How Doubting Thomas Finds Faith

0:00 If you have a Bible, I hope you will open it and turn to John 20, the Gospel of John chapter 20. My assignment is 24 to 31, and I think it will be helpful to read a little bit before, a little bit after. So we're going to start at verse 19 of chapter 20 and read to the end of the chapter. John 20, verse 19.

3:11 Let's pray. So it's so clear, Lord, it's so clear why John is doing this, why he's writing, why he's telling these stories, why we're seeing what we're seeing. It's because everybody in this room is supposed to experience the miracle of a believing heart.

3:33 Now and forever. and that's why I'm preaching, that's why this is written, to bring us to faith, to keep us believing and to be saved, to have eternal life. So preserve us now by this word, I pray in Jesus' name, amen. So I think the last verse, verse 31, is the main point of the passage. It's the main point of the book, right? These things are written, including the Thomas story, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ. Keep on believing. Come to faith. Stay believing that he's the Son of God and that by believing you live forever. You have eternal life. So to say it another way, this text about Thomas and the gospel is designed by God to be the means of the miracle of a believing heart.

4:32 coming into being and staying in being. So eight days before the encounter between Jesus and Thomas, the 10, not Judas, not Thomas, are behind locked doors. And Jesus suddenly stood there in their midst and says, peace be with you. Verse 19, peace be with you. He showed them his hands. he showed them his side, verse 20.

5:05 And Thomas wasn't there. So they say to Thomas, we've seen him. Eyewitness testimony, ten of us. And Thomas surprisingly says, 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 in his side, I'm not going to believe. Now the reason I say that's surprising is because it's 10 to 1, and there's friends.

5:49 They've worked together for three years. what's going on? What's he saying about them? Surely he's not saying, you're just a bunch of liars. That's what I've known all along. You're just a bunch of liars. That cannot be what Thomas is saying. Surely he can't be saying, you're all deceivers. You're tricking me. This is a trick. He can't be saying that, can he? Ten reliable eyewitnesses and the response is unbelief. I think the clue to what he's saying is in verse 25, where he describes what he thinks he needs. I have to see in his hands the mark of the nails, and I have to place my finger in his side.

6:56 In other words, look, guys, I don't really care what you're seeing, a vision, a ghost, a spirit. I have to know, is it the same guy? Is it the same physical, spiritual, on the cross, slaughtered Christ? Whatever you saw, I'm not, I don't want to hurt your feelings, but I'm not believing because that's just inconceivable. Now that's not a tribute to Thomas. I don't think John is thinking, oh, what a noble skeptic here. A lot of people think skepticism is noble. It's not. Not when you have enough evidence. It's not a tribute to him, but it is a huge help to us that this story is here.

7:59 So, I need to see his hands, I need to see his side, and really, Thomas, you should have believed your friends. It's enough. he's going to say in verse 29, blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Eyewitness testimonies from ten reliable friends is enough. You don't have to see him. It's enough. So Thomas' rejection is not a tribute to him. Eyewitness testimonies are God's plan for you. Eyewitness testimonies are God's plan to bring people to faith. Eyewitness testimonies from the apostles is God's plan for how the miracle of a believing heart comes into existence. That's the plan. Verse 35 of chapter 19. Listen, he who saw it the crucifixion speaking John speaking about himself I think could be a group talking about John who inserted this but let's take it as John's witness he who saw it has borne witness his testimony is true and he knows that he is telling the truth that you may believe that's the plan for you. There's no other plan. You got no other access. Eyewitness or go to hell.

9:52 There's not another plan B. It's over and over again. Chapter 1, verse 7, John the Baptist came to bear witness about the light that all who believe through him might be saved. Witness, believe. Chapter 4 verse 39, many Samaritans believed in him because of the woman's testimony. Chapter 20 verse 25, Thomas, 10 reliable friends, we have seen the Lord. So he's not a hero. There was enough evidence. He didn't embrace it. It's a great help to us. While John records this, it's a great help to us because the eyewitness is the means by which we experience the miracle.

