As we prepare to hear God's Word to us from the Gospel of John, let's pray that He would speak to us through His Word. God in Heaven, our Heavenly Father who loves us as little children, we pray now that You would give us the hearts of children. That we would hear Your Word with faith and trust. That You would crowd out all distractions that every word spoken would be Christ's Word. Lord, would you accomplish through it that which you intend, the purposes of your Gospel. Give us understanding, Lord, and would we worship you even in the way that we hear, that we would not only be those who hear, but also those who do and believe. In Christ's name, Amen. Please turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of John. The Gospel of John chapter 20. John's account of the resurrection. I'll be reading the whole chapter. John chapter 20, which picks up right after Jesus was buried. after his death on the cross. John chapter 20, starting at verse one, this is the word of the Lord. Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, they have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him. So Peter went out with the other disciple and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. And the disciples went back to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. And as she wept, she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? She said to them, They've taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away. Jesus said to her, Mary. She turned and said to him in Aramaic, Rabboni, which means teacher. Jesus said, do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father, but go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her. 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 to them, Peace be with you. When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. And the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven. If you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld. Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, we have seen the Lord. But he said to them, 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 into his side, I will never believe." Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although 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 and see my hands, and put out your hand and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe." Thomas answered him, My Lord and my God. Jesus said to him, Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. Dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, we live in a world as marked by uncertainty, vanity, and idolatry as did the disciples in Jesus' time. Old loyalties and old truths seem to mean little. Too often raw power blinded by ideology has more effect on people than concepts of right and wrong. If the Roman governor Pontius Pilate could skeptically ask Jesus, what is truth? At his trial in the first century today, almost everyone is asking the same question. What is truth? For some people, that is a cynical question, like it was for Pilate. But for others, I think it is a question that arises from despair. What really matters? How can I know it? Who should I believe? What is truth? In the first century, the disciples of Jesus thought they had found the answer. They had seen Jesus. They had seen His signs and heard His teaching, and they believed that He was the Christ, the one who would restore the kingdom to Israel. They were devoted to Him, and He was devoted to them. And then suddenly, just like that, a few days later, He was dead. He was tortured. crucified, and his body was in the grave. And the disciples were bewildered. They were afraid, and they were in despair. And then, suddenly, some of the women disciples came and proclaimed to them the news, We have seen the Lord! Jesus has risen! The core gospel message of Christianity cuts through all the confusion and fear and despair with one central fact and reality. Jesus is risen. Brothers and sisters, if this is true, everything is different. All despair and vanity and suffering and idolatry and death is shattered. Can it really be true? Or is it too good to be true? What did those women really see? Did they see a spirit or did they have some sort of ecstatic experience? Well, here in John 20, the Apostle John, the one whom Jesus loved, shows us how Jesus patiently revealed himself. to His disciples, to each one, one after another, letting them work through their fears and confusion by seeing Him, by hearing Him, by touching Him, in order that they might believe and testify to you what they have seen, what they have touched, the one they have handled. Mary Magdalene, Thomas, John, and the others have seen and believed and they testify to you that Jesus is the Son of God. that you might believe and have life in his name. The story tells us that on the first day of the week, Sunday, so two days after Jesus had died, three days later in the Jewish way of counting, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene was making her way to the tomb. The other Gospels tell us that she was with other women and that they were hoping to anoint Jesus with spices. They weren't looking to see if the tomb would be empty. They weren't holding out any sort of hope that things might be different now. No, they expected to find Jesus dead. They wanted to honor Him. They wanted to show their love and that their devotion to Him extended even past His death. Well, Mary now suddenly sees that the stone has been rolled away and she is distressed and terrified. It's not like all of a sudden the lights click on. No, she's bewildered. So she runs and tells Peter and John, they've taken the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him. Now, if you do a survey of commentaries on this passage, commentators are very often quite critical of Mary at this point for her confusion and fear. I would suggest to you that that criticism comes more from the smugness of retrospect. It's not in John's text. John's not expecting us to sit in judgment on Mary