John 20:24-29

Scars. Wounds. Behind every scar there is often a story isn't there? And often it's not a good one. Scars tell us that a person has a past. They speak of a hidden shame. Scars of the heart.

Speaking of deep wrongs done by us or to us. So we cover them up. We like smooth skin. We like smooth life. To look and feel squeaky clean.

As we open up John's Gospel near the end here in chapter 20 we're given an account of the first couple of weeks after the death of Jesus Christ.

Where his scars take a prominent place. John includes this passage here where Thomas won't believe until he sees the scars and the wounds.

The message? We don't just see a resurrected man that first Easter Sunday but a scarred resurrected man.

Because scarred people like you and like me don't just need a living Jesus but a living and wounded Jesus.

In this famous appearance of Jesus from the dead he meets Thomas. Doubting Thomas you may have heard of him.

I want to show you three aspects briefly of this meeting today.

First of all Thomas' disbelief. Thomas' disbelief.

Jesus says to Thomas in verse 27.

Thomas don't disbelieve but believe.

Now just for context.

This moment, this meeting comes as the second of three appearances of the risen Jesus Christ.

And John tells us that it's eight days after the first one, doesn't he?

When Jesus appeared to Mary and some of the other disciples.

If you were here last week we heard about that.

The only thing is that at the first appearance Thomas wasn't there.

He's one of Jesus' closest followers and yet at this moment he's an outsider.

As far as the resurrection of Jesus goes, he's out of the loop.

He's missed out.

He's not seen or felt the risen Jesus Christ.

And he says, I'm not going to believe until I do.

It's quite strong what he says in verse 25, isn't it?

I will never believe until I do.

And maybe you can see yourself in him.

And we don't blame him, do we?

He's not had the advantage of being there the first time.

And we kind of feel for him.

We understand.

But the issue with Thomas' disbelief is actually he already has everything he needs to believe.

John tells us, if you look down at verse 25 there, that Thomas now appears with the other disciples.

And the other disciples told him, we have seen the Lord.

Just eight days, just a week after the first appearance of the once dead, now living Jesus Christ,

Thomas hears the testimony of a body of witnesses.

Far more than would have been needed in a legal law court testimony.

Seeing might be believing, but hearing should be believing here.

The other disciples told him.

They told him that they'd seen Jesus Christ come back from the dead.

They'd seen him, they'd been with him.

People that he knew well, people he's been travelling with and following with Jesus with for months now.

And they are telling him categorically and plainly, seriously Thomas.

We have seen him.

Those closest to Jesus and those closest to the events themselves.

Those closest to Jesus.

Those closest to Jesus.

Those closest to Jesus.

Those closest to Jesus.

Hearing should be believing.

But Thomas disbelieves.

If you look down to the end of the passage in John there, Jesus gives us this promise, doesn't he?

In verse 29.

Blessed are those who have not seen and believe.

And what Jesus shows us there is that what Thomas is asking for is not necessary.

It is not a lack of evidence that is the issue.

It is not the lack of evidence that is the real issue for you.

Because Thomas has been told.

He has the disciples' testimony.

A testimony of people who have already seen and been with Jesus.

And this moment, doesn't it, teaches us that at the heart of disbelief is not a lack of evidence.

But our rejection of the evidence.

Our rejection of a message.

Of a testimony.

And our dismissal of it.

Chuck Colson was implicated in the Watergate scandal under Nixon in the 70s.

And he wrote afterwards.

I know the resurrection is a fact.

And Watergate proved it to me.

How?

Because 12 men testified that they'd seen Jesus raised from the dead.

Then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years.

Never once denying it.

Every one of them was beaten, tortured, stoned, put in prison.

And many of them were killed.

They would not have endured that if it weren't true.

Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world.

And they couldn't keep that lie for 12 weeks.

For 3 weeks actually.

You're telling me 12 apostles could keep that lie for 40 years?

Let me say that if this is the first time you've heard any of this.

Maybe this is the first time you've been to a meeting like this.

You're so welcome.

We're so glad you're here.

And you might be wondering that, well, is there enough evidence for the resurrection?

And you can see yourself in Thomas.

But you need to realise that you've been told, just as Thomas has been.

You've been told by people who were there.

Who actually saw him.

You've got their testimony.

And you've got to ask, why would they lie?

