John 20:19-31 - What difference does the Resurrection make?

We study through books of the Bible here at the Village Chapel.

Be my great joy and privilege today to take a look at a passage of Scripture in John's Gospel, chapter 20, which deals with some of the events around the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

You've probably noticed, wherever you may be, that spring has sprung, that there are some flowers and some trees and all that stuff is starting to happen, and that's really awesome, especially given the last year that we've had.

But I want to introduce you to somebody right now who has taken the entire last year and has celebrated resurrection power of the gospel all year long.

Her name?

Dr.

Laverne Wimberly.

She's 82.

Here are four or five pictures of her.

She's a teacher, a principal, and a school administrator in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a member of the Metropolitan Baptist Church.

And all 52 weeks of this pandemic year, she has been celebrating the gospel by getting dressed to the nines.

Even as she sat down in front of her computer to worship online with her church services.

In an article in the Oklahoma Eagle, I think it's called the newspaper, she said, I wanted not only to keep myself motivated, but I wanted to help keep others motivated as well, to inspire them, encourage them, and kind of eradicate some types and forms of depression, isolation, fear, and despair, she said.

Well, you gotta love that, and I so appreciate her.

And I hope someday she'll come through Nashville.

Maybe we'll get her to come speak at the village chapel.

But thank you so much to Dr.

Wimberly for her encouragement and her inspiration.

What is it about the resurrection that takes even the world in which we live today and completely transforms it or makes such a huge difference in our world?

Well, it's like Ray Steadman said a number of years ago: resurrection power works best in graveyards.

And friends, I don't know why God has allowed all of what's gone in the world to happen.

But as a pastor, I stepped out of the explaining business a few years ago when I finally started to grow up.

And now I'm in the watching and weeping, the listening and lamenting, the comforting, praying and encouraging business.

Most of all, I'm in the trusting God business because I've learned that I'm not God, we aren't God, and we can't figure this out by ourselves.

We really are dependent on God, the one who made us and created us, the one to whom we ultimately belong is not ourselves, it's not our culture, it's our creator.

And so, so many wonderful things that we've been learning as we've been studying the book of Genesis and we'll continue to learn.

But here in John's Gospel, as we take a look at one of the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus, I think we've got tons to learn.

Now, some people will say, tell me about the resurrection, why you think it actually happened.

Isn't it just wish fulfillment?

Isn't it just a little bit of philosophical and theological romanticism?

Or do you think uh it's history?

Is it a hoax or is it history?

Let me just throw one slide up on the screen for you that mentions five things for uh that I that I think can can be considered evidence for the resurrection.

First, the medical evidence itself.

In other words, he really died, even though there are a bunch of people that would say, oh, he didn't really die.

If you take a look at the scourging Jesus went through, and then the the whole process of Roman crucifixion, there's just no doubt whatsoever that he was dead.

The Roman centurions knew how to execute people.

Between the whips that Jesus had to endure, the scourging, between the uh lashings, between being nailed to the cross, between the spear running up into his side, water and blood coming out separated, a sign of hypo, I believe it's called hypovolemic shock, um, his heart just gave out.

He literally died.

Now, to have a real resurrection, there has to be a real death, and I think the medical evidence suggests there's just, you know, overwhelming evidence he would have died.

Uh, the empty tomb itself, if he didn't die, if he somehow or another was able to roll away a two-ton stone and overpower, you know, an elite Roman guard, and uh, or if his disciples came and overpowered that elite Roman guard and rolled away that stone and took the stole the body.

Well, the empty tomb stands as that kind of evidence as well.

If you really want to disprove the resurrection, just produce the body.

And nobody could do it.

And there were people that had cause or would have had motivation to do that if they could have done it, but they didn't, so they must be not, must not have been able to do it.

In other words, he actually rose from the dead.

Thirdly, the hundreds of eyewitnesses, look at that in a second.

The transformation of the disciples.

They went from being completely fearful to being completely bold.

What's that about?

How did that happen?

How do people that are literally hiding, running for uh fear of their lives turn into, you know, this small group of people, these 11 people that literally turn the world upside down?

