My Lord and My God!

All right, well as we come to God's Word this morning, we are picking up the story again where we left off.

We're in John chapter 20, and we heard last Sunday what John's experience was, the day that Jesus rose from the dead.

John 20 · chapter mention

It all started for John when Mary Magdalene showed up at the front door with news that Jesus' body had been stolen.

We heard how John and Peter ran to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, empty.

And even though they didn't see angels or Jesus, John told us that this was the moment that he believed.

We ended last Sunday with Mary knocking on John's door again, so to speak.

But this time with the news that she had seen Jesus alive.

Now we're about to hear what happened later that same day.

Let's pick up the story.

John chapter 20, verse 19.

John 20:19

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders,

Jesus came and stood among them and said, peace be with you.

After he said this, he showed them his hands and side.

The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

So this is the moment when John first sees Jesus alive after he had risen from the dead.

He had to wait the whole day until the evening before he got his turn.

And Luke, in his gospel, is the one who describes this occasion, this appearing of Jesus that evening in the fullest detail.

Luke describes how earlier in the afternoon, Jesus had appeared to Cleopas and his friend on the way to Emmaus,

a little town just down the road from Jerusalem.

And Jesus had walked with them, though they didn't recognize him.

And then he had a meal with them at their house in the evening.

And Cleopas and his friend recognized Jesus.

And Luke tells us that at that moment, Jesus vanished right before their eyes.

And Luke tells us that Cleopas and his friend then got up at once and returned to Jerusalem.

And when they got to Jerusalem, Cleopas and his friend found the eleven disciples all gathered together.

Eleven because Judas is no longer part of the group.

And the disciples were saying, according to Luke,

It's true, the Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.

That is, Simon Peter.

And then Cleopas and his friend share about their encounter with Jesus alive.

And Luke will go on to tell much more about this occasion when Jesus appears in the evening than John does.

But what does John remember from that awesome moment when he first saw Jesus alive?

Well, first, there is the unexplainable surprise of the moment.

Look at how John describes this.

He says, Jesus came and stood among them.

But from where?

And how?

It's as if one moment Jesus wasn't there.

And the next moment, there he was.

Standing.

Right there in the room.

It's like he just appears seemingly out of nowhere.

And John mentions a significant detail that Luke chose to leave out.

He says, we were all together and we had the doors locked.

We had the doors locked.

Now, this wasn't a case of how it sometimes is with you and your car when you drive to the city.

Most of you, I hope, lock your car when you park it somewhere in the city.

That's a prudent thing to do in a fallen world.

That's good stewardship.

But probably most of you who are drivers have had that moment where you wonder to yourself,

did I lock the car?

Some of you have long forgotten those days because you have one of those fancy new cars

that locks itself when the remote gets far enough away.

But I still have one of those old vehicles and I still ask that question from time to time.

Did I lock the van door?

I better go back and I better check.

But this was different.

John and everyone else in the room, they knew that the doors were locked.

And they knew why.

We were afraid, says John.

We were afraid of the Jewish leaders.

Now, let's dig into this fear a little bit.

Most likely, if the crucifixion had been the end of the story of Jesus,

they wouldn't have been afraid of the Jewish leaders.

Most of the anger and the hatred and the jealousy of the leaders was fixated on Jesus.

But now, with Jesus gone, their leader gone,

we won't have to worry too much about his disciples.

We saw how they scattered that night in the garden when we arrested him.

But now that word is getting around that Jesus has risen from the dead,

the tomb is empty and there's no body of Jesus to be found.

Well, this changes things.

Matthew tells us in his gospel that the soldiers who had stood guard at the tomb,

they came and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened earlier that morning.

That would include the earthquake.

That would include the angelic being who rolled the stone away from the entrance and sat on it,

after which probably the soldiers fled in fear.

And the chief priests, when they met with the soldiers,

they gave them a bribe and told them,

you are to say,

his disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.

So we can imagine that now the disciples are indeed quite afraid.

Afraid of the religious leaders.

They definitely, the religious leaders,

they definitely don't believe Jesus has risen from the dead.

And all they need to discredit,

the resurrection of Jesus entirely,

is the body of Jesus,

to show the public the body of Jesus.

Jesus couldn't have risen from the dead.

No, his followers must have stolen the body.

And now they're claiming that he rose from the dead.

They have the body.

We've got to find them.

And the body.

So they had the doors locked because they were afraid.

And this is what caught John by surprise.

Like, what?

Where did he come from?

How did he get in here?

Much like Jesus vanished from the table in an instant

before the very eyes of Cleopas and his friend,

here Jesus seems to appear miraculously out of nowhere.

