WEBVTT 00:00:00.719 --> 00:00:01.520 Good morning. 00:00:01.840 --> 00:00:02.560 Good morning. 00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:09.279 Today's scripture reading is from John chapter 20, verses 24 to 29. 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:11.839 Actually to 31, excuse me. 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:17.120 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:21.039 So the other disciples told him, We have seen the Lord. 00:00:21.280 --> 00:00:32.159 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. 00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:37.039 Eight days later his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. 00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:42.640 Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace be with you. 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:49.520 Then he said to Thomas, Put your finger here and see my hands, and put out your hand and place it in my side. 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:52.320 Do not disbelieve, but believe. 00:00:52.719 --> 00:00:56.240 Thomas answered, My Lord and my God. 00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:00.960 Jesus said to him, Have you believed because you have seen me? 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:05.439 Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:18.480 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. 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:19.680 This is the word of the Lord. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:21.120 Thanks be to God. 00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:22.879 You may be seated. 00:01:25.519 --> 00:01:27.519 Well, thanks for joining us, everybody. 00:01:27.760 --> 00:01:29.599 Happy Easter to you all. 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:31.040 He is risen. 00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:39.120 Well, this morning we are covering John chapter 20, 24 to 31. 00:01:39.280 --> 00:01:50.239 And this, as you just heard, covers the story of what has been been called Doubting Thomas, which is a shame for Thomas, that that becomes his name for all time, Doubting Thomas. 00:01:50.319 --> 00:02:02.400 But this is also, it could have just as likely been named first person to confess Christ as Lord, first person to confess Christ as God, Thomas, which is not as catchy. 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:04.400 And so it didn't work for him. 00:02:05.439 --> 00:02:12.639 You know, there's this question of how why is it that we would believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead? 00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:24.960 What evidence would you need to see in order to believe that Jesus Christ was crucified on a cross and that he was he died, he really died, he was buried, and then three days later he rose again from the dead? 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:28.159 What is it that you would have to see in order to think something like that? 00:02:28.319 --> 00:02:41.680 I had often wondered, why didn't God just orchestrate things such that when Jesus was crucified and resurrected, video cameras existed. 00:02:42.400 --> 00:02:44.240 Why not just do that? 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:47.599 Why not just have it such that we could film the event? 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:59.360 And then when the event was filmed, we would just be able to watch it, and then everybody would gather together and they would watch this videotape and they would say, See, look, there's proof, there's evidence that we have that Jesus rose from the dead. 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:22.240 But of course, we know what would have happened if video cameras were invented, uh, let's say in the first century BC, then by the second century AD, well, we would have had artificial intelligence generating whatever video from text, and you would realize that no matter what you whatever you saw on a video camera, whatever you saw on a videotape, whatever you saw on a screen, you couldn't trust it. 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:24.479 You couldn't believe it in the first place. 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:31.120 Instead of a video camera, instead of taped evidence, what the Lord gave us is actually something better. 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:33.439 He gave us his word. 00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:40.719 And this is the very lesson that Thomas learns when he encounters Jesus in the flesh. 00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:47.599 Because when he encounters Jesus in the flesh, what Jesus brings him face to face with is the heart of his belief. 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:54.159 Thomas thinks the heart of his belief is what he can see and what he can touch. 00:03:54.319 --> 00:03:58.159 That is the final ground that his belief rests on. 00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:00.639 But Jesus knows that's not true. 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:02.879 That's not true of any of us. 00:04:03.120 --> 00:04:10.639 That the final ground that our belief rests on is actually hearing and trusting the Word of God. 00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:13.360 That's what we see today. 00:04:14.479 --> 00:04:21.040 Thomas thinks that he finally believes things because he sees and touches them. 00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:26.240 What he learns is that he finally believes things because he trusts the word of God. 