This message was given at Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. At the end, we will give information about how to contact us to receive a copy of this or other messages. If you have your Bibles, would you open up to John Chapter 20, please? The Gospel of John Chapter 20. Let's just read verses 30 and 31 of Chapter 20. 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. It's the reading of God's word. We're going to do a lot of covering of scripture today. Last week, we finished the farewell discourse, right? Chapters 13 through 17 of John marking these last words that Jesus wants to leave his disciples with. And it was just glorious, I thought. It was glorious to go through what Jesus wanted to spend his last moments on. The farewell discourse, we said, was Jesus saying goodbye. It was Jesus saying goodbye to his disciples, preparing them for what is to come. And just because of that, just by the nature of being a goodbye, there's something sad about it, isn't there? I mean, raise your hand if you like goodbyes, if you love that moment when you have to figure out what to say to someone you have no idea when you will see again. Right? You just don't know. Do I say a lot here? Do I say a little? Do I play it cool? Do I start crying, right? These moments are hard. We don't know what to do with them. And what we pointed out in this farewell discourse was that this is not just an average, ordinary goodbye. This was Jesus preparing them for the reality that he was about to go off and suffer and die. This wasn't see you later. This was a sobering, time. And you know, you really can't do justice to this kind of goodbye without knowing what was to come. That was my conviction as I as I wrapped up on chapter 17. I'm just thinking we can't just end there. We have to touch on at least what was about to happen. Jesus was preparing them for something. Let's see what it was, right? I mean, just imagine Imagine I wanted to tell you a story and I said, okay. And so 150,000 troops prepared to invade Normandy. The end. You would think that's a terrible story. What happened? Were they successful? Did they fail? How did it go, right? You want to know what happened. You don't just end this farewell discourse and say, all right, let's move on. We want to know what was it that Jesus was preparing them for? How did it go? Was he successful? Did he fail? So let's take the time to talk about what came next. What Jesus said in this farewell discourse really only makes sense in light of what was to come. So we're going to cover these next three chapters fast. We're gonna do a sweeping overview here. And I give you three topics again, just because I'm having fun with three topic sermons, right? We'll talk about the betrayal and the hatred of Jesus. That's how it starts. Then we'll talk about the suffering and the death of Jesus. You have to go there. But then we get to talk about the victory of Jesus. So I encourage you, keep your scriptures open. We'll be flipping through a lot. I will read some of it, but I will try and let you know where we are as we go. So we start with the betrayal and the hatred of Jesus. Chapter 18, at the very beginning. Verses one through 11 mark the betrayal and the arrest of Jesus. Jesus had been telling him, this is what is coming. Jesus had been telling them for the sake of building up their faith, right? He wanted them to know that he knew it was coming. More than he knew, he had ordained that his betrayal was coming. And all this time, you remember him talking about this hour is coming. Well, the hour is here. This moment arrives. Judas, the betrayer, arrives at a garden that Jesus has frequented with his disciples, with his own personal mob. to take the Savior into custody. And this remarkable thing happens at the very get-go. You look at verse four. Hear how this goes down, right? So Jesus, there with his disciples, in walks this mob. Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, right? He knows what is coming better than any of them do. He came forward and said to this mob, whom do you seek? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said to them, I am he. Judas who betrayed him was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, I am he, they drew back and fell to the ground. Whoa, this part is so suggestive. Cause right, don't you look at it and you think, what just happened there? I am he and they fall backwards. I am he and they recoil in fear. What's so fun here is that sentence, that phrase, I am he. Well, the word he is actually just inferred because all John wrote was I am. You're looking for Jesus of Nazareth, I am. Now it's not like it's illegitimate to read he into that, but it's really interesting that all he says is, you're looking for Jesus of Nazareth, I am. Does that remind you of anything else that came in the gospel of John? In chapter eight, right? Chapter eight is the famous story of Jesus looks at another angry mob. Jesus knows how to face down an angry mob. And he tells them before Abraham was, I am. Again, one of those scenes that just confuses us on first glance. They want to stone him for it. They want to kill him for saying it because what they recognize is what he was doing. He was using God's covenant name, the one he revealed to Moses for himself. I will never introduce myself as, hi, I am. You shouldn't either. Jesus said, you're looking for Jesus of Nazareth? I am. So you have this mob coming with the audacity to take God himself into custody, right? It's outrageous. It's outrageous because they have no authority over God. Likewise, it's outrageous