There was no other explanation for how he got in here.

So Jesus appears and he greets them.

Peace be with you.

It's actually a very ordinary greeting.

It's the same greeting that's still used today by the Jews in Hebrew.

It's a shalom, alachem.

Peace be with you or peace be upon you.

And then John describes how Jesus showed them his hands and his side.

This was the proof that it was really Jesus.

Even though his body had been resurrected and made new,

it seems God saw fit to leave him with scars.

These were to be identifying marks.

Remember, John is the one who told us about the spear

that was thrust into Jesus' dead body on the cross.

And here John points out that not only did he have scars on his hands from the nails,

but also there was a scar on his side in the same place that John watched the spear go in.

It was beyond the shadow of a doubt.

The same Jesus.

They watched die.

Now alive again in their presence.

And at this point, John tells us how seeing Jesus made them all feel.

He says in verse 20,

We were overjoyed.

Literally.

They rejoiced.

This was a very happy moment.

A moment of celebration.

Excitement.

Wonder.

Awe.

John could finally say with the women.

With Peter.

With Cleopas.

I have seen the Lord.

But now John tells us about some things that Jesus said and did that evening

that Luke chose to leave out of his account.

Verse 21.

Again, Jesus said,

Peace be with you.

As the Father has sent me,

I am sending you.

And with that,

He breathed on them and said,

Receive the Holy Spirit.

If you forgive anyone's sins,

their sins are forgiven.

If you do not forgive them,

they are not forgiven.

Now this little snippet of what John has recorded

has caused all kinds of debate and discussion

amongst Christians for generations.

The first thing that Jesus does here

is to commission them to His service.

And this is not new.

This is basically the same thing that Jesus prayed

three days earlier during His high priestly prayer.

Remember back to John chapter 17,

John 17:18

verse 18.

Jesus talking to His Father said,

As you sent me into the world,

I have sent them into the world.

And now here again,

He says basically the same thing,

but instead,

directly to His disciples.

As the Father has sent me,

I am sending you.

Now this,

I think,

is most likely something Jesus said

to commission them as apostles,

rather than a generic sending of all believers

to preach the gospel.

And I won't get into the fuller discussion

for why this morning,

for the sake of time,

but there are some who do see this

as a more general commissioning of all Christians

to represent Christ in the world.

Then there's what Jesus says in verse 23.

He says,

If you forgive anyone's sins,

their sins are forgiven.

If you do not forgive them,

they are not forgiven.

Now these words have been debated a lot.

Probably, though,

we can all agree that there's some sense

of special authority being granted

to the ones Jesus is sending.

And so that's why I'm inclined to think

that this sending has to do

with them being apostles

and not just typical Christian followers.

Let's talk about this verse 23 for a minute.

If you forgive anyone's sins,

their sins are forgiven.

If you do not forgive them,

they are not forgiven.

What do we do with this?

What does it mean?

Some might point to this saying of Jesus

to suggest that we cannot directly confess

our sins to God.

We must go through a priest

or a member of the clergy.

But is Jesus saying that from now on,

other people will need the apostles

to find forgiveness from God?

I don't think so.

That's not the way the rest of the Bible

points us.

Other people, perhaps in reaction to that,

will explain this statement

in a way that basically flips it

upside down completely

to mean the very opposite

of what it seems to mean.

They'll say something like,

well, it doesn't mean that the apostles

will have any special authority from God

to forgive sins.

Because actually,

you know, maybe it means

that because God has already decided

to forgive them,

when they go and forgive someone,

it's because God has already made that decision.

Well, that sounds interesting,

and it kind of seems to exalt

the sovereignty of God.

But we have to wonder,

did Jesus really mean

the exact opposite

of what it seems like he said?

You've got to be doing

some pretty fancy grammatical gymnastics here

to make the condition

of this statement the result.

And the result,

the condition.

And so I'll be honest.

I'm not entirely sure

what Jesus meant here,

but if I had to guess,

could it be that God gave a special role

to the apostles,

unique to them,

such that just as they would speak

the very words of God

to people,

like the prophets of old,

in the same way,

by the Spirit,

they would be able to speak authoritatively

on God's behalf,

pronouncing,

granting God's forgiveness

to those who were coming

and repenting

and putting their faith in Jesus?

And this not indefinitely,

but for this time of transition

between the old covenant

and the new covenant.

Could it be that

they would be able to say

to a person,

truly on God's behalf,

as Jesus' representatives,

whether or not God had forgiven

that person?

Perhaps God gave them

special divine knowledge

of whether people were sincere

and truly believing.

