“Appearance” – John 20:24-31

Last week I asked those who were here how many were good at math and I then explained that I was not good at math and never cared to be because I never saw much use in it; that and I’m not very smart and math is hard.  But what I failed to explain is that I am quite the physicist.  You didn’t know that?  Oh, yea.  I’m all about physics.  Love it.

 

So, you can imagine how excited I got lately when I heard that some other physicists had discovered the Higgs-boson particle.  Are there any other physicists here who know what that is?  It is the God particle.  Yes, very exciting.  Some egg-heads, I mean, physicists have now proven how the universe came into being.  As one of my colleagues said, “The long-sought particle may complete the standard model of physics by explaining why objects in our universe have mass—and in so doing, why galaxies, planets, and even humans have any right to exist.”  http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/07/120704-god-particle-higgs-boson-new-cern-science/

 

This one particle explains what happened after the Big Bang and proves without a doubt that some particles over here collided with some other particles over here and “Boom!” – the universe.  Pretty exciting, huh?  My only concern is what is going to happen when somebody – you know, somebody not a physicist, like me – asks the question, “Where did the Higgs boson come from?  From where – or even, whom – was it created.”  I sure hope nobody ever asks that question because then we would have to build some more multi-billion dollar centrifuges and atom-smashers and who knows where it would all end?

 

Because we have to have proof, right?  Without proof, we can’t believe it and if we can’t explain something then we just haven’t done enough scientific research.  If we do enough scientific research, we will surely see how the world was made and it will surely change our lives forever and for the better.  Surely it will, right?

 

The problem with physics is that no matter how far back you go or how small the particle is, somebody will always ask, “Well, ok, where did that come from?  Who created that?” and even if you could prove something like the “Big Bang Theory”, will that bring you joy and peace and change your life forever and for better?  No, of course not.

 

At some point you just have to have faith and I choose not to put my faith in physics or science or scientists who are sometimes right and sometimes wrong.  I choose to put my faith in holy scripture that has proven itself to be true all through the Old Testament and into the New Testament and into my life.  I choose to believe Genesis 1:1 that simply says, “In the beginning God…” and while I may not understand everything I understand enough to know that I am a sinner in need of a Savior.

 

I know I need Jesus to forgive me of my sins and to die on the cross for those sins to pay the price that I couldn’t pay.  That brings me great joy and peace and has changed my life forever and for better.  The really good news is that Jesus didn’t stay dead.  He overcame death with His resurrection and He overcame this world with His life and because He lives I can celebrate Easter every single day.

 

We have been going through a sermon series entitled, “It’s All About Easter” seeing how Jesus prepared His disciples, His friends, for His death, burial and resurrection.  He didn’t want them to be sad or surprised at what happened so He told them what would happen, when it would happen and what would be the outcome.

He clearly said that He would be arrested, deserted, tried and killed but, and this is a direct quote, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”  He explained how He would come back and see them again and He would go and prepare a place for them in Heaven and basically…It’s gonna be okay.

 

Do you know what happened?  Well, to put it in a nutshell, their hearts were troubled.  They were sad and surprised and they didn’t believe it.  Even when He did appear to some of them the same day as His resurrection, it says that Thomas wasn’t there and when they all saw Thomas later on they told him what happened and he still didn’t believe.

 

Let’s read about that in the Gospel of John chapter 20, verses 24-31.  It’s on page 769 of most of the Bibles in the pew.  We find the disciples and some others gathered together on a Sunday morning one week after Jesus had been resurrected.  They were all gathered together with the doors locked for fear of the Jews.  The disciples knew they hadn’t done anything with the body of Jesus but they knew the Jews who crucified Him might not know that so they are basically hiding and waiting.

 

Let’s see what happens in John 20:24-31.

 

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵ 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.”

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!” ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

²⁸ Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

²⁹ Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

³⁰ Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. ³¹ 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.

 

 

Poor Thomas!  Even today he is known as what?  Doubting Thomas, right?  Even after Jesus had told him how all of this was going to go down, he still doubted.  He still wasn’t sure even when all of his friends told him they had seen Jesus.  Even having it explained to him and told to him, he still doubted and don’t you know it made him miserable?  All of his friends had seen Jesus and they were happy and smiling and excited but Doubting Thomas was bitter.

 

You can see it in the words he uses in verse 25.  “I will not believe it.”  Commentators tell us that in the Greek that is a strong negative.  It is used when you don’t expect to ever believe that it could be at all possible.  It just didn’t make any sense to him.  This is not how he would have done it if he were God.  We can criticize Thomas all day long and joke about him and talk about how we can’t believe that he couldn’t believe but aren’t we all like Thomas sometimes? 

 

The name Thomas and also Didymus means “twin”.  We don’t know anything about his twin but can’t all of us look just like Thomas in our unbelief?  Maybe it’s not in our unbelief that Jesus is the Messiah and the only way to Heaven but sometimes we have a hard time believing what God has revealed to us.  He has explained the way things should be but we have a hard time believing that what the Bible says is always true and always going to be relevant and beneficial to us.  We would say here at church this beautiful Easter that, yes, of course we believe Jesus and we believe what the Bible says but, you know, sometimes it doesn’t really apply to what we are going through, right?  If Jesus had known what we are going through then He would have made an exception.

 

We are twins with Thomas when we don’t believe it when God says something and I would like to think that we all believe the Bible to be absolutely true.  It’s just that surely not all parts apply to us or at least that’s what we live out. 