because he has done nothing to be guilty of, to deserve being taken into custody, right? So in this outrageous moment when men dared to lay hands on God himself, Jesus reveals who he is and they draw back in fear and they fall on the ground. Even in their unbelief, it's like something deep warns them of the peril of what they're about to do. It is such a loaded and suggestive moment. but Jesus had no intent of preventing or avoiding his capture. Jesus allows himself to be seized by the hateful powers of the world. Verse 11, he says this, shall I not drink the cup that the father has given me? Huh, it's just such faith. Here he is faced with a cup of God's own wrath. What am I gonna do? Avoid this? My father has put it before me. Of course I will drink it. I will drink it no matter how bitter it may be. Man, those are hard words. I pray for each of us. that we would have that kind of faith when the suffering comes. It's not that we relish suffering. We don't. Jesus didn't. But we embrace God's plans because they are always better than our plans, even when they include suffering. Our plan with no suffering is a million times worse than his plan with the worst of suffering. That's the perspective Jesus has. Jesus's trust in his father will not be broken or shaken by the cross that he's about to bear. So they lay hold of him. They take him into custody. And then the world takes Jesus before their high powers, right? Verse 12 and continuing. They take him before their high powers to be examined. They start with a former high priest, a high priest of God too, right? This is not like some pagan high priest. They take him before a past high priest, Annas. They take him before the current high priest, Caiaphas. I mean, what terrible irony. that two of the supposedly most devoted servants of God stand interrogating their master. It's a terrible moment. And as they stand in judgment over their God, they stand condemned by having the audacity to even start on such a task. And they stand condemned by how they would treat an innocent man. And amid all of this, you find Peter. Supposedly faithful Peter, condemned as well by his own actions. Peter was so confident. He was so confident. I will never betray you, Lord. I will never leave you. I will lay down my life for you. That's what he said. Those are his words. And yet when a servant girl presses him, When a member of that mob presses him and they say, you were with Jesus, you're one of his. Oh, he is so quick to deny his master. So here you have Jesus. He stands betrayed by Judas, the very worst of his disciples. And he stands betrayed by Peter, the chief of his disciples. And so the world continues to march Jesus around. You get to verse 28. Now they take him before Pilate. Pilate, the seemingly powerful and authoritative. But he's not. He's neither of those things. You see it in a couple of things. You see it in his weak attempt while he's talking with Jesus to dodge responsibility. He comes up with this oh-so-philosophical retort. Jesus, what really is truth? That is not a strong man's answer. You see it as well. Pilate, though not a believer, though not a follower, he wanted to release Jesus. He saw no reason to go through with this crucifixion, with this execution, but he was too weak to withstand the pressure of that mob. Again, the irony of the story, Pilate in his power is not able to release Jesus. Jesus in his power refuses to be released. Just the ironies of these moments. Then Pilate, he goes forward and he asks this, don't you realize I have the power to free you or crucify you? He looks at Jesus, he's like, you're not taking me seriously enough. Don't you know who I am? Don't you know that your fate is in my hands? Jesus, unbowed before this declaration, he says, you only have the power my father has given you. Your power is completely dependent upon God. Jesus says, my kingdom is not based on this world. My power is independent of it. And this is right in line with what he's been preparing his disciples for, right? He told them, I am not of this world. So when a ruler of the kingdom of this world wants to act all powerful, Jesus isn't impressed. And again, as Jesus is suffering, where are his disciples? Where are his disciples? They're scattered, just like he said they would be in chapter 16. There they are confronted with the hatred that their master is bearing and they are not strong enough and they flee from him. Jesus is betrayed by those whom he has been most faithful to and he is hated by those who should be worshiping him. This was the betrayal and the hatred of Jesus. And then we move forward to the suffering and the death of Jesus. You get to chapter 19 and the dark hour has fully arrived. The beginning of 19 marks Jesus's sentencing. They flog him, they scourge him. This brutal beating, by itself it was known to kill people. They would just whip the backs of these criminals, shredding them, revealing the flesh and the bone. They lost so much blood. Like I said, sometimes it alone was fatal and it was just the world warming up. Next, they weave a crown of thorns and they force it down his head, drawing still more blood. They parade him around in a purple robe, mocking him for the royalty he claims to be. The crowd chants, crucify him, crucify him. Longing for his blood and Pilate with no courage or conviction, he turns Jesus over to be executed. So you get to verse 17 and forward and you have the crucifixion. Jesus hung up like the worst criminals of that society. That's what they saved crucifixion for. What is our God doing on a cross? And the pain of