Category: John 20

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John John 20

Though we have not seen him

John

Seeing is believing. At least sometimes it is.

The Pharisees and teachers of the law saw all the miracles Jesus performed and they still didn’t believe.

They saw Lazarus alive after he had died and they plotted to kill him because people were believing in Jesus because of it.

The main problem: They didn’t want to believe. And as long as you don’t want to believe, you can explain away anything.

Thomas, on the other hand, wanted to believe. But his head would not allow what his heart wanted to be true, and so he told the other disciples,

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 it. (John 20:25)

So when Jesus showed up for a second time in the midst of a locked room, I imagine he smiled at Thomas’ astonished face as he said,

Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe. (John 20:27)

Thomas’ reaction?

My Lord and my God! (John 20:28)

Jesus replied,

Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. (John 20:29)

In other words, you only believe because you see. But true blessing comes when you believe having not seen.

It was the blessing that Abraham received, who trusted God and left everything behind, not even knowing where he was going, but believing that God would do what he had promised.

It was the blessing that Noah received by building a huge boat because God told him a flood was coming.

It was the blessing that David received, trusting that God would make him king, and never trying to seize the throne with his own hands.

It was the blessing Mary received by believing the angel who said she would become pregnant with God’s Son. It is the blessing that people all throughout history have received all the way down to us.

But it is not a blind belief. We see Christ in the prophets who predicted numerous things about him hundreds of years before he was born.

We see Christ through the experiences of those who actually met him face to face and recorded all that happened. John wrote,

Jesus did many other miraculous 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 Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30–31)

We see Christ in the experiences of those throughout church history who have encountered him in their lives, people like Augustine, Luther, and Calvin.

We see Christ in the lives of those around us today, whom God has changed and transformed through the gospel.

And we see him as we ourselves encounter Christ, and see his work in our lives.

But it all starts with one choice. To say, “Lord Jesus, though I have never seen you with my own eyes, yet I believe.”

And as we follow him, walking in trust and obedience to him, he will reveal himself to us more and more. And we will find blessing.

Peter puts it this way,

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:8–9)

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John John 20 Luke Luke 24

Filled and sent out

The gospels

It seems like there was quite a bit of confusion and disbelief among the 11 and the others gathered in the upper room that Sunday.

Here was Mary, the women, the two followers of Jesus, and Peter himself saying that they had seen the Lord. And even then, many of the other disciples simply could not bring themselves to believe.

And then Jesus appeared. Understandably, they were freaked out, thinking he was a ghost, particularly those that hadn’t seen him up to that point. And Jesus said, “Peace with you.”

That was actually a very common greeting, like “Hi.” I wonder if that’s how he meant it the first time. “Hi guys.”

But everyone freaks out thinking he is a ghost so he says it again more seriously, “Hey relax. Be at peace. It really is me.”

He then shows them his hands and feet and even eats some fish to prove he is not a ghost.

I can imagine that everyone wanted to touch him to make sure it was really him, and when they did, they were filled with unspeakable joy.

Then Jesus explained to them how all that had happened to him had been prophesied in the Old Testament, and he probably reminded them of his own words to them as well.

Having said these things, he then told them,

As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. (John 20:21)

You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. (Luke 24:48-49)

At that point, he breathed on them, and said,

Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven. (John 20:22-23)

It kind of reminds me of another event in Genesis, where God breathed physical life into Adam.

Here, Jesus breathed spiritual life into his disciples. The Holy Spirit came into them as a seal of their salvation, and as Jesus promised, he would teach them all they needed to know and would be with them wherever they went.

Not only that, we find in Acts that he would fill them with power to do all that he asked, to take the gospel to every nation.

In the same way, Jesus breathes life into us when we receive him as Savior and Lord. His Holy Spirit comes into us to lead us and guide us. More, he gives us the power to live the life he calls us to, and to accomplish purposes.

In short, we are not alone. The Christian life is not about trying to please God and accomplish his purposes in our own strength and by our own efforts.

Rather God himself, through the Holy Spirit dwells in us, he fills us, and gives us everything we need for life, for godliness, and for his service.

And the main task he has given us is to spread the gospel. To declare to those who repent and turn to Jesus that their sins have now been forgiven. And to warn people of the judgment to come if they refuse to repent.

God has given us the keys to the kingdom. When we share his gospel, we open the doors wide open to those who would walk in. So let us go out, filled with his Spirit, and open those doors to a lost and dying world.

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John John 20 Luke Luke 24 Mark Mark 16 Matthew Matthew 28

The One who is always with us

The gospels

A couple of notes on the resurrection.

I think I will be cutting out Mark 16:9-20 from my commentary since it is considered by most scholars to not be in the original text.

It was apparently added on to Mark by someone, either because Mark died before it was completed or because the original ending was lost.

Second, there is some difficulty in harmonizing the events of the resurrection. What I give here in my blog is my best guess.

The thing to remember, though, is that all the essential facts are the same.

The tomb was empty when the women arrived there. Angels appeared to the women to tell them that Jesus had risen. Jesus appeared to Mary and the women. They all went to tell the disciples.

Lawyers today will tell you that in a court of law, any apparent discrepancies in the testimony of these four sources would not be able to overturn these essential points.

With that, a very quick summary as to what I believe happened.

The women went to the tomb and found it empty. When Mary entered the tomb and found the body gone, she immediately left to tell the disciples.

The other women lingered, however, and at that point, two angels appeared, with one giving them the good news that Jesus was alive. The women ran to tell the disciples talking to no one else along the way. (Matthew 28:5-8; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-10)

Meanwhile, Mary told the disciples that the body was gone. (John 20:2). And so Peter and John (probably) went to investigate, with Mary following after.

After they had left, the other women arrived with their tale of the angels. (Luke 24:9-11)

Peter and John then arrived at the tomb and found the body gone, and while John seems to have believed that Jesus rose from the dead, Peter wasn’t so sure. Perhaps discussing the situation, they then left. (Luke 24:12; John 20:3-9)

Mary, by this time had arrived at the tomb. Whether Peter and John were still there when she arrived is not clear, but it’s possible they had already gone.

Jesus then appeared for the first time and spoke to her. She then went to tell the disciples. (John 20:10-18)

As she was on her way, Jesus then appeared to the other women, perhaps as they were on their way back home, discouraged that the disciples had not believed them.

Encouraged once again, they returned and told the disciples what Jesus had told them, bolstered by Mary’s testimony. (Matthew 28:9-10)

I don’t know if that was the exact order of events, but it seems to be a reasonable harmonization to me.

At any rate, I want to focus on Mary for a moment.

The image that strikes me most was Mary in the garden, in the depths of sorrow and despair.

If the order of events were as I imagine, she had not heard the story of the other women. All she knew was that Jesus was gone.

She enters the tomb, and sees the two angels, but because she never heard the other women’s story, she doesn’t recognize the angels for what they are.

So when they ask her, “Why are you crying?” she simply says, “They’ve taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they’ve put him.”

Perhaps the angels were about to tell Mary the truth when they saw Jesus appear behind her.

At first, through her tears, she couldn’t recognize him, but then he spoke her name, “Mary.”

And in an instant, all of her tears of sorrow were washed away by joy.

How often are we like Mary? We’re going through a tough time, and God seems far away. We pray but our prayers bounce off the ceiling. We seek him, but we can’t seem to find him. For all we know, he’s dead.

But the truth is, he is there. Like Mary, we can’t see him, but he is there. And at the proper time, he will reveal himself to us.

So don’t give up. We all go through times of sorrow. We all go through times when God seems distant.

But he is Immanuel. He is God with us. And through the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, he will change our sorrow into joy.