A Resurrected Body

Father, even as we stand here or sit, as the case might be,

some of us struggle with disbelief.

Maybe some of us have no faith at all,

and some of us, Father, believe, but we struggle with disbelief.

And some of us maybe believe quite well and deeply.

You know our hearts.

You know the different ways, Father,

that we feed disbelief and lack of trust in you.

And you know the different ways that we are feeding our belief and trust in you.

We ask, Father, this morning,

that the Holy Spirit would fall with gentle and deep power

and bring this, your word, home deeply to our heart.

And as you bring your word deeply to our heart,

we ask that you would grip us with the gospel

and reveal to us, Father, the ways that we feed disbelief

and create within us a desire,

a greater and greater desire to feed belief and trust in Jesus.

And this we ask in Jesus' name, your Son and our Savior.

Amen.

Please be seated.

In my family with the grandkids,

the grandchildren call me Papa,

and they call my wife Nana.

And this Monday, true story,

this Monday, Easter Monday,

a little three-year-old granddaughter of mine,

they came to our house.

I had been out because I went to a Starbucks

to begin to work on my sermon for this week for a little bit.

And I come back in the house,

and as I come in the house, Sarah announces with a loud voice,

Nana, your father is home.

And so there you go.

I'm Louise's dad.

I always knew she looked a lot younger than I do.

So this doesn't really have anything to do with the sermon text,

other than the fact that we're going to be looking at John 20, verse 19,

John 20:19

and we're going to have the first event,

first time that Jesus appears to all of the apostles,

or at least to the disciples.

And it says they're glad.

And you know what?

I mean, some of them, I don't know,

some of them were probably gobsmacked.

They probably weren't just sitting down and saying,

oh my, look at that.

Jesus is here.

Like it was probably not like that.

Some of them were probably jumping up and down,

punching the air.

There was probably lots of laughter, hilarious.

Maybe one of the things that will happen to us in heaven

is that we'll actually get to sort of relive

or see what it was like when the apostles saw Jesus for the first time.

And that would probably be a very, very wonderful thing to be able to do.

So we're looking at this text,

John 20, verse 19.

John 20:19

Please turn with me in your Bibles to this first appearance.

And as I said just a few minutes ago,

whenever I talk to non-Christians about these things,

I tell them I have a bit of a difficulty.

I'm a bit of a handicap.

If you came to see me,

I probably wouldn't have my Bible with me

when I was just talking to them.

I said, you get a Bible in a store.

Like in mine, it has this really, really expensive paper.

And you folks from there can maybe see

originally there was some type of gold type of stuff on the edge,

not real gold or it would be expensive,

but like some type of gold.

And it looks very fancy.

And that's like there's an appropriateness to it.

But really what I tell them is really what you're looking at

is an ancient biography of Jesus

that was written by an eyewitness

who knew eyewitnesses

and who wrote it at a time

when lots and lots of eyewitnesses were alive

and what we're reading is a biography of Jesus.

And it's an ancient biography of Jesus.

It's one of four of them.

And it's not a fantasy book

or a myth or anything like that.

He wrote it as a biography.

He wrote it to explain who Jesus is,

what he accomplished,

and why he's really important.

And that's what we're going to be looking at right now.

And so what's happened is

the way that John is told the biography of Jesus

is if you go back and read chapter 19,

it talks about how Jesus is sentenced to death

and how Jesus dies on the cross

and how the body of Jesus is taken

and put in a tomb after it's been embalmed.

And then just before this,

we hear about the stone that was covering

the tomb entrance has been removed

and Mary's shocked

and Peter and John go in

and they see the grave cloths

and the napkins set aside

and it's all neat and tidy,

not the way grave robbers

or people involved in skullduggery.

I just wanted to put the word skullduggery

into a sermon.

That's why I said it.

It's a word that is not used enough

in average language probably.

If they were looking for skullduggery,

they would have taken everything

including the grave cloths

and John has some type of belief right away

and then the apostles go

and then Mary is there

and she meets Jesus

and now the story continues

later on that day.

And here we are,

verse 19,

it goes like this.

On the evening of that day,

that's the same day

that they discover the tomb is empty

and that Mary has seen Jesus.

On the evening of that day,

the first day of the week,

the doors being locked

where the disciples were

for fear of the Jewish leaders,

Jesus came and stood among them

and said to them,

peace be with you.

And just sort of pause there

as we're reading this text.

You know,

it's really, really interesting

the way they described the apostles,

even though they have now

probably been told by Mary

and maybe by some other women

that they've seen Jesus.

But what characterizes their life

here right now

is that what's characterizing their life

is not faith.

