The Resurrection & Doubt

Well, good morning again. It's great to see you all.

We praise God for the people who were just up here on the stage leading us in worship in wonderful ways.

Can we just give thanks to the Lord for them and for the ability to gather?

It's been two years, three years since we've been able to gather freely to worship in Easter like this.

And so what a wonderful morning it is to do that.

And, you know, as we gather, we serve, we come to proclaim that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.

It was the central theme of the early church.

It was the thing that they proclaimed over and over again.

And so we do celebrate it.

But as we gather this morning, I want to recognize that it's not always an easy thing to believe, is it?

That a man died and rose from the dead again.

If you've grown up in church, you've been used to this familiar language.

And so it doesn't strike you as particularly challenging.

But I think that if we sit back and step and look at it, we recognize it is challenging.

And I recognize that some of you may be here this morning facing a crisis of belief of your own.

You may be here exploring Christianity.

You may be here having gone to church all your life.

But, you know, the last couple of years have been hard in our world.

We've been shaken by many things.

So much of the fabric of our society feels like it's being rent and torn and pulled apart.

I think it feels that way societally.

I think it feels that way to us personally as well.

Our world has been shaken quite a bit.

And I think that it's very easy in that context for it to create for us a crisis of belief.

Crisis of belief comes not just for Christians.

It comes for all people.

When different things happen in our lives, it makes us reexamine what we believe and why we believe it.

Whether you're religious or not, it makes us reexamine it.

And a crisis of belief can come in many forms.

It may be because something in your circumstances challenges the things that you've assumed to be true.

So, a cancer diagnosis or an unexpected end to an engagement or a loss of a job

makes you question, where am I going and what am I doing?

Why am I doing it?

Maybe the disappointment and failure of others you've trusted make you question yourself.

Certainly for those of us in the church, we've struggled with the revelation of sin

and church leadership in the last couple of years.

If they fail, why would we continue to believe is a question that comes up in our hearts.

Sometimes, as well, it's not major crises, but little things that wear away at our faith.

The boredom of everyday life.

The in and out of doing the same thing every day.

Wondering why you've ever believed at all.

This one sneaks up on us and then crystallizes in a moment.

What am I doing with my life?

My life is meaningless, worthless.

You find yourself questioning all that you've lived for and all that you've hoped for.

It may be that you have a crisis of belief this morning

because someone's asked you a question that you don't know the answer to.

You wonder, can I still believe?

Do I really believe?

Sometimes, a crisis of belief happens when we encounter others

who believe something that you don't.

I know this was true for me, growing up in church,

but not really understanding or knowing the gospel at all,

finding it pretty empty.

It wasn't until I met some friends in high school, had something else.

I'll tell more of my story later.

But it created a crisis of belief in me.

So, as we look this morning at the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

as we think about this story and where it is,

we recognize that it is a celebration,

but it is also a great word of comfort and help to us.

The message of Easter speaks to us in the midst of our crisis of belief

in ways that maybe we aren't aware of.

And that's what we're going to look at this morning.

We're going to look at John chapter 20, verses 24 through 29.

John 20:24–29

And as we turn there in your pew Bibles,

I forgot to look up the page number.

Anyone want to?

853.

There we go.

853, if you want to look it up in the pew Bible.

John chapter 20.

John 20 · chapter mention

John was one who knew a crisis of faith.

Because John was one of the earliest disciples.

He responded to Jesus' call three years earlier to lay down his life,

his fishing boats, his nets, and to follow Jesus.

And he had put everything into this.

And at this point in the story,

John is remembering how he,

the day that Jesus died,

faced his own crisis of faith.

What in the world is happening?

How could he be dead?

What happens now?

Did I misunderstand?

Where do we go from here?

Maybe these are questions you are asking as well.

What is my life about?

What do I believe in?

Where do I go from here?

We're going to look not at the resurrection text itself,

but the text that talks about one of his disciples

who faced his own crisis of doubt.

So, John chapter 20, verses 24 and following.

John 20:24

Let's read this.

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 his hands,

see in his hands the mark of the nails,

and place my finger in the mark of the nails,

place my hand on 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.

And then he said to Thomas,

put your finger here,

see my hands,

and put out your hand,

and place it in my side.

Do not disbelieve,

but believe.

And 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.

And 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.

Will you pray with me for a minute?

Lord, we ask for your help

as we look into your word

for a minute this morning.

Lord, help us.

Help us to understand your word.

Lord, open our hearts

and our minds to your truth this morning.

I pray for your help

that you may help me

to speak your words as I ought,

that we together would hear,

receive, and rejoice

in the good news

of the resurrected Christ this morning.

