SPEAKER_00: John twenty, chapter nineteen, thirty-one.
SPEAKER_00: On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, Peace be with you.
SPEAKER_00: When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his sight.
SPEAKER_00: Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you.
SPEAKER_00: As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.
SPEAKER_00: And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them.
SPEAKER_00: If you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.
SPEAKER_00: Now Thomas, one of the twelve called the twin, was not with them when Jesus came.
SPEAKER_00: So the disciples told him, We have seen the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: But he said to them, Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.
SPEAKER_00: Eight days later his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them.
SPEAKER_00: Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace be with you.
SPEAKER_00: Then he said to Thomas, Put your finger here and see my hands, and put your hand and place it in my side.
SPEAKER_00: Do not disbelieve, but believe.
SPEAKER_00: Thomas answered him, My Lord and my God.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said to him, Have you believed because you have seen me?
SPEAKER_00: Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.
SPEAKER_00: Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book.
SPEAKER_00: But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you have life in his name.
SPEAKER_00: And so reached God's word.
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes they say, if you're new, you're very welcome.
SPEAKER_02: But if you're if you're if you've been here a while with us, you're also very welcome.
SPEAKER_02: As Mark said, we're in our penultimate week of John's Gospel.
SPEAKER_02: And we're in the penultimate um chapter of John's Gospel, actually, as well.
SPEAKER_02: So John chapter 20.
SPEAKER_02: We looked at it last week, um, the first half, and we're looking at the second half uh today.
SPEAKER_02: Uh I too was looking through the archives at when uh at what we've we've done in John.
SPEAKER_02: I didn't count them up, I can't count.
SPEAKER_02: Um but um we started looking at John's Gospel in September 2021, a year and a half ago.
SPEAKER_02: We um paused then um for a while.
SPEAKER_02: Uh we got we got to um where was it?
SPEAKER_02: We got to this we got to John 12 this time last year uh for the triumphal entry um Palm Sunday, that's where we stopped, and then we picked up again this past January.
SPEAKER_02: And one of the that that we usually do that at City, we we usually preach through uh books, and one of the really interesting things about doing that, um certainly for the second half of John since um since January is that only a week has passed between John 12 and uh this first half of John 20.
SPEAKER_02: So we'll see when Jesus appears to the disciples first, that's the first Easter Sunday, that's that evening, and then when he appears to Thomas, it's a week later, which happens to be today is a week after Easter.
SPEAKER_02: So it's it's helpful even in kind of um positioning us in the timeline.
SPEAKER_02: Um so yeah, a huge amount has happened uh in the previous few days for the disciples, let alone the previous week, and so we can we can understand where they're at and why Thomas was doubting potentially.
SPEAKER_02: I once uh worked with a guy um who said he didn't believe in God, and I'm sure you work with plenty of people who would say that.
SPEAKER_02: And his reason was that when he was younger, he had prayed and he made a deal with God.
SPEAKER_02: He didn't tell me exact the exact details of what he prayed, but it was something along the lines of asking God to prove himself.
SPEAKER_02: He wanted God to prove himself in a particular way.
SPEAKER_02: He said something like, God, if you do this, then I'll believe in you.
SPEAKER_02: But according to him, God didn't follow through on his side of the deal.
SPEAKER_02: And so that was it.
SPEAKER_02: He wasn't going to believe in God, he just left it at that.
SPEAKER_02: And God had let him down, God didn't exist.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe you're like that, maybe you're unsure.
SPEAKER_02: Or maybe you might be wondering why God doesn't answer prayers like that for my colleague.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe you felt like God has let you down, or maybe you struggle with unbelief.
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes those prayers could be something like, uh, Lord, if you do this, I'll stop sinning, or Lord, if you do this, I'll go to this far flung place and serve the poor for the rest of my life.
SPEAKER_02: And I've no doubt countless of those prayers.
SPEAKER_02: So many of those prayers have been offered with the utmost sincerity, and sometimes God uses those.
SPEAKER_02: But what happens if, like with my colleague, if God doesn't follow through on his side of the deal?
SPEAKER_02: Where's your confidence then?