They're not all sitting around

singing praise songs,

plotting their evangelistic strategy

to spread the gospel

to the ends of the earth.

No, they're afraid.

They're sitting there afraid.

And so because they're afraid,

the doors are locked,

the windows are locked,

everything is shut.

They're in a dark, dark room

being quiet

because they're afraid.

And if you go and look in my blog,

which I wrote this week,

that's in the bulletin,

I have a little bit of a talk

about how Jesus might have appeared

into a locked room,

but they're afraid.

And the very, very first words

that Jesus says to them

is very, very significant.

If you think about it,

I mean, people have talked

about this many times.

I'm not being particularly unique.

He didn't say,

in the words of Donald Trump,

you're fired,

which he could have said.

You're fired.

You failed the belief test.

You failed the courage test.

You failed listening

to the woman test.

Three strikes.

You're fired.

He could have said,

you bums.

He could have said,

do you know how much you hurt me?

Like he could have said

all sorts of things to them.

He doesn't say any of these things.

He announces to them,

peace be with you.

And just so we know,

now obviously it's so funny

because he says,

peace be with you.

So they've gone from

being very, very afraid.

All of a sudden,

Jesus is standing in front of them,

even though all the windows

and doors are locked.

He's all of a sudden

in front of them.

He catches them by surprise.

We're going to read in a moment

that they're really glad

that they see Jesus.

And he says, peace.

So probably what they're not experiencing

is what we think of as peace.

So this is just an important thing

for us to understand

is most of the time

when you see the word peace

in the New Testament

and in fact in the Bible,

the Old Testament as well,

is it's not usually talking

about an emotion.

And it's not usually talking

about the fact

that there was a big fight

and now they've stopped fighting.

Although it has that aspect,

obviously,

if it's talking about a war

or something.

But the main thing is

we North Americans,

when we hear words like this,

we think of it usually

in emotional terms.

And Jesus is referring

to something

which is more structural,

so to speak.

Sounds really boring.

But it would be as if,

you know how the ancients

figured out that without mortar,

they were able to build an arch.

You know,

they were able to cut stones

in a particular way

and sort of hold things up.

But eventually,

when all of the stones

were put in the arch

and if they were cut the right way,

the gravity would actually

help the whole thing to stand.

And then you could go on top of it

or you could build a wall

or a roof on top of it

if there was an arch.

And so in a sense,

when you see the word peace,

you can imagine as if

some of the rocks

have been pushed out

and the whole thing

has collapsed

and now somebody has come

and put all of the rocks

back in place

so that the arch is in balance.

The rocks are all

in their proper place.

Everything's held together.

It would be a way of,

another way to think of it

would be as if,

not just as if an instrument

is put into tune,

but imagine that there's an orchestra

with lots and lots of instruments

and every one of the instruments

has now been not only tuned,

but tuned to each other.

And when you have an orchestra

where every instrument is tuned

and all of the instruments

are tuned to each other,

that's peace.

It's balance.

It's structurally fixed

so that it's ordered

correctly and in harmony.

That's what Jesus

is talking about.

And out of that,

if you think about it

for a second,

out of that might come

a feeling of peace

at different times.

But it might not be.

Out of it sometimes

might come unbelievable joy,

like I'm fixed.

Sometimes when we understand

that that peace is there,

it might cause within us

embarrassment or shame.

And we might say to ourselves,

you mean that Jesus

took that rock in my life?

He put his hands

in that embarrassing,

shameful part of my life

and put it in order?

Or if we're using the analogy

of the instrument,

does he,

did Jesus actually know

what I did to that instrument

and why it's out of tune

and why it's broken?

And he put his hands on that?

He put his lips on that,

so to speak,

to tune it?

And so sometimes

when the knowledge

of this peace

that God is,

that Christ has won for us

comes to us,

it might be thankfulness,

it might be embarrassment,

it might be conviction of sin,

it might be peace,

it might be joy.

But the main thing is

he's not saying

all of a sudden

you feel peaceful.

That's not what's happening.

He's announcing

that something has happened.

It's a little bit like

just about a month or so ago

I finally watched

the Pacific,

that series of DVD videos

done by Spielberg

and Tom Hanks.

I've watched

the Band of Brothers

several times

which talks about

a platoon,

I don't know if I have

the right military term,

a group of guys,

a band of brothers

who fight a whole series

of battles

throughout the Second World War

in Europe

and then a few years later

they did another one

in the Pacific.

And in both of them,

whether it's the Pacific

or in the Band of Brothers,

the day when the war

is over

and it is announced

there is great rejoicing.