 

Jesus said some pretty radical things in His great Sermon on the Mount and surely these don’t apply to us.  Being angry is the same as murder.  Looking lustfully at a woman is the same as adultery.  Divorcing except for marital unfaithfulness is sin.  Turn the other cheek when somebody hits you.  Love your enemies.  Do your good deeds in secret.  Don’t worry!  Oh, man, those surely don’t apply to us in our situations, right?  Right, Thomas?

 

Every time I hear the words, “Well, that doesn’t apply in my situation”, I know that person is about to sin.  That person is doing just what Thomas was doing.  The sin of Thomas was unbelief and that is exactly what we all do when we know what the Bible says; we know what God has revealed in His Word but we think it doesn’t apply to us in our situation.

 

Alright, I’m not trying to get anybody all stirred up or start any riots here but I just have a simple question.  I would like to know if there is anybody here that has been helped by the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.  Maybe somebody here has been helped.  I hope so.  That’s good.  I have not.  It has driven the price of insurance up to the point that I just can’t afford it.

 

So, the last few years I have gotten a call from Jackie, who does my taxes, and she always asks me if I have insurance yet because now you have to figure it on your income tax, right?  I told her to just put “N/A” on there for “Not Applicable”.  She said okay but then she would have to figure out the amount extra I would have to pay and put that in the next line.  I told her to just put “N/A” in that box too but she said she couldn’t do that.  So, I told her to just check the box that says Obama can kiss my foot but she said that wasn’t an option either.

 

Just saying that something doesn’t apply to you doesn’t make it so.  I love how all the rock trucks around here have a sign on the back that says, “Not responsible for cracked windshields.”  Really?  Then who is because the rock just flew out of your truck?  Just saying the rules don’t apply to you doesn’t mean that they don’t apply to you.

 

When we think that it’s okay to tell just this little lie or it’s funny to take the name of the Lord in vain or that God will look the other way when we miss church to go to work because of our special situation then we are telling God that the rules don’t apply to us and we are just like Thomas who didn’t believe.  We are telling God that we know better and we don’t have any right to say that any more than we can tell the IRS that the tax code doesn’t apply to us.

 

I’m going to give you some good news about all of this but I want you to look at verse 26.  Jesus walks through the locked doors and what does He say?  “Peace be with you!”  The Jews still use that greeting today.  It’s “Shalom!”  Why do you think He said that?  It was probably the standard greeting for most people back then but don’t you know it held special significance for the disciples that day?  It was like a great general showing up on a chaotic battlefield.  All the soldiers took a collective sigh of relief knowing that they really could have peace because Jesus was there!

 

With Jesus we, too, can have great peace when we are obedient.  We don’t have to understand everything.  The disciples sure didn’t and yet they had great peace.  But look who Jesus goes to first.  He doesn’t break stride.  He goes immediately to Thomas and offers proof that it is really Him.  Jesus knew what Thomas had said and how he was feeling.

 

He knew his unbelief.  He knew his sin and the bitterness that went with it and so Jesus tells him to do just what Thomas had said he had to do to believe.  Jesus told Thomas to touch Him.  Put your hands in my hands.  Put your hand into the wound on my side.  Do it and then…stop doubting and believe.

 

Stop doubting and have peace.  Stop doubting that what was said is truth and enjoy the peace and joy that comes from being obedient even when you don’t understand everything.  Stop doubting and let Jesus be in control of the situation, knowing that He loves you and wants only what is best for you.

 

What is interesting is that there is no indication that Thomas ever did any of that.  He didn’t have to touch Jesus.  He didn’t need proof.  The presence of Jesus and the peace that He brings is enough for Thomas just like it is for us today.  We don’t have to understand everything and we don’t have to have proof.  We know what Jesus has done in the Bible and in our lives and we can put our faith and trust in Him and believe that He is in control and that He loves us and that has changed our lives forever and for the better.

 

In verse 29 Jesus says that Thomas has believed because he has seen but “blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed.”  That word “blessed” means fortunate or well-off or happy.  That is us when we ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior.  We are blessed and happy because the same God who was there in the beginning to create the world is the same God who came in the form of man and died on the cross and is the same God who wants to have a personal relationship with each one of us.

 

I don’t understand how it happened or why but I believe it and I believe every word that God has given us in the scriptures.  Now we just have to be obedient to what He says knowing that it all really does apply to us.  That is what John meant by the last sentence in this passage.  In verse 31 John says, “that by believing you may have life in His name.”

 

We know that life that John is talking about starts right here and right now but lasts for eternity.  Can you imagine eternal life with joy and complete peace with no more tears and no more struggles?  Did you hear about the man and woman who had been friends for many years, who had died and gone to heaven. They told St. Peter that they wanted to be married.

“Take your time and think about it,” said Peter, “you have eternity so take fifty years and see me then.”

Fifty years later, the couple returned and again told Peter they wanted to be married. “Well,” said Peter, “take another fifty years and really think about it….” But the couple was insistent, “We know we want to be married now….”
Peter replied, “Well, take another fifty years anyway, and if we don’t have a preacher up here by then, I’ll marry you myself.”

 

I think part of Heaven is going to be not having to hear corny jokes but we will have joy.  We will have peace and we will be happy and Jesus said all we have to do is believe in Him.  Now, that word “believe” means more than just believe in your mind that He exists.  It literally means to fully rely on or commit to.

 

Have you done that?  Is there a time in your life where you can look back on and know without a doubt that you have believed – fully trusted and committed yourself – to Him and for Him?  If not, then what do you need?  Proof?  Do you need a physicist to show you on a graph or some kind of chart?  Repent or turn away from your sins and ask Jesus for forgiveness of those sins and you will know without a doubt when He comes into your life.

 

Do that today.  We are not guaranteed another tomorrow or even another breath.