SPEAKER_02: And there's other reasons for unbelief.
SPEAKER_02: We say things like that couldn't possibly be true, because something seems beyond the bounds of possibility.
SPEAKER_02: It's impossible.
SPEAKER_02: For many, unbelief comes following suffering and tragedy.
SPEAKER_02: Whether they themselves have experienced suffering and tragedy, or they've witnessed a close family member or a friend suffer, or if it's just the very existence of suffering at all, questions and doubts arise about God, about his goodness, about his sovereignty and control, and maybe even his existence.
SPEAKER_02: If you're looking in on the Bible, if you're looking in on Christianity, if you're looking in on the church, you probably have these same questions.
SPEAKER_02: You probably have these same doubts.
SPEAKER_02: And even some of you who would call yourself a Christian, maybe you have some of these questions and doubts too, or maybe you have in the past, or you know people who have these doubts.
SPEAKER_02: Whoever you are, no matter how strong your faith, you're in good company asking these questions.
SPEAKER_02: And John chapter 20, in particular, addresses these doubts for us all in a very, very personal and a very, very real way.
SPEAKER_02: Many of you will know about the disciple Thomas, who got the name Doubting Thomas from this passage.
SPEAKER_02: See, the other disciples having seen Jesus, they tell Thomas that he's alive, but Thomas doesn't believe them.
SPEAKER_02: He doesn't believe their testimony, he doubts it.
SPEAKER_02: See, his whole world was turned upside down on Good Friday.
SPEAKER_02: And not long before Good Friday, Thomas had witnessed Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.
SPEAKER_02: He saw Jesus being welcomed into Jerusalem by the crowds on Palm Sunday.
SPEAKER_02: He'd probably spent that whole entire week up to the Last Supper with Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: And despite the fact that the Pharisees were plotting to kill Jesus, um, but now Jesus has been taken away.
SPEAKER_02: He's seen him being that he's been taken away, he was mocked, he was humiliated, and he was killed.
SPEAKER_02: His whole world is turned upside down.
SPEAKER_02: And now he and the other disciples, they're together in a locked room for fear of the Jews.
SPEAKER_02: Perhaps he felt guilty too for deserting Jesus, but he must have felt so let down and utterly dejected.
SPEAKER_02: Like we've seen throughout the Gospel of John that many people saw miracles and signs that the ones that Jesus performed, and even though they believed him, they they didn't confess it for fear of the Pharisees, for fear they'd be put out of the Jewish synagogue.
SPEAKER_02: Because they loved, we're told in John, that they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
SPEAKER_02: We saw people in chapter six, a long time ago, in terms of us looking through John, but we saw people at the end of chapter six where Jesus fed the five thousand, and then many, many people who John describes as disciples, they turned away because Jesus said hard things.
SPEAKER_02: But Thomas was one of the disciples.
SPEAKER_02: He was one of the twelve disciples, one who was known to be a follower of Jesus, one in fact whom Jesus had chosen.
SPEAKER_02: Even someone as close as Thomas had questions and doubts.
SPEAKER_02: That's why I said you're in good company.
SPEAKER_02: Thomas had plenty of reasons for unbelief, and many of you do too.
SPEAKER_02: You see, in 25, that's where we see his unbelief, verse 25, unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.
SPEAKER_02: That's quite similar to what I was just talking about with people asking God to prove himself.
SPEAKER_02: Can you blame him for doubting?
SPEAKER_02: You can at least understand why he didn't believe what the other disciples had said.
SPEAKER_02: Thomas has reasons for unbelief, and we face these same reasons.
SPEAKER_02: Things like, surely it's impossible.
SPEAKER_02: God hasn't come through for me.
SPEAKER_02: Or I've experienced tragedy and suffering.
SPEAKER_02: Firstly, people they don't just rise from the dead.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if you know that.
SPEAKER_02: Um imagine being Thomas.
SPEAKER_02: What he knew, like we said, was Good Friday.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus was dead, he was in the tomb, and then the other disciples were telling him that they had seen the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: But Thomas thought, that's impossible.
SPEAKER_02: He's dead.