And we pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

So Thomas, one of the twelve,

he'd walked with Jesus for three years.

He was there when Jesus taught

the Sermon on the Mount.

He was there when Jesus fed 5,000.

He was there when he raised Lazarus

from the dead.

What we know about Thomas

from the rest of the Bible

is that he was loyal.

In chapter 11 of John,

he says,

let us go to Jerusalem with him,

even though we're going to die.

Let's go and stay with him.

Thomas was also honest.

Jesus, in the night before he died,

when he was teaching his disciples

about where he was going,

said, you know the way.

And Thomas said,

uh, Jesus?

I don't know.

I don't know what you're talking about.

We don't know the way.

Thomas, in this passage,

is facing a crisis of belief.

And this is what we see.

We're going to walk through this.

In three, he said,

there's a crisis of belief,

there's a challenge to believe,

and there's a response of faith.

So we're going to look through

those things this morning.

Verse 24 and 25

describe the crisis of belief.

And here's the thing.

Thomas, as we've read about this,

we didn't see it right before this,

Jesus appeared to the rest of the disciples

when Thomas wasn't there

right after his resurrection.

So everybody else knew this, right?

He had appeared to the women,

he had appeared to the disciples,

but Thomas somehow wasn't there.

And so they came and told him about it,

and he's like,

maybe you guys saw a ghost,

maybe you guys are hallucinant,

I don't know what it is,

but I don't believe it.

No way.

I'll need to touch him

to know that this is really true.

And look, before we criticize him,

which is what we like to do in churches,

we'll say,

oh, look at him, he's so weak,

what's wrong with him?

Before we criticize him,

let's recognize how much it makes sense.

Resurrection was not on the radar

of anyone in the first century.

No religious expectation,

religious system,

it created an expectation for resurrection.

As a matter of fact,

in the Greek culture that was predominant in the,

resurrection would have been a terrible thing

because the death was freeing the body

from this terrible,

or freeing the soul

from this terrible body that we have.

Who would want to be resurrected?

That's a terrible thing.

So the Greeks didn't want this,

and even the Jewish faith,

who might have had some inkling

of a future corporate resurrection,

would never have thought

that somewhere in the middle of history,

one person would be raised from the dead.

So nobody was expecting this.

No one was looking for this.

There was no cultural framework

in which this made sense.

So Thomas could be forgiven

for not believing

what seems like an unbelievable claim.

Someone who is dead

has now been raised again

and is alive.

Now what kind of belief was this?

Was it merely rational skepticism?

Was he just an empiricist?

I need to see it, touch it.

I need to do scientific experiments

to make sure it's true.

Maybe, but maybe not.

Maybe he was also

a devastated follower of Jesus.

He'd put all his hope,

followed him for three years.

He didn't want to look foolish

by continuing to hope

when that hope had been crushed.

He didn't want to be disappointed again

by putting his faith in something.

That seems to have been robbed from him

and taken out from under him.

In his grief and his pain,

holding on to belief

that Jesus was raised from the dead

would have just made it worse.

I think it's,

to be sympathetic to Thomas,

there are a lot of reasons,

good reasons why

he had this crisis of belief.

Maybe he's a devastated devotee.

Maybe he's a cynical rationalist.

We don't know all of his heart.

But certainly,

if we imagine these things,

we can stop and think about ourselves.

Is there anything that I've said

about Thomas that rings true for you?

Maybe you've grown up in the faith,

but you're not sure

if the evidence is there.

Maybe you've not grown up in church

and you're exploring

why in the world

people would believe

such an incredible fairy tale.

Maybe you have honest questions

about what the facts are.

But maybe your questions

aren't as intellectual.

Maybe they're more spiritual.

Maybe you don't want to look foolish

by hooking your wagon

to the wrong thing.

Maybe you've been religiously disappointed

by the failures of the church

and the scandals that have happened.

Maybe you've been so disillusioned

by your experience

of what others have claimed

to be Christianity

that you think,

why would I want to do that?

Why would I want to keep thinking this

or believing it?

And maybe you're here this morning

and your world has just fallen apart

and you don't know

what you believe today.

And you don't want to hope

against reason,

but you also don't want

to make yourself vulnerable

to being disappointed again.

Friends,

the amazing news about Easter

is that God and Jesus meets us

in these questions and doubts.

This is what happens

in verse 26 and 27.

Having exposed the crisis of belief

that Thomas is going through,

now John continues to his account

by saying,

this is what happens.

Jesus shows up

and he challenges Thomas to believe.

So a week later,

Thomas was still around,

all the disciples were still there,

and Thomas hadn't bailed

and gone back

to wherever he came from.