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:31.759 That may sound flimsier, like flimsier evidence than a video camera. 00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:35.519 But I hope that you see today that it is actually stronger. 00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:39.839 Our text begins in verses 24 and 25. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:45.279 It says, Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 00:04:45.920 --> 00:05:00.879 So the other disciples told him, We have seen the Lord, 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. 00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:05.680 Now this event takes place on the day of the resurrection. 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:07.920 This is Easter Sunday, the first one. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:10.560 This is when Jesus rose from the dead. 00:05:10.959 --> 00:05:20.959 And what happened on that day is that Jesus encountered Mary in the garden just outside the tomb, and then he spoke with some other women whom he sent to tell the disciples. 00:05:21.279 --> 00:05:25.759 And then Peter and John discover the empty tomb. 00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:33.199 Jesus meets two men walking on the road to Emmaus, and then eventually reconnects with the ten disciples. 00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:41.279 And when he meets with those ten disciples, Jesus appears to them in a locked room, and he says, Peace be with you. 00:05:41.439 --> 00:05:57.360 And then he breathes on them, giving them the Holy Spirit, and gives them one of the great commissions in Scripture, in which he tells them that they now have the power for the forgiveness of sins, that they may proclaim the name of Jesus and sins will be forgiven. 00:05:57.680 --> 00:06:14.240 Now, when all that happened, when Thomas, when all that happened, when the disciples were gathered together on that first resurrection Sunday, and they see Jesus in the flesh for the first time, Thomas was running an errand. 00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:20.639 He was out somewhere collecting something for the group that was all gathered together of these apostles. 00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:32.319 And then he gets back to the ten other apostles who are gathered together in this upper room, and the other disciples tell him, We've seen the Lord. 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:34.480 Great news. 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:35.920 We've seen the Lord. 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:44.240 Now, one way to think of this interaction is the apostles are the witnesses to Christ. 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:52.079 And the commission that they have been given is to bear witness to the resurrection of Jesus over the whole world. 00:06:52.480 --> 00:06:56.319 That they are the ones who are proclaiming forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ. 00:06:56.480 --> 00:06:59.360 And this is really, this is their first evangelistic opportunity. 00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:02.079 And it's very low-hanging fruit because it's one of their own. 00:07:02.240 --> 00:07:08.240 They have great relational capital with Thomas here, and it immediately doesn't work. 00:07:09.439 --> 00:07:11.759 Their first shot just immediately doesn't work. 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:13.279 They say, Jesus is risen. 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:15.600 We've seen the Lord, He's alive. 00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:19.199 And one of their own, Thomas says, No. 00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:31.519 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. 00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:33.759 And you can hear the heart of Thomas in this. 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:38.319 You can also recognize the immediacy of the pain that they all must have been experiencing. 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:43.680 It was only two days earlier in which they had seen the nails go into Tom into Jesus' hands. 00:07:43.839 --> 00:07:49.279 It was only two days earlier, three days earlier in which they had seen the nails go into his feet. 00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:53.519 They knew that he had been punched, he'd been punctured in the side by a spear. 00:07:53.680 --> 00:08:01.279 He'd been stabbed in the side, such that blood and water gushed forth from his body, and everybody bore witness to his death. 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:04.720 Everybody had seen their friend executed. 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:18.560 And so Thomas, when he's asking for proof, when he's asking for evidence, there's a sense in which you can see it's it's almost as though he has the sense that the other apostles are being callous with regard to what had been witnessed. 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:31.680 That there is something happening where they are deceived in some way, and he is the only one who can see the reality that their friend had murdered, had been murdered, and he had the wherewithal to accept that at face value. 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:33.759 That's my two-year-old drumming, by the way. 00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:35.200 Sometimes he drums. 