SPEAKER_02: Despite the certainty with which the disciples and Mary Magdalene spoke, I'm sure Thomas was explaining away what they were saying because it seemed impossible to him that they saw Jesus since he was dead.
SPEAKER_02: It's impossible that a dead man could be alive.
SPEAKER_02: You might wonder if we should criticize Thomas for his unbelief, and certainly doubting Thomas getting that name um kind of feels like a criticism.
SPEAKER_02: Because, like, didn't didn't Jesus say that this would happen?
SPEAKER_02: And wasn't Thomas there when he when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead?
SPEAKER_02: They are true, but there's a couple of things to be fair to Thomas.
SPEAKER_02: Um for one, the the the the one who called Lazarus out of the grave is now in the grave himself, so who's gonna call Lazarus or who's gonna call Jesus out of the tomb?
SPEAKER_02: Um and just because Lazarus was raised doesn't mean that it'll happen again, and I'll say it again, Jesus was dead.
SPEAKER_02: He was in the tomb.
SPEAKER_02: If something is impossible, that's a pretty good reason for unbelief.
SPEAKER_02: That's certainly a huge reason that Thomas doesn't believe, but he must be so spiritually disappointed too, thinking that God hasn't come through for him, that Jesus had failed him.
SPEAKER_02: This is the dejected and unbelieving Thomas we meet here who says that in verse 25.
SPEAKER_02: Unless I place my hand in the mark of the nails, unless I place my hand into his side, I will never believe.
SPEAKER_02: So cast down.
SPEAKER_02: And without the resurrection, the cross is just death.
SPEAKER_02: It's the end, it's darkness.
SPEAKER_02: That's where Thomas is at.
SPEAKER_02: He had followed Jesus for years, and now he's gone.
SPEAKER_02: Have you felt like God hasn't come through for you before?
SPEAKER_02: Perhaps you f you feel like that now.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe it's not just that Jesus that God hasn't come through for you in the way you thought, that you're questioning his sovereignty, um, but that you're questioning his goodness too.
SPEAKER_02: Thomas witnessed the greatest injustice that's ever taken place, the suffering of his Lord and the greatest tragedy.
SPEAKER_02: It's not hard to imagine Thomas Downing not only that Jesus was alive, but that God is good.
SPEAKER_02: Perhaps you're here too.
SPEAKER_02: You might be questioning God's goodness because you're suffering, because you've experienced tragedy.
SPEAKER_02: This is what Jesus steps into here in John 20.
SPEAKER_02: He steps into the midst of his disciples where they're at.
SPEAKER_02: He meets Thomas where he's at, even when they're gathered behind locked doors for fear of the Jews.
SPEAKER_02: And this is where Jesus comes to meet us in the midst of our questions, our doubts, our fears, our suffering, our humanity, and our unbelief.
SPEAKER_02: So we're going to look at the passage to see how Jesus helps his disciples believe.
SPEAKER_02: We're going to look at uh three parts there.
SPEAKER_02: Firstly, there's the disciples in verses 19 to 20, the first uh two verses of our passage.
SPEAKER_02: Then there's Thomas a bit later in verses 26 to 28, and we'll see how he helps us to believe from verses 29 to 31.
SPEAKER_02: And we'll come back to verses uh 21 to 23 later for anybody who was uh keeping an eye on what verses I was calling out.
SPEAKER_02: So, first of all, Jesus helps the disciples to believe.
SPEAKER_02: Remember, he's coming in the midst of their behind locked doors and he comes to meet them.
SPEAKER_02: So, yeah, last week we saw uh that was Easter morning.
SPEAKER_02: Uh, Jesus appears uh well, first of all, sorry, Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb and she finds it's empty.
SPEAKER_02: Um, and she told the disciples, Peter and John ran there to discover that the grave clothes were the only thing there, there was no body there.
SPEAKER_02: Then we're told they go back to their homes, and Jesus then speaks with Mary Magdalene.
SPEAKER_02: That's the first half of John 20.
SPEAKER_02: Um, and next in the in the narrative is that evening of the first Easter Sunday, uh, that where where our passage starts.