And this is a similar

type of thing

just as in that thing

when they said

the war is over,

we've won.

This is what Jesus

is saying.

Peace be with you.

The war is over.

I've won.

And that's his opening

announcement.

Not you're fired,

not you're bums,

not you're failures,

not I'm ashamed of you,

not I'm embarrassed of you,

not you should feel

terrible about yourselves.

His first words are,

it is over.

Peace be with you.

The battle is won.

And then he says

something more

because you see

it's important

for those people,

those people,

you know,

just,

I love this phrase.

I actually got the phrase

by the way

from one of my favorite movies

which is Black Hawk Down.

There's this wonderful scene

in Black Hawk Down

where they've caught a fellow,

one of the,

they've caught a Somali leader

and he's smoking this cigar

and he's speaking

to the general

and he says,

do you think,

you think that just because

I grew up without running water

that I'm stupid?

And he says,

I'm not.

I know history.

And it's very easy

for us to look back

at the past

and say they didn't know

anything about cell phones,

they didn't know anything

about germs,

they didn't have,

you know,

they just,

you know,

pooped in a hole.

So they must,

just because they lived

a long time ago

doesn't mean they're stupid.

They also want proof.

It matters just as much

to them as it does to us.

And so that's one of the things

which Jesus is going to be

providing for them

and that's what happens

very next.

So he says,

peace be with you.

If you go back to verse 20,

it says this,

when he,

that is Jesus had said this,

he showed them his hands

and his side.

Then the disciples were glad

when they saw the Lord.

So he takes the time

to show them

that he's real,

that he's physical,

that,

and it's,

you know,

that,

that he has the marks.

He must have lifted up

his clothes

so they could see

that there was,

I don't know if it was a scar.

Later on,

we're just going to see

that it says the word marks.

I don't know if it was a wound

or what it was,

but where the spear went in,

you can see it,

where he would have

rolled down his sleeves

and where the nails were there,

you could see that there was still

very clearly a mark

that this is the same man

who on Friday was crucified,

who's now standing in front of them

completely and utterly alive.

And what this does

is it means

Jesus is vindicated.

It means that who he said he was,

what he said he was going to do,

all of the things that he said

about life,

about sexuality,

about money,

about the meaning of life,

all of these things,

it vindicates that

what he says is true.

It is true and trustworthy.

You can stake your life on it.

And at the same time,

it vindicates that he's accomplished

what he said

that he is going to accomplish.

It vindicates

and it also,

it also,

it also connects,

as we're going to see,

especially in a moment,

it connects

this peace be with you,

this declaration

that the war is over,

there is a just peace.

He is going to vindicate,

he's going to show

that that peace

is connected

to his death.

That's why,

one of the reasons

it's so important

that he shows

that he still has

the scars

or the marks

or whatever it is

in his hands,

I guess in his ankles as well,

but he doesn't refer to it

in the side,

that what he has just gone through,

his death upon the cross

and his resurrection,

he's vindicated

and this

is going to be for us

the source of peace.

And that's what Jesus does.

He's going to make

this connection for us.

It's very clearly connected.

In fact,

if those of you,

I guess in this version

of the Bible,

if you look at a version

of the Bible,

it's very interesting.

It goes,

peace be with you.

Then he shows you the marks

and then it says,

peace be with you as well.

It's like a sandwich.

Peace be with you

and in between

is the reality

that rose from the dead

and the mark of the scars.

And now Jesus

is going to talk about

something which has caused

lots of division

in Christianity

for almost 2,000 years.

And the discussion

about this controversy

so overwhelms

our reading of the text

that we miss

all the very important things

for us that he says.

So just look at verse 21.

We'll get to this

controversial thing.

Some of you probably noticed

it when I was reading

it earlier.

21.

Jesus said to them again,

peace be with you.

As the Father

has sent me,

even so I am sending you.

And when he had said this,

he breathed on them

and said to them,

receive the Holy Spirit.

If you forgive the sins of any,

they are forgiven them.

Or they have been forgiven them.

I'll talk about this in a moment.

If you retain forgiveness

from any of them

or withhold forgiveness

from any of them,

it is retained.

That may be another way

to translate that.

And well, okay,

let's just try to unpack this.

So here's the four things.

What we see here

is Jesus says four basic things.

And the first thing is

he gives them the message.

Basically what it is,

he gives them a message.

He tells them

that they have to go.

He gives them power

and he explains to them

why it matters.

That's the four things

that he does.

He gives them the message

that they're to proclaim.

He tells them

that they have to go.

They're not just sort of

to sit on a mountaintop

and wait for people

to come to them.