00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:43.440 He had the wherewithal to accept it at face value in a way that the other apostles didn't. 00:08:44.559 --> 00:08:49.440 So he asks for, he demands, in fact, proof of life. 00:08:49.679 --> 00:09:05.759 But the type of proof of life that he demands is not that, okay, if if the Lord arrived, then with well, the next time that I see the Lord, I'm gonna ask him if he remembers how many fish we caught in the Sea of Galilee together the last time that we were together. 00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:08.000 That's not the move that he makes. 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:22.159 Instead, he says, unless I touch the wounds that killed him, unless I place my hands on the dead man's body at the places that caused him death, then I won't believe that it's him. 00:09:22.799 --> 00:09:28.399 Because he knows that his friend was murdered, and he knows the way in which he was murdered. 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:31.120 And he's not going to just simply let that go. 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:53.600 The point is of this is that Thomas thinks, you can hear the starkness of what he says, because he says, unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, place my finger in the mark of the nails, place my hand into his side, he says, I will never believe. 00:09:54.879 --> 00:10:00.080 Unless that happens, I will never believe, is what Thomas says. 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:04.960 Many of us are in a similar position with regards to Jesus Christ. 00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:12.159 We say, unless I'm given sufficient evidence for where I think belief ought to rest, I will never believe in him. 00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:14.799 I'll never believe in him. 00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:30.000 We're taught the shape of belief as the story of Thomas goes on, because what Thomas thinks is that the most matter-of-fact things that he engages with in his life are the things that he can see and the things that he can touch. 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:33.360 That there's an objectivity to the world. 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:43.120 And that in this place of his objectivity, that's where the final matter-of-fact lies for Thomas. 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:54.720 But Jesus will teach him that the fundamental organs of his belief, the fundamental organs of belief are not our hands that touch, they're not even our eyes that see. 00:10:56.240 --> 00:10:59.679 They're not our mouths that taste or our noses that smell. 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:01.840 It's by hearing. 00:11:02.960 --> 00:11:07.679 Hearing is the fundamental organ of belief. 00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:11.039 We hear the word of God. 00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:12.799 We hear it. 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:22.399 And in our hearing the word of God, recognizing it as the truth, well, that becomes the foundation of our belief. 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:29.440 I know that sounds strange at first hearing, but I think you'll see that it's not as strange as it sounds. 00:11:29.679 --> 00:11:32.080 It's actually where all your beliefs come from. 00:11:32.879 --> 00:11:35.519 In John 20, verses 26, here's what happens. 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:37.519 So we've got it so far. 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:44.799 Thomas is the unlucky apostle, he's out running errands while the others are seeing the resurrected Christ. 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:48.720 He returns, they say, He was here. 00:11:49.039 --> 00:11:53.360 He says, I will never believe unless I see and touch him myself. 00:11:53.840 --> 00:12:04.240 John 20, 26, eight days later, so eight days after that first resurrection appearance, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. 00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:11.440 Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace be with you. 00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:13.360 It's eight days later. 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:16.960 You know, the resurrection itself happens on an eighth day. 00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:26.080 It's the first day of the week, Sunday, which means that it's the first day after the seven days of the full week. 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:32.000 This is a new beginning, a new birth, a new world. 00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:34.559 That's what's shown to us on the eighth day. 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:37.279 This is why there's circumcision on the eighth day. 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:42.639 It's like being born again, a symbol of being born into the covenant promises is what's shown. 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:45.279 There are lots of eighth days throughout scripture. 00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:48.080 There's lots of, you know, seven times seven plus one. 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:50.639 It's the 50th year, is the year of Jubilee. 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:52.559 It's the eighth, the new beginning. 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:55.600 Well, here we have another new beginning. 00:12:55.759 --> 00:13:01.360 On the eighth day, his disciples are inside again, and Thomas is with them. 