The Real Story - Pastor Tom Loghry
On Easter Sunday, we remember the resurrection of Jesus. Thomas doubted the truth of Christ’s resurrection; we must learn from his example and trust in the account that we have been given.
Transcript:
I am planning to go to the movies in May. I'm planning to go see the Mandalorian and Grogu with my son. This is the way! We enjoyed watching the Star Wars television series, and I'm expecting that we will enjoy the movie. It is great action, great storytelling, great drama. Two heroes doing their small part to keep the Star Wars universe from the clutches of the Empire. It's a great story, but of course it's all fiction; none of it's real. And while I expect going to the movie will be a good time, I am not expecting that the story I will hear will hold any great consequence for my life. It's just a story.
Would we say the same about Jesus? One of the things that I love about Easter is that it brings this question to the surface. It can be very easy for us to treat the narrative that we find in the Bible as a mere story, perhaps with some moral teaching, some moral inspiration, some spiritual advice. Subconsciously, we can create two universes. We have the universe of the Bible and then we have the universe in which we actually live. We have the spiritual sphere, and then we have the sphere of real, actual living.
We can get away with that division if what we find in the pages of scripture is a mere story, perhaps powerfully told, but a mere fiction nonetheless. However, this is not aligned with what the Bible claims itself, and it doesn't accord with the historical record of the people who followed in the footsteps of Christ and his disciples. The emergence and survival of the Christian faith is inexplicable as a mere story. From the beginning, it was contended to be a testimony of historical fact worth dying for.
Either Jesus actually rose from the dead, or he did not. Either what Jesus claimed about himself is true or it's just a pack of lies, the ravings of a deluded man. Either the disciples are witnesses, or they're liars, or possibly dupes. Either Jesus means everything; he means a world of difference, or he means absolutely nothing, and to follow him would be a fool's errand. We would have no doubt that it would be a fool's errand in that case, given that he himself ended up on a cross. Where else should we expect to end up, in one way or another? The way of Jesus leads to a cross. What hope can there be in that path? Unless there is, in fact, a resurrection.
What is the truth, and what does it mean for us? I want you to grapple with that this Easter, to come to a point of decision, of belief, in light of the reality that has been revealed. And to do that, I wanna take us to the disciple who is infamous for his doubt, the disciple Thomas. And so we go to John chapter 20, verse 24 through 29, and if you look in that chapter, you'll know that Jesus, after having been crucified and buried, is, is then to be resurrected from the dead and that he's seen alive by some of his disciples. In this chapter, we are first told of how Mary Magdalene came face to face with the risen Jesus. Looking at verses 19 and 20, we see how Jesus came to the disciples as they were hurry, huddled together in a locked room, obviously fearing that they might be crucified just like Jesus had been. But one of them was not there. Now Judas had already killed himself at this point, so we're not talking about him. One of them was not there and was missing. Thomas was not in the room.
And as we see in verses 24 through 25, when he does rejoin them and when he hears from them that they have seen the Lord, he does not believe, he does not believe his fellow disciples with whom he's spent the past several years. He can't believe again. We can imagine his, his feeling of, of disappointment and disillusionment, having seen the one that he believed to be the Messiah be crucified on a cross, the very opposite of a victorious savior. He was downcast with disappointed hope. Earlier in his time with Jesus, we can actually have some indication, we catch some indication of Thomas's anticipation that things might not end well. We see in John 11:16 when Jesus is preparing to go to Bethany, to go to Lazarus, his friend who had died. He's anticipating that because of those conspiring against Jesus, that Jesus is gonna end up being killed and so he says, let us also go, that we may die with him. Then in John 14 when Jesus is telling his disciples that he's going to be leaving them, but that they should know the way, Thomas says to him in response, Lord, we don't know where you're going, so how can we know the way?
And so now it seems that Jesus has gone. Now, he hasn't actually gone gone, as we know he's yet to ascend, but it seems like he's gone. And Thomas says, I don't know the way, everything seems lost, and this just seems like it's just been a path of madness. What has this been all about in the end? And so, despite the good reasons that he does have to believe that Jesus had been raised from the dead, the fact that his fellow disciples are testifying to the fact, and surely he would trust them, and the fact that he's actually heard Jesus make allusion to the fact that he's going to be raised from the dead, he refuses to believe. He refuses to believe unless he can see the holes in Christ pierced hand, unless he can touch his wounds.
And so nothing happens for a week. We often forget that the resurrection appearances of Jesus are not just a one day affair. He comes and goes among his disciples multiple weeks, 40 days before he ascends to heaven. Now, notably, Thomas is still with the other disciples apparently. Perhaps he couldn't believe, but he didn't know where else to go. I have to imagine that the confidence of the others held some magnetic force over him as God would have it, because, in fact, Christ intended to meet his demand. So we see in verses 26 through 29, I'm gonna read these verses again, says, 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. 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. Thomas said to him, my Lord, and my God! Then Jesus told him, because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.