He gives them the power

to do what he tells them

to proclaim.

And then he's trying

to tell them

that what I'm doing

for you right now,

what I'm telling you right now

is of eternal consequence

for people.

So you have to take it

very seriously.

So if you could put up

the first point,

that would be very helpful.

So the first thing

is this message,

peace be with you.

And the problem

is not that God

is at enmity with you,

but that you

are at enmity with God.

The problem is not

that God

is at enmity with you,

but that you

are at enmity with God.

Now this is an idea

which basically

nobody in Canada believes.

And basically,

most of us

don't believe it.

We have a hard time

with it.

In Jesus' day,

when he was going

to pagan religions,

if he was to say to them,

you know,

you have done things

that have made God

your enemy,

they would probably say,

you're probably right.

I have acted in a way

that means there's now

enmity between me and God.

You're probably right.

And if you were maybe

to go to many traditional

Hindu or Buddhistic cultures

and that there's something

out of whack with you,

which means you're going

to have to be

reincarnated again,

you haven't achieved nirvana,

that there's something

fundamentally wrong with you,

probably most people

would say you're probably right.

But you say to the

average Canadian

that the problem,

the problem

that the Bible here

is addressing

with this message of peace

is not that God

is at enmity with you,

but that you're

at enmity with God.

There's a type

of a blankness

that comes over most of us.

So just think

of these examples.

If you're a guest

here this morning,

my wife's name is Louise,

and this is,

it'll help you

to understand

what I'm saying.

If I went somewhere

with Louise,

and I pretended

I did not know her,

it's a big party,

and I go with Louise,

and I pretend

I don't know her.

In fact,

if I was standing

talking to some people,

and she comes up along

to stand up beside me,

and all of a sudden

I sort of stand like this

with my back to her

to keep talking,

afterwards she would say

to people,

why does he hate me?

Why does he hate me?

If it turned out

that I found out

at work

that Louise

was in trouble,

and not only

did I continue

at work

and not go to help her,

but after work

went to a different city

for a holiday,

leaving her alone,

she would ask,

and you would understand

why she would ask,

why does he hate me?

If I just decided

after this church service

to move to a different city

because I had a new job,

and I just never actually

even email her

or talk to her,

I just go and live

a very happy life

in a different city,

she would ask

and you would ask,

why does he hate me?

If one of you

were to track me down

in that different city

and you saw

that I felt no guilt,

no sense of obligation

to even talk to her

or send her a message,

you would wonder,

what's going on?

Does he think

he's the center

of the universe?

That he can just

do whatever he wants

and not have to deal

with his wife at all?

If you then went back

and confronted me

about how I'd been

treating my wife,

and I said to you,

oh, this is so tiring.

This is the problem

with wives.

Like, listen,

I have all my friends

right here,

and, like,

we're all,

we're having fun.

Like, we're making money,

we're having fun,

and everybody here

agrees with me.

Like, what are you doing

giving me a hard time

about that?

That's the problem

with wives.

Like, leave your wife alone.

If you want to have a wife

and do all that stuff,

that's fine, you know,

but you know what?

I'm having a fine life

where I am.

That's how each one of us

is with God.

This is how,

so whether you're

Richard Dawkins,

shaking your fist

at the God

you do not believe exists,

whether you're a soccer mom

in Canada or Orleans,

whether you live

in a big fancy house

along the Rideau River

in Manitik

or in Rockcliffe

in a big mansion,

whether you spend

every night in bars

partying,

we're all united.

We've all been described

by what I just described.

We're at enmity with God.

We've turned our back on him

and life is fine without him.

And how irksome,

how irksome,

what gives him the right

to actually say

anything at all

about how I spend my money,

what I do with my sexuality,

anything at all.

Like, why on earth?

Like, that is so tiresome.

We are enmity with God.

In fact,

if you go back

thinking about this,

in Romans chapter,

if you go back

and read Romans 1, 19

or 18 and following

right through to the,

almost the end

of chapter 3,

what Romans talks about

and what's talked about

in a lot of the Bible

is that when we actually

appear before

the judgment seat of God,

we will discover

that it's,

we actively suppress

the knowledge of God.

It would be as if

you discovered

like that it's not just

that I actually

in another city

don't pay any attention

to Louise.

It might look like I don't.

I'm actually suppressing

knowledge of that.

And that's what the Bible says.

We're actually

suppressing it.

See, one of the hard parts

for us as Canadians now

and it's very present

in the church

is that the common things

that we like to say

and they're fine words.

We like to talk about

our brokenness.

We like to talk about

our shame.