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:02.080 Great news. 00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:03.919 He didn't miss it this time. 00:13:04.159 --> 00:13:10.000 And although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace be with you. 00:13:10.159 --> 00:13:14.480 Now the doors are locked, but Jesus is able to enter them. 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:17.519 Now, what does this tell us about resurrected bodies? 00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:22.000 Well, one thing it tells us about resurrected bodies is locked doors are no big deal when you have a resurrected body. 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:25.360 But I think it it means something more than that. 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:33.600 I don't think it's like that. 00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:35.519 But I wasn't there. 00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:40.399 A locked door is authority. 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:45.360 If you have the key, then you have the authority over that place. 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:48.240 You know what Jesus has? 00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:56.080 There's no authority over him. 00:13:56.639 --> 00:13:59.519 There's no door locked to him. 00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:02.320 He's got the key to the city. 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:06.799 You know, but but like the universe. 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:11.360 It was given to him from the mayor's office. 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:12.879 I don't know. 00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:16.159 They don't always land. 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:23.840 And Jesus arrives and he says, Peace be with you. 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:25.360 Peace be with you. 00:14:25.519 --> 00:14:26.879 He says it again. 00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:32.080 Just like the first time he said to the disciples when they were there without Thomas, Peace be with you. 00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:33.840 Now what's being said there? 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:36.159 It's more than just a happy greeting. 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:38.240 It's more than just a nice hello. 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:40.960 Jesus means it. 00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:46.720 These are the men who had abandoned him three days plus eight earlier. 00:14:47.919 --> 00:14:53.039 These are the men who, when he was up on the cross, they they had fled from him. 00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:56.559 They denied him at their opportunity to stand next to him. 00:14:57.679 --> 00:14:59.840 They had betrayed their friend. 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:06.399 And Jesus says to them, upon arriving in their presence, peace be with you. 00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:11.519 And he's able to say that because he has purchased their peace. 00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:19.120 By him laying his life down, he has made peace between them and God. 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:25.360 So he announces that peace is there, and then he turns his attention towards Thomas's doubts. 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:32.399 Then he said to Thomas, Put your finger here and see my hands, and put out your hand and place it in my side. 00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:36.399 Do not disbelieve, but believe. 00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:48.399 And he says, Look, you touch them. 00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:50.960 If you need to touch them, touch them. 00:15:51.759 --> 00:15:53.759 Look at them, see them. 00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:58.639 And then he says, Do not disbelieve, but believe. 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:00.639 That tells us a couple of things. 00:16:00.799 --> 00:16:06.720 The first thing that it tells us is that Jesus knows seeing and touching is not enough. 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:12.080 He understands that he might see and touch and still disbelieve. 00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:14.799 He understands what the heart of man is like. 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:20.639 He knows that it that we could see somebody raised from the dead and we would still not believe. 00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:22.960 We would still not believe. 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:33.279 And so he recognizes that although he will see and touch, he still must choose to believe. 00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:42.639 Both are active options that he has. 00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:46.720 He will either believe or disbelieve. 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:52.720 And Jesus commands him, this command, do not disbelieve, but believe. 00:16:54.000 --> 00:17:02.159 Now, this I think is maybe the most underutilized, maybe the best evangelistic strategy that we have that we don't use. 00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:07.599 We're trying to share the gospel with somebody and say, Jesus is Lord, He rose from the dead, He forgives your sins. 