The Resurrection of Jesus

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.240 --> 00:00:05.519 Brothers and sisters. Let's turn to God's Word in John Chapter Twenty. John 2 00:00:05.639 --> 00:00:24.620 Twenty, we've just sung this song in which we celebrate the resurrection of the 3 00:00:24.739 --> 00:00:29.460 Lord. In John Chapter Twenty. You have to sort of to borrow an 4 00:00:29.500 --> 00:00:34.820 image I read, sort of rotate the earth back just a little bit to 5 00:00:34.939 --> 00:00:40.770 a time just before this great event happened, this central point of all of 6 00:00:40.969 --> 00:00:48.289 history, when we when the world did not yet know that Jesus had risen 7 00:00:48.329 --> 00:00:56.640 from the dead. John Chapter Twenty. Now it was the first day of 8 00:00:56.719 --> 00:01:00.759 the week and on that day, on the first day of the week, 9 00:01:00.920 --> 00:01:06.590 Mary Magdalen came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and 10 00:01:06.750 --> 00:01:10.430 saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran 11 00:01:10.590 --> 00:01:14.709 and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, 12 00:01:14.750 --> 00:01:19.060 and said to them they've taken the lord out of the Tomb and we 13 00:01:19.219 --> 00:01:23.060 do not know where they have laid him. So Peter went out with the 14 00:01:23.219 --> 00:01:26.420 other disciple and they were going to the tomb. Both of them were running 15 00:01:26.459 --> 00:01:30.900 together, but the other disciple ran Peter and reached the tomb first and, 16 00:01:32.140 --> 00:01:37.370 stooping to look in, he saw the linen clothes lying there, but he 17 00:01:37.450 --> 00:01:41.769 did not go in. Then Simon Peter came following him and went into the 18 00:01:41.890 --> 00:01:46.609 tomb. He saw the linen clothes lying there and the face cloth which had 19 00:01:46.650 --> 00:01:51.480 been on Jesus's head not lying with the linen clothes, but folded up in 20 00:01:51.560 --> 00:01:56.439 a place by itself. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first, 21 00:01:56.799 --> 00:02:00.239 also went in and he saw and believed, for as yet they did 22 00:02:00.359 --> 00:02:06.230 not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the 23 00:02:06.390 --> 00:02:12.270 disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood weeping outside the Tomb and 24 00:02:13.189 --> 00:02:16.620 she wept. And as she wept she stooped to look into the Tomb and 25 00:02:17.740 --> 00:02:23.500 she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, 26 00:02:23.259 --> 00:02:27.699 one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, 27 00:02:27.979 --> 00:02:30.930 woman, why are you weeping? She said to them, they have taken 28 00:02:30.969 --> 00:02:35.849 away my lord and I do not know where they have laid him. Having 29 00:02:35.889 --> 00:02:39.449 said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not 30 00:02:39.689 --> 00:02:44.719 know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, woman, why are 31 00:02:44.759 --> 00:02:49.360 you weeping? Whom are you seeking? Supposing him to be the gardener. 32 00:02:49.560 --> 00:02:53.280 She said to him, sir, if you have carried him away, tell 33 00:02:53.319 --> 00:02:55.400 me where you have laid him, and I will take him and I will 34 00:02:55.400 --> 00:03:00.990 take him away. Jesus is said to her. Mary. She turned and 35 00:03:01.150 --> 00:03:07.629 said to him in Aramaic Rabboni, which means teacher. Jesus said to her, 36 00:03:07.069 --> 00:03:10.110 do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the 37 00:03:10.150 --> 00:03:15.580 father, but go to my brothers and say to them I am ascending to 38 00:03:15.699 --> 00:03:21.939 my father and your father, to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene 39 00:03:22.219 --> 00:03:27.210 went and announced to the disciples I have seen the Lord and that he had 40 00:03:27.370 --> 00:03:30.490 said these things to her. On the evening of that day, the first 41 00:03:30.490 --> 00:03:36.250 day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear 42 00:03:36.289 --> 00:03:40.050 of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, 43 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:45.879 peace be with you. When he had said this, he showed them his 44 00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:51.400 hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 45 00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:55.150 Jesus said to them again, peace