John Lesson 50

Introduction

Are you a doubting Thomas? That expression comes as a result of the study in John chapter 20. But when Jesus first appeared to his disciples after his resurrection, the apostles were all there except Thomas. And when they later told Thomas about the fact that Jesus had been with them, he said, I will not believe until I have seen for myself the print of the nails and thrust my hand into his side. Thomas doubted until he had certain evidence, irreputable evidence, that it was the same Jesus who had been crucified. Really, the fact that Thomas doubted is not all bad, though he has been scorned through the years as the doubting Thomas. But what Thomas did was give us some certain proofs that this indeed was the same Jesus who was raised from the dead.

I hope that you’ll get your New Testaments and study with us now as we study in verse by verse from John the 20th chapter as we let the Bible speak. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the cornerstone of our faith. In fact, that is the message that the apostles preached as they preached the gospel to the heathen world.

1. Proofs That Christ Was Raised

The resurrection of Christ is so important that the Apostle Paul reasoned in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 that if he be not raised, then our faith is vain, we are yet in sins, and we are of all men most miserable if in this life only we have hope in Christ. Indeed, it is important to understand proofs that Christ was raised. If that is so vital to our faith and our salvation, we need to understand how would we go about proving his resurrection? What do you believe about it? Indeed, as we consider the last two chapters of the Gospel of John, we understand some proofs that this apostle by inspiration has revealed for us. In our last study, we noted from verses one through ten, John chapter twenty, verses one through ten, the empty tomb stands as a testimony that Christ was raised from the dead.

What happened to his body? The skeptics cannot answer that argument. What happened to his body? The disciples witnessed, they testified that he was raised, that his body was not stolen, either by them, his disciples, nor was it stolen by enemies, but that Jesus Christ came back from the grave. And in Acts chapter one and verse three, by many infallible proofs he showed himself alive for seven forty days. In first Corinthians chapter fifteen, verses one through eight, the apostle said, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received and wherein ye stand, by which also you’re saved, if ye keep in memory of what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures, and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve.

After that he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain under this present, but some have fallen asleep. After that he was seen of James, then of all the apostles, and last of all he was seen in me also as of one born out of due time. There were several appearances of Jesus Christ to his disciples. Indeed, there is much evidence that he arose from the grave. Both the empty tomb and the many witnesses verify that he is the Christ, that he was risen, that he was declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead. In our last study in John chapter 20, verses eleven through eighteen, we talked about the first appearance of Jesus to one of his disciples.

He appeared to Mary Magdalene, just outside the tomb of the sepulchre where he had lain. And Mary at first, not really understanding or knowing who it was, thought he was a gardener. But then when he called her by name, she responded, Raboni, that is to say, my great teacher. And she must have grasped him, for he said, Don’t cling to me, do not touch me, literally, do not cling to me. But rather you go tell my brethren that I am to ascend into my Father. Now there was cause for great rejoicing at his resurrection. But there is also great cause for rejoicing at his ascension. As the apostles began to understand the scriptures concerning his death, burial, resurrection, and then the need for his ascension. Indeed, they began to understand, even as Daniel had foretold by prophecy in Daniel chapter 7, verses 30 and 14, that when he would come in the clouds, and of course that’s from heaven’s point of view, earth’s point of view, they saw him going on the clouds, from heaven’s point of view, and the vision Daniel saw was as though he came on the clouds, that he received dominion and glory and a kingdom.

And that’s verified also in Ephesians chapter 1, verses 23-23, that when God raised him from the dead, that he set him in his own right hand in heavenly places far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. He hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. Indeed, Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, and when he ascended to heaven, he was at that point in time given the kingdom and power and glory and dominion. Even as the book of Hebrews so verifies in Hebrews chapter one and verse three, he who, being the brightness of his glory, that is Christ, the brightness of the Father’s glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.