He was still around,

but they're afraid.

This is an echo

of verse 19 of chapter 20,

where it seems like they're afraid

because their belief in Jesus

had put them at odds

with the Jewish leaders

who had been a part

of putting Jesus to death,

and they didn't want

to be publicly identified

because they feared

for their lives.

So they're in a locked room,

they're trying to protect themselves,

and Jesus shows up.

And look, friends,

we don't know how the physics

of this happened.

Maybe Jesus miraculously

unlocked the door,

and maybe he just walked through it.

But somehow,

in a room that a normal human being

could not have walked into,

Jesus walks in.

Jesus walks in,

and in his graciousness,

he meets Thomas

in two ways.

He meets him as a skeptic,

and he meets him

as one with a wounded heart.

He walks in,

and he says,

just like he did to the disciples

back a few verses earlier,

peace be with you.

And then he looks at Thomas.

Because he's the Lord of all,

he knows what Thomas

had already said.

He knows what Thomas'

heart was like.

And he looks at Thomas,

and in love he says,

Thomas, look.

It's really true.

Put your finger here.

Put your hand here.

And you know,

when he talks about the side,

this may sound crazy,

but one of the thieves

could have been raised

from the dead,

and he would have had

holes in his hands and feet,

and it could have been like,

well, maybe you're just

one of those other guys

resurrected,

and not Jesus.

But only Jesus

had a wound in his side.

Jesus looks at Thomas

and says,

you need help to believe

here.

I will give you the evidence.

I will give you

the physical evidence

that you need to believe

that this is true.

But he also

looks at Thomas

and he says,

I know you're afraid.

I know you're afraid

to believe.

And he says,

peace be with you.

It's easy to overlook this,

but this is Jesus wishing

shalom upon Thomas

and upon the disciples.

The peace with God.

The peace that could

not have been even imaginable

for these disciples

at this time.

Jesus looks at them

and says,

I know that when I died,

you thought the world

had fallen apart,

but it didn't.

Actually,

it was the best thing

that ever happened.

By my death,

peace with God

is now possible.

By my death,

the world

that has been falling apart

by sin

is now going to live

with a new hope

that it can be held together.

Salvation is now possible

because of that.

So Jesus looks at Thomas

and he says,

Thomas,

don't hide.

Don't fear.

Come out and believe.

He doesn't even rebuke Thomas.

I think verse 29,

there's some different ways

you could formulate

this sentence

and the way that

the ESV has it

is more of a question.

Have you believed

because you've seen me?

Almost like a rebuke.

But I think it's actually

better read

just as a statement.

Jesus looks at Thomas

and says,

you've believed now

because you've seen me.

And that's good.

And he says,

and there's going to be

a blessing for those

who will come

who won't get to see you

the way,

see me the way you do.

But they too will believe

because what this is

is just the beginning

of what God has

for this world.

Jesus comes

and he meets Thomas

graciously,

kindly.

He says,

I know your fears.

I know your need

for help

in believing

and I'm going to give you

what you need.

Here's my evidence.

See this.

Here's my peace

to be with you.

So the resurrected Jesus

meets Thomas

and us

on both of these levels

with the questions

that we ask

and the things

that we need.

And this, of course,

is all that what John

is doing.

As John has written

this entire gospel account,

all 21 chapters of it,

we see this

in verses 30 and 31.

John says,

this is why

I wrote this book.

Jesus did many things,

many more things

than I could even count

in this one book.

But the things

that have been written

have been written

so that you may understand

who Jesus is

and in understanding

that you may believe

and by believing

that you may have life

in his name.

John has marshaled

all sorts of arguments

and if you're here

this morning

and you're like,

I want to know

what those things are.

Here are a few of them.

One,

there were many witnesses

to Jesus

as a resurrected person

walking the earth.

Some would still

have been living

at the writing

of much of the New Testament.

The disciples saw him.

Women saw him.

The diversity of people

from various places

in the world saw him.

This was not one person's fantasy

that was then expounded

but many people

got to see him.

And the account

is written by John

in a way

that doesn't make any sense

if it weren't

a historically true account.

It includes

the testimony of women

which would have been

completely dismissed

in the first century.

And yet John says,

don't you see?

God graciously gave

these women

the grace of testifying

first

to the good news

of the resurrected Christ.

And it's included.

Some people have said

that this whole account

was constructed.

But here's a question for you.

Why would anyone

say a group of disciples

who are trying to build

a religion

out of their own heads

write a story

about how they didn't believe

that Jesus rose from the dead?

Why would Thomas

have ever let this

get through the editing process?

Some people have wondered,

well, isn't the Bible

just a really old document?