How does that happen?

Somebody explain it.

And then lastly, just the wildfire-like spread of Christianity through the Roman Empire without an without without somebody drawing a sword to make it happen, without somebody shooting an arrow to make it happen.

No, no, no, no, no.

This is just the power of the good news or the gospel as it's called, and it spreads like wildfire around the Roman Empire.

How does it do that?

And even though it's got all this opposition, everywhere you go, everywhere the apostles went, we read in the New Testament there was opposition from religious leaders, opposition from the Romans, so opposition from the philosophically people who are predisposed against the supernatural or against the message of the gospel.

How does the gospel spread like wildfire under those kinds of circumstances?

Wow, it's amazing.

All right, back to point number three for a second.

Here's another slide.

Take a look at this: the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus.

Just look at the variety of them, the number of them.

Um, you've got individuals, you've got small groups, you've got larger groups, you got a group of 500, the Apostle Paul refers to in 1 Corinthians 15.

And he even says, and some of them are alive to this day, implying you could go interview them if you were trying to refute the claims of Christianity that Jesus had risen again from the grave.

So so much evidence there in terms of the post-resurrection appearances, and we're gonna take a look at uh number six today, one of them is in the passage that we'll look at in just a second.

We've got great reasons because of the four gospels, the book of Acts, the letter that Paul wrote to the Corinthian church there, 1 Corinthians, all of those written before the end of the first century.

So, well within time for people who were eyewitnesses or ear witnesses, people that had heard this firsthand account, or people that had actually seen, you know, walked the roads with Jesus, sat around the campfires with Jesus, saw Jesus heal people, cast out demons, saw Jesus raise three other people beside himself from the dead.

I mean, this is amazing evidence.

One of the best attested to events in all of ancient history.

As a matter of fact, N.

T.

Wright says it this way.

No other explanations have been offered in 2,000 years of sneering skepticism that can satisfactorily account for how the tomb came to be empty, how the disciples came to see Jesus, and how their lives and worldviews were transformed.

Wow.

Now I can hear that there might be somebody out there who might still be thinking to themselves, yeah, but so let's just say I give you uh I concede that it actually happened.

What difference does it make to me?

Really, what difference does it make 2,000 years later, whether this uh ancient Jewish carpenter actually got up from the grave and and rose again, if you will?

Well, I'll just put this up on the screen.

We're gonna talk about it after we read the text, but John 20, verses 19 through 31 is where I'll begin.

John 20:19–31

Verse 19.

When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut, where the apostles were, for fear of the Jews.

And the idea there is that they had locked the doors, and they're in hiding.

They're afraid the Jews, the religious leaders of the day, are going to come for them just like they came for Jesus.

Um, and so they're afraid and they're in hiding.

Jesus, though, comes and stands in their midst, and it's as if he just materialized in the room.

The door didn't open.

You know, the idea here, and that we read from the other gospels, is the door was locked.

And so he appears in their midst and said to them, Peace be with you.

And he'll say that three times in the passage we're going to read today, reminding us what does Jesus, who is the subject of all of the scripture, what is it that he really wants for you and he really wants for me?

Not just peace as a kind of a casual greeting that's you know that's sort of meaningless, just like it's not like him just saying, yo, what's up, or hey, or whatever.

No, he actually wants them to have peace.

Why?

Because they're afraid right now.

And you might be in that same position right now.

You might be f fearful or despairing in some way.

And I just want to remind you, he's gonna he's gonna say this three times in this one passage.

And when he says something once, he he really means it.

He's he's the son of God.

When he says it twice, I mean when he says it three times, right?

Uh-huh.

We've got to take him seriously.

He wants peace for you.

He wants peace for me, and he wanted peace for these guys as well.

Verse 20.

When he had said this, peace be with you, he showed them both his hands and his side.

He knew what was tearing them up.

Their teacher, their master, Jesus, the one that they had completely, you know, counted on and depended on, put their confidence and their hope in, had been arrested and put to death and buried.

And they all knew it.

What were they to think?

You see?

And he really shows up.

And some of them probably, you know, is this a ghost?

What is this?