be with you, as the father 46 00:03:55.349 --> 00:04:00.830 has sent me. Even so I am sending you. And when he said 47 00:04:00.949 --> 00:04:05.310 this, he breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit 48 00:04:06.110 --> 00:04:11.819 if you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven them. If you withhold 49 00:04:11.860 --> 00:04:16.699 forgiveness from any it is withheld. Now. Thomas, one of the twelve 50 00:04:16.860 --> 00:04:20.660 called the twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other 51 00:04:20.779 --> 00:04:25.610 disciples told him, we have seen the Lord, but he said to them 52 00:04:25.649 --> 00:04:30.810 unless I see in his hand ends the mark of the nails and place my 53 00:04:30.970 --> 00:04:34.089 finger into the mark of the nails and place my hand into his side, 54 00:04:34.089 --> 00:04:41.160 I will never believe. Eight days later, his disciples were inside again and 55 00:04:41.399 --> 00:04:46.360 Thomas was with them, although the doors were locked. Jesus came and stood 56 00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:50.319 among them and said peace be with you. Then he said to Thomas, 57 00:04:50.920 --> 00:04:56.550 put your finger here and see my hands, and put out your hand and 58 00:04:56.790 --> 00:05:02.389 place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe. Thomas answered 59 00:05:02.430 --> 00:05:08.339 him. My Lord and my God, Jesus said to him. Have you 60 00:05:08.500 --> 00:05:13.459 believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and 61 00:05:13.660 --> 00:05:18.019 yet believed. Now Jesus did many other signs and the presence of the disciples 62 00:05:18.100 --> 00:05:21.850 which are not written in this book, but these are written so that you 63 00:05:23.009 --> 00:05:27.730 may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that 64 00:05:27.889 --> 00:05:42.160 by believing, you may have life in his name, then well, with 65 00:05:42.360 --> 00:05:48.759 the victory having been accomplished on the cross, a new order begins on this 66 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:55.350 day, this first day of the week, Sunday, Resurrection Day, a 67 00:05:55.709 --> 00:06:00.230 day which we have come to call now the Lord's Day because of these very 68 00:06:00.389 --> 00:06:12.740 things. This new order that Jesus brings into existence is the new heavens and 69 00:06:12.860 --> 00:06:16.740 the new earth, that is newness of life. But at the same time, 70 00:06:17.100 --> 00:06:25.370 this new order, this new world, this kingdom, that he comes 71 00:06:25.490 --> 00:06:30.730 out of the grave into now, having conquered death and and no longer unheld 72 00:06:30.769 --> 00:06:38.639 under it, he comes into a world that still exists, a world where 73 00:06:38.639 --> 00:06:44.959 there is still crying and sorrow and disbelief and pain and suffering and confusion. 74 00:06:46.079 --> 00:06:50.069 He comes into that world, he comes into our world, and he shows 75 00:06:50.149 --> 00:06:58.149 us how things will go from now until he comes again. Let's consider these 76 00:06:58.230 --> 00:07:02.980 things this morning, and do so at with in a prayerful mind, Sir 77 00:07:04.019 --> 00:07:11.779 Mindset, frame of mind. I'm with our hearts keenly on this particular task 78 00:07:12.060 --> 00:07:15.009 of believing that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and, 79 00:07:15.569 --> 00:07:19.170 as John says, that by believing we may have life in his name. 80 00:07:19.689 --> 00:07:25.730 That is John's goal, that is the Holy Spirit's goal, who inspired these 81 00:07:25.889 --> 00:07:30.680 words. Let that be our objective as well, to believe what is said 82 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:38.079 here so that we may have life, resurrection, life in Christ. The 83 00:07:38.199 --> 00:07:41.480 first thing to know is that, as I said, this new order, 84 00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:45.189 this new age, is begun well, we have here on this first day 85 00:07:45.189 --> 00:07:48.870 of the week is is very much like we have when the very first day 86 00:07:49.350 --> 00:07:56.069 of all the world, the darkness is mentioned at the very beginning of this 87 00:07:56.269 --> 00:08:01.699 chapter, Mary Magdalen coming to the tomb while it was still dark. There 88 00:08:01.819 --> 00:08:07.139 is emptiness and with sin in the world there is now also deep sorrow and 89 00:08:07.420 --> 00:08:13.209 loss and fear and anger. When Mary