10:54 of a believing heart coming into existence and staying in existence. And I think the Gospel of John and this story are here not just for beginners. We often think of the Gospel of John as a great gospel to put in people's hands who are not believers. And that's, I think, true. I think it's a good gospel to put into people's hands. But it's mainly written for believers, I think. Remember chapter 8, verse 31? Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples. Goodness gracious, there was a lot of believing going on that was not saving believing in John's gospel. And there is in the church today. Believing that is not saving believing.

11:48 The gospel is written to keep you believing and by keeping you believing, show that you're really believing. That's the reason the gospel is here and Thomas is here to help us. So how does he help us? There are three ways I'm going to point to that Thomas helps bring about the goal of the gospel that you would believe and have eternal life. Number one, it provides the strongest and clearest evidence in John's Gospel that the very Jesus who was crucified, buried, dead, is alive. When I was in seminary, this is now over 50 years ago, it was a burning question. If someone brought the bones of Jesus in a wheelbarrow into this classroom, would you still be a Christian?

12:48 because we were reading people in those days who would answer, of course. The memory of the resurrection is a symbol of hope. The spirit of Jesus lives on and Christianity bears witness to life is not hopeless. I can't believe how many people were thinking that was a great thought. To which Paul says, if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is in vain. And your faith is in vain. If the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who gives life will give life to your mortal bodies by him who dwells in you. And right here, Jesus in the Gospel of John, chapter 6, verse 39, says, This is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of what he's given me, but raise him up at the last day.

13:58 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I'll raise him up on the last day. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. I'll raise him up on the last day. Eternal life in the Gospel of John is not a disembodied life.

14:20 The crucified Jesus was raised from the dead bodily. He's going to raise us bodily on the last day. Years ago, I heard an evangelical leader. Most of you would know this person. He's alive and kicking today, and I think a good man. And he wrote that he didn't think Jesus in heaven today had a body. I thought, did I read that right? So I emailed him. I know him really well. We work together. I said, what? What are you saying? And I directed him to Philippians 3. Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior who will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him to subject all things to himself. What?

15:23 Now, I think he changed his mind. I think it was a slip. He's never said anything to the country since then. Don't make that mistake. It's amazing, and this story is about this, that Jesus, alive today, has a glorified body, and there are hymns, there are songs that help us. Crown him the Lord of love. Behold his hands and side. Rich wounds yet visible above in beauty glorified. That's a good verse. Or five bleeding wounds he bears. Received on Calvary. They pour effectual prayers. they strongly plead for me.

16:17 Forgive him, oh, forgive, they cry. Forgive him, oh, forgive, they cry. Let not this ransomed sinner die. It's not a small thing that Jesus has wounds in heaven today. So the first way that this story helps you is that it makes plain that the Christ who was raised is the crucified, dead, buried Christ. He had holes in his hands. It raises a lot of questions about the resurrection body, but we'll pass over that. it'll be what we need. Number two,

17:08 this story helps us by giving us a beautiful example of the power and the patience and the personal grace of Jesus. Powerful, patient, personal grace of Jesus. So compare verses 19 and 26. 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, peace be with you. That's verse 19. Here's verse 26. Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, Thomas being with them. Although the doors were locked, again, Jesus came and stood among them, again, and said again, peace be with you. So he's approaching his ten disciples as a group for the first time in that first verse, 19,

18:05 after the resurrection. And in verse 26, he's approaching that group and Thomas. Now, how is he going to approach them after the crucifixion? Will he come in anger? Will he come mercy? Will he come in judgment? Will he come in peace? Three things are exactly the same in those two verses. First, the doors are locked. Second, he stood among them. Third, he spoke peace. So peace, not judgment, among them, not against them, and he breaks rules to make it happen. The doors are locked. That's the point. He didn't knock.