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:11.119 And then you say, Don't disbelieve that, believe it. 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:15.680 And then the person that you're hoping to share this with would say, Oh, oh, okay. 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:18.960 I didn't know, I thought you wanted me to disbelieve it. 00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:21.920 Now that you've told me to believe it, I'll believe it. 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:26.240 You know, that's what that's kind of what our uh but that's exactly what Jesus does here. 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:31.279 And it raises this sort of strange question, which is can you command somebody to believe? 00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:34.960 Can you tell somebody, don't disbelieve, but believe? 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:36.799 It doesn't seem like you can. 00:17:37.039 --> 00:17:41.279 It doesn't seem like that's something you can say to someone, like, don't disbelieve this, believe it. 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:43.119 But here's the thing. 00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:47.119 Can you tell someone to believe something? 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:52.160 The answer is it depends on who you are. 00:17:55.039 --> 00:18:00.400 Maybe more precisely, it depends on who you are to that person. 00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:04.480 Because I know it can be done. 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:09.119 I know that you can just tell someone to believe something. 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:13.839 I know because I do it all the time with my three kids. 00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:18.559 I just tell them to believe things. 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:20.319 I do it all the time. 00:18:21.039 --> 00:18:22.640 Here's the way it often goes. 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:34.319 They'll look at something and they'll say, like, uh, for example, we were in Home Depot yesterday, and we were looking around at things, and they'll say, What's this? 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:37.039 And I'll say, It's a flower. 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:38.319 It was something more simple. 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:40.480 My children know all kinds of things. 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:48.640 Or more complicated than just a flower, but the um and they I look at them and I say, Oh, that flower there, that's a flower. 00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:49.759 It's called a flower. 00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:56.000 And they'll look at me and they'll they'll say, they'll say, Is it though? 00:18:57.920 --> 00:19:03.920 Is it really like should I believe that that that's called that that's what that's called? 00:19:04.079 --> 00:19:06.480 Should I believe that that's called a flower? 00:19:06.799 --> 00:19:08.480 No, they don't do that at all. 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:10.240 They don't do that at all. 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:22.880 In fact, almost a hundred percent of the words they know, the way that they are able to look out into the world and they point at things, and they they they're really good at it, especially the nine-year-old. 00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:25.359 Yes, great job. 00:19:25.599 --> 00:19:29.839 The two-year-old is so so, but he's coming along. 00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:35.279 They're able to look out into the world and they point at things and they they tell the truth about them. 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:41.759 They say tree, they say car, they say truck. 00:19:42.319 --> 00:19:43.680 They're really good at it. 00:19:43.839 --> 00:19:46.079 They can name all kinds of things in the world. 00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:48.079 Why are they able to do that? 00:19:48.319 --> 00:19:53.920 Why why are they able to name the world rightly, to name it truthfully? 00:19:54.240 --> 00:19:55.119 Don't you see? 00:19:55.279 --> 00:20:07.920 Fundamentally, beneath it all, the reason that they're able to name the word rightly, name the world rightly, to say true things about the world, is just because they trust their mother and I. 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:10.480 They just trust us. 00:20:11.839 --> 00:20:19.039 They hear us call things by their names, and they say, I believe your words about that thing. 00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:25.200 That's how all of you know all of the most fundamental things that you know. 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:30.160 You see, that's the true story of where your knowledge comes from. 00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:33.680 That's the true story of where your knowledge comes from. 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:36.240 There's a story that you've been told later. 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:42.559 There's a story that we like to adopt about where our knowledge comes from, that Thomas is trying to adopt here. 00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:52.720 And the story that Thomas is trying to adopt is that there is a way to gain true knowledge that does not require of me the risk of trust. 