas saw him, touched him, talked to him, he would never know for sure that Jesus was alive. But what could Thomas do? He could listen to the credible testimony of the ten other disciples. He could weigh the evidence for himself, and he could say, It is more reasonable for me to believe what my friends are saying than it is for me to believe that they are lying to me, so I choose to believe their witness.

14:39That's what Thomas could have said, but he didn't. Join me in verse 26. 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. You. Now, remember, when the Hebrews count days, the starting day is day number one. So they don't count 24-hour periods like we do when we're counting. They count the first day as day one. And so eight days later is Sunday again. It's the first day of the week again.

15:18And you notice that if you were here last week or if you've read this first part of John 20 before, the scene is almost exactly the same. It is the same day of the week. It's the same situation. The disciples are hiding in a locked room together. It's the same appearance of Jesus. He comes, he stands among them and says, Peace be with you. All of this is the same, but there's one difference. This time, Thomas is with them.

15:53And that's very interesting because remember, Thomas does not believe that Jesus is alive. So what is he doing hanging out with all of these believers in this locked room? Well, I think we learned some interesting things about the disciples and about Thomas. First, what does this tell us about the disciples? It tells us that they were an open and welcoming community. That they did not require you to believe the exact same thing that they believed in order to open the doors and extend. Friendship to you. They didn't cast Thomas out just because he had doubts, just because he didn't believe the same thing that they believed.

16:39And what about Thomas? Well, he's obviously comfortable enough to keep hanging out with his friends, even though they didn't share his beliefs. Thomas is curious, he's open. In church, when you think about the many stories of people coming to faith in Christ, maybe even your own story, how many people come to faith through a random person sharing the gospel with them? Some, to be sure, happens all the time, right? Someone walks up to someone on the street, shares the gospel, and they believe. That does happen.

17:19But more often than not, non-Christians are invited into Christian community. And in the Christian community, they not only hear us speak the gospel, but they see its effects in our lives as we love and serve and care for each other in ways that are foreign to most people in the world. I want you to look at what Steve Timmis and Tim Chester wrote. They say, in our experience, people are often attracted to the Christian community before they are attracted to the Christian message. If a believing community is a persuasive person, Apologetic for the gospel, then people need to be included to see that apologetic at work. Too much evangelism is an attempt to answer questions people are not asking.

18:14Let them experience the life of the Christian community. Thomas's presence with the disciples is a strong indicator that they welcomed him and he felt welcome among them, even though he did not share their beliefs at this point. And so I want you to ask yourself: do you think that non-Christians feel that way among us? On a Sunday morning, would they feel welcome here? On a weeknight in life group, would they feel welcome in that living room, in that home?

18:52On the weekend when we are hanging out, would they feel welcome with us? Friends, let's make it a point to evaluate our community and consider how we're doing at welcoming non-Christians. We want them to hear the gospel and we want them to see its effects in our life together. Verse 27. 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.

19:33It is very clear from what Jesus says to Thomas that he knew exactly what Thomas said a week before, even though he was not physically present in the room with the disciples when Thomas spoke those words. And so, what we have here is another reminder that Jesus is God and he knows all things. So, knowing what Thomas said, Jesus invites him to do it. He says, Put your fingers here into my hands, place your hand in my side. Yes, the word is in. I don't know if this is an invitation to touch his lung or his appendix or what. But Jesus says, Go ahead and do this. Touch me. See that I'm real. See that I'm alive.

20:21And then Jesus adds this subtle rebuke: Do not disbelieve, but believe. In other words, he's telling Thomas, there is no middle ground. There is faith and there is unbelief. Those are the choices. There is no middle ground that says, I don't know, Jesus might be alive. You either believe that Jesus is alive, you either know that he is alive in Thomas's case, or you don't. All of the evidence is there. The witness. Have spoken, and now you have to choose. Do you believe or not?

21:09Verse 28. Thomas answered him, My Lord and my God. Now, throughout John's gospel, he has recorded many instances where Jesus claimed to be God and did things that only God is able to do. But here in verse 28, we have one of the clearest statements in the entire New Testament of Jesus' deity. A statement that when it is uttered, Jesus does not refute. Every other person in the Bible that has someone bow down to them and call them a God, whether we're talking about angels or the Apostle Paul or Barnabas or anybody else that people bowed down to and called a God, they immediately refuted it and said, do not call me that. That is not what I am.

22:09But here is Thomas, a devout Jew, who understands what blasphemy is and the penalty for it, and he says, My Lord and my God. And Jesus does not refute him because that's exactly who he is. Lord and God. This ties a bow around John's gospel, the beginning and the end. Take a look at John chapter 1, how John began the gospel. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. This is verse 14. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Here's verse 16. For from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace. For the law came through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, the only God who is at the Father's side. He has made him known.

23:43John began his gospel by helping us to see that the word was God, and that the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and that by seeing him, we have seen God himself. John ends his gospel. By showing how Jesus' most skeptical disciple saw Jesus alive in the flesh and cried out, My Lord and my God. That is where John is trying to take us, friends. Whether you've been with us this entire series or if this is your first day studying John's gospel with us, as we'll see in just a moment, John is trying to lead us to faith by presenting the evidence that Jesus is alive and that Jesus is both Lord and God.

24:39Join me in verse 29. Jesus said to him, Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Do you remember Hebrews 11:1 from earlier? Take a look again on the screen. Now, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. The old expression says, Seeing is believing. But the Bible says that's not true. In fact, the Bible teaches that faith and sight are mutually exclusive.