But the problem is

in both of those cases

they're passive words.

It's something that

happens to us

and we don't like

the word sinner

because sinning

is something I do.

I suppress

a knowledge of what

is right and wrong.

And so we have a hard time

understanding

this analogy

of Jesus being,

making our peace

with God.

If you could put up

the next point

that would be very helpful.

Jesus did everything.

See, when Jesus says

peace be with you,

when the message

that we are to pronounce

is that the problem

is not that God

is at enmity with you

because God is love.

He never stopped loving you.

He never did anything

wrong to you.

Anybody,

it doesn't matter

if they have five PhDs,

can speak 15 languages

and maybe they're

an archbishop

or a bishop,

anybody who talks about

how we have to learn

how to forgive God

is not talking biblically.

If they talk about

how we have to learn

how to forgive ourselves,

it doesn't matter

if they're a bishop.

They're not speaking

biblically.

They're not speaking

Christianly.

Those are wrong ideas.

They're not biblical ideas.

The problem is not

that God is at enmity

with you and me,

but that you and I

are at enmity with God.

And Jesus does

everything needed

for you to enter

into a real,

just peace

with God.

Jesus did

everything needed

for you

and for me

to enter

into a real,

just peace

with God.

You see,

that's why

this is one of the

great proclamations

in the Bible.

If you go back

and you read John

all the way

from the beginning

to the end,

I've talked about this

three times in a row.

I'll say it a few more times

because we're coming

to the end of the book

and it's just important

for us to understand,

is that John

begins the gospel

describing how

everything came to be

before human beings

became at enmity

with God.

And John reveals

that all things

that exist

are a result

of light,

life,

and love.

All things

that exist

are a result

of light,

life,

and love.

John 1,

John 1:1–5

verse 1-5.

In the beginning

was the Word

and the Word

was with God

and that with God

is a relational word.

It's an affectionate word.

It's as if you talk

about Louise

is with me

and we love each other.

You know,

you're with your friend

and you care for each other.

It's a relational word.

And so it says,

in the beginning

was the Word

and the Word

was with God

and the Word

was God.

He was with God

in the beginning.

All things

were made through him

and without him

nothing was made

that was made.

In him was light

and the light

is the life

of the world.

See,

the Bible describes

that all things

ultimately come about

as a result of light,

life,

light,

life,

and love.

And what happens

when we turn our back

on light?

When you turn your back

on light,

it means you're walking

towards darkness

and in darkness.

When you turn your back

on life,

it means you are walking

in sickness

and in death

towards sickness

and death.

And when you turn your back

on love,

it means that you're walking

in indifference

and hate

towards indifference

and hate.

And God saw that

and God so loved

the world

that he sent

his one and only son

to the end

that whoever believes

in him

will not perish

but have eternal

life.

And so you go all

through the gospel

of John

and how is Jesus

described?

He is the light

of the world.

He is the life

of the world.

He is bread and life.

He is the one

who gives living waters.

He is the way,

the truth,

and the life.

All the way

through the gospel,

it describes who Jesus

is in terms of

these categories

upon which we have

separated ourselves

from light.

We have separated

ourselves from life

and from love.

And we live

at enmity with God

and Jesus is described

as God himself

coming to rescue us

and when he dies

on the cross,

as he dies

upon the cross,

he bears in himself

our darkness.

He bears in himself

our indifference

and hatred.

He bears in himself

our sickness

and death.

And he does

everything that has

to be done

that I cannot

possibly do

for myself

to make me

right with God,

at peace with God.

not only to remove

the darkness,

the indifference,

the hatred,

but to actually give us

those realities

in the already not yet.

it's as if to use

the analogy that

what,

from a heavenly

point of view,

if every one of us

is like an orchestra

with lots of different

things,

musical instruments,

is that Jesus

not only

deals with

the punishment

and all that

for having broken

and wrecked

and trampled

and done all those

types of things,

but he actually

repairs every instrument.

He gives us

instruments

that we didn't even

have that we were

lacking

and he tunes

everyone

and he tunes

them to each other

and he does it all.

And we now stand

in a new relationship

with him

in a new way

and he's done it all.

And that's the message.

Peace

be with you.

And then,

so,

look here at verse 21.

Peace be with you.

That's the message.

And then he says,

as the Father

has sent me,

even so,

I am sending you.

We often think

of a church

as a building

and there's something

appropriate for that

but we need to see here

it's always a problem

because buildings

just sit there.

If a building moves,

that's bad,

generally speaking,

unless it's

a little house

that they put on a

pickup

and put on a trailer

to move somewhere else.