Do we really have good evidence

that the documentary,

the actual papers

are early enough

that they haven't been edited

and changed

so many times over history?

Well, friends,

these are all good questions.

But the fact is

the New Testament

is one of the best

attested documents

in the entire ancient world.

We have a book table.

I want to point you to it.

It's going to be

in the back afterwards

if you want to grab

some resources.

Tim Keller

is a great resource

to look at

to see some of those things.

There's also some

children's ministry resources

there for if you have kids

and want to help them

understand the resurrection.

We also have a book

stall downstairs

that if you really want

to dive into the deep end,

N.T. Wright,

The Resurrection of the Son of God

is the pinnacle

of good research

on the historical evidence

for why we should believe.

So John is writing this book

recounting this story

about how Jesus met Thomas

and said,

here's evidence.

John is writing this book

to say there's actually

a lot more evidence

for us to believe.

And so,

Jesus says to us,

do not disbelieve,

but believe.

This is the challenge

for us this morning.

And then we see

in verses 28 and 29

the response.

Thomas responds

with a striking response.

He says,

my Lord

and my God.

Now,

if you're writing a play

and this is the dialogue,

your editor might come to you

and say,

why this?

This is a really weird response.

How about something like,

whoa,

you're alive!

I didn't expect that.

How did that happen?

There are a lot of other

very normal responses

to this

where we would have,

where it could,

you know,

maybe he would have fallen down

on his feet in worship.

Maybe he would have fallen

backwards and faint.

Maybe,

you know,

there are lots of responses

we can imagine.

But Thomas actually says this,

he recognizes

who Jesus is

in a new and profound way.

The writer,

John,

had predicted this

back in John 20.

12,

16,

when he says this,

as Jesus was talking

about his coming crucifixion,

says his disciples

did not understand

these things at first,

but when Jesus was glorified,

that is,

when he was raised

from the dead,

then they remembered

that these things

had been written about him

and had been done to him.

And it made sense.

And for Thomas,

seeing Jesus

was the crystallizing factor

that brought everything

that he had seen

about Jesus together.

The resurrection of Jesus

allowed Thomas

to put together

the miracles

that he had seen,

the ways that he had loved people,

the forgiveness

that he had offered

to sinners

and undeserving people,

the way that he had called

all people to himself

and pointed them to God

in a way that no one else had

and kept pointing to himself

as the center of it.

I am the one

who's coming to save you.

I am the one

who's come to be your redeemer.

I am the one

who's come to do this.

And so he looks,

Thomas looks at Jesus

and says,

Now I understand.

You are my Lord

and my God.

My Lord,

the name that the Jews

use for the sovereign God

who rules over the world.

God,

recognizing his deity,

which would have been blasphemous

in the mouth of a Jew,

and yet he recognizes

this man standing before him

with flesh and blood

was God himself.

Thomas looks and says,

My Lord and my God.

And it wasn't just

a theological affirmation.

It was personal.

He repeated it.

My Lord,

my God.

He felt the healing touch

of seeing Jesus

raised from the dead.

He reasserted his trust in

and his love for

and his submission

to Jesus

as the one

who had come

to save him.

The things that he had hoped for

when he saw Jesus

ministering on earth,

now he saw.

It's better than he could imagine.

My Lord

and my God.

A complete turnaround.

I will never believe

to my Lord

and my God.

And if that seems sudden,

friends,

I want to encourage you,

go back and read

the New Testament.

Go back and read

the gospel accounts

of people who encountered Jesus.

Go back and read

the book of Acts

as people heard.

The preaching about

Jesus Christ

risen from the dead.

The change happens.

They go from belief

to unbelief.

And though many of us

have a process

by which we do this,

there is often also

a time where that change

becomes very evident

and very clear.

this is my own testimony

of encountering Jesus.

I said earlier,

I grew up going to church,

I knew the Bible stories,

but I didn't know God

and I didn't know Jesus.

And everything that I was taught,

it just didn't make sense to me.

I knew some of the facts,

but I didn't believe them.

Then in high school,

I met some friends

who started talking about

a personal relationship

with Jesus.

Jesus.

And honestly,

I scorned them.

I made fun of them.

But I also saw in them

something about their life

that I couldn't explain.

But the further on I saw it

and the more I interacted with them,

I said,

whatever they have,

there's something that I want.

They loved me well

and prayed

and talked to me

about Jesus and the Bible.

They gave me

Mere Christianity

by C.S. Lewis.

And I saw the facts

come together.

And I was confronted

with the trilemma

that C.S. Lewis

presents to all of us,

which is that

if the account of the Bible

has any historical reliability,

then Jesus presents to us

a number of options.