This time when Jesus shows up, Thomas is in the room. Now as before, the room in which they're gathered is locked, and yet Jesus comes into their midst. And we don't know how, there is no explanation given, but we do know this, that Jesus is not just a mere spirit. He is not a ghost, because he can be touched. In fact, we see elsewhere that he eats with the disciples, and we know that, in fact, Christ presently continues to have the human body with which he was raised and that we, as we are raised in like manner, are going to have a body just like his. In Philippians three verses 20 through 21, the Apostle Paul tells us, but our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
So Jesus is actually there. He's actually present in the room with them. It's not a mere vision. And the first thing he says to them is, peace be with you. And this greeting is more profound than just a nice saying, even though that would've been a common thing to say, peace has much more import given the fact that he has conquered death. We recall what Jesus says in John 16:33 to his disciples. He says, I have told you these things, and he was telling them that they're going to endure great suffering. I've told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
And it is in this moment that this has become clear, that Christ truly has overcome the world. Because if he's conquered death, who could possibly match his power? And so in the midst of them all, he turns his attention to Thomas, and we imagine him looking Thomas square in the eye. He, he heard, he heard the challenge that Thomas made, he says, put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe. Now this invitation and the details of it, of Christ's pierced hands and side, brings to mind how Christ fulfilled those prophecies concerning himself, concerning the Messiah. Because it was foretold hundreds of years before that the Messiah would suffer in just this way.
Christ fulfills Psalm 22 verses 15 through 18, where, where it says, My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. All my bones are, are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment. That's literally what happened to Jesus. He was up on the cross, people are staring at him, the soldiers are casting lots over his clothes. Christ fulfills the word of God in Zechariah 12:10. It says, I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They'll look on me, now this is God speaking, they'll look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. Sounds like Jesus, right? Now further to the, to the point, beyond the fulfillment of these details, is we understand the significance of Christ's suffering in this way.
We look to Isaiah 53 verses four through six, where it says, surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Once again, all of this foretold hundreds of years before. It can't be a mere coincidence. How is it that Jesus fulfills these details that seem, probably, to the original Jewish readers, of they're not able to really reckon all this. They're not understanding of how this is all going to add up to their salvation. But we see the picture coming together here in Jesus, that he suffered and died for us.
Now, we all die. The reason why we die is because we are separated from our creator. And the reason why we are separated from our creator is because we're sinful. We're not the people we are created to be. We are created to be like God in his character, good people, righteous people, but we're not those kinds of people. And if we're going to dwell and live with God forever, we must be those sorts of people, and we must be justified in his presence given the crimes we have committed. So how can that be made right? We see here in Jesus that he makes it right in himself by paying the price that none of us could pay, and living the life that none of us could live in order that we might be raised to a new life in himself. Christ came, died, and was resurrected for us.
The apostle Paul in Romans five verses six through nine says, you see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person, someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him?
That is the gospel, that God loved you, he loved me, even when we wanted nothing to do with him. Now, you have to imagine how humbled Thomas is in this moment, how embarrassed he must be that he didn't simply believe his fellow disciples when they told them that Jesus was alive, that he made such demand, saying, no, Jesus has to prove himself to me. And how Christ consents, condescends to him, this one who has been revealed to be the true king given that he's conquered death, inviting him to touch his wounds. And we have to suppose that perhaps he does. The text didn't tell us that, but we know that the disciples did touch Jesus, confirming that he wasn't just a mere illusion. In 1st John one, one, the Apostle John tells us this, that that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched-- this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.
The only thing that Thomas can say in response to Jesus is my Lord and my God. My Lord and my God. It's a confession of his trust, his faith in who Jesus is. Martin Luther, the father of the Protestant Reformation, tells us that if your faith and trust be right, then is your God also true; and, on the other hand, if your trust be false and wrong, then you have not the true God; for these two belong together faith and God. That now, I say, upon which you set your heart and put your trust is properly your God.
In the response that Thomas gives here, he's revealing his heart, that he has now come to the position of entrusting all of himself to Jesus Christ. He can't possibly even help himself, because he knows that he is in fact the true and only Savior, that he is, in fact, the Son of God, God himself, come in the flesh. And what we have here is a really elegant sort of bookend in John's gospel. Because if you know the gospel of John, you know that in the very first chapter, John testifies to the deity, to the divinity of Jesus Christ. Says in John one, one, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the word there is referring to Jesus. Jesus was, and is, God.