If the building moves,

it's because there's a flood.

If the building moves,

it's because there's

an earthquake

or something like that

or a sinkhole.

They're not supposed

to move.

They're supposed

to stand there.

But you see,

really,

Christians aren't

supposed to be like churches.

We're supposed

to be more like boats

in motion.

We're to be like boats

in motion.

And so,

Jesus says,

I'm sending you.

In other words,

you have to go

and you have to proclaim

peace be with you.

And then,

in verse 22,

when he said this,

he breathed on them

and said to them,

receive the Holy Spirit.

And this is a bit

of a forerunner

for what's going

to happen

in the book of Acts.

It's a really important thing

to show that,

you know,

it's not as if

we Christians

can say,

okay,

well,

you know,

there's those people here,

like we're Acts 2 Christians

because we're all

about the Holy Spirit.

And others of us

say,

no,

no,

no,

no,

no.

Like,

we're like Paul type

of Christians.

We're all about

the crucifixion.

And other Christians

say,

no,

no,

no,

no.

We're like all

about God the Father

types of Christians.

It's that one of the things

that the Gospels

are trying to show us

is that,

first of all,

Jesus is the one

who reveals

who God is.

It's through Jesus

that all of our faults

and culturally

contaminated notions

of who God is

are going to be

corrected about him.

That whenever we even

talk to somebody else,

we have to try

to always remember,

okay,

one,

one,

one moment.

We're time out.

We're both using

the word God,

but I have a feeling

we mean somebody

completely and utterly

different,

even though we're

using the same word.

I think you're using

God as if he's

some abstract,

distant type of person

who's often

very,

very mean,

but you need to

understand that

when I talk about God,

I'm talking about

God as revealed

by Jesus,

and that means

it's a God

who ends up

dying on a cross

because he loves you.

We're talking

about different gods,

okay?

And so,

what the Gospel

here is showing

is it's all

this one act

of revelation,

it's all this

one act of giving,

that the Father

sends Jesus,

and Jesus willingly

comes as God,

the Son of God,

he comes,

and it's the Father

who sends the Son

and the Son

who sends the Holy Spirit,

and there's this

one unbroken moment,

and you don't choose

between like Genesis 1

type of Christian

and a John 1 Christian

or an Acts 2 Christian,

it's one act,

it's one God,

and Jesus is giving us

the power to proclaim

the message

as we go.

And then this final

complicated bit,

which I'm only going to say

something very briefly

about,

that's verse 23,

if you forgive

the sins of any,

they are forgiven them,

if you withhold

or withhold forgiveness

than from any,

it is retained.

Just a couple of

basic things.

As you're going to see now

in a moment,

generally speaking,

I don't like to critique

other churches.

We have enough crap

in our own church,

we can critique ourselves,

and the Anglican way,

but I tell people

when they tell,

like you can't make up stuff

about how bad

the Anglican church is often.

Like,

you don't need to make it up,

just follow the news.

Like it's,

so I don't need to make fun of,

so I'm not making fun of things,

but the Roman Catholic doctrine

of the priest having the power

to bind and lock and loose,

and it's connected to this

in Matthew 16 and 18,

and I just,

it's not right.

It's wrong.

And if what you had

was just verse 23

and nothing else in the Bible,

then the Roman Catholic position

on this would have to be correct.

But you don't just have this verse.

Have it in a context.

You have it in a whole book.

And it,

the idea that Jesus gives

an institution power

to give them power

that I can say,

Ken,

sucks to be you,

not forgiven.

Dick,

I like you.

Two thumbs up,

forgiven.

Like,

if you think that comes

from the text,

it makes no sense.

Now,

it's complicated

because of the fact

that in the Greek,

it's a passive,

which means it's,

when it's in the passive tense

in a context like this,

it means that we're not doing something

or human beings not doing something,

God's doing something.

And it's in the perfect tense

and it's aspectual.

I think I pronounced that correctly,

which means it's a completed act,

a completed act in the past.

Sorry,

a Greek,

sorry,

I've lost all of you,

a little grammar moment.

The bottom line is,

if you look at it

within its whole context,

everything is about us believing

to receive forgiveness of sins.

Jesus has done everything

to make me at peace with God

and I need to receive that.

It's not something I do,

not something I accomplish.

And so what the Bible text here,

complicated by Greek,

complicated by church history,

and what it's fundamentally saying is this,

you need to go,

I am going to tell you this right now,

disciples,

I have done everything

that has to be done

for you to be at peace with God.

It's connected to this right here.

It's connected to this right here.

It's connected to the fact

that I stand before you alive.