SPEAKER_02: The disciples were hiding, they scared that the Jews might get hold of them since they had followed Jesus, and it was the it was the Jewish leaders, it was the Pharisees who had uh orchestrated uh Jesus' death, and now they're scared that they're going to come after the disciples, too.
SPEAKER_02: How would they not fear?
SPEAKER_02: They'd all be feeling those same things as Thomas and that we had just been talking about.
SPEAKER_02: So we find them together behind locked doors.
SPEAKER_02: So Jesus comes to them.
SPEAKER_02: I don't want you to miss how beautiful and significant it is that Jesus comes to them.
SPEAKER_02: They're locked away behind closed doors, but Jesus comes to them.
SPEAKER_02: He seeks them out, he stands in the midst of these fearful men, bringing them peace by his presence and his word.
SPEAKER_02: There's some songs we sing at City that often make me well up for different reasons.
SPEAKER_02: Uh, but one that nearly always brings me to tears is Jesus Strong and Kind.
SPEAKER_02: It's one of our kids' songs.
SPEAKER_02: Um, but the lyrics are just so beautiful.
SPEAKER_02: The verses, I don't know if you can recall them, but the verses uh say that if we're thirsty or weak or if we fear, we should come to him because no one else can satisfy.
SPEAKER_02: He'll be our strength and shield.
SPEAKER_02: He's good and faithful.
SPEAKER_02: But then the last verse says, and this is where the emotions get me.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus said, If I am lost, he will come to me.
SPEAKER_02: And he showed me on that cross that he will come to me.
SPEAKER_02: We're all lost and in need of Jesus, and so he comes to us.
SPEAKER_02: The disciples were lost and afraid, so Jesus comes to them, he stands in their midst and he brings peace.
SPEAKER_02: The ESV, which we read from earlier, and I'm reading from now, um, it says that the disciples were glad uh when Jesus had said this.
SPEAKER_02: You'll see in verse at the end of verse 20.
SPEAKER_02: But this can be translated as rejoiced, which I think is far better.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe it's just how we use the word glad.
SPEAKER_02: Like it wouldn't be uh it wouldn't be incorrect to say that Dan was glad that Lizzie said uh yes to marrying him.
SPEAKER_02: Uh but that would probably uh that would probably be an underestimation.
SPEAKER_02: Would that be right?
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
SPEAKER_02: Um and so I think it's much better to describe the disciples' reaction here to Jesus appearing among them as being joy and delight.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus showed that it really was him and he spoke to them, and now their fear has turned to being overjoyed.
SPEAKER_02: And that's how we respond when Jesus comes to us, when we see and hear him.
SPEAKER_02: Be overjoyed when you encounter him.
SPEAKER_02: The beauty of this is coupled with the supernatural power of Jesus in his resurrected body, which we should note, and this helps the disciples to believe that Jesus is God.
SPEAKER_02: It's clear that Jesus is somewhat different after his resurrection, as we saw last week.
SPEAKER_02: Um, I don't know if you're you might remember uh or or um look back up at the top half of John chapter 20, but Mary Magdalene didn't recognize him straight away.
SPEAKER_02: Um it wasn't until he spoke her name.
SPEAKER_02: And now we see Jesus seemingly defying the laws of locked doors, however, he did that, um, and appearing among them, showing that he is God.
SPEAKER_02: So Jesus helps the disciples to believe, coming to them where they're at, uh, fearful.
SPEAKER_02: Then Jesus helps Thomas to believe.
SPEAKER_02: So we're going to look at verses 26 to 28.
SPEAKER_02: And evidently Thomas wasn't with the other disciples when Jesus appeared to them on that first Easter Sunday, and so Jesus comes especially to him, helping him to believe.
SPEAKER_02: Thomas doesn't believe the disciples' testimony, even going further than what they had said about Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: They had said that Jesus had showed them his hands on his side, and he says, Unless I see, unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, that's what Jesus had shown them.
SPEAKER_02: But then he goes further and says, And place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side that I will never believe.
SPEAKER_02: So Jesus makes this second, this similar appearance the following week, when Thomas is there, especially for Thomas.