18:57 He did something only resurrection bodies do. Now that's a picture of the powerful, personal, patient grace. Powerful because the doors are locked. I love to think that Jesus simply will, if I need him to be near me and with me, speaking peace, he's just going to break all the rules to get there. Nothing's going to stop him. I think he can't get to me in my situation. It's too bad, It's too low. I'm in a cave or I'm in a jail. And I think these locked doors are here to say, nothing stops Jesus from standing among his people with peace. So powerful.

19:49 Patient and personal. Good grief. These disciples had tested Jesus' patience for three years, almost to the breaking point. John 14 9 have I been so long with you Philip and you don't know me chapter 16 verse 12 I still have many things to say and you can't bear them now worst of all chapter 16 verse 32 behold the hour is coming indeed now is here when you will be scattered each of you to his home and leave me alone you How's he going to come to them? You wonder if the doors were locked for more than one reason. So in spite of all the slowness to comprehend, and several times the disciple's slowness is called hardness of heart.

20:52 In spite of all the hardness of heart and slowness, in spite of that final desertion, he left me all alone. I was all alone. I mean, some of you have been abandoned, and you have felt, that's just so wrong. And of course it was, and infinitely so, for Jesus to be abandoned. And how will he come to the ones who left him all alone and tried him with their hardness of heart? And the answer is, he came with peace. He stood among them and not over against them. He spoke, peace be with you, peace be with you, peace be with you. You said it three times in all of these. I think that is a great help to us to persevere in faith. And here's the reason I think it is.

21:51 I have watched over the decades why people become post-evangelical, why they deconstruct. one of the reasons, sometimes it's subtle, sometimes it's obvious, is that they simply grow weary of their own indwelling sin. I just, I've watched them. It's just not worth it anymore. I'm not making any headway. I can't be a Christian. I cannot live this life. Now they then may cloak it with some other kinds of things. They may blame somebody else. Let me point to some historical problem, but deep inside it's, I just can't do it. This text says to me at my age, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 years into our walk with Jesus,

23:03 you will keep feeling things, saying things, and doing things that make you cry out, O wretched man that I am. Yes, you will. And the devil, at that moment, will say to you, see, it doesn't work, and you're hopeless. So just eat, drink, and be merry. So tomorrow you're going to die. It's all hopeless. And may I, as an old man, encourage you. I think everybody in this room is younger than I am. may I encourage you, not only will you never cease to need the powerful, patient, personal grace of Jesus, but his resources of patience will always be greater than your need.

24:07 Yes, they will. The resources of his patients will be greater than your need. And you will perhaps return to this story with amazement. that Jesus showed up with peace and not judgment. My testimony is progressive sanctification never puts you beyond sin in this life. I'm reading a biography of Wesley right now, John Wesley, good grief, what a mess, among his followers about the doctrine of perfection. It did not serve people well. The doctrine of perfectibility in this life causes great trouble. My testimony, we could defend it from the Bible, but just to help you, my testimony is progressive sanctification never puts you beyond sin in this life.

25:13 And I have found that in spite of my sinful feelings, sinful words, sinful deeds, this same living Jesus walks through locked doors to stand by me. and say, my peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Now don't your heart be troubled. I got you. So that's two. One, Thomas helps us see the risen Christ as the crucified Christ. He's risen. He's risen bodily. And two, he showed up with powerful, personal, patient grace. And he will do that for you.

26:11 Third and finally, this story provides us with the most exalted personal testimony of the deity of Jesus in the Gospel of John. my Lord, my God, verse 27. He says to the 11, peace be with you.