crucifixion was notorious. It was considered to be so excruciating. They nail him to a cross. He suffocates under his own body weight. They nail his feet to the cross. In order to breathe, he has to push up on those nailed feet, push up that shredded back against the cross, just a gasp for a breath to prolong his life just a little bit longer. And there he is slowly dying. And what do the guards decide it's time to do? They decide it's time to divide up his clothes. They decided we've got to cast lots to see who gets to take his stuff. Some of Jesus's family and his followers stand weeping there. witnessing these last breaths. Jesus had told them there would be weeping and lamenting, and here it is, and it is so painfully real. And even in that moment, you recognize, even in that moment where he is breathing his last, he sees his mother and he sees his beloved disciple, John, and even then his thoughts are not for himself. He says, John, you take care of my mother. Even as he dies, his thoughts are for his followers. Then you get to verse 28, chapter 19, verse 28. And the unthinkable happens. The son of God dies. Just take that in. The son of God dies. For some hours, Jesus had been bearing the worst pains that men had conceived at that time. Likewise, he was bearing his father's own wrath for the sins he never committed, for our sins, for the sins of all those people he would save. And when he had drunk that cup down to the bitter dregs, he declared some of the most important words that have ever been said. He says, it is finished. The work is finished. He bows his head and he gives up his spirit. And in one last act of brutal thoroughness, The Romans come over to make sure he's dead and they shove a spear in his side through his lungs and through his heart just to make sure the job was done and he was truly dead. You get to verse 37 and you see in one last act of devotion, Joseph and Nicodemus do another unthinkable act. They bury God. They bury God. God himself is laid in a tomb. We've heard it so many times. We shouldn't, though, get away from the idea that that is shocking. That should never be. That should never happen. They bury God. But this dark hour of his suffering and of his death is not the last hour. we get to turn to the victory of Jesus. Three days later, the tale of the resurrection begins with a mystery. We're in chapter 20 now, verse one. Three days later, Mary Magdalene comes and she discovers an empty tomb. Simon, Peter, and John discover the very same thing. They don't know what it means. They just know the Savior is not there. John, in that moment, even in the confusion, we see that that spark of faith has not been snuffed out. He says, even in that confusion, he believed. You see that spark of faith still going. So then Jesus begins to appear to his followers one by one. He begins with faithful Mary Magdalene. You see that in verses 11 through 18. She's weeping for the disappearance of her master. She's saying, where have they taken him? Bad enough, they've killed him. Where is he? Where's the body? She sees Jesus. She thinks he's the gardener. And she's weeping and then Jesus speaks to her and he reveals himself and he says, Mary. And she sees him for who he truly is. And in this emotional exclamation, she says, Rabboni, my great master. She went looking for a corpse and she finds him instead alive. Jesus then goes on to appear to his disciples in a group in verse 19 through 23. There they are hiding, hiding, not looking very victorious, are they? There they are hiding for fear of the Jews. And Jesus appears to them. And just like he did before his crucifixion, he proclaimed something that only he can. Peace be with you, he says. Have peace because I've overcome. Have peace, I am back. And so he goes and he reappoints them for their mission. As Jesus was sent, they also are sent. Just like their master, their mission to the world lives on. But John records that there was one noteworthy person who was not there. Thomas. Thomas, known for his doubt. He refuses to believe. He refuses for whatever reason. And this is kind of understandable, isn't it? I don't know why Thomas refused to believe the report of the other disciples, but there's something so human about it. I didn't see it. I saw him die. Maybe he saw him die. Maybe he was off hiding. I know he's dead. Like I'm going to believe that he's alive now, right? So this is what he says to them. Chapter 20, verse 25. So the other disciples told him, we've 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. Jesus, ever patient and accommodating Jesus, appears to him again, and he grants him this outlandish request. Come here, Thomas. Put your finger in my hands. Put your hand into my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe. And the relief and the celebration of Thomas is palpable. You can feel it. So much like Mary's, right? He says, my Lord and my God. You know, it's not like Thomas didn't want to believe, right? It's not like he wanted a dead Messiah. The truth revealed overwhelmingly to him and he says, my Lord and my God. And here you see Jesus stooping so low to restore one of his fallen sheep. Doubt no more, Thomas. Doubt no more. Not everyone gets this kind of proof. Jesus looks ahead even to our times and he pronounces a blessing. He says, blessed are those who believe even though they do not see, right? He says, Thomas, you believe because you've seen, blessed are those who believe even though they have not seen. Not seeing Jesus is hard. We've dreamt of it, haven't we? Of being able to see him face to face, of being able to