SPEAKER_02: And he goes, he goes as far as Thomas requests, not only showing him the wounds, but inviting him to touch them, to place his fingers in the mark of the nails and his hand in Jesus' side.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus comes especially to Thomas, answering the questions he has to help him believe.
SPEAKER_02: And he encourages Thomas by saying, Do not disbelieve, but believe.
SPEAKER_02: How kind and personal Jesus is, even with a disciple who doubted like Thomas.
SPEAKER_02: Here we discover the again the importance of words.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus showed himself to Mary and then the disciples, and now to Thomas, even inviting him to touch his wounds, but in each case he speaks to them.
SPEAKER_02: The clearest uh example of this was last week when Jesus spoke Mary's name and she recognized and believed him.
SPEAKER_02: When Jesus comes to his disciples, he says, Peace be with you.
SPEAKER_02: And now with Thomas, he says, Do not disbelieve, but believe.
SPEAKER_02: Meeting the resurrected Lord Jesus isn't just seeing, it's hearing.
SPEAKER_02: Faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.
SPEAKER_02: So Thomas believes.
SPEAKER_02: He has faith, having seen the risen Lord Jesus, touching his wounds, and hearing him say, Do not disbelieve, but believe.
SPEAKER_02: And then he responds in worship, proclaiming that Jesus is his Lord and that he is God.
SPEAKER_02: And this is no small thing for a Jewish man to say, to say that Jesus is God, recognizing him as a member of the Trinity.
SPEAKER_02: And I think uh I think Thomas gets a bad rap uh for ever being known as doubting Thomas because he's actually believing Thomas, he's worshiping Thomas, he's proclaiming Jesus as God Thomas.
SPEAKER_02: And this is how we respond to hearing and believe him.
SPEAKER_02: We proclaim who Jesus is and we worship him.
SPEAKER_02: And so Jesus helps us to believe looking at verses uh 29 to 31.
SPEAKER_02: You see, Jesus helps us to believe by coming to us in his word.
SPEAKER_02: Who he is, what he's done, and what that means for us is all revealed in his word.
SPEAKER_02: That's what John tells us in verses 30 to 31, especially um yeah, 31.
SPEAKER_02: He says that all these things are written about Jesus, the signs, his interactions with people, his words throughout the book, but most significantly what we've just looked at the resurrection and the testimonies of Mary, of the disciples, of Thomas, they're all here so that we might believe.
SPEAKER_02: And what are we to believe?
SPEAKER_02: John tells us that we're to believe that he's the Christ.
SPEAKER_02: Christ is uh the word for the Old Testament Messiah, uh, who was the anointed one by God to save his people.
SPEAKER_02: That's who Jesus is.
SPEAKER_02: And we're also to believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
SPEAKER_02: And why would we believe that?
SPEAKER_02: Why would we believe that Jesus is the anointed one, the Son of God?
SPEAKER_02: Well, Jesus said that's who he was.
SPEAKER_02: Other people said it about him.
SPEAKER_02: The signs that John talks about, they show how he has fulfilled all the prophecies about Christ, about the Messiah in the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_02: And the resurrection confirms all this, without a doubt, because Jesus said he would die and rise again.
SPEAKER_02: And then he did.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus said he would rise from the dead, and then he rose from the dead.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus shows with certainty that he's divine, that he is God.
SPEAKER_02: And we're no less than the disciples and others who saw the resurrected Lord Jesus in the flesh, even though we haven't seen him.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus confirms that to us in his comment to Thomas in verse 29.
SPEAKER_02: You here who believe are blessed, even though you haven't seen.
SPEAKER_02: You're blessed because you've heard the word and believed.
SPEAKER_02: And how are we blessed?
SPEAKER_02: What does hearing the risen Lord Jesus and believing that he is the Christ, the Son of God, do in us?
SPEAKER_02: Well, it means we have life in his name.
SPEAKER_02: Verse 31.
SPEAKER_02: Encountering the one who rose to life and having faith in him gives us life.
SPEAKER_02: In him we have life.
SPEAKER_02: Throughout John, Jesus has shown that life is found in him.