And that that happened before when he came walking to them on the water.

And here the guy they knew to be dead actually shows up to them and he shows them his hands and his side.

And the disciples therefore rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

So the ones that were afraid are now rejoicing.

In that beautiful.

Jesus therefore said to them, verse 21, Peace be with you.

There's the second of three times.

As the Father has sent me, I also send you.

So he moves right into what's going to happen now with our lives.

You know, that's a and we all ask that question at one from one point or another.

And the idea is join God and his mission in this world, okay?

And the Lord Jesus is gonna tell these guys that have been hiding, that ran away from him, that basically abandoned him in the Garden of Gethsemane, he's gonna say, No, you're the ones I want to be on mission with me.

I'm gonna send you out into the world.

As as, you know, as as you as big a failure as you might feel like for having run away and been in hiding, I'm gonna I'm gonna take you guys and turn the world upside down.

Verse 22.

When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.

If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them.

If you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.

There's some questions there, of course.

Is this breathing on them to receive the Holy Spirit anything to have anything to do with what happens in Acts chapter 2 when the Spirit comes and empowers them to be witnesses and there's rushing wind and tongues of fire above there, all of that.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

How does that relate to that?

And the answer is, I don't know.

I'm not really sure.

This seems to be, though, a specifically unique group of people.

And the fact that Jesus' earth is earthly ministry is coming to a close and that the Holy Spirit is gonna come and then dwell literally every believer, there's some kind of transition going on here that I can't fully explain.

And I believe that what he's doing here as he commissions them to go out and be on mission for the gospel is that he's telling them they're not they're not gonna have to do that under their own power and steam, but rather under a delegated authority.

And that delegated authority is that Jesus entrusts them with the gospel.

And so when they preach the gospel, people repent and believe.

You can say to each of those people that repent and believe, your sins have been forgiven, and they will be forgiven.

And Jesus also says if people don't repent and believe, you can say to those people, your sins won't be forgiven.

And they won't be forgiven.

Why?

Because the gospel is true, and the gospel is what's being entrusted to these disciples.

Um, anyway, verse 24.

Thomas is there.

Remember, my last name's Thomas, so I always relate to this guy.

I always kind of perk up whenever I hear his name.

But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, and Thomas is his Aramaic name.

Didymus is his Greek, the Greek version of his name.

He was also called Didymus, which means the twin.

He probably had a twin brother, a twin sister.

We don't know much about that at all.

Um, but Thomas was one of the twelve.

He was called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

That's an important point John is making.

Verse 25 says, the other disciples therefore were saying to him, so after Jesus is gone, evidently, they're saying to him, We've seen the Lord.

And, you know, I mean, what would you think?

You know, I mean, you know, you would you think these ten guys, my brothers, my my fellow disciples of Jesus, we're all in mourning, we're all in grieving, you're probably hallucinating.

What would you think if you were Thomas, right?

Well, he responds and he says to them, Unless I see in his hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger in the place of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.

And there's a bunch there.

There's a bunch there.

I I I know this is where people sort of, you know, go to the scripture and sort of get the idea that he should be called doubting Thomas.

Um I personally, maybe it's because I have a last name, but I personally feel like that might be a little unfair.

I think he's actually asking honest questions.

So maybe he's an honest doubter.

But Jesus had all the time in the world for honest questions.

All the time in the world for honest doubters, even.

Okay?

Whether you're talking about Thomas here or John the Baptist in prison.

And he sends his disciples to Jesus to ask him, Are you really the one, or did I did I mess up counting on you?

Um and and Jesus is always kind and generous with with those who come to him with honest questions and honest doubts.

It's the willful disbelievers or the willful unbelievers, like the religious leaders of his time that that sought to murder him, that sought to silence Jesus.

Those are the ones Jesus scolded publicly, and uh those are the ones that have rejected him publicly.

Um and so here though, watch what happens.

This is really awesome.

Thomas says, I I just need to have I I can't have secondhand faith from you guys.

I need to have the same experience you had where I see the nails and I see the, put my hand on his side, and and and and then I will believe.