2. Jesus Appears to His Apostles

So when he ascended to heaven, he sat down at the right hand of the heavenly Father, the Majesty on high. In Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 1, we have such an high priest who is set at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens. Jesus Christ shall ascend to his Father, and that’s an important message. Mary, you go tell the disciples. Continuing our study in John chapter 20, though, Jesus not only appeared to Mary, but he made several other appearances. Later on that same day, the first day of the week, he appears to his apostles, that is all but Thomas. And reading now in chapter 20, beginning verse 19 through 23. Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you, as my Father hath sent me, even so I send you. And when he had had said this, he breathed on them and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whosoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them. And whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained. Now there’s much controversy on these verses, that is, at least, how did Jesus enter the place where the apostles were gathered? The scripture says, out of fear of the Jews. They know that they the Jews have put Christ to death, and of course, their own life perhaps they felt was endangered.

And they’ve gone to a certain place and perhaps had locked themselves in and to an upper room in some place. But Jesus came to them. And there’s some question, did he come and just sort of appear to them by a miracle? Did he go through the locked doors or did he knock and enter by some means that any other man could have entered. Now the reason there’s some question about that is because there are some who deny the body bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. But it really matters not whether Jesus entered the door by them opening it or whether he came in by a miracle. Either one would have been possible for the Lord Jesus Christ. He could have entered by a miracle.

3. The Great Commission

The important point is that when he showed them his hands and his side, he showed them the same body that had been crucified. And they witnessed the fact that he was raised, a bodily resurrection. They saw that it was the same Jesus who had been put to death. And this is the testimony they let him made to Thomas, and Thomas himself wouldn’t believe until he had seen for himself. But Jesus Christ appeared to them in his body, and they believed that it was the Christ. They were glad when they saw the Lord. But now in John chapter 20 and verse 23, 22 and 23, we have John’s account of what we call the Great Commission. The scripture says he breathed on them and said, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.

Whosoever sins ye remit, they are omitted unto them. Whosoever sins ye retain, they are attain. John’s account of the Great Commission is certainly not as full as that of Matthew, Mark, or Luke’s, and I think it does as well to look at these other chapters of the Bible. At least when Jesus, after he arose from the grave, he gave his apostles this commission, I send you out. Well, what did he send them to do? When Christ ascended them to heaven, he sent his apostles with a special message to preach. According to Matthew, chapter 28, verses 18 through 20, Jesus said to them, All power or all authority is given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.

Matthew’s account is that he said, You go teach, teach all nations. Upon teaching them, you baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost. And then he said, You teach them. Your word teaches found twice in that text. You teach them to make disciples, you baptize them, and then you teach them to observe what I have commanded of you. Then in Mark chapter 16, Mark says it even a little differently. In Mark 16, verses 15 and 16, go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be damned. Jesus Christ said, You go preach to every creature. Salvation, yes, on the basis of he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.

But those who believe not, those who receive not the message, are not convinced that Jesus is the Christ and will not accept him in obedience. They shall be damned. Now Luke’s account, when we read in Luke chapter 24, in verses 46 through 48, Jesus said to them, thus it is written, and thus it behoove Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day. And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem, and ye witnesses of these things. The apostles were to preach. They would begin at Jerusalem. What would they preach? Repentance and remission of sins. And now when we read in John’s account, we find much the same thing. Although these accounts are not just verbatim, yet they’re really saying the same thing.

And you put all four accounts together, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and what you come up with is the Great Commission was great because it had no boundaries, it had no limits. You go into all the world, and you preach to every creature. Every person has an opportunity of salvation. Christ died for all. But the basis of salvation is upon the basis that Jesus Christ arose from the grave. He lived in this earth, a perfect man. He died, but he was raised from the day. And now is at the right hand of God. And Jesus Christ is the means by which we can be saved. But you preach the message of Christ, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. Or as Luke said, you preach repentance.

So repentance is also involved. A man who believes in Christ will repent or turn from his sin. And as he turns from his sin, he accepts Christ in baptism. He puts on Christ in baptism. At that point in time, there is the washing away of the sins, Acts 22, 16. And so we have in the statement to preach repentance and remission of sins. Sins are forgiven when they preach the gospel. And as John said it, whosoever sins ye remit, they shall be remitted. Whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained. Now that doesn’t mean that they had human judgment about having some people keep their sins and others having them forgiven, but as they preached the message of salvation, they preached a gospel that was accepted by some and obeyed and sin forgiven.