Why would they suffer and die and be persecuted for what they knew to be a lie?

Why would centuries, millennia's of years of Christians die and be persecuted for what they knew to be a lie?

I want to say that if you're looking for evidence of the resurrection, it's not a bad thing to look for.

But actually, all that you need is what you've got in your hands right now.

Jesus says, that is enough.

You have been told.

You've been told by people who were there.

It's more than enough.

More than enough to convince you to stop disbelieving and to believe.

You don't need to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem or take up a PhD on ancient manuscripts.

You just need to grapple with the message that is before you.

To hear them out.

And you're blessed if you do, says Jesus.

Thomas.

Thomas' disbelief.

But secondly, we see Thomas' discovery here, don't we?

We see Thomas' discovery.

Thomas is pretty well known for his disbelief.

For his doubting.

Doubting Thomas, they call him.

And he has enough to believe here.

But I want to be more generous to doubting Thomas than we usually are.

Because I think the Gospel writer, John, is.

In the end, we see here that Thomas does believe.

And the nickname is not fair.

I think John includes his story because there is something unique and climactic about his belief.

As well as his doubt.

In the end, Thomas gives the clearest and most explicit statement in the whole of the Gospel of John.

Of Jesus' identity.

My Lord and my God.

He maybe sees more clearly than anyone else the true identity of Jesus Christ.

And he worshipped him.

So what else was really holding him back?

He doesn't accept what he's heard.

And that should be enough.

But there is something else.

Looking more deeply at the passage.

It is because Thomas has not seen the scars.

It's a really funny request.

If you think about it.

I won't believe until I see the wounds.

Until I see the marks of the nails.

The scars in his hands.

And in his side where he's pierced on the cross.

You'd have thought.

If I was Thomas.

I'd just ask.

I want to see him.

I just want him to be in the room.

I just want to see him alive.

But he's quite specific here, isn't he?

It's the one thing that he kind of hones in on.

That the others have had.

That he requests.

I want to see his scars.

Jesus appears in this miraculous way.

It's really odd, isn't it?

As we read about it.

John tells us the room was locked.

And Jesus comes and he stands in the room and says,

Peace be with you.

We can't explain that.

He was dead and now he's alive again.

And he has a real body and yet it's been changed, hasn't it?

He can walk through walls.

He's not held by the old restrictions and the weaknesses of a human body.

He's got a glorified human body.

And so why, if he's got this perfect body, is it still punctured with wounds?

You'd have thought the scars would have been wiped away, wouldn't you?

In the resurrection.

Cleaned up.

Removed.

But perhaps Thomas knows.

He knows that he doesn't just need a living Lord Jesus, who is squeaky clean.

He needs a living and wounded Lord Jesus.

And Jesus shows them all his scars.

And we wonder, does this drive to the heart of Thomas' request?

That somehow he knows that a living Jesus without scars is not worth believing in.

John is the only gospel writer who tells us that Jesus was pierced in his side.

He gives us that detail.

He gives us other details about nails hammered into his wrists and feet.

A week before Jesus appears to Thomas,

John tells us in a passage earlier that Jesus appears from the dead to his disciples

in a similar situation behind locked doors.

And what's the first thing he does?

He shows them his wounds and his scars.

It is as if Jesus is saying, isn't there,

there will be no point in me living for you

and rising from the dead for you

on Easter Sunday

if I have not been wounded and scarred

and died for you

on Good Friday.

My resurrection life means something to you

because of my Easter Friday death for you.

Every scar tells a story.

The young boy, Estor Taylor, had been given a new pair of roller skates.

It took a while to learn to use them

but eventually he ventured out.

But in his clumsiness, Estor Taylor lost balance

and skidded towards a stove in the kitchen.

At that moment his father dived in

between Taylor and the stove

but the momentum pushed his father against the oven

severely burning him

when he pulled away.

Sorry, it's graphic

but some skin was left behind.

Taylor Senior was scarred for life.

Some scars speak of shame, don't they?

Scars we have.

But that kind of scarring speaks of sacrificial love.

And the scars on Jesus' body

speak of his suffering

for the sake of his people.

He is scarred for life.

For your life

and for my life.

To take the scars

that are due

in this world

of wrongs done by us

and wrongs done to us.

And we see the ugliness

of that wrong, don't we?