witness those teachings, those miracles, But this is the way Jesus wanted it. And though Thomas had the satisfaction of seeing, of touching, Jesus says, you know what though? You all are blessed for never having seen and still believing. Jesus pronounces a blessing even on us today. This is the way he wanted it. Jesus had promised them weeping He had promised them sorrow, but he had also promised them a joy that could not be stolen. And the disciples here are overwhelmed by the fulfillment of this promise. No one, no one would be able to steal away the joy of their risen savior. No one. You know, in his high priestly prayer, Jesus declared even then that he had accomplished his work, right? It was so certain at that point that you could count it accomplished. But here on the other side of the cross, those disciples now know what he meant. He is victorious. Jesus had taken the most unimaginable route conceivable. But here on the other side of the cross and of the tomb, he stands victorious. And so that's when we arrive at chapter 20, verse 30. Why was there a gospel of John at all? Why did he write this? And this is what he says. These, verse 31, we'll pick up. 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. I see this moment and I picture John almost looking up from his story and looking at each one of us. And he says, you know why I wrote this? I wrote so that you would believe. I didn't just write this so you can know what happened. This is not mere information. This is not just some kind of inspiration. This gospel is life giving truth. Jesus did not come to show us how to live. He was showing us how we could have life. It's a very big difference. I want you to remind yourself, try and read this as if you just heard it for the first time. Remind yourself of all that John just said, of all he recorded of what happened, right? A man died and he rose from the grave. Moreover, he had been predicting that he would rise from the grave all along. He was that much in control. He was fulfilling everything that the scriptures had been calling for. The common sense conclusion is that Jesus just proved who he was. Without a doubt, he has shown that he was the son of God and that the things he had been saying were true. That's just the common sense conclusion. And in the face of these kind of truths, you cannot take a neutral position. Do you understand that? There is no neutral here. It's such a mistake to think that you can hear about Jesus, about his finished, accomplished work, and leave here saying, oh, that was nice, and then have nothing change. It is such a mistake to think that's even an option. Jesus does not give us that option to leave here just unmoved. The gospel does not suggest faith. It does not encourage faith. The gospel demands your faith. The story of these last chapters, it's a story of so many personal reactions to Jesus. There's a variety of people interacting with Jesus. You have Judas and his betrayal. You have Pilate and his cowardice. You have this mob and their desire for blood and violence. You have Peter and his abandonment. You have the disciples and their fear, and there's even more. But each had this unique interaction with Jesus. And each of them either responded in unbelief and doubt or in faith. I hold out to you that the big difference between the betrayal of Judas and of Peter is not in the severity or the degree of the betrayal. The big difference is the presence of faith. Peter believed. Judas did not. There would have been forgiveness for those Roman soldiers who tortured and mocked Jesus. If they had only had the faith to believe. I hope in eternity, we get to meet one or two brothers who are the executioners of our Lord. Not because I'm dying to meet that kind of person because it'd be such a testament to God's grace. presented with the gospel, each one of us faces the same call to believe, the same call to trust in Jesus. The most important part of your life has nothing to do with your accomplishments, nothing to do with your personality. It is whether you will trust in the one who died and rose again. Will you devote your life to him? Will you devote yourself to the one, the only one who is worthy of that kind of devotion? Today, I hope we have time for a lot of conversations this afternoon, a lot of fellowship. Why don't you try this one on for size? You want something to talk about with one another? Ask each other what your first, most significant reaction to Jesus was. That strikes me as a incredibly interesting thing, and I bet you there's a diversity. of reactions here in this body. Some of you were probably the mockers. Some of you may be flocked like faithful little children. That's something worth talking about. You know, there are a lot of reasons given for not believing in Jesus. All right, you can look at this gospel and you can say, you know what? John and those other witnesses were just lying. I don't believe them. And that's really not that unreasonable when you think of history in general. There've been a lot of liars across history, right? It's not that unreasonable to think that at first, but let's even go with that. You think they're lying. Well, then you were left wondering why they would have devoted the rest of their very difficult and oppressed lives to proclaiming this savior. There was no glory in it. There were no riches. There was no cultural esteem or prestige. No one would devote themselves to such an unprofitable lie. I mean, really, if you know human nature at all, it just cannot be a lie. It just does not make enough sense of the facts. So you can take