And that's another reminder, by the way, that that the will is involved in belief.

It's not merely an empirical thing, it's not really limited.

Well, that because all of us actually believe more things than we know empirically.

We believe a lot of things about history and even about reality that we cannot prove empirically.

Uh, there is a lot to the human person, and there's a lot to the convictions that we hold to and that we believe in.

You believe more than you actually know, whether or not you believe it.

So here's what he says.

Unless I get to do this, have the same experience you guys have had, I will not believe.

And after eight days, again, his disciples were inside the same room.

And what went on during those eight days?

I cannot wait to get home to heaven and ask one of these guys to tell me what'd you guys do for those eight days?

I mean, realizing the experience you had had, realizing that you started to tell other people like Thomas, for instance, and he kind of, you know, what happened in those first eight days?

Uh were you guys searching the city for Jesus?

Where did he go?

Or or or were you still in hiding, or what was going on?

Well, they're still together eight days later, and Jesus appears to them again.

This time Thomas is with them, John says, in verse 26.

And Jesus came, the doors having been shut.

Again, the idea is that they're locked in this room.

Jesus appears, stood in their midst, and said, Peace be with you.

And then he looks at Thomas.

We're told right here, verse 27, and he says, Reach here your finger and see my hands.

Reach here your hand and put it into my side, and be not unbelieving, but believing.

And I love this about Jesus.

Again, he didn't, because Thomas was an honest doubter with honest questions, he didn't throw a lightning bolt at Thomas for that.

No.

As a matter of fact, as it's written right here, I get the impression Jesus knew exactly what Thomas's questions were and what the threshold for him would have been to make the choice to believe, to come to conviction that Jesus indeed was alive.

How is that possible?

Had Jesus been overhearing their conversation with Thomas?

Well, you know, I think it's quite possible he did, because that's exactly what he offers to Thomas.

Is that same kind of proof he was looking for, that same kind of evidence he was looking for.

And then he encourages him to be not unbelieving, but be believing.

Thomas answered him and he said to him, My Lord and my God.

And I think he said that quite breathlessly.

And I think it overwhelmed him that Jesus appeared and actually said that.

And we have no indication from this text that Thomas actually touched Jesus' hands and the holes in his hands, or that Thomas actually took up the offer to put his hand into the side of Jesus.

It looks to me as I read the text right here that it was enough that Jesus cared for him so much and was so gracious to him, even with his questions and his doubts.

It was overwhelming to him.

He had this existential experience with Jesus, and it was just overwhelming when he turns to him and goes, and it just this realization sweeps over.

This is really my Lord and my God.

And those aren't throwaway words either.

What he means is you, Jesus, really are the Lord.

You really are the Son of God.

And this realization, you see, is the kind of realization when we come to faith in Christ.

This is the kind of realization that moves us from being unbelievers to being believers.

Have you had that experience with Jesus?

You may have questions, you may have honest questions, and they're understandable, many, and especially in the world in which we live.

As intellectually confused and morally bankrupt as this world is, as inconsistent as I am, as inconsistent as you are, each, every one of us with our own worldview.

What we think is right, we don't always do.

What we think is wrong, sometimes we do that.

And that alone puts us in a position on the back foot sometimes of wondering: is there a God?

Is there what's going on?

How what can I count on?

Where's true north?

And here's Jesus showing up for these disciples and saying, I'm true north.

I'm the one that said to you, I'm the resurrection and the life.

He's the one that said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

And if you need to know where the which way is the right way, if you need to know what is truth, does it even exist anymore?

If if you need to know where life can really be found, Jesus said it can be found in him.

He doesn't just point to it, he is it.

And that's why we put our hope and confidence and trust in him.

And so did Thomas when he said, My Lord and my God.

Verse 29.

Jesus said to him, Because you've seen me, have you believed?

Blessed are they who did not see and yet believed.

Who are those?

Who are the ones that did not see and yet believed?

Well, guess what?

That's me.

And if you believe, that's you.

I didn't see.

Jesus didn't appear to me and say, touch my hands or touch my side.

Could it be Jesus had in mind the village chapel?

Did he have in mind Christ press, Christ community?