SPEAKER_02: He's the one who satisfies every desire of ours, every hunger, every thirst.
SPEAKER_02: He gives life, he heals, he raises Lazarus from the grave, and he preserves life.
SPEAKER_02: In Jesus, we're no longer dead because he has defeated sin and death.
SPEAKER_02: We have eternal and present life in his name.
SPEAKER_02: So, like the disciples, our fear is turned to rejoicing, and like Thomas, our doubts are turned to believing and to worshiping Him.
SPEAKER_02: If you're a skeptic, we're so glad you're here.
SPEAKER_02: But ask your questions, like Thomas did.
SPEAKER_02: Explore this book.
SPEAKER_02: Explore John's gospel and see if you can say that Jesus is not the Christ, the Son of God.
SPEAKER_02: Hear the testimony of the men and women in John chapter 20 and elsewhere, many of whom went to their deaths for proclaiming Jesus, for proclaiming that he was indeed who he was, who he said he was, that he was Christ, the Son of God, that he rose again from the dead.
SPEAKER_02: Research the reality of the resurrection and see that Jesus truly died and rose, as we read about here.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus did literally and physically rise from the dead.
SPEAKER_02: Christians believed that.
SPEAKER_02: We at City believe that.
SPEAKER_02: I believe that.
SPEAKER_02: There's plenty of evidence for the resurrection of Jesus too, and you should go and look at it.
SPEAKER_02: The kids were invested, they were investigating the validity of the resurrection last week, and they concluded that Jesus rose from the dead.
SPEAKER_02: There's plenty of places you can look in and out of scripture which supports this central claim of Christians.
SPEAKER_02: This text is part of what gives us reason to believe that Jesus rose from the dead and that he is who he says he is.
SPEAKER_02: He appeared to many people in between the time of his resurrection and then his ascension.
SPEAKER_02: If you're wondering about the accuracy of these texts, then do your research.
SPEAKER_02: You can go to the Chester Beattie Library here in Dublin.
SPEAKER_02: It's beside Dublin Castle, and there's fragments of John's Gospel from the third century.
SPEAKER_02: You go over to, I can't remember the name of the library, it's over in Manchester, where there's fragments from the second century from John 18.
SPEAKER_02: There's ample evidence for the resurrection.
SPEAKER_02: Christianity rigorously holds up to historical, archaeological, and textual scrutiny.
SPEAKER_02: But if you're struggling with faith, look to Christ who comes to you.
SPEAKER_02: See his death for you in the pages of scripture, and remember it in the breaking of bread and taking of wine, which we'll share together in a few minutes.
SPEAKER_02: Know the power of his death beating resurrection, and that it means life for you.
SPEAKER_02: Hear the words Christ speaks to you in his word.
SPEAKER_02: Be encouraged by the faith of those around you when we gather and sing on Sunday mornings.
SPEAKER_02: I pray that you're empowered by the Holy Spirit, who's present in all believers, the seal of their salvation.
SPEAKER_02: And Jesus not only comes, this brings us on to our final point, that Jesus sends his disciples, including us.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus not only comes to them to bring peace and faith, but he appears to the disciples to send them out in the power of the Holy Spirit with his authority to continue the work he was doing.
SPEAKER_02: At the start of the passage, we see that Jesus knows his disciples are fearful and afraid.
SPEAKER_02: He knows they're doubting and struggling for faith, so he comes to them.
SPEAKER_02: But we see that a week later they're still meeting together behind locked doors.
SPEAKER_02: If you look at verses 19, that's where he comes the first time.
SPEAKER_02: And then in 26, they're still, I think eight days there, funny way of counting, just means a week.
SPEAKER_02: But it doesn't say in verse 26, you'll notice it doesn't say that they're behind locked doors for fear of the Jews the second time, but I think we can safely say it's for the same reason.
SPEAKER_02: That's not quite what we're expecting.
SPEAKER_02: It's not quite what I was expecting.
SPEAKER_02: Surely, having seen the risen Lord Jesus, they'd have courage.
SPEAKER_02: And they'd be out telling everyone about him.