00:20:54.799 --> 00:20:56.880 And there is no such way. 00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:05.759 Not for true knowledge, not to know the things that matter, the things of what they mean. 00:21:07.519 --> 00:21:12.480 Those come by hearing and by trusting what you hear. 00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:18.000 It's fundamentally how you actually know everything that you know. 00:21:21.839 --> 00:21:27.920 And so the question is, can someone, can you really tell someone to believe something? 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:32.079 And the answer is it depends on who you are to that person. 00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:36.319 So who was Jesus to Thomas? 00:21:37.440 --> 00:21:40.079 Well, this is Thomas's confession after seeing Jesus. 00:21:40.240 --> 00:21:41.680 In John 20, verse 28. 00:21:41.920 --> 00:21:46.000 Thomas answered him, My Lord and my God. 00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:49.839 That is the confession that Thomas makes. 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:52.000 Now look at this confession. 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:53.680 Look at what he says. 00:21:53.920 --> 00:21:56.960 Perhaps first, look at what he he doesn't say. 00:21:57.119 --> 00:21:59.759 He doesn't say, Jesus, it really is you. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:01.519 He doesn't say that. 00:22:01.759 --> 00:22:04.559 He doesn't say, you really did resurrect. 00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:06.319 You really did come back to life. 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:08.880 The apostles, the other apostles, you know how they can be. 00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:11.359 I thought they were pulled my leg for the past eight days. 00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:15.359 It was really a cruel joke about your dead friend. 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:18.400 And I didn't trust them. 00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:20.400 I couldn't bring myself to believe something like this. 00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:21.519 He doesn't say that. 00:22:21.759 --> 00:22:22.799 He doesn't confess that. 00:22:22.960 --> 00:22:27.839 He doesn't look at what does he see, and what does he perhaps touch? 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:30.799 The scripture doesn't tell him that he tell us that he touches him. 00:22:32.640 --> 00:22:34.960 What he sees is a wounded man. 00:22:35.440 --> 00:22:36.960 That's what he sees. 00:22:37.440 --> 00:22:41.680 What he confesses is my Lord and my God. 00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:44.799 My Lord and my God. 00:22:44.960 --> 00:22:46.400 You can't see that. 00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:52.160 You can't see that Jesus is Lord and God. 00:22:53.359 --> 00:22:54.960 How can you know that? 00:22:55.200 --> 00:22:56.880 How could you know that he is? 00:22:57.119 --> 00:23:13.119 What he confesses shows that what he knew about Jesus finally, what he is finally confessing here, what Thomas is, what the fundamental revelation that Thomas is making is the things that Jesus said about himself are true. 00:23:13.599 --> 00:23:15.440 That's what he's confessing. 00:23:15.920 --> 00:23:25.279 When he sees the wounded man, when he sees Christ before him, what he's finally confessing is all the words that Jesus spoke about himself are true. 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:30.400 When this man said, I and the Father are one, it was the truth. 00:23:33.039 --> 00:23:34.400 It was the truth. 00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:40.000 So Jesus offers this rebuke to Thomas's previous way of thinking. 00:23:40.240 --> 00:23:43.759 Jesus said to him, Have you believed because you have seen me? 00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:48.559 Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. 00:23:50.079 --> 00:23:52.559 You see, this is the final place. 00:23:53.680 --> 00:23:58.079 This is Jesus turns and, in a sense, he opens the door to all of us. 00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:04.160 All of us who have not seen Jesus, all of us who, like Thomas, did not get the chance to see Jesus. 00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:07.039 And he said, Blessed are they that believe. 00:24:17.680 --> 00:24:22.880 You are blessed because what you are doing is you are taking God at his word. 00:24:25.279 --> 00:24:29.200 And that is the foundation of all belief. 00:24:30.960 --> 00:24:34.640 You are believing the words that God has said to you. 00:24:34.960 --> 00:24:39.119 That is the foundation of all belief, the foundation of all knowing. 00:24:39.359 --> 00:24:46.880 The foundation of being able to confess anything of meaning is trust in the one who is telling it to you. 00:24:47.359 --> 00:24:50.640 And so why are you blessed if you have not seen? 00:24:50.799 --> 00:24:56.480 It seems to me that it would be more blessed to have seen Jesus and believed. 00:24:56.640 --> 00:24:58.319 Seems like you get both, right? 00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:03.200 Well, Jesus is saying to Thomas, you'll get more. 00:25:03.759 --> 00:25:04.720 You get more. 00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:06.720 Isn't that strange? 00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:10.480 You get more in taking God at his plain word. 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:14.000 It's a glorious thing. 