a more subtle route. You can say, okay, they weren't liars. They were probably decent folks, but they are just mistaken. I don't think John lied. I just think he's, I think he sincerely believed Jesus died and rose from the grave, but that just didn't happen. Jesus faked it somehow. Right? Well, so then you have to think through this again. So Jesus, after being flogged with an inch of his life and then hung out on a cross to die and suffocate, and then having a spear run through his side into his lungs and heart. Somehow then, over the next three days, recovers in a cave by himself. And comes back and just makes everyone believe, look, Jesus is alive. We talked about this in our apologetics class. Do you know how bad he would have looked if he could have even pulled that off? The accounts of him went, Jesus looked terrible, man. But I guess he's back, good news. I mean, to think that this is just the mistaken fancy of an ancient people is just wishful thinking. I want to encourage you with this fact across history that people have been pretty consistent in their ability to recognize that someone who was executed generally dies. And then generally someone who dies, it's very unusual if you see them again afterwards walking around. They weren't mistaken. So your objections to believing might be nothing like this. You might just say, you know, I just need some time. I'm not ready to do this yet. I'm not ready to trust in him yet. And this one, I think I understand most of all, but only to an extent. No one is expected to choose the course of the rest of their life without having put in an ounce of thought about it, right? So you do indeed need to think about it. to count the cost, to look ahead to what this is gonna mean, right? But the mistake in this, I just need time idea is not the act of thinking. The mistake is treating indecision as if it is a good place to be. Your inability to make a decision is not in itself a good place to be. There are some things that simply demand that you come up with your decision on the matter. If someone burst in the doors right now and said, hey, a tornado is coming right for the church. That'd be odd, but that is the kind of thing I would say, why don't we pause the service for a second and go double check that a tornado is not coming for the church. There are some things where the stakes are simply too high for us to just ignore. You need to figure out whether that tornado messenger is right or wrong, and then act accordingly. You need to figure out whether I, and me by extension, John, you need to figure out whether he was right or whether he was wrong about this Jesus, the one in whom you can believe and find life. If you need to figure out your thoughts, if you need the time to think, I get that, but get to figuring out your thoughts then. This is not something where you get to sit around and just be indecisive. The stakes are just too high for that. You cannot passively decide whether or not you will devote yourself to the son of God who rose from the grave. Sometimes we think of this as sitting on the fence. This is, for that illustration sake, this is not sitting on one of those comfortable fences where you get to watch horses go play. This is like sitting on one of those iron, sharp, pointy fences. You wanna sit on the fence, picture it that way. That is not a good place to spend much time. The fence is not where you want to be. I encourage you even now, decide whether or not you believe Jesus rose from the grave. And if he did, muster the courage to live in light of that truth. Be a person of decision, be a person of conviction. The gospel was written so that you would hear, so that you would believe, so that you would be transformed, made entirely new. So I encourage you, receive life, receive abundant life, life like you've never known, receive eternal life from the only one who can actually give it to you. Stop hanging on to the remnants of your broken life, of your old life. Embrace the one who can actually give you life. Embrace Jesus Christ. This was written so that you would believe and have life in his name. The farewell discourse, where we started this whole journey, it was beautiful, it was rich, but thank God it wasn't the end. Thank God that his goodbye was not the end. Thank God that his betrayal and his suffering and his death were not the end. The end of the story, as it turns out, isn't actually an end at all. When Jesus rose from the dead, that wasn't the end. Then he goes and gives us life. When he ascends into heaven, that wasn't the end. Then he sends us the spirit. Every time Jesus completes something, marks the beginning of something else. The end of the story isn't Jesus saying it is finished. It isn't even Jesus rising from the dead. The end of the story, as much as you can call it that, is that Jesus is coming again. Let's pray. Father, give us faith to believe. Give those who have never trusted in your son, the faith to believe. Give them the courage to leave behind the life they know and are comfortable with. Give them the faith to embrace life and the only one who can give life. And those of us who have believed for a short or a long time, may we walk in full confidence of this faith. May we be those who have courage and conviction that we follow a risen Savior, that we have a living hope. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. We hope you've enjoyed this message from Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. To receive a copy of this or other messages, call us at area code 775-782-6516 or visit our website gracenevada.com.