here. He's, if anything, expecting us more to identify with her. See, Mary had been healed by Jesus. She had been cleansed of seven demons. And if there is one feature that marks Mary's conduct from the beginning to the end, it is her steadfast loyalty, her perseverance, and her undying love for Jesus. She was part of the group of women who had accompanied Him and supported Him throughout His ministry. When he was being crucified, Judas had betrayed him, Peter had denied him, and most of the other disciples had fled, not to return, but Mary Magdalene continued to stand by him, even at the cross. when they took his body down. Hours later, a few sympathetic Pharisees ensuring that he would receive a proper burial, it was Mary Magdalene who remained to see where he was laid. And now, early in the morning, the first one, after resting on the Sabbath in accordance with the commandment, the first one back to the tomb to continue to show this love and honor is Mary. Oh, later commentators may be clearer about the content of their faith than was Mary at that moment, but they cannot match her love. So having informed Peter and John, they also run to the tomb to see if what Mary says is true. And we can only imagine how tormented Peter must have been. Remember, only a few days before, Jesus had predicted Peter's denial, that he would deny him not once, but three times. And Peter had sworn to his friend's face that he would never deny him even if he had to die for him. And yet he had, not once, fleeting moment, not twice, but three times. And no doubt he was haunted by the look that Jesus had gave him in the moment of that denial. If you recall, Jesus looked at Peter and then Peter went out and wept bitterly, knowing that Jesus had died, knowing Peter had abandoned him. So what is Peter thinking now, having heard this frantic message from Mary? Has Peter failed his Lord again and now his body has been stolen? John, loyal, described in his Gospel, described himself as the one whom Jesus loved. Like the other disciples, he too had fled at Jesus' arrest, but shortly after he had used his connections to find his way into the court. And he was the only one of the 12 whom we know was present at the cross. Jesus spoke to his mother and to John, calling them to care for one another. It was to him, then, that Jesus had committed the care of his mother Mary. So John had seen the spear plunged into Jesus' side. John knew that Jesus was dead. And now John outruns the impulsive Peter and reaches the tomb first. It's lighter now. He can see more than Mary. He can see the burial clothes there, but he doesn't go into the tomb. Does anxiety stop him? Is he afraid of what he might discover? We don't know. Peter, as usual, doesn't hesitate. He goes into the tomb, and he not only sees that the burial cloths are there, but they are neatly arranged. They're organized. The face cloth is lying separate and neatly folded. And then John finally enters the tomb, and it is here that we begin to see a struggle to believe. I say a struggle to believe. The text says, then the other disciple also went in and he saw and believed, for as yet they did not understand the scripture. I think the text is actually trying to convey to you the beginnings of belief, but a sort of confused belief. A lot of commentators, again, they laud John as the hero at this point, the example of faith, because it says he believed. But I don't think the text portrays it quite that simply. And the other Gospels confirmed that the disciples, the 11 disciples, continued to struggle with doubt and confusion after this point. The text actually, I would submit to you, communicates a degree of ambiguity. He saw and believed, but then it immediately qualifies that, as yet they did not understand the scripture that he must rise from the dead. I think what confirms this for us is that John's response at this point is not testimony or witness. And throughout the Gospel of John, when somebody has finally come to that moment where things break through, their immediate response is always testimony or witness. So John's starting to get something here, but it's not enough to bring him to the point where he's about to go and start proclaiming the good news. John doesn't offer any comfort to Mary. He goes home. It's a wait and see. So, whatever it is at this point that John believes, it is a faith marked by confusion and bewilderment still. And Peter, we must assume, went away similarly, filled with wonder. But Mary, steadfastly loyal, remains by the tomb, weeping out of love for her Lord. And here again, commentators criticize her. But I think that says more about them than it does about her. Jesus, too, had wept at the tomb of Lazarus, being, as John told us, deeply moved and greatly troubled, even when he knew Lazarus was about to be raised from the dead. If Jesus could mourn and weep at the death of a friend who he knows is about to be raised, would we expect any less from one of his most devoted disciples? It was not an inappropriate thing to do. So Mary stoops to look into the tomb and now for the first time she sees two angels. And they ask her, Woman, why are you weeping? And here her ongoing confusion and anxiety is obvious. All she can think about is his body. She's not even imagining anything beyond that. No sort of resurrection here. All she can think about is what happened to his body. He who saved her. The one who gave her life and hope, who she has followed so loyally and steadfastly, even through his death and burial. She says, they've taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. She's got one thing she's focused on here. We don't know what the angel said in reply. John doesn't tell us. So Mary turns around and she sees through her tears a man standing there. And then he asked the same question the angels did. Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? Of course, famously Mary doesn't recognize him. And people have speculated ever since, why didn't she recognize him? Is his form different? Is it just that she was so distraught she couldn't tell through her tears? Is it that God kept her, like we're told explicitly he did with the men on the road to Emmaus, that he kept her from seeing that this was Jesus? We don't know. She thinks he's the gardener. So she says again, that one focus on his body, Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away. Like the disciples, there's been no, no wavering of love. It's just that it's marked by confusion. Her intentions are right. There's no question about her love for her Lord. But she has not yet seen Jesus for who He really is. And Jesus breaks through all of that with one word. Mary. In that one word, there is none of the sanctimonious criticism of commentators over the centuries. Jesus is not angry with Mary. He loves her. He helps her. He leads her. He knows his sheep, and he calls them by name. And Mary, full of love and suddenly full of faith, hears and knows the voice of her shepherd. And she likewise responds with one word, filled with affection, but now affection shaped by a faith, the reality, rabboni, teacher or master. And the text implies that she lays hold of Jesus. She touches Him. She gets physical confirmation. doesn't mind being touched. As we will see, he encourages it. But this is not the time for celebration. So he tells her, do not cling to me. Now is not the time. He has a commission for Mary. Again, that confirms what I said a few moments ago in John's gospel. When there is an awakening to faith, when there is a realization, it is always followed by witness and testimony. And Jesus now sends her to go tell the disciples who still need to hear this message, go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my father and your father, to my God and your God. Mary obeys, we're told, and so she becomes the first disciple to announce the Easter message. Mary Magdalene went and announced it to the disciples, I have seen the Lord. and that he had said these things to her." Now, John doesn't tell us how the disciples respond to her announcement. And we should not take that as confirmation that they necessarily believed and that everything clicked for them. Again, the other Gospels confirm for us that the disciples were very slow. That some of them were still doubting even at Jesus' ascension. See, the twelve disciples are not heroes in the Easter stories. They are just as filled with doubt and fear as was Mary Magdalene, and if anything, they are less dogged than she was in their perseverance and loyalty. They're continuing, for that reason, to stay behind locked doors. Fear is still their driving emotion. And only after Jesus appears among them and speaks peace to them, showing them his physical body and the wounds in his hands and his side, only then, as with Mary, do they go turn and believe and testify to what they have seen. Now, here again, there's room for speculation. You know, people wonder about Jesus' post-resurrection body. Was his body different from ours because he suddenly appeared behind locked doors, right? He didn't have to open the door. He didn't have to unlock the door. What's going on here? I think that that sort of suggestion reads too much into the text. Jesus' ministry, of course, is filled with signs and wonders. And to assume that now that there's one after the resurrection, it means something about his body, I think, is reading too much into the text, and it actually undermines John's emphasis on the continuity within Jesus' body, right? The fact that his wounds are still there. The emphasis is very much on Jesus' limited and marred physicality, even in his resurrected body. It is a man with scars whom the disciples touch, and later he actually eats fish. That's why the disciples are so glad. That's why the Gospel is so glorious. It's not just some spirit. It's not some radically different kind of body that they're seeing here. Our Lord Jesus rose from the dead with the very same body He had before. Because He has actually conquered death. He has undone what death could do. And He will similarly raise your physical bodies, brothers and sisters. The bodies you have now will be raised from the dead. It is this that leads to the great apostolic commission. Again, now that there's faith, now that there's realization, what are they supposed to do? He says, peace be with you as the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven. If you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld. Go. Proclaim this message. They will, of course, take it to the ends of the earth. But of course, those to whom the apostles will preach this message of the resurrection, of the forgiveness of sins, will not see Jesus. And you have not seen Jesus. And John knows this. So he immediately notes that in fact, one of the disciples wasn't there and also had not seen Jesus at this time, Thomas. Thomas had heard the testimony of the apostles and possibly of the women. It says the other disciples told him, we have seen the Lord. So now he's receiving this testimony in a similar situation as you, right? He sees, he hears the testimony, but he hasn't seen Jesus. Should Thomas believe them? Should you believe this testimony? That's the question that John is bringing you to come to grips with. Thomas is in a position very similar to us today. Will he believe the testimony of the resurrection? And Thomas' response is famous. 