SPEAKER_02: They'd be preaching every street corner.
SPEAKER_02: And since Jesus seems to give them the Holy Spirit in verse 22, I'm thinking about Pentecost and to the boldness with which Peter and the other disciples they spoke in Acts 2 after Jesus had ascended to heaven.
SPEAKER_02: And that's the thing you might remember through John that Jesus has said many times that it's not until he goes that he'll send the helper, he'll send the Holy Spirit then.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus isn't giving them the Holy Spirit here in John 20 like at Pentecost, but he is teaching them more about what the Holy Spirit will do in them.
SPEAKER_02: And one thing we learn from the Pentecost is that the Holy Spirit empowers and emboldens them to proclaim the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: We see that here too, in that Jesus is giving them authority, he's giving them confidence as he sends them out.
SPEAKER_02: And he's drawing them into the unity and mission of the Father and the Son, and He's giving them the authority to carry it out.
SPEAKER_02: You see, as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.
SPEAKER_02: The authority part comes in verse 23.
SPEAKER_02: He says, if you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them.
SPEAKER_02: If you withhold forgiveness from any, it's withheld.
SPEAKER_02: That might sound a bit tricky, uh, but Jesus isn't saying to the disciples that they decide who gets eternal life.
SPEAKER_02: He's not making them judges over people's souls.
SPEAKER_02: What he's saying is that as they carry out this mission, as they preach the gospel, and as the Holy Spirit Spirit works in and through them, people hear the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: They hear and believe the truth about Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: They're convicted of sin, they turn in repentance and faith, they seek God's forgiveness and they're forgiven.
SPEAKER_02: Likewise, if people, like many of those who come, we come, we've already come across in John's gospel, if they don't believe, they're convicted already.
SPEAKER_02: They're condemned already because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
SPEAKER_02: We saw that all the way back in John 3.
SPEAKER_02: And what Jesus says to the disciples here is true of all believers, that he sends us out on the same mission to tell the world that he is the Savior.
SPEAKER_02: And like with the disciples, he sends us out with the Holy Spirit working in and through us as we carry out this mission.
SPEAKER_02: This is hugely comforting and freeing for us.
SPEAKER_02: It frees us to do his work without fear that we're going to mess up.
SPEAKER_02: It's not on our own strength that we go and tell the world of our resurrected Lord Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: It's not all on us.
SPEAKER_02: The Spirit is in us, and we've been sent by Jesus as he was sent by the Father.
SPEAKER_02: I'd love to draw out more of the Trinity here and how amazing it is that it's in the context of us being sent.
SPEAKER_02: But I want to bring us back to how Jesus helps us to believe for a moment.
SPEAKER_02: Remember, I said that Jesus helps us to believe by coming to us and revealing himself in his word.
SPEAKER_02: We hear his voice as God's word is read because he is God, as Thomas so helpfully exclaims here.
SPEAKER_02: But it's not only that Jesus speaks through his word, we need the help of his Holy Spirit to understand it.
SPEAKER_02: Like we sang in our kids' song, our help to understand your word.
SPEAKER_02: The Spirit helps us to know and understand the truth, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
SPEAKER_02: So these verses give us comfort that we're not on our own.
SPEAKER_02: We have his Spirit who confirms to us who Jesus is and that we're in him.
SPEAKER_02: And not only does the Spirit help us to believe, we have confidence to proclaim the truth about Jesus so that those who hear may believe that he is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing they may have life in his name as we do.
SPEAKER_02: So if you're fearful like the disciples, if you're doubting like Thomas, if you're not experiencing life in his name, then look again at what John has written.
SPEAKER_02: Be strengthened in your faith.
SPEAKER_02: See that Jesus is who he says he is, that he is God, and that he is the anointed Savior of the world.
SPEAKER_02: Go as Jesus has sent you to proclaim to a world that is lost those same truths about Jesus, knowing that you're not alone, but that his spirit dwells in you, empowering you for that mission.
SPEAKER_02: And hear the words of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Peace be with you.
SPEAKER_02: Do not disbelieve, but believe and then turn to worship him.