00:25:14.880 --> 00:25:25.519 And now John turns from the blessing of Jesus in his gospel and he extends it to you, to us, to his reader, to the one who hears the words that he has written. 00:25:25.759 --> 00:25:28.480 And it's like he jumps off this insight of Jesus. 00:25:28.559 --> 00:25:35.839 And in verses 30 and 31, he says, Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book. 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:47.119 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. 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:53.279 How is it that you could believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God? 00:25:56.079 --> 00:25:59.839 Well, you can just read what's written about him in the book. 00:26:00.799 --> 00:26:03.039 You can just hear what's said about him. 00:26:04.079 --> 00:26:09.519 By the way, this is your only option for the claims that Jesus makes of himself. 00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:16.160 The only option, finally, is to see that the word of God is true. 00:26:17.119 --> 00:26:19.599 And that this is the basis for all knowing. 00:26:21.519 --> 00:26:24.079 Imagine if it had been videotaped. 00:26:24.640 --> 00:26:32.880 You know, imagine if there was a motion-activated camera on the tomb and it caught some weird stuff in the night with angels rolling things away. 00:26:33.200 --> 00:26:34.720 Those would be blurry. 00:26:35.279 --> 00:26:40.400 And then at clear as day, Jesus walks out, walks out of the tomb. 00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:46.720 And we see the conversation with Mary where he thinks that she thinks that he's the gardener. 00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:49.920 And then he reveals himself to her. 00:26:50.160 --> 00:26:51.839 We have that footage. 00:26:52.400 --> 00:26:59.519 And then we fast forward, you know, however long it is, 80 years from the video cameras being invented in the first century. 00:26:59.759 --> 00:27:10.799 And then we're in the, we're in like our world now, where I for free on the supercomputer in my pocket, I can fake any video that I type the right text into. 00:27:11.279 --> 00:27:13.599 I can make it look like anything happens. 00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:16.559 Can make it look like anything happens. 00:27:16.799 --> 00:27:18.400 And then what world are we in? 00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:29.440 Then we're in a world where there would be two groups of people, and there would be folks that would say, hey, the we have this video evidence of Jesus in his resurrection, but it doesn't mean anything. 00:27:30.160 --> 00:27:32.000 You can make any video look like anything. 00:27:32.079 --> 00:27:34.559 You know, those videos are easily doctored. 00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:35.680 They're all videos are. 00:27:35.839 --> 00:27:37.519 No video evidence counts for anything. 00:27:37.599 --> 00:27:38.640 It's inadmissible. 00:27:39.440 --> 00:27:40.880 It doesn't work, it's fruitless. 00:27:41.119 --> 00:27:44.640 And then there would be another story that would develop alongside that story. 00:27:44.799 --> 00:27:58.799 And the the other story would be: yes, but we have people who we have this chain of people who claim to have seen the original video before it was doctored. 00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:09.920 And they claim to see this original video, and they wrote down at the time that the original video that they saw before it was doctored was not doctored and was true. 00:28:12.160 --> 00:28:14.720 And then here's the question that we would have. 00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:20.240 Are we going to trust the people who said they saw it? 00:28:22.880 --> 00:28:24.799 That would be the whole question. 00:28:25.759 --> 00:28:28.000 We're going to trust the people that said they saw it. 00:28:28.079 --> 00:28:30.079 It's the only way it can be known. 00:28:30.400 --> 00:28:32.640 Why were there not video cameras? 00:28:33.200 --> 00:28:39.519 Because Jesus gave us the only way that humans can convey truth to one another. 00:28:40.880 --> 00:28:46.240 Always, 100% of the time, it requires the risk of trust. 00:28:46.720 --> 00:28:51.279 Always requires the risk of trust. 00:28:53.039 --> 00:28:57.039 It is not a requirement of faith in Jesus Christ. 00:28:58.240 --> 00:29:02.319 Because God is like trying to hide something behind his back. 00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:15.599 It is a requirement of faith because that is the only way knowledge ever works. 00:29:16.640 --> 00:29:20.079 It's the only way you know your native tongue. 00:29:21.279 --> 00:29:32.400 It's because you loved and trusted the authorities that were over you, the people who were over you, your parents, and you listened to them and you believed the words that they said. 00:29:32.640 --> 00:29:35.519 That's the true story of how you know stuff. 00:29:36.160 --> 00:29:39.039 And that's the true story of how we know God. 00:29:39.920 --> 00:29:44.000 We love him and we believe the words that he told to us. 00:29:44.160 --> 00:29:55.039 And that is the glory in the confession of Thomas, where what he confesses is, my Lord, my God, the Lord of me, the God of me. 00:29:55.200 --> 00:30:02.880 So why is it that we balk at this idea of faith in Jesus Christ, this thing that seems unproven, flimsy, untested? 00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:05.200 Why is it that we balk at something like that? 00:30:05.279 --> 00:30:09.519 It's because we don't, it's because we want our truth to be a testable what. 00:30:10.079 --> 00:30:13.519 We want it to be a mere disinterested matter of fact. 00:30:13.680 --> 00:30:19.440 And we think that the way to approach a truth claim like that is to approach it in a disinterested fashion. 