25:29What is faith? It's being sure of things that you hope for, convicted about things that you can't see. So when you see something, you don't believe it. You know it. So Jesus asks Thomas here in verse 29: Have you believed because you have seen me? He's pointing out that seeing is not believing, seeing is knowing. It does not require faith to see something, just eyes. And then Jesus adds, Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

26:15Brothers and sisters, we talk often about the faith of the Apostle Paul, the Apostle Peter, all of the apostles, and no doubt they had incredible faith. They had to walk by faith every day as they dealt with persecution for believing and teaching what they knew to be true. They did have great faith. But have you ever stopped to consider the fact that with respect to the resurrection of Jesus, you have greater faith than any of the apostles?

26:57You have greater faith than any of the apostles. Look at 1 John chapter 1. This is how he begins that first letter. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands concerning the word of life. Church, all of the apostles heard and saw and looked upon and touched the risen Christ. They did not believe that Jesus was alive. They knew that Jesus was alive.

27:39But you and I have not heard or seen or touched or looked upon the risen Christ. He has not appeared to me, and I'm willing to bet he has not appeared to you. But we believe that he is alive. And that's because we have examined the evidence. We've listened to the testimony of the witnesses, and we have come to the reasonable conclusion that it is true. That Jesus is exactly who he claimed to be, both Lord and God, and that he is alive.

28:17Faith does not mean that you have no doubts. It doesn't mean that you never have a question. Faith is evidence-based belief in something that you cannot prove. So, friends, understand everyone has beliefs. Everyone exercises faith. There is no one on this earth, even those who claim to be atheists, who does not exercise faith. It's just that some beliefs are more reasonable than others. And hopefully, we've all arrived at our beliefs by weighing the evidence. So, let's end now in verses 30 and 31.

29:08Now, 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. John is perfectly clear about his reason for writing this book. It's so that every person who reads it would consider the signs that Jesus performed, especially his resurrection from the dead, and conclude that he is the Christ, the Son of God.

29:52And that by believing, they would have life in his name. By making this statement, John is simply quoting Jesus himself. He said that abundant life for eternity is given to any who believes that he is the Christ, the Son of God, who rose from the dead. That is what Jesus said. And so maybe you've said, unless I see, I will never believe. Just like Thomas, just like the man that I spoke to in South Texas. Just like so many others, you may have said, I cannot trust anyone but myself.

30:44I cannot trust anyone's eyes but my own. But I want you to consider for a second. Thomas's doubts and demands did not make Jesus any less alive. If Jesus had never appeared to Thomas, that would not have made Jesus any less alive. And there are billions and billions of people across human history who have never seen Jesus alive in the flesh. He's not appeared to me. I don't think he's appeared to you, probably, but that does not make him any less alive.

31:28And so, friends, I point you to our. Text today and to John's entire gospel as well as to the other gospel accounts. The fact is that many people who had no incentive to lie maintained from the moment that they saw Jesus until the moment that they died, many of them killed for their faith that he had risen from the grave. All of the evidence points to that conclusion. And so I urge you to examine it for yourself and to come to the reasonable conclusion that Jesus is alive.

32:04And the scripture says, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you are a Christian. That is what a Christian is. And so for some of you this morning, that is the call to you. It is the call, maybe for the first time or maybe afresh, to examine the evidence and to draw the reasonable conclusion that Jesus is alive. And if he is alive, he is both Lord and God. The call now is to submit yourself to that reality, to believe in Jesus and to submit your entire life to his Lordship, trusting in him and him alone for forgiveness and reconciliation with God.

32:50If you are already a Christian, then I hope today's passage in this sermon was so encouraging to you. Because let me say it again. If you have doubts, if you've ever had doubts, that is okay. All that means is you believe something that you cannot prove. That's what faith is. But, brothers and sisters, do not sit alone in your doubts, never voicing them to anyone else. Go to another Christian, go to a member of your life group, go to your life group leader, go to one of the pastors here, and voice your doubts out loud. If you never voice your doubts, it is unlikely that you're ever going to find a good answer to them. Because if you could find a good answer by yourself, you wouldn't have the doubts that you have.

33:47There are good answers to every question that has ever been raised. I want you to remember that the Bible is the most scrutinized book in all of human history. For the past 2,000 years, no other book and its claims have been put through the ringer by every single generation like the Bible has. And yet, here it is. No scientific discovery, no archaeological discovery, no historical discovery has ever disproved a single claim in this book. And we have no reason. To believe that anything ever will be found that will disprove the claims of this book. God can handle your doubts. The Bible can handle your doubts. So, friends, Christian faith is not a fantasy, it's a reasonable conclusion that leads to eternal life.

34:52Let's pray. Father, we thank you this morning for Thomas. We thank you that he was honest enough with himself and with his friends to say that he didn't believe. We thank you that John was moved by the Holy Spirit to include that whole interaction in his gospel so that every one of us in history would know that it's okay to doubt, it's okay to ask questions because, Jesus, you are the answer. You have the answers. You've revealed the answers to us. You have given us everything we need to believe.

36:08And so we pray this morning that anyone here who hasn't examined the evidence and come to the conclusion that Jesus is Lord and God and that he is alive, we pray that you would reveal yourself to them today. Reveal the truth of your word and call them to saving faith this morning. We thank you for the baptisms that we're going to celebrate, where we get to rejoice that you have brought people to saving faith. And we pray for many more to come.

36:53In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.