comes to the tomb she sees that 90 00:08:13.370 --> 00:08:18.610 the the stone had been taken away. I'm John doesn't focus on this in 91 00:08:18.689 --> 00:08:22.490 the Gospel, in his Gospel, but in the other gospels we see, 92 00:08:22.050 --> 00:08:28.759 we are told that a great heavy stone was laid in front of the tomb 93 00:08:28.920 --> 00:08:33.519 so that it couldn't just be rolled away simply. It was sealed and in 94 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:37.720 fact a seal was placed on it as well, so that if it were 95 00:08:37.799 --> 00:08:41.870 rolled away it would be it would be known. There were guards that were 96 00:08:41.909 --> 00:08:48.629 placed at the tomb to protect this from from the body disappearing from his disciples 97 00:08:48.750 --> 00:08:54.309 perhaps dealing it or something else happening. But when she comes there, she 98 00:08:54.549 --> 00:08:58.539 finds that the stone is gone, and this is a fearful thing. Something 99 00:08:58.740 --> 00:09:03.460 is wrong, something's not right, and her first assumption is that they have, 100 00:09:03.740 --> 00:09:07.659 as she says in verse too, taken the Lord out of the Tomb 101 00:09:07.700 --> 00:09:11.450 and we don't know where they've laid him. You can hear the panic in 102 00:09:11.529 --> 00:09:16.330 her voice. Notice how so, however, how she is still relating to 103 00:09:16.529 --> 00:09:22.090 Jesus, though she does not yet understand what has happened. She doesn't yet 104 00:09:22.129 --> 00:09:28.720 believe in the resurrection. She still is believing in the Lord, her Lord. 105 00:09:30.440 --> 00:09:35.799 She is there because she loves him and she is not deserted him. 106 00:09:35.799 --> 00:09:41.230 This amazing woman has come to still be with the Lord in a way, 107 00:09:41.350 --> 00:09:46.629 to somehow try to find in him, I'm solace. And when she doesn't 108 00:09:46.629 --> 00:09:50.789 find him there, she is concerned because that's where her hope is, is 109 00:09:52.669 --> 00:09:56.179 in him. Not Knowing what to do about these things, she goes and 110 00:09:56.299 --> 00:10:01.820 she tells the other disciples, the disciples Peter and the other disciple who is 111 00:10:01.940 --> 00:10:07.809 the author of our Gospel, John. They come running, they're going to 112 00:10:07.129 --> 00:10:15.169 see what's going on, and there's this this very interesting and detailed scene in 113 00:10:15.330 --> 00:10:18.610 which one is sort of outrunning the other and one peeks in and then the 114 00:10:18.649 --> 00:10:22.720 other runs in and the other comes in after them. It's all it's all 115 00:10:22.799 --> 00:10:30.080 very clear Um what's happening. They're various ideas, and too, why John 116 00:10:30.240 --> 00:10:35.190 Records these things. One possible reason is that he's wanting us to understand his 117 00:10:35.429 --> 00:10:41.429 testimony is true as well as Peters, that he was there, that he 118 00:10:41.629 --> 00:10:45.389 was seeing these things, that he witnessed these things, that he was in 119 00:10:45.509 --> 00:10:50.379 a way on par with Peter in his observations, in his presence. There 120 00:10:50.659 --> 00:10:56.779 another possibility that could be going on here is the author John is simply describing 121 00:10:56.860 --> 00:11:03.539 to us the confusion in the the the stress of the situation and, of 122 00:11:03.700 --> 00:11:05.929 course, the details of what they see. And what do they see? 123 00:11:09.970 --> 00:11:16.370 They see his clothes lying there, clothes which, if Jesus had been taken, 124 00:11:18.370 --> 00:11:22.720 would likely not have been there. If you wanted to rob a tomb 125 00:11:24.440 --> 00:11:28.200 in the middle of the night, of course you'd have to overpower Roman guards, 126 00:11:28.279 --> 00:11:31.360 you'd have to move a stone, you'd have to get in and take 127 00:11:31.399 --> 00:11:37.789 the body. You probably wouldn't then undress the body neatly fold the clothes separating 128 00:11:37.830 --> 00:11:43.950 them all neatly on the table and then take now a naked person out with 129 00:11:43.190 --> 00:11:48.740 you, hoping to be, you know, undetected. Now this is not 130 00:11:48.860 --> 00:11:56.179 what happened. Something else has happened and that and they see the evidence of 131 00:11:56.299 --> 00:12:00.700 that something else. There in verse seven, the face cloth which had been 132 00:12:00.779 --> 00:12:03.129 on Jesus head not lying with the linen clothes, but folded up in a 133 00:12:03.210 --> 00:12:09.129 place by