And, in fact, as we go to the rest of the gospel, we find other testimony to the fact that Jesus was revealing himself to be God, In John 15:18 it says that the Jewish leaders were trying to kill him, because, it says, for this reason, they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own father, making himself equal with gone. And in John 19, seven says, the Jewish leaders insisted, we have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the son of God.
You see, they crucified Jesus, not because he was a nice guy, they killed Jesus because they knew exactly what he was claiming about himself, that he was the son of God, that he was the Messiah. And that's what all of the things he was doing, all the miracles, all of his teaching, it was all pointing to that fact, to that authority, that he spoke like no other man spoke, because he spoke with the authority of, of God himself, because he was and is the Son of God. Now again, this is so profound because when it comes to the worship of God, God doesn't mess around.
Isaiah 42: 8. The Lord says, I'm the Lord; that is my name. I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols. And then we see in the gospels how Jesus is worshiped by the disciples, by those that he healed. See this in Matthew 14:33 and in John nine. But again, this detail also is not a surprise to us, as prophesied 700 years earlier in the prophet Isaiah, a passage that's very familiar to us during the time of Christmas. It says, for to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he'll be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
And so we see here when Jesus' response is not to correct Thomas, saying, oh, oh, no, no, no, no. Don't, don't call me my Lord and my God that that's not true of me. He doesn't say that. Instead, he would encourage further belief in him among those who would not have this privilege of seeing him face to face in the manner that Thomas has seen him. So he says, because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Remember here that Thomas had plenty sufficient reason to believe. In fact, you can imagine it'd be easier for him to believe in, in some ways than it is for us. We didn't know the disciples personally. He knew them. He knew what they were about, and yet he doubted their, their testimony. It is not necessary to see with our own eyes in order to believe in Jesus. The testimony of those who witnessed his resurrection speaks for itself, and that they were willing to suffer and to die for no other plausible gain than that they had something better to gain than that which the world offers. They had something to gain that is heavenly in nature, which comes in the kingdom of God, the resurrection life that is revealed here by Jesus Christ.
We do know that others did see Jesus, in 1 Corinthians 15 we have a whole list of people that saw Jesus. Over 500 people saw him. But we also know that not everyone has, and certainly we know that for ourselves, that we have not seen him face to face in that manner. That's acknowledged by the apostle Peter in Acts 10 41, says, he was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen-- by us who ate and drank with him after he arose from the dead. Again, they were very keen that they weren't saying that Jesus just spiritually arose, or that he quote unquote conquered death in a metaphorical sort of way. They were saying literally he has risen from the dead.
What we see here in the case of, of Thomas has been more than mere doubt. It, it was a position of unbelief, he just wasn't willing to believe. Now, of course, all of us can wrestle with doubts. A sensation of uncertainty, a desire for greater confidence, even as we believe. And you should know that if you're in that position, God desires that mercy be shown to you.
We are taught in Jude 21 through 22. It says, keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, to bring you to eternal life. And then verse 22, be merciful to those who doubt. Be merciful to those who doubt. I don't know about you. I've gone through a great season of doubt before in my life, but our confidence, our faith, can stand that test by the grace of God, because our faith is not built upon the foundation of the authority of what our eyes see, what our hands touch. Even while our faith is not blind, we have reason to believe it's not a blind faith, but we are invited into a position of trust. Just as Thomas had been invited, though he came up short of that invitation. Now what this reveals to us here, this whole interaction, is just the depths of God's mercy towards Thomas, and also towards us, in, in giving us this example in him. And you should know that after this, the church tradition says that Thomas went to India, and the tradition says that he was even martyred in India. And there's actually Christians in India. You know, we send many missionaries over to India. But there's actually a tradition of, of a church in India called the St. Thomas Christians, the Nasrani, who claim that they originated from St. Thomas.
Now, St. Gregory the Great, who lived in the sixth century ad, gives us this commentary on this passage. He says, dearly beloved, what do you see in these events? Do you really believe that it was by chance that this chosen disciple was absent, then came and heard, heard and doubted, doubted, and touched, touched and believed? It was not by chance but in God's providence. In a marvelous way God's mercy arranged that the disbelieving disciple, in touching the wounds of his master's body, should heal our wounds of disbelief.
The disbelief of Thomas has done more for our faith than the faith of the other disciples. As he touches Christ and is won over to belief, every doubt is cast aside and our faith is strengthened. So the disciple who doubted, then felt Christ's wounds, becomes a witness to the reality of the resurrection.
See, Jesus never expected people to believe in him blindly. Everything that he did was to lead people to a position of placing their faith in him. John closes out his chapter by saying in John 20, verses 30 through 31, Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of the, of, of His disciples, which are not recorded in this book 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.