00:30:19.759 --> 00:30:27.039 And in approaching it in a disinterested fashion, we would be able to arrive at the mere matter of fact and then respond of our own accord to that matter of fact. 00:30:27.200 --> 00:30:31.200 But that assumes that truth is a what, and truth is not a what. 00:30:31.759 --> 00:30:33.039 Truth is a who. 00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:42.559 Jesus reveals us, reveals himself to us, and he explains to us, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. 00:30:42.799 --> 00:30:45.200 Why do we hate that the truth is a who? 00:30:45.519 --> 00:30:48.400 Why would we prefer that the truth be a what? 00:30:48.720 --> 00:30:51.440 Because we know it's a who in our heart. 00:30:51.680 --> 00:30:54.319 And we know that we have sinned against the truth. 00:30:54.559 --> 00:30:57.599 We know that the invisible things of the world are real. 00:30:57.839 --> 00:31:02.160 We know that the morality that we are called to before God is real. 00:31:02.720 --> 00:31:07.920 We know that he is really there, that he really exists, that he really made us. 00:31:08.160 --> 00:31:22.319 We know that he really covenantly bound himself to us, that we have sinned against him, that we stand before him dead in our trespasses and sins, with nothing in our hands that we can bring that can atone for our trespasses and sins. 00:31:22.559 --> 00:31:24.880 Don't you wish the world was just a what? 00:31:25.359 --> 00:31:26.400 But it's not. 00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:33.599 Finally, fundamentally, the one who holds reality is a who, and we have sinned against him. 00:31:33.920 --> 00:31:34.960 Well, what do we do? 00:31:35.119 --> 00:31:36.160 What is the news? 00:31:36.319 --> 00:31:41.680 Here's the news of that God who we stand condemned before. 00:31:41.920 --> 00:31:45.759 The news is that God has become a man. 00:31:45.920 --> 00:31:47.680 His name is Jesus Christ. 00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:55.359 He dwelt among us in the flesh, making known the fullness of God to us in the flesh. 00:31:55.680 --> 00:32:14.799 He dwelt among us and revealed himself to men who he equipped and empowered to proclaim and bear witness to what they had seen in Jesus, that Jesus went to the cross and died, that on the cross he bore the punishment due to us for our sins. 00:32:14.960 --> 00:32:22.240 It was an act of grace, of sacrificial love, of atonement for your sins, for our sins. 00:32:22.640 --> 00:32:36.400 And that three days later, to show his victory over the grave, he rose from the dead and he rules and reigns in the heavens now, that we can say, like Thomas, my Lord, my God, of Jesus Christ. 00:32:36.880 --> 00:32:38.400 That's the news. 00:32:38.720 --> 00:32:41.599 That's the glory of what took place. 00:32:41.759 --> 00:32:43.039 Now, how do you see that? 00:32:43.200 --> 00:32:44.000 How do you prove that? 00:32:45.119 --> 00:32:47.519 How do you touch that or see that? 00:32:47.759 --> 00:32:53.359 You can't see that what took place on the cross was the atonement for sins. 00:32:53.599 --> 00:32:55.359 You couldn't videotape that. 00:32:55.920 --> 00:33:03.359 You can't see that the resurrection means new life for all of us, eternal life if we believe in him. 00:33:03.759 --> 00:33:05.599 You can't videotape that. 00:33:06.240 --> 00:33:10.799 All of the greatest claims about Christ cannot be filmed or tested. 00:33:11.039 --> 00:33:14.160 Tusted, it's some made up, it's a word for tested by touching. 00:33:14.240 --> 00:33:24.400 It's a they are only available to us because God tells them to us in his word. 00:33:25.759 --> 00:33:29.119 And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. 00:33:29.279 --> 00:33:32.480 It has been attested to in the scriptures. 00:33:32.720 --> 00:33:48.400 I know to our minds this feels flimsier, but I hope you see the testimony to Jesus Christ in the scriptures, which are the word of God, are the most sure thing possible. 00:33:49.359 --> 00:34:08.400 In our world, in the shape of our world, such as it is, there is nothing that could be given to you that is possibly more sure than the word of God and its testimony as to who Jesus is and what he has accomplished on our behalf on the cross. 00:34:08.559 --> 00:34:12.320 And what the word teaches us is He was God. 00:34:15.280 --> 00:34:17.519 And he is risen. 00:34:17.760 --> 00:34:23.199 What I say to you today, this Easter Sunday, do not disbelieve. 00:34:24.719 --> 00:34:25.840 But believe. 00:34:27.039 --> 00:34:41.679 And in believing in Jesus Christ, you have the promise of eternal life, peace with God, assurance of God's love, joy in the Holy Ghost, perseverance of belief therein to the end. 00:34:42.239 --> 00:34:43.840 He is risen. 00:34:44.960 --> 00:34:49.119 You can know because the word of God says so. 00:34:49.679 --> 00:34:51.119 The most sure thing. 00:34:51.599 --> 00:34:53.119 So let's pray. 00:34:54.159 --> 00:35:11.119 Holy Father, I pray that you would work in our hearts so that we might see your word as the surest foundation, that we might learn the lesson that Thomas learned, that there are glories that he ought to confess of you that are well beyond what he could see or touch. 00:35:11.599 --> 00:35:20.320 But Lord, in your grace to him, it is sufficient for us to know that Thomas saw you, that the apostles bore witness to your resurrection. 00:35:20.559 --> 00:35:24.639 Lord, we trust your word spoken through your apostles. 00:35:25.199 --> 00:35:31.199 And Lord, in trusting your word, we recognize that this is the firmest foundation that we could have. 00:35:31.760 --> 00:35:36.239