But by others, they rejected it, and therefore their sins were not forgiven. You and I have that same message today to heed. What do you believe about the Christ? Are you willing to believe, repenting of your sins, and be baptized for the remission of sins? That’s the message that Christ commissioned his apostles to preach. And you and I today can either have our sins remitted, forgiven, or we can have our sins retained by our failure to accept him as the Lord and to obey him. What will you do with Christ? We’ll be back in just a moment and continue our study in John the 20th chapter. In the 20th chapter of John, there are three appearances of Jesus that are recorded. He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, as recorded in verses 11 through 18.

4. Be Not Faithless but Believing

And then later on that same day, the day that he arose from the grave, the first day of the week, he appeared to his apostles. They were in a place secluded and for fear of the Jews had gone to some private place, perhaps had locked themselves in. And all the apostles except Thomas were present. And as they saw Jesus, they believed that it was that it was indeed the same Christ. They knew that this was the same one who had been crucified. But Thomas would not believe just upon the words of the other apostles. And in fact, as we continue reading, verses 24 through 29, the scripture said that Thomas, one of the twelve, called Idemus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord.

But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again, his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands, and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus said unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed.

Many times Thomas has been scorned because of his reaction. In fact, he’s often referred to as doubting Thomas. But what Thomas did is not altogether bad. For you see, faith in Jesus Christ is not based on blind fanatical emotion, nor is it based on superstition. There are skeptics who would so accuse believers as having a blind fanatical faith. But faith is based upon reasonable evidence. It’s based upon a rational examination of that evidence. And Thomas and the rest of the apostles were not expecting a resurrection of Christ. They had returned from the cross of Christ, bereaved and saddened. Their Lord had been crucified. And when the words first came to them that Jesus was risen from the grave, their words seemed like an idol fell, according to Luke 24, verses 9 through 11.

And now even later on that same day, though Jesus appears to the to the other ten apostles at this point, Thomas, not being with him, said, I won’t believe until I’ve seen for myself. I want irreputable evidence. That’s really good in one sense. It says prove it. And I’m convinced that disciples today need some evidence. We’ve never seen God. And indeed we’ve never seen Jesus Christ. But we have some evidence. There are many things I believe that I have I do not totally understand, and nor have I ever seen. I’ve never been to Hong Kong, but I am convinced there is such a place. Because there are witnesses who have been there. And there are people who have come and said, there is such a place.

I have some evidence that such a place exists. Furthermore, I do not understand all that I know about television, that we can push a button and the TV will come on. But I believe that there is such an instrument that you’re watching right now, and that it can take this picture of what I’m doing and put it into your living room. I have faith in a lot of things that I do not totally understand in places where I have not been. And so it is with faith in Jesus Christ. There are those who were witnesses to his resurrection. They were willing to die for his for that testimony. They did not die for a lie, but rather they had convincing proof. And Thomas is one who would not believe unless he had had such convincing proof.

Until Jesus Christ came again, and really it was a week later that he appeared to them again. And he said to Thomas, reach hither by hand. And you feel the print of the naps. Reach into thy hand and trust it into my side, and be not faithless but believing. The reaction of Thomas was, My Lord and my God. Jesus then said to him, Thomas, because you’ve seen me, you believe. Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed. Men like yourself, and men and women like yourself, who have never seen the Christ, but who have based it upon the evidences of men like Thomas who have witnessed it, and like the other apostles, upon evidences that Christ indeed arose from the grave. Indeed, blessed are they.

5. My Lord and My God

Happy are they, and eternal life have they who believe in the Christ. But I want you to notice before we leave this text the reaction of Thomas, what he said in verse 28, My Lord and my God. Now that appellation was uh inappropriate. Surely the Lord Jesus Christ would have reproved Thomas. He called Jesus my God. We started our study in the Gospel of John by pointing out from the very first few verses in John 1, verses 1 through 3, in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. John starts out as a treatise declaring to us that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, that he possessed the nature of deity, that he was God.