As we look at the cross

of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The wrong in our lives.

We see that with the scars

inflicted upon Jesus

in a brutal, shameful,

wrathful death

in an unimaginable

physical and spiritual moment

of suffering.

Speaks of what we deserve.

Peter says

in that passage

on your sheets

that Christ suffered once

for sins

the righteous

for the unrighteous.

Scars that speak to us

of his sacrifice

of love.

Scarred

for life.

And perhaps Thomas knew

that without those scars

our wounds

will never heal.

and we can never

be forgiven.

We can never be

clean

in God's sight.

Wrongs can never

be put right.

And the peace

that Jesus offers

in this room

cannot arrive

without seeing

the scars

of the end

of the war.

The disbelief,

the discovery,

and thirdly

and lastly

the demand.

The demand.

Thomas makes

a demand

here doesn't he?

I've got to see

the scars.

And Christ

graciously answers

and he makes

that prayer

a reality.

He shows him

the scars

but then he

makes a demand

of Thomas too

doesn't he?

In return.

Stop disbelieving

and believe.

And I think

we need to pay

attention to both.

We need

in a way

to make

the same demand

that Thomas

does.

To never

accept

a cross

less

Christ.

To never

accept a cross

less

Christianity.

And if there

are no wounds

on your Christ

and no wounds

in your Christianity

it is not

the real thing.

The legend

goes of

St. Teresa

of Avila

who one day

saw a vision

of the devil

who appeared

to her

in the form

of Christ.

But Teresa

wasn't fooled

for a second.

She immediately

dismissed him

and before leaving

the devil asked her

how did you know?

How did you know

I wasn't the Christ?

Her answer

no wounds.

The appearance

of Jesus

to Thomas

gives us

something unique

doesn't it?

It teaches us

to look for

healing

only in the

one with

wounds.

To recognise

healing and

forgiveness

in him

alone.

We do

not

accept

a Christ

who promises

health and

wealth in

this life.

And if you've

been told about

him

then be a

doubting

Thomas.

We like

Thomas

don't need

a God

who has

coasted

through this

life

with ease

and who

promises us

the same.

We don't

need a God

who's never

suffered.

We need

a living

God

a God

who is

involved

a wounded

God.

We need

a God

who's

truly

suffered

and exhausted

all of the

hurt

and all of

the wrong

and all of

the scars

that we

deserve

and we

receive

so that

true healing

might come

for body

and for

soul.

We don't

need a

God

who is

merely

tattooed

with

suffering.

I was

reading an

article by

a guy

called

Brett

McKay

this week

who

writes

a blog

for men

really

modern

men

and he

talks about

our interest

in tattoos.

It's really

interesting.

Sorry if

you've got

a tattoo

guys

today.

This isn't

me getting

at you

but he

says that

modern men

love tattoos

because in

our culture

we've never

crawled under

barbed wire

but we've

got it

wrapped around

our bicep.

We've never

seen a tiger

but we've

got one on

our back.

We're not

part of any

tribe but we've

got tribal

symbols on

our chest.

For the

modern man

without battles

and dangerous

adventures to

mark our

skin with

wounds

showing where

we've been

and what

we've done

we paint on

symbols of

what we'd

like to

have done

and how

we'd like

to see

ourselves.

While scars

used to

identify us

to others

we now

use tattoos

to identify

ourselves

to ourselves.

But Jesus

is not

merely a

scarred man

merely a

tattooed man

is he?

Jesus is

no pretender

he is no

poser

he is no

smooth skinned

tattooed

god

this is no

stolen

valour

he's the

real deal

and his

scars speak

of real

real sacrifice

and maybe

you're like

Thomas in

this way

that you'll

never trust

a man who's

never suffered

and you'll

never trust

the god

whose feet

have never

touched the

ground of

this earth

and you

shouldn't

you shouldn't

but the

living and

wounded lord

is here

and so he

makes a demand

of us in

return

stop believing

stop disbelieving

and believe

to come to

the wounded

saviour

whose scars

speak to

you of

his love

scarred for

life

he's scarred

for your

new life

for true

healing

for forgiveness

wrongs put

right between

you and

god and of

cleansing

so come to

the wounded

one

come to

the living

and wounded

lord jesus

christ

this easter

let's pray

together

you