Did he have in mind?

mind Emmanuel Nashville?

Did he have in mind Belmont Church?

Did he have in mind Midtown Fellowship?

Oh, he had us all in mind, folks, because he, with his infinitely loving heart, with his infinite mind and knowing all things, knowing that we would one day come to trust him and hope in him, that we would one day hear the gospel, and that we would even be here this day talking about his resurrection.

And he's inviting us over and over and over again to believe and not be unbelieving.

Verse 30 and 31, finish up the chapter.

Many other signs, therefore, Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book.

But these have been written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

And there, that's, man, if if an author of a book ever were to say, you know, I'm going to write just a couple sentences that tell everybody the strategy of my writing, the purpose or the subject of my writing rather, and then the purpose of my writing.

So here's the here's what I did.

I collected the the miracles and in John's case seven miracles of Jesus and I selected them out of a whole host of other miracles.

And I put them together here for one reason and one reason only, that you might believe and that by believing you might have life.

Dick Lucas, one of my very favorite Bible teachers from over in England there, St.

Helens, he uh one of those one of the ones I listen to all the time, he says that all of John's gospel can be summed up in those three words evidence, belief, life.

Yeah, that's a great way to look at John's gospel.

All right, well what do we learn here?

And how does it take something that I think there's great historical evidence and testimonial evidence for in other words we are on really good grounds to believe that the resurrection of Jesus actually happened.

It's intellectually credible.

I really believe that.

All right but it is also existentially transforming.

And that kind of answers the question you know if it really happened what difference does it make?

And that's what I'd like to focus on just for a couple of minutes.

What difference does it make?

First of all, look at the disciples in verse 19.

They were bound by fear.

Bound up I mean trapped talk about isolation and quarantine trapped in that room for fear of their lives because they thought that somebody was going to come after them because they'd been following Jesus for all this time and Jesus was now dead.

And now what happens because those of us who've read the rest of the story reading on into the book of Acts we realize that they who were once bound by fear have now become bold in faith.

That is transformation, folks.

That is an existential transformation that is amazing and what can explain it except that they had seen the risen Christ John Lennox puts it this way the cross of Christ is not primarily a metaphor.

It involved an actual death the resurrection is not primarily an allegory it was a physical event a standing up again of a body that had died.

And see there's all kinds of people that will say oh I believe yeah Jesus existed in history and then they might say you know about the cross they might say well I'm not sure he really died you know I'm not sure because I mean if some of them saw him after he supposedly died and all that sort of thing.

And again going completely denying all of the medical evidence for crucifixion and what that would have entailed.

And then there's a whole bunch of people of course will say well he died but I'm not going to admit that he that he was rose again.

I'm not going to admit that that happened.

And John Lennox is basically saying that the cross of Christ not just a metaphor you know for ah tragic hero fallen and the resurrection not just an allegory you know springtime isn't it wonderful new life is sprouting everywhere.

And I love that that's true.

I love springtime.

I love the you know the the hum of all the machines for the for the lawnmowers and all that stuff I love all that new life is awesome.

But the reality of new life and the reality of life after death to me is bound up in whether or not there was indeed a standing up again of a body that had died.

Secondly what difference does the resurrection make?

Once despairing now rejoicing we saw that with these disciples didn't we in verse 20 and I oh Philip Yanzi has such a great article online and I just pulled this one quote from it I want to put up on the screen for it a little lengthy but it says this we cannot undo grief yet we can cling to hope that an omnipotent God, all-powerful God has the power not only to keep us alive in memory but to resurrect us to a new and permanent state.

And then he quotes from Jurgen Multman I love this God weeps with us so that we may one day laugh with him the Lazarus and Easter events do not solve the problem of suffering but they do point forward to a solution.

And folks the way the scriptures lay it out for us all of our mourning M O R, all of our mourning our weeping our lamenting we don't sidestep that Jesus didn't sidestep the cross we we don't ignore it.

We're not sweeping it under the rug as Christians no it's real and we weep real tears with people just like Jesus wept real tears with Mary and Martha at this at their the grave of their brother Lazarus even though he knew what he was going to do to that to that guy right?