I have accomplished everything

for you to be made

as unworthy as you are.

I love you.

I've done everything

so you may be right with God.

And so I am sending you

like the Father has sent you.

You need to go

to every people group.

You need to go

throughout the city of Ottawa.

You need to tell people

this spectacular news

that Christ,

that Jesus,

has come from the Father

to make you right with God

when you cannot make peace

with God yourself.

And I've given you

the Holy Spirit

to have the power

to do that

because you can't do it

on your own strength.

And it matters

because you see,

when you proclaim this

and people receive it,

their sins are forgiven

and they are at peace with God.

And when you proclaim it

and they do not accept it,

their guilt is retained.

And they are not at peace with God.

And that has eternal consequences.

And that's the flow of the argument.

It's the flow of the argument.

It's the flow of the book.

I just want to wrap up

with some really, really,

the following,

the story that follows this

is such an important addition to this.

It's so wonderful

that not only that Jesus did it,

but that John wrote it

so we could know it.

And so if you just look,

it's a famous story

of Jesus appearing to Thomas.

And it begins at verse 24.

Now Thomas,

one of the 12,

called the twin.

And John is,

John's making a little bit

of fun of Thomas here.

He's,

he has a,

probably when he was writing this,

way, way back

with his whatever,

however he wrote it,

he probably had a bit of a smile

and maybe even chuckled about it.

He just,

earlier on,

if you go back in the gospel,

earlier on,

Thomas is introduced as the twin.

I'm assuming it means

that he had an identical twin brother.

Okay?

Because of what's going to happen next.

And so John's just remembering,

a bit of a smile.

Oh,

Thomas.

So now,

verse 24,

now Thomas,

one of the 12,

called the twin,

was not with them.

We discovered there's only 10 people there

when that happened,

when Jesus came.

So the disciples,

verse 25,

said,

we have seen the Lord.

But he said to them,

unless I see

in his hands

the mark of the nails

and place my fingers

into the mark of the nails

and place my hand

into his side,

I will not believe.

In other words,

maybe Jesus had a twin

who didn't die.

Or maybe Jesus had somebody

who just really looked like Jesus.

And he's fooling them.

A little bit of a mark,

a little bit of red stuff

over here,

a little bit of red over here.

It's just a lookalike.

He's playing a bit of a joke.

So,

you can just,

it's just like

the identical twin

to think maybe Jesus

had an unknown

identical twin

that was fooling everybody.

But it's also going ahead

and show this,

you know,

these guys aren't stupid.

They're not just going to go believe

that Jesus rose from the dead.

Even with the empty tomb

and all of that complication,

he knows there needs to be

more than just the empty tomb.

He needs to actually see Jesus.

And verse 26,

eight days later,

his disciples were inside.

That's Jesus' disciples again.

And Thomas,

this time,

was with them.

He spent at least a couple of days,

maybe a whole week,

because it's a week later.

They're all now filled with joy

that Jesus is alive.

But Thomas says,

I think you guys are smoking

substances that used to be illegal,

but now are legal in Canada.

And that's why you're so happy,

because unless I see it,

I'm not going to believe it.

And then in verse 26,

although the doors were locked,

Jesus came and stood among them

and said,

not Thomas,

you dumb,

peace be with you.

Then he said to Thomas,

put your fingers here.

He knows what Thomas said,

because he's God,

the son of God.

Put your finger here

and see my hands

and put out your hand

and place it in my side.

Do not disbelieve,

but believe.

Let's talk about that

just a moment.

But Thomas answered him,

my Lord and my God.

This is the very clear declaration

that the one who created all things

and sustains all things by his power

is standing,

resurrected,

physical,

in front of Thomas.

And here's this wonderful word.

Jesus said to him,

have you believed

because you have seen,

have seen me?

Here he is.

Every single one of us here

who is a Christian,

this is what Jesus says

to you this morning.

Those of you who are beat up,

those of you who are depressed,

those of you who are happy,

those of you filled with faith,

those of doubts,

he says to each one of us

who have put our trust in Jesus,

sitting or standing here today,

blessed are those who have not seen

and yet have believed.

That's what he says to you.

That's not me.

That's what Jesus says.

Blessed are you.

If you could put up the third point.

If you notice again here

what Jesus says to Thomas

at the end of verse 27,

do not disbelieve but believe.

It's actually two commands.

The first one is,

and I put the way to write it,

I put it in a prayer.

What has been going on with Thomas

is that he's been feeding

disbelief and lack of trust in Jesus.

He's feeding it.