Perhaps the reason

was to make it clear

and to give assurance

that yes,

God really has forgiven you.

Maybe it was a way

during this time of transition

for God to put

His authoritative word

over who was truly in

and believed

and who was not.

perhaps a way

to protect the church

from people

who were pretenders

and insincere.

And this does seem

to fit a little

with what we see

in the book of Acts

with Ananias and Sapphira.

They are struck down

for lying to the apostles

because lying to the apostles,

as we read in that story,

with the unique role

that God had given them,

was tantamount

to lying to God

since they were the ones

He had sent.

And so Peter seems to,

on that occasion,

pronounce judgment

and Sapphira drops dead.

So that's one possibility

for what that means.

Another of the well-debated things

that Jesus said.

But then there's this other thing

that has caused

quite a lot of head-scratching

as well.

John tells how

on this evening

that Jesus rose from the dead,

he says that Jesus

breathed on them

and said,

receive the Holy Spirit.

Now if that other thing

Jesus said

didn't turn us upside down,

well this certainly does.

How come Jesus

seems to give

the Holy Spirit

to them

before the day of Pentecost?

According to John.

I mean,

the day of Pentecost

happens over 40 days

after this.

And it's that day

that we read

in the book of Acts

that God

pours out His Spirit

on His apostles.

So naturally,

some point to this

and say,

well look,

there's a contradiction there.

John didn't have

his story straight.

Or maybe it was Luke

who didn't have

his story straight.

John says,

they received

the Holy Spirit

from Jesus directly

the day that Jesus

rose from the dead.

While Luke says

it was more than

40 days later.

What do we do with this?

And there's been

no shortage of ideas

put forward here.

But most of them

boil down to one of these

three explanations.

First,

some argue

that there was only

one moment

in which Jesus

gave His Spirit.

And somehow,

this thing

that John is describing

here

is the same thing

that Luke described

in Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

And what do we do

with that 40-day gap

between the two?

Well,

perhaps they say

John is letting

the theology

control his narrative

more than

the chronology.

I'll be honest,

I just can't accept

that view

of Scripture.

That seems to undermine

its truthfulness

in my opinion.

Second,

some argue

that this was

not a moment

in which Jesus

actually gave

the Holy Spirit.

Some suggest

that He is just

giving them a promise

or a command

about the Spirit

in anticipation

of the coming

of the Spirit

which won't happen

until Pentecost.

Jesus did speak

in ways

that

seemed to

give us a sense

that time

was not the way

that we would expect it.

You know,

my hour has come.

Like,

it's here right now

but then

referring to

what?

Referring to something

that's about to happen

a week later.

He spoke about

His departure

is imminent

even though

there are yet,

there was still a week

and yet 40 days

before He would actually

go

to the Father

to stay.

And so maybe

that's what's

happening here.

Maybe this

is a giving

that starts now

with Jesus' words

and ends

with what happens

at Pentecost

when the Spirit

comes down.

That's another view.

Or,

perhaps Jesus

isn't giving the Spirit

but somehow

He's preparing them

to receive the Spirit

by breathing on them

and then

commanding them

to receive the Spirit

at that later time

when He sinned.

Certainly a respectable view

but I'm not quite sure

about it.

Finally,

the third option

that people argue for

and this is the one

that I

think makes

the most sense

is that there were

two givings

of the Holy Spirit.

And now there are

different ideas

about why there were

two givings.

Was it

that the first

was somehow

a lesser

giving

and the second

a fuller giving?

Was it

that the first

was about

them receiving

apostolic power

and authority

and the second

about them receiving

new life

and the new birth?

Or,

was it the other way around?

Now this third view

I think is the most

compelling

but I don't know

this for sure.

Perhaps it was

this evening

that at least

some of the disciples

first received

the Holy Spirit

to live in them

the night

that they were

born again

by the Spirit

as Jesus

described to

Nicodemus.

We do see

in this Gospel

of John

an emphasis

on this

that

belief

goes with

the new birth.

We heard that

back at the beginning

of John's Gospel.

Yet to all

who received him

to those who

believed in his name

he gave the right

to become

children of God

children born

of God.

So this is probably

the moment

in the story

when many of the

disciples first

believed

that Jesus

rose from the dead.

The moment

they first knew

beyond the shadow

of a doubt

that he was

who he said he was.

According to that

kind of an understanding

or view of this

then what happens

40 days later

would be a second

different encounter

with God's spirit

where God

pours out his spirit

for empowering

and for the work

of being apostles

and proclaiming

the news

and you see

those manifestations

like tongues

and speaking

in other languages

the gifting required

for that apostolic work.