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 into his side, I will never believe. And as you can anticipate by this point, of course, here again, commentators have been very critical of Thomas, right? It's even in popular, his title to this day, Doubting Thomas. How different we would have been. But it's hard to see why Thomas should come under greater criticism than any of the other disciples. They didn't believe either until they saw the Lord. And as I said, some continue to doubt even to the ascension. No, as with Mary, so with Thomas, the point is not for us to sit and read this text and sit in judgment on the disciples and evaluate how well they responded to what they heard or saw. That is not the point. The point, rather, is to see how Jesus graciously brings along a person just like you, in fact. One who is tempted not to believe what he has not seen. Thomas is bewildered and confused like virtually everybody else in John's Gospel. Like us. But he is not disloyal. When Jesus had decided earlier in John to go to Jerusalem during the illness of Lazarus, it was Thomas, you recall, who said, let us also go that we may die with him. Thomas was willing to die for Jesus. When Jesus told the disciples that they knew the way to the Father, it was Thomas who said, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? Confused? Yes. Disloyal? No. If Thomas is doubting the word of the disciples after Easter, it is because he doesn't want to believe in a mirage, or a phantom, or an illusion. He's devoted himself to this Lord. He wants to follow the one he has always been willing to follow, even to death. But he's not gonna follow, he's not gonna cast everything on some illusion or some phantom. Which I think most of us respect, right? The resurrection had better be true, brothers and sisters. And that's the way Thomas thinks about this. And again, Jesus does not respond to Thomas like the smug commentators do. He does not resent Thomas' demand to touch him as if it's somehow beneath his dignity. Rather, like a shepherd, like a servant, God in the flesh stoops to our weakness that we might touch and handle him. A week later, we're told Jesus again appears to the disciples. And without even waiting to hear Thomas' demand, He holds out His marred body, the body of the Son of God, for Thomas to reduce to an experiment, to touch, to handle. 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 like Mary Magdalene and like the other disciples, after the Lord appeared to them, Thomas now responds with witness and with testimony. Greater than any testimony we have heard from anyone in the Gospel of John to this point. My Lord and my God. The biggest skeptic, maybe. The one who had to be sure, maybe. But once he saw, brothers and sisters, he proclaimed. This is the Lord. This is God. Not only is He risen from the dead, not only is He the Christ promised by the prophets, He is God Himself. He is, as John said, the Word who was with God and the Word who is God. Thomas. Determined not to believe without the surest of proofs offers the most staggering of testimony. Jesus, the one whom the disciples are touching and handling, the one in whom they are looking, the one who has wept for them and prayed for them, the one who has suffered for them and died for them is God himself. The creator of the heavens and the earth. The One who gives life and breath to all and takes it away at His pleasure. He is the One who has come into this room to let people handle Him as they will, that they might know. This story, this chapter, is about how God carries along the disciples like a mother with her little children. Doing whatever is necessary that they might be comforted, that they might know that everything's okay, and that they might live on that promise and proclaim it. God doesn't respond to our struggle to believe with anger or offended dignity. Ha! You gonna touch me? No. Jesus is not interested in punishing or rejecting those who love Him. Throughout John 21, we're told Jesus continues to come. He continues to talk. He continues to rehabilitate. The sermon could go on into those stories as well. Especially Peter. The one maybe most hurt at this point. Brothers and sisters, John tells us explicitly the whole point of this is that Jesus wants you to know, you who were not there, that he is risen, that he has appeared to his disciples, and that as your shepherd, if you follow his voice, he will lead you to eternal life. In fact, you can have it now. Life in his name. Jesus said to him, have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. And John, writing this now, sure in his faith, very clear on his mission, calls you to faith. He says, now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book, but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You weren't there. But you have received the testimony of those who were. Those on whom Jesus poured out His Spirit, and whom He commissioned to give you this very message. And the Apostle John took this aspect of his testimony very seriously. Not only was he an eyewitness, but he touched and handled Jesus, and he wants you to know that. In his first letter, he begins the letter by writing this, That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands concerning the word of life. The life was made manifest and we have seen it and testified to it and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us. That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you so that you too may have fellowship with us And indeed, our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ. That's 1 John 1, verses 1-4. John thus testified, to all who would listen, greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him might not perish, but have everlasting life. Tis mystery all. The immortal dies. Who can explore his strange design? He left his father's throne above, humbled himself so great his love, and bled for Adam's helpless race. If you've not already done so, believe this Gospel. Believe this Gospel and you will have eternal life. Believe this Gospel and you too will be with Him and you will be like Him. For you too, as John says, will see Him as He is. Jesus is speaking to you, each one of you, brothers and sisters, when He proclaims blessing on those who have not seen and yet have believed. He knows you by name. He prayed for you in the great high priestly prayer of John 17. He sent you His Spirit, and today He is interceding for you at God's right hand. He calls you to life and fellowship with Him and His Heavenly Father. Amazing love, how can it be that you, my God, should die for me? Amen. Let's pray.