Raise him back up.

It's amazing but the intention the the intent of the God of the Bible and he's proven he can do it in the resurrection of Jesus is that one day all things will be set right and all of our mourning M-O-U-R and all of our mourning and weeping will be turned into dancing and joy and I love that about the God of the Bible the promise the hope that is there for you and for me all of us so so many of us having lost loved ones recently so many of us know what real grief is and real tears are and real loss and yet we have this hope that looks past it through it if you will to the other side and puts our faith open confidence in a God who can raise the dead intends to do to my tomb one day what he did to Jesus' tomb that day.

And my grave what he did to Jesus' grave that day.

What difference does the resurrection make?

Once bound by fear and now bold in faith once despairing now rejoicing thirdly once confused and uncertain now comforted and courageous and again you you I want to encourage you to read ahead if you if if you if if this arouses your curiosity about the gospel and the the spread of the Christian faith and all that sort of thing at all read on ahead from John's gospel read right on into the book of Acts written by Luke who also wrote Luke's gospel but I mean and you just see the wildfire like spread of the gospel around the entire Roman Empire just sweeps it.

It's amazing it's an amazing story.

But you have these guys that were confused and uncertain and hiding and all of that.

But I mean just think about the way they're trying to put their thoughts together and try to make sense of it all confused, right?

Yeah.

Uncertain about the future what are we going to do?

And here comes Jesus immediately in this verse in verse 21 and he says I'm commissioning you.

I'm sending you out just as the Father sent me I'm sending you out.

He has confidence in them because he's going to empower them to be his witnesses.

In other words Jesus continues to choose those nobody else would choose and to use those nobody else would use I mean this is the paradoxical nature of the Christian faith and one of the reasons I rejoice I rejoice and it almost seems silly to do so but I rejoice why?

Because every single time I open my mouth and say anything about the gospel or about Jesus I am just thrilled that he has called me and chosen me and given me an opportunity to tell others about my Redeemer the one who chose me I'm an unlikely choice.

The one who uses can use even me and even you why so quiet friends why wouldn't we rejoice at that why wouldn't we then be comforted and begin to be courageous about our faith don't hide it under a bushel don't don't compartmentalize your faith like this culture would have you think you ought to do there are people out there in this world more ready than you realize who are just waiting to hear the good news and we have the best news.

I love the way Frederick Bietner said it resurrection means that the worst thing is never the last thing.

Ah yeah that's so good.

Fourthly and finally not only bound by fear now bold in faith look at these disciples they used to be despairing now rejoicing confused and uncertain now comforted and courageous fourthly and finally once without hope in this life and here comes Jesus appearing to them here comes Jesus through uh his resurrection showing them that he has the power to give them abundant life in his name verse 31 and that is so true about the the difference that the resurrection makes see we're not just worshiping a tragically fallen hero figure that is still in the grave and that's what's different you see about the Christian faith from all other religions we worship a risen Savior and in Christ and in Christ alone you see we find the way the truth the life he himself is the resurrection and the life that we long for that we know all of us know we so desperately need he actually has the power over life and death and that's one of the reasons we put our hope and our confidence in him and in him alone.

I'll close with this quote by Tim Keller and then we're gonna sing in Christ alone one of my very favorite songs that can that will continue to fill our hearts and flood our hearts with the hope and joy of the gospel.

Keller says it this way the resurrection of Christ brings the future power of God that will someday heal and renew the entire world into our lives now.

Christians have a realistic and an irrepressible hope.

It is not a naive utopian expectation of paradise today, but a hope for our lives and our society that we can participate in the fullness of a paradise yet to come.

In other words we can endure all of what's going on in this world right now why?

Because we know it's not the last word we know that Jesus Christ will have the final word and he has promised to return one day and to set all things right.

And that's one of the reasons we can put our hope and confidence in Jesus.

God has proven he has the power to do that by raising Jesus from the dead in Christ and in Christ alone we have hope both for this life now and for the life to come both for ourselves and for all those who've gone on before us.

Oh friends let's trust turn to and trust in Jesus now