I think it has

the most going for it

that view

but again

I don't know for sure

whatever conclusion

we come to

it has to fit

with the reality

that we're about

to see here

that one of the disciples

one of the apostles

was actually not here

in the room

at this moment

when Jesus appeared

and gave his spirit.

Verse 24

Now Thomas

also known as Didymus

one of the twelve

was not with the disciples

when Jesus came

so the other disciples

told him

we have seen the Lord

but he said to them

unless I see

the nail marks

in his hands

and put my finger

where the nails were

and put my hand

into his side

I will not believe.

So kind of like

Mary Magdalene

seemed to miss out

on the first appearance

of Jesus

to the women

now we hear

that Thomas

misses out

on this big moment

that evening.

Can you imagine

this for Thomas?

put yourself

in his shoes

as much as you can

for a second

like man

all my friends

are going crazy

they're out of their minds

first it was the women

claiming to see angels

and that Jesus is alive

then it was Mary Magdalene

and then now Peter

and now Cleopas

and Thomas it seems

just wasn't buying it.

you've got to be kidding me

risen from the dead?

It doesn't happen

very rare

in the Old Testament

wouldn't it be great

if it was true?

And now can you imagine

how Thomas is feeling

when all ten

of the other disciples

are now claiming

to have seen Jesus

how convenient

right after Thomas

left the room

because it seems

he was there earlier

according to Luke

but Thomas wasn't there

he hadn't seen it

Thomas makes it clear

I can't believe it

I just can't believe it

unless I see

the nail marks

in his hands

for myself

unless I put my finger

in that spot

where the nail was

put my hand

into his side

I will not believe it

you've got to wonder

what was going on

in Thomas' mind

in his heart

was it deep

anguish

and grief

and man

I just

if this isn't real

I just can't get on

that emotional

roller coaster

and go

and all to find out

it's just a disappointment

it didn't happen

or was there

some kind of

deeply embedded

nagging

skepticism

that just

was rising up

in his heart

or was it a combination

unless

I

see

the nail marks

in his hands

and put my finger

where the nails were

put my hand

into his side

I will not believe

notice that

for Thomas

there is something

that will prove it

beyond the shadow

of a doubt

for him

and again

it has to do

with the nail marks

it has to do

with the spear mark

Thomas is saying

something here

he too

was an eyewitness

of Jesus' crucifixion

he saw the nails

pounded in

he watched

as the spear

was thrust

into Jesus' body

whatever these guys

saw the other night

maybe it was

someone else

pretending to be

Jesus

a lookalike

or something

I don't know

but for me

the proof

that it really

is him

risen from the dead

will be if he has

the scars

in all the right places

and if I can

touch them

and feel it

and see it

for myself

and if I don't

I will not

go along with this

verse 26

a week later

his disciples

were in the house

again

and Thomas

was with them

though the doors

were locked

Jesus came

and stood

among them

and said

peace

be with you

exactly

one week later

Jesus appears

to them all again

and this time

Thomas is there

Jesus gives

the same greeting

as last time

peace be with you

and then he turns

and speaks

directly

to Thomas

put your finger

here

see

my hands

reach out

your hand

and put it

into my side

stop

doubting

and believe

Thomas said

to him

my Lord

and my God

then Jesus

told him

because you

have seen me

you have

believed

blessed

are those

who have

not seen

and yet

have believed

when someone

is deeply

skeptical

how you

change their

mind

how do you

get them

to see

the truth

that you

know

some of us

know

from our

conversations

with people

that sometimes

it takes

a miracle

and that's

what makes

this eyewitness

moment

for Thomas

so compelling

what could

possibly take

Thomas

from doubting

so deeply

that even

though ten

of his best

friends

and a bunch

of others

are saying

Jesus is

alive

I'm telling

you

we saw

him

the other

night

what could

take him

from doubting

that so

deeply

to now

saying

my Lord

and my

God

Jesus

changed

his heart

and his

mind

in an

instant

he appeared

and if his

appearance

alone

with the

doors locked

wasn't

enough

it was

what Jesus

said to

Thomas

when he

appeared

it was

as if

Jesus

had heard

the very

words

Thomas

had been

saying

to the

other

disciples

throughout

the week

Thomas

had been

saying

unless

I

see

where the

nails

went in

and put

my finger

there

unless

I