Right?

But He can't be

just a good teacher.

He can't be just a good guy

for us to listen to

when we want to.

He has to speak to us

with the fullness

of all He does.

And either

He's a liar,

that is,

He claims to be

what He's not,

or He's a lunatic,

which means He's a crazy man

who believes in His head

something that is just

outside of reality,

or He really is

who He says He is

because He claims

to be the risen one.

He receives

Thomas' affirmation,

my Lord and my God.

He says,

yes, Thomas,

that's right.

That's what I am to you.

I am your Lord

and your God.

And I was confronted

with this dilemma

and I wrestled with it

because I knew that

to believe this

would change my life.

I'd seen my friends.

They lived differently.

There was a joy

and a love

and a devotion

and a reorientation

of their lives.

And I knew it would be costly,

but it also

was compelling to me.

And when I became convinced

of who Jesus was

and specifically

when I realized

Jesus was risen from the dead

and I can't ignore Him anymore,

I have to decide

what do I believe about Him?

Either He did or He didn't.

Either He was or He wasn't

who He said He was.

And this is what Jesus does

with Thomas.

And this is what He does with us.

He calls us to believe.

Do you want to clarify

that biblical belief

is not merely wishful thinking

or hopeful optimism

about some vague future?

It's not believing

something against reason

or plain evidence.

It's not merely agreeing to facts

or sent to the reality

that facts portray.

It is trust.

It is entrusting yourself

into a belief system

whereby you reorient your life

around God

because you've trusted

that His death

and His resurrection

make all the difference

in the world.

Why do we believe that, though?

Why do we believe

that the resurrection

is such good news

that if we are convinced

of its truth

that we would want

to embrace it?

Friends, because,

just like Thomas,

the resurrection heals

our wounded hearts.

The resurrection

of Jesus Christ

from the dead

means our salvation.

The greatest enemy

of our souls,

that is,

the sinfulness

that is in us

and in our world

because of humanity,

has been defeated

in the resurrection

of Jesus.

Our greatest need

as humanity

to be reconciled

to our Creator God

has been met

by what makes it possible

for us to know

a God

whom we have

in our sinfulness

rejected Him

in independence

and pride.

Jesus,

by His resurrection,

shows us

that the God

of love

who has come

to die for us

is now a living Savior

who is able

to save us.

A resurrection,

a resurrected Jesus

also means for us

hope

that the worst of today

will not last

and the best of today

will be eclipsed

by the goodness

that is to come.

The evil of this day

will not win

even when it looks like it.

The sorrow

and the suffering

we face in this world,

the loss of a loved one,

the disappointment

of dashed dreams

and hopes,

the grinding difficulty

of daily life,

the confusion,

doubt,

and fear

that we face

in uncertain times.

A resurrected Jesus

means that we have hope

in the midst

of these things.

He is a living God

who is able

to walk with us

through these trials.

He is a living Savior

who has saved us

and will never

let us go.

He is a loving Savior

who will love us forever.

And friends,

when we look

at the end of the Bible,

we are reminded

of these amazing words.

As the Apostle John

near the end of his life

had a vision

of what would happen

at the end of times

when Jesus would return

and establish

His kingdom forever,

the risen Jesus

who is not dead

in His grave

but who is risen

and coming again,

this is what will happen

when He returns.

John writes,

Then I saw a new heaven

and a new earth

for the first heaven

and the first earth

have passed away

and the sea was no more.

And I saw the heavenly city

in New Jerusalem

coming down

out of heaven from God

prepared as a bride

adorned for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice

from the throne

saying,

Behold,

the dwelling place of God

is with man.

He will dwell with them

and they will be His people.

and God Himself

will be with them

as their God.

He will wipe away

every tear from their eyes

and death shall be no more.

Neither shall there be mourning

nor crying

nor pain anymore

for the former things

have passed away.

And He who is seated

on the throne

said,

Behold,

I am making all things new.

Friends,

this is the good news

of the resurrected Jesus.

He is a living Savior today

and one day He will come

and He will make all things

new for us.

Do not disbelieve,

but believe today

and rejoice.

Christ is risen from the dead.

He is risen indeed.

Let's pray.

Lord, we thank You.

We thank You

as we

remember these truths

and we see the gracious way

in which You meet us.

Lord,

that the story

of the resurrection

is an incredible,

towering truth

and a wonderful balm

for our soul.

God,

be our help today.

Help us,

Lord.

We believe.

Help us

in our unbelief.

Lord,

will You

today

fill us

with the joy,

the joy of knowing

that You are

a resurrected

and a living Savior

for us.

We pray this

in Jesus' name.

Amen.