itself. They didn't understand yet. There was confusion, there was 134 00:12:09.570 --> 00:12:18.960 chaos, there was fear and emptiness. What is going on? The disciples 135 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:22.600 go back to their homes and then we read in Verse Eleven, Mary who 136 00:12:22.759 --> 00:12:30.629 stands there weeping, crying and crying outside the tomb, and then she looks 137 00:12:30.750 --> 00:12:35.710 in and she sees there this amazing site. Not only does she see the 138 00:12:35.830 --> 00:12:41.549 clothes, but she sees these two angels. Now this detail that John gives 139 00:12:41.590 --> 00:12:48.419 of one at the head and one at the feet. Many commentators for a 140 00:12:48.539 --> 00:12:54.740 long time, I'm back into the first commentators on these scriptures, mark how 141 00:12:54.059 --> 00:13:01.889 similar this is to the mercy seat in the in the in the temple of 142 00:13:01.009 --> 00:13:07.529 old. The mercy seat was that place where, in the holy of holies, 143 00:13:07.649 --> 00:13:13.960 there was a box, a box in which the commandments, the covenant 144 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:18.879 was placed, and then on either side of that what sometimes called the arc 145 00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:22.440 of the Covenant, I'm where these two angels, one on one side and 146 00:13:24.039 --> 00:13:28.429 one on the other. And here, remarkably, at this place of sacrifice, 147 00:13:28.750 --> 00:13:31.950 at this place, this where, place where God has met with man 148 00:13:31.470 --> 00:13:35.590 in the forgiveness of sins, we find that very same image of these two 149 00:13:35.750 --> 00:13:41.740 angels on one side and one on the other side, with, of course, 150 00:13:41.019 --> 00:13:46.820 no image of God in between them, and empty place in a way, 151 00:13:46.980 --> 00:13:52.139 but but not empty in another way, empty because God has accomplished something. 152 00:13:52.100 --> 00:13:56.529 This is the way in the Old Testament that God symbolized his presence with 153 00:13:56.730 --> 00:14:01.929 man. It was the place that he called man to come into, to 154 00:14:01.570 --> 00:14:05.850 meet with him through the high priest, and it is here now, in 155 00:14:07.049 --> 00:14:13.399 this place of death, that God is meeting with Mary, that God is 156 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:18.960 meeting with her. I'm not with a high priest there, but with the 157 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:26.629 high priest, Jesus himself, having risen from the dead, beginning to anticipate 158 00:14:26.870 --> 00:14:31.629 these things. The angels asked Mary, why are you weeping, and she 159 00:14:31.750 --> 00:14:35.309 says they've taken away my Lord. I do not know where they've laid him. 160 00:14:35.350 --> 00:14:39.580 I'm she is clear and to the points. And when Jesus himself says 161 00:14:39.659 --> 00:14:43.460 to her these same things, she again gets right to the point. She 162 00:14:43.580 --> 00:14:46.580 doesn't say why she's weeping. She just says, Sir, if you've carried 163 00:14:46.620 --> 00:14:50.419 him away, tell me where you've laid him. She wants only one thing, 164 00:14:50.460 --> 00:14:56.370 Jesus, and of course he's right there. And when he says her 165 00:14:56.450 --> 00:15:05.649 name, Mary, more Miriam, she turns and says to him Rabboni, 166 00:15:07.480 --> 00:15:13.480 or teacher. She uses this same word that she likely used day after day 167 00:15:13.480 --> 00:15:18.600 after day after day, this term that she referred to her Lord. As 168 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:26.029 she says teacher, and she clings to him. Jesus says, don't cling 169 00:15:26.149 --> 00:15:28.870 to me, for I have not yet ascended to the father, but now 170 00:15:30.350 --> 00:15:33.870 go, and that's what she does. He tells her to go to the 171 00:15:33.950 --> 00:15:37.860 disciples. Some of the early church fathers called her, rightly, an apostle 172 00:15:39.059 --> 00:15:43.580 to the apostles, a sent one to the ones who are sent, to 173 00:15:43.700 --> 00:15:48.700 the scent one to the Senden sent ones. And that's what he does. 174 00:15:48.820 --> 00:15:52.049 He tells her to go. And this pattern that we see here we are 175 00:15:52.090 --> 00:15:58.570 going to see repeated with the decide other disciples in a moment and ultimately with 176 00:15:58.730 --> 00:16:03.320 us as well. And the pattern is this. We see Jesus, we 177 00:16:03.879 --> 00:16:11.200 believe in Jesus and then we are sent by Jesus to share him with others. 