If you think about it,

and maybe most of us

don't think about it,

there are things that we do

in our week

or don't do in our week

that feeds not trusting Jesus,

not believing the gospel,

not believing what he said.

It's the same thing

with any type of relationship.

You know, a husband can do something

throughout the week

that feeds him not thinking well

of his wife.

A wife can do things

throughout the week

that feeds,

that nurtures,

that nourishes

a resentment

or a lack of love

or trust of her husband.

And we can do those same things

with the Lord.

And at the same time,

there are things that

a husband can do

throughout the week

that nourishes his love

for his wife.

And a wife can do things

throughout the week

that will nourish

and nurture

her love for her husband.

And there's the same thing

in terms of our relationship

with Jesus.

And so part of it,

this moment,

I'm not going to give you

a whole sermon on it.

It's just to ask the question,

Lord,

what am I doing?

What habits do I have

that nurture distrust

of you and your word?

And Lord,

could you please reveal them

to me and then help me

to put them to death?

Why?

Because Lord,

please help me,

please grip me

with the gospel

so that I will stop

habits of feeding disbelief

and lack of trust in you.

And if you cover up

the next point,

that would be great.

And Lord,

please grip me

with the gospel

so that I will grow habits

that feed belief

and trust in you.

And ask the Lord,

Lord,

what can I be doing this week?

If you're going to help me

to stop doing those things

that feed disbelief

and lack of trust

and lack of belief

in your word,

Lord,

I don't want to just be,

I want to,

I know I need to keep eating.

I need to feed.

By nature,

I seek nourishment.

So Lord,

help me to understand

what I can be doing

that nourish belief.

See,

that's one of the reasons

why small groups

are so important

for so many people.

that not only

that you spend time,

it's out of that time

you build relationships

so that when you're really

having a hard time

you can go say,

you can say,

you know,

Bob,

can I have a beer with you?

I just need to talk

about some things

that are going on.

It's how you do life

with each other.

It's,

whether it's a small group

or through a men's ministry

or a woman's ministry

or relationships

or whatever it is,

one of the,

those things can be

so important

on top of our devotions

and other types of things.

But the main thing is,

Lord,

show me what I can do,

what I am able to do,

what I must do

that I will feed

and nourish

and nurture belief in you

and the gospel

and what you said,

that your words are true

and trustworthy and wise,

even if they go against

all of the glitz

and all of the world,

whatever the world says

is right

with all of its glitz

and all of its authority

and all of its self-confidence

and it goes against your word.

Lord,

I just want to believe you

and what you said,

that it's wise

in the face of this

which wants to crush me

into its own mold.

I want to be molded

by the gospel,

by this wonderful word,

Jesus,

that I am blessed

because I believe in you

without having seen.

And that's why

this whole book is written.

Look at verse 30 and 31.

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.

Please stand.

Just bow our heads in prayer.

If there are any here

who have not yet

believed

or trust in Jesus,

there's no better time

than right now

to just call out to him

and say,

it might even be,

Lord,

I believe,

help my unbelief.

That's a biblical prayer.

One I am very familiar

with in my own life.

Lord,

I want to be yours.

I want to be,

I want to trust

that you are my Savior

and my Lord

and I turn to you,

I give myself to you,

I acknowledge

that I have been

in enmity with you

and I want,

that you have made

my peace with God

and I want that.

I want to be at peace

with you, Lord.

And so,

Jesus,

be my Savior and Lord.

Use your own words,

but you can call out

to him right now

that that would be

the new story

of your life

and then say,

Lord,

please feed my,

feed,

help me to,

help me to know

how to feed belief

and help me to know

how to starve disbelief

and for all of us here,

those are prayers

for us to pray.

So let's pray.

Father,

you know right now

the different ways

that each of us here

nourishes disbelief

and distrust.

Father,

every one of us

has them.

None of us

is better than the other

in terms of

that never happens to us.

Father,

you know that some of us

do it,

we're just blind to it.

We actually think

maybe it's wisdom

when it's actually

just starving belief

and feeding disbelief.

So,

Father,

we ask for a wonderful work

of your Holy Spirit

that you would convict us

of those ways

that we are nourishing

disbelief and distrust

in your Son

and his word.

And,

Father,

help us to put that

to death

to no longer go there.

And,

Father,

we ask that you would,

by your Holy Spirit,

you would convict us

once again

of those things

that we can do

that build belief

and trust in you.

Father,

pour out the Holy Spirit

upon us

and lead us

to develop these habits.

Habits,

Father,

ultimately of grace

and mercy

that come from you.

Father,

help us to do that.

We ask these things

in the name of Jesus

and all God's people said,

Amen.