And now, as in the concluding chapters and verses of it, we have this one of his disciples declaring, My Lord and my God. Is that blasphemy? If so, why did why did not Jesus reprove him? Indeed, Jesus was not merely a God or an inferior God. He is not the same as the Father. He’s not the same person as the Father, but he possessed the nature and quality of deity. And he is at the right hand of the Father on high, even now. Indeed, the scriptures declare throughout the Gospel of John that He is deity. John chapter 5, verses 17 and 18. In John chapter 8, verses 57 and 50 through 59. In John chapter 8, verses 30 through through 36. John chapter 10, 30 through 36, that is.

6. Written That Ye Might Believe

And throughout the gospel, we’ve had this evidence over and over again. And now his disciple upon his resurrection says, My Lord and my God. Jesus the Christ, the Son of God. But now the last two verses of John chapter 20 are also unique. They stand apart really from the rest of the book in that they state for us the purpose for this treatise. Why was the gospel of John written? John himself says it this way. And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name. Notice when John analyzes the purpose for this book, we say, number one, it it is a selective gospel.

Now there were many other signs or miracles, powers that Jesus worked. But John didn’t tell us all of the miracles that Jesus worked. He didn’t go into the details that you might read in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. John particularly picked seven different signs. John picked certain signs, he selected certain signs for a specific purpose. Each one of them tells us of a different nature of Jesus Christ and of his power. It is a selective gospel. Other signs he worked, but these signs were selected. Secondly, he says, these are written that ye might believe. The Gospel of John is an apologetic gospel. Now, the word apology literally does not mean to make excuse for, but its root meaning is to make a defense of. The field of Bible apologetics is the field where there is a defense made for the faith.

Defending the fact that Jesus is the Christ. It is an apologetic gospel. That these signs are written that ye might believe.

For you see, it is written that ye might believe what? That Jesus is the Christ. Now this word Christ is the Greek form of the Hebrew word Messiah, which literally and basically means the anointed one. Throughout this gospel, we have evidences that Jesus is the Messiah of whom the prophets had foretold and whom the Jews had looked forward to that would come and who would reign over God’s people. Indeed, Jesus is that Christ. He is the anointed one. He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And these signs that are written in the Gospel of John, and the story, the record that is here revealed, is in order to defend that fact that Jesus is more than just a good man. That Jesus is more than just a prophet of the Lord.

That Jesus is the Christ, that He is the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah. But notice even more than that. That Jesus Christ is, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. And that says this is a definitive gospel. It defines not only that he is the Messiah, but that he is the Son of God, as we’ve just pointed out from the statement that Thomas made. My Lord and my God. Jesus Christ is more than just mere man. Even as he came in Matthew one twenty three, the angel declared his name to be Emmanuel, that is by interpretation, God with us. So Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. He gave up the form of Godhood in Philippians chapter two verses five through eleven. He emptied himself.

He took upon himself the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. But Jesus Christ has the nature of deity in John one verses one through three. And in Colossians chapter one verses fifteen through eighteen. Indeed, that all things were made by him and for him. Jesus Christ is the is the Son of God. The Jews hate him for that claim. They called him a blasphemer. They wanted to put him to death for it. But the scriptures bear witness. They indeed define him as God. What do you believe about Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God? But finally, what you believe about him is important. Because this gospel is an effective gospel. The closing words of verse 20 uh chapter 20 is that believing you might have life through his name.

Conclusion

In him is life. Jesus said that he is the resurrection and the life at the grave of Lazarus, John chapter 11, verse twenty six. He is the way, the truth, and the life, John chapter 14, verse 6. It’s not talking just about mortal life that we all now have, but it’s talking about eternal life. If you believe in the Christ, accept him and obey him, you have life everlasting. Well, you believe about the Christ. The Gospel of John is a powerful message. It indeed is the book that tells us who the Christ is and how life can be attained through him. Once you accept him, believe him, obey him. Until our next study, we bid you God’s blessings.