Well you may recall that as we finished our last lesson, we left the eleven disciples in the upper room, grieving the loss of their Master. But there was a situation, and that situation had a name...Thomas the Doubter! You see, he had been absent when Jesus had suddenly appeared in the midst of the ten, and refused to accept the fact of His resurrection. For sure, he had heard the very own testimony of Jesus from His very own lips, that He would die, and rise again on the third day. But apparently, that prophecy had missed Thomas completely!
So now we read in John 20.26 that, "...after the passing of eight days, as the disciples, now including Thomas, were again gathered in the upper room, the doors again being shut, when Jesus again appeared in their midst." This was, perhaps, the next Sunday, but this time, no fear. Remember that on the previous occasion, Jesus had pronounced a blessing, as He did as well, on this occasion..."Peace be with you!"...and it appears that His earlier greeting to the ten had had the desired effect.
Jesus is just so patient with the dull, and slow of heart and mind! He never puts us down, and He never sits us down, other than to teach us the plain truth concerning Himself. In case you hadn't noticed, the Lord has many unruly children in His family; many sluggish students in His school; many undisciplined soldiers in His army; and many lame sheep in His flock, but He bears with us all! And when He tells us, "Peace be unto you", our faith should rebound with a vengeance!
Now , including vs. 19 and vs. 21, this constitutes the third time that Jesus had given the disciples this "peace sign", so there's little doubt, as I've said before, that it's peace that our Lord wants His disciples to experience. And in this case, it was peace that Thomas needed the most; this is one of the very principles of the faith...the very ground upon which peace stands...our trust in the very death and resurrection of the Son of God. And it's that same grace which must recover us as well, from our own weakness, by the overwhelming realization that what Jesus did, He did for you and me!
So here Thomas stood in the presence of the very One Who had died...for him! And with a standing invite to witness for himself, the power of resurrection...and Thomas was completely overcome. You know, we need to be more conscious of the presence of the living Lord in our own lives. Remember, He's as well acquainted with us as He was with Thomas, but are we any better aquainted with Him? We need to take special note of Jesus' command to Thomas at the end of vs. 27, to "...be not faithless, but believing...", which certainly applies to you and me, just as it did to Thomas. And then, in vs. 28, we have this unforgettable response to Jesus, as Thomas became truly converted from a true doubter to a true Believer! And take notice that his is the most decisive confession of any of the other disciples, at any other time or place...no desire anymore, to touch his Lord's hands and His side, but just to worship. Now there's a lesson in repentance!
You may not realize it, but this is the one and only time in all the four Gospels that anyone ever owned Christ to be God. And you can be sure that when we meet Him in the air, we'll have the same response, and His "Peace be unto you" greeting will be the most blessed word that you will ever hear! This has to be one of the greatest examples of grace at work, that we have in all of scripture. We know about the scoundrel thief on the cross next to our Lord; and we know of Nicodemus and Joseph, tenderly attending-to the Lord's body following His crucifiction; and of the women's bold approach at the tomb the following morning...and all their individual responses; but this has to be, by far, the most remarkable. Even hardened skeptics can be broken down by the personal knowledge and the personal experience of grace on your life!
Think back for a moment, of Elijah's meeting with the prophets of Baal, as recorded in 1 Kings 18. On the occasion of the contest between those pagan prophets and God's man on the ground, Elijah had called down fire from heaven to devour his sacrifice and more, and God had honoured him because of his great faith. But just notice the response of the pagan idol worshippers of Israel, at the great defeat of Baal, "...the Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God!" This is one of the fundamental truths of the faith, that Jesus saves to the uttermost, all because of this one fantastic truth...He is Lord of Lords, and God of all, as the pagans of ancient Israel had finally acknowledged; as had Thomas, as He finally arrived at the point of belief.
But take note as well, of vs. 29..."...Blessed are the many who have not seen Me, but have believed." That is the blessing that the millions who have come to Christ in faith since His ascension...even His future church, have and will own, as a result of this blessing of our Lord upon those who have believed without seeing! But it's also a pretty solid condemnation of those who are...even as those death-dealing Jews had...refusing to believe in their own Redeemer. Did you realize today, that this signifies an even greater blessing on us, than upon those Believers in Jesus' own day? Well there is, and that blessedness must be extended backward to the Old Testament saints, just as it has been forwarded to us!
You know, this is a precious word for the Believer. We have not yet seen Jesus in the flesh, so this is an explicit promise for us, of a certain reunion with the Captain of our souls, and an eternal blessing as well, for those yet to come to faith. But notice vs. 30. What we have in this sacred script is only a taste of the glory that was Jesus' life! As we read here, so many signs and wonders having been witnessed by those disciples of His, that The Book could never have contained them!
Just think how many miracles had been performed throughout those few years of ministry, but this record has been given us as more than an historical record of our Lord, but in order that the lost might see their lost estate, and be drawn to Christ in faith. And that He is the One written-of by the Old Testamant prophets...the One here proclaimed by believing Thomas as "Lord and God!"
Have you yet "decided to follow Jesus"? To take Him at His word, as the resurrected Lord over His creation? Maybe you are one of those who God has given to the Son, and have been rejecting His call on you. Well if so, know that He will persevere, and will not allow you peace until like Thomas, you acknowledge Him to be your own crucified, and resurrected Saviour!
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