So I wanna ask you. What more do you need to believe? Are you really only willing to believe what you see with your own eyes and touch with your own hands? Because I wanna challenge you on this. If you're honest with your self, you do not live your life that way. No one does. Often the things that we say we know are only learned secondhand from others who have seen and touched and known such things for themselves. I have never orbited the earth in a spacecraft, and we have a crew going around the moon right now. They're taking pictures, they're seeing things. Could it be all just made up? That seems more unbelievable than just to believe that they're in a position to report things that I just can't see with my own eyes, but I, I trust them. I trust their reports. I didn't live in the 1800s to know if what happened then actually happened, or with regard to anything in any period of history. I wasn't there. None of us were there. And yet we believe the testimony of what is given so that we believe that we can understand our past. I haven't under, I haven't studied all the microorganisms that supposedly exist under a microscope. If we were to limit ourselves to only believing in that which we have direct and immediate sense perception of, we'd be very limited in life. We'd be all alone, unable to trust anyone, unable to come together and share knowledge so that we might move forward out of the darkness into the light.
Now, isn't it strange, isn't it strange that we are willing to accept those terms when it comes to the general study of history and of scientific progress? We're more hesitant when it comes to Jesus. What is holding you back? And by you, I don't mean only those of you who have yet to believe in Christ. I also mean those of you who say that you believe in Jesus, and yet you seem to be hedging your bets in some ways. You're not living your life as though Jesus has actually been resurrected from the dead. You're living your life as though the present age is all that there is, and that we better get it before it's gone.
Would you be living differently if you saw the wounds in his hands and placed your hand in his pierced side? Maybe you wonder why you don't have that opportunity. Maybe you wish that you had some sort of dramatic encounter like that and you wonder why you don't. But let's be clear, that's not really the important question. Whatever you might wish that you had, the more important question, the essential question is this: did it happen? Did it happen? Did Jesus rise from the dead? Is he presently alive now, standing at the right hand of the Father? Is he coming again?
In the face of death, we, we have our doubts. Not just about Jesus' resurrection, but our own. Martha knew what that was like when her brother Lazarus died. She made her confession in the general resurrection, but in the immediate, she didn't have much hope for her brother. Now, Jesus would raise him from the dead, but before doing so, he says to her this, in John 11:25 to 26, Jesus says to her, I'm the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?
Do you believe this? Don't avoid the question. Answer it, and as I would encourage you, believe it to be true. Every single bit of it. And if you believe in Christ, live your life in the light of the reality of the resurrection. Live under the promise that as you trust in him, you too will be raised from the dead to enjoy everlasting life with God in the new heavens and the new earth, which Christ will bring at his return.
Let us pray.
Father, you know how much we are like Thomas.
You know how much we make demands of you.
It's another sign, father of our rebellion. Thinking you must prove things to ourselves. Prove that your ways are good before we obey you. Prove that you're really and truly God before we believe and trust in you. Father, we see in the sending of your son your great mercy towards us. Because if it was not for that, we would've forever remained alienated from you. Exiled from you. 'cause we just simply wouldn't have believed, we wouldn't have done what is right. We wouldn't have been restored to you. We couldn't fix the problems that we have. But Father, in your mercy, you sent your son into time and space, into history, into our midst so that we might come face to face with you and the person of your son, so that in him we would understand the depth of our sin and the depth of your love as Christ paid the price for our sins on the cross, and that in him, father, we might understand that we are justified and we do have hope in the face of death because he did not stay dead, but was raised from the dead and presently lives and intercedes for us at your right hand.
Father, help us to be realists, break down the division between the two universes that we created so that we would come to terms with this reality of Christ's resurrection. That you'll produce faith in us.
The same faith, which was eventually born out in Thomas, may be born out in us Father, so that we would live in just the same sort of radical way that the disciples live because they knew that Jesus was alive. Create that sort of conviction in us Father. Help us live in the liberty and the freedom of those who know that we no longer live in fear of death because our Savior is king of kings and has conquered death and overcome the devil and destroyed the power of sin.
Father, we give you praise for the salvation which you have wrought in Jesus Christ, your son, and we pray that the Holy Spirit would work upon us so that we would have the faith that is called for. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Hey there, Pastor Tom here. I hope you enjoyed this sermon I offered to Rockland Community Church. Rockland Community Church is located at 212 Rockland Road in North Scituate, Rhode Island, just around the bend from the Scituate Public High School. We invite you to join us in person or virtually this Sunday as we worship God and hear the preaching of his word. It's our joy to welcome you into our community
Intro/Outro Song
Title: River Meditation
Artist: Jason Shaw
Source:http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jason_Shaw/Audionautix_Acoustic/RIVER_MEDITATION___________2-58
License:(CC BY 3.0 US)