26:37 He says to Thomas, put your finger here and see my hands and put out your hand and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe. And Thomas answered, my Lord and my God. Now, besides the grace of Jesus giving Thomas more evidence than he deserved and more evidence than he used, besides that, there are two striking things, two other striking things in this encounter at this moment. First, the height to which Thomas soars in his believing heart. Nobody else in the gospel said this. Close. John 1 49, Nathanael said, Rabbi, you are the son of God, you are the king of Israel. Now it's almost the same. But the greatest personal testimony, I'm not talking about expositional teaching like chapter one, I'm talking about personal testimonies, the greatest personal testimony spoken in the gospel belongs to Thomas.

28:01 Now, you know, Lord can mean sir, Lord can mean master, Lord can mean God. All three of those are used in this gospel. But my Lord paired with my God doesn't mean sir. and it doesn't mean mere earthly master. This my God catches up my Lord into a stunning testimony. I'm not my own. I'm not my master. I'm not my Lord. I am bought. I am owned. I am subject. I have no authority anymore in myself. I belong entirely to Jesus, my Lord. And then more than that, my God. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him. Without Him was nothing made that was made. My Creator, and my God is standing before me with holes in his hands.

29:16 Whom have I in heaven but you? And on earth there's nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail but you, Jesus, my Lord and my God, are my portion forever. That's the first and most obvious striking thing. Here's the other striking thing about verses 27 and 28. Thomas not only soared into this amazingly high confession, he did it without touching Jesus. It's very striking. At least there's no record that he touched Jesus, and that's not an accident. So verse 25, unless I put my finger into the mark of the nails and place my hand into his side, I will not believe. So there you go. This is a no-brainer. This is non-negotiable. I've got to touch him. Fingers got to go in.

30:18 And so verse 27, Jesus in immeasurable patience and grace says, okay, okay, here they are. Next thing, my Lord and my God, that's all. Why? He demanded evidence. He demanded more than he deserved and then more than he used.

30:52 Why? Why didn't he use it all? Here's my answer. In the Gospel of John, believing is a divine miracle, not a mental calculation. Now, to be sure, in this gospel, believing is based on evidence, especially the evidence of eyewitness testimony. Remember what John said in his letter? That which we've seen and heard, we proclaim to you so that you too may have fellowship with us. And indeed, our fellowship is with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. So this living, believing fellowship is based on a testimony from an eyewitness and is a miracle of God, not a calculation.

31:57 Listen to John 6. Jesus said, I'm the bread of life. Who comes to me shall not hunger, and who believes in me shall never thirst. But I said, you've seen me, and you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. They saw. Hundreds of people saw. They saw. Seeing did not produce believing. It's not automatic. It's not a calculation. There's no straight line you can draw between evidence and faith. The devil knows better than all of us. Jesus rose from the dead. He is totally persuaded. And he's not saved. He believes it, but not that way.

32:59 So they tell him, we've seen the Lord. That's enough, isn't it? Jesus says in verse 29, have you believed because you have seen me? What's the answer to that question?

33:28 Have you believed because you have seen me? I think the answer is yes, but seeing me in the flesh was not decisive. And Thomas knew it. He knew in the instant that he didn't need to touch him. This battle is over. I don't need to see anymore. I don't need to touch. I've been given new eyes. Everything has changed. My Lord and my God. And oh, how clearly then it follows, doesn't it? at the end of verse 29, blessed are those who have not seen physical body and yet believed.

34:25 Why? Why? Why? Because the blessing of believing is not a calculation. It's a divine miracle that comes through the testimony of eyewitnesses. These things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and by believing have life in his name. So the composite testimony of the gospel, including this story about Thomas, becomes the means by which the miracle of a believing heart comes into existence and stays in existence. Thomas thought he needed more evidence than the testimony of ten friends. We've seen the Lord. He didn't.

35:18 What he needed was a miracle. My Lord and my God. So, Father, I pray now that you would draw near and that you would enable us to believe the way Thomas came to believe and that we wouldn't push beyond the evidence that you have graciously provided, but we would rest in it because of your powerful, personal, patient grace in our lives to bring us to say, my Lord and my God. I ask this in your name.