reach

into

and touch

the side

where the

spear

went in

I will

not

believe

and it's

as if

Jesus

heard

every word

of that

he knew

that Thomas

had said

it

and now

he looks

Thomas

straight into

the eye

and says

put your

finger here

see

see

stop

doubting

and believe

and Thomas

is so

floored by

this

he bursts

out in an

expression of

worship

my Lord

and my

God

he owns

Jesus

as his

God

it wasn't

just the

miraculous

appearance

at least

I don't

think so

that caused

this response

but how

deeply

exposed

Thomas

felt

in this

moment

it was like

it just

hit home

right there

Jesus

knew

everything

that Thomas

had been

saying

throughout

the week

he knew

it word

for word

as only

God

can

he knew

Thomas's

heart

the doubt

that was

in there

as only

God

can

and so

Thomas

acknowledges

Jesus

not just

as Messiah

not just

as Lord

but my

Lord

and my

God

what a

sweet

reunion

for Thomas

the

disciple

who

had

missed

out

and

there's

a lesson

in this

for all

of us

Jesus

brings

that

out

with

what

he

says

next

verse

29

because

you have

seen

me

you have

believed

blessed

are those

who have

not seen

and yet

have

believed

as we

mentioned

a little

bit

last

Sunday

for

Thomas

seeing

was

believing

it

took

seeing

for him

to

believe

but

for the

rest

of the

world

and

coming

generations

who

didn't

witness

firsthand

the

coming

of

Christ

and

the

resurrection

of

Jesus

for

the

rest

of

us

believing

must

come

without

seeing

without

seeing

it

firsthand

anyway

and

Jesus

says

there's

a

special

blessing

of

God

there is

favor

of

God

which

comes

to

those

who

simply

take

him

at

his

word

and

believe

without

having

witnessed

like

Thomas

just

did

and

so

I

want

to

draw

this

to a

close

by

asking

you

a

personal

question

where

are

you

at

in

your

relationship

with

Jesus

with

God

do

you

truly

believe

in

your

heart

in

your

heart

of

hearts

are

you

skeptical

are

you

waiting

for

God

to

appear

to

you

or

to

give

you

a

sign

God

is

inviting

you

right

here

right

now

through

these

words

to

put

your

faith

to

put

your

trust

your

belief

in

him

now

without

having

to

see

him

do

you

believe

this

is

the

whole

reason

that

John

has

written

this

account

of

Jesus

story

from

start

to

finish

verse

30

Jesus

performed

many

other

signs

in

the

presence

of

his

disciples

which

are

not

recorded

in

this

book

but

these

are

written

that

you

may

believe

that

Jesus

is

the

Messiah

the

Son

of

God

and

that

by

believing

you

may

have

life

in

his

name

it's

like

John

saying

I'm

telling

you

what

I

witnessed

I'm

telling

you

everything

I

saw

what

I

heard

about

Jesus

for

your

benefit

I

didn't

even

write

down

everything

in

here

that

Jesus

did

I

couldn't

as

we'll

hear

next

Sunday

I

didn't

have

space

for

all

that

he

did

and

said

but

the

things

I

wrote

were

for

this

purpose

it

was

so

that

you

might

have

the

opportunity

to

see

through

my

eyes

what

really

happened

and

to

know

it

that

he

rose

from

the

dead

and

that

you

might

believe

and

find

that

life

that

eternal

life

that

Jesus

preached

about

for

yourself

through

John

God

himself

is

asking

for

your

response

to

all

of

this

that

we've

been

hearing

every

Sunday

in

the

gospel

of

John

God

is

looking

not

for

skepticism

not

for

doubt

like

Thomas

had

but

for

faith

for

trust

for

belief

will

you

give

that

to

God

will

you

bow

before

him

as

your

Lord

and

your

God

will

you

surrender

your

life

completely

to

him

devote

yourself

to

him

not

just

as

an

interesting

figure

worth

learning

a little

bit

of

wisdom

from

but

as

the

very

God

of

heaven

and

earth

the

one

who

knows

all

things

the

one

who

is

worthy

of

your

entire

life

your

entire

everything

your

worship

your

devotion

what's

your

response

let's

pray

father

in

heaven

we

thank

you

for

the

testimony

of

Thomas

strikes

a

chord

with

some

of

us

and

you

know

Lord

the

doubts

that

have

risen

in

our

minds

at

times

the

wonderings

love

and

we

ask

you

forgive

us

for

our

moments

of

unbelief

we

ask

that

you

would

give

us

eyes

to

see

the

truth

and

that

we

would

put

our

trust

in

you

Lord

Jesus

and

that

we

would

own

you

as

our

God

you

are

worthy

I

pray

that

you

would

live

in

each

one

of

our

hearts

powerfully

as

our

Lord

it's

in your

name

we

pray

amen

amen

Thank you.