178 00:16:11.399 --> 00:16:18.080 This is the pattern that God is establishing right here in the garden of 179 00:16:18.830 --> 00:16:22.429 his own death, and it is the pattern which we are following, even 180 00:16:22.549 --> 00:16:30.389 here to this Lord's Day today, to see Jesus, to believe in Jesus 181 00:16:32.149 --> 00:16:37.860 and to share him with the world. He tells her to go, and 182 00:16:37.940 --> 00:16:41.740 she does and she says, I have seen the Lord and he tells her 183 00:16:41.860 --> 00:16:45.539 the other things that he told her, namely that he is ascending to my 184 00:16:45.700 --> 00:16:51.649 father, your father, and to my God, your God. These words 185 00:16:51.809 --> 00:16:59.210 remind us, I hope, if you've been attending to these sermons, all 186 00:16:59.330 --> 00:17:04.920 of those passages in which Jesus spoke about his unity with them being similar to 187 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:11.960 his unity with God. Now it is happening. That friendship, that Brotherhood, 188 00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:18.029 that family, that body, all of this language of union with Christ 189 00:17:18.069 --> 00:17:25.150 as is happening. He is ascending not just to a God but his God 190 00:17:25.990 --> 00:17:30.900 and our God as well. So now we see the pattern repeat as we 191 00:17:32.059 --> 00:17:34.779 come from Mary, I'm now to the disciples. On that same day, 192 00:17:34.900 --> 00:17:38.660 the evening. Now this is Jesus is second meeting on the Lord's Day with 193 00:17:38.740 --> 00:17:44.809 them. He comes, amends them and he says these words that are so 194 00:17:45.170 --> 00:17:48.769 common to us, but it's important that you hear them, how remarkable they 195 00:17:48.769 --> 00:17:53.450 are. He says to them, peace be with you. This is something 196 00:17:53.490 --> 00:17:57.329 I often announce in the name of the Lord at the end of our services. 197 00:17:57.880 --> 00:18:03.160 Peace be with you. These are the these are the words of the 198 00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:11.480 Lord Jesus to his people, and these are remarkable words. Imagine you were 199 00:18:11.640 --> 00:18:15.670 in some situation where you had your friends gather around you, people that had 200 00:18:15.750 --> 00:18:19.630 professed their loyalty to you, people who had said that they'd be with you 201 00:18:19.789 --> 00:18:25.230 to the bitter end. You came under trial and they all deserted you. 202 00:18:26.470 --> 00:18:34.180 They scattered away, lying even about who they were. And now you come 203 00:18:34.299 --> 00:18:41.420 back and you see him face to face. It a lot of kingdoms, 204 00:18:41.650 --> 00:18:48.730 with a lot of kings. This would be the moment of reckoning you dirty, 205 00:18:48.009 --> 00:18:56.559 rotten traitors. Death to all of you. Right. This is the 206 00:18:56.119 --> 00:19:02.799 reaction of a king who is now established his kingdom. Those who did not 207 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:07.000 stick with him, those who were not there, those who had failed him, 208 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:14.710 would now find a day of reckoning and instead what Jesus says to them 209 00:19:14.869 --> 00:19:25.059 is peace be with you. How could this be? It is this way 210 00:19:26.579 --> 00:19:30.740 because Jesus had chosen, before the foundation of the world, that these disciples 211 00:19:32.460 --> 00:19:38.769 would be his disciples and that when he said peace, there would be peace. 212 00:19:40.490 --> 00:19:44.049 When he says, as he said earlier, my peace I live with, 213 00:19:44.170 --> 00:19:47.369 leave with you, my peace is what you will have, that is 214 00:19:47.450 --> 00:19:52.369 what they will have, that is the relationship they will have with God, 215 00:19:53.559 --> 00:20:00.079 because he has determined it to be so, which means that God will overcome 216 00:20:00.200 --> 00:20:08.349 their disobedience, God will overcome their doubting, God will overcome their wilful desertion 217 00:20:08.589 --> 00:20:14.990 of him. Do you hear what I'm saying? Do you hear what he 218 00:20:15.109 --> 00:20:19.309 does? When he says peace be with you? He comes among these people 219 00:20:19.349 --> 00:20:25.339 who have left him and he says peace, we with you. And more 220 00:20:25.460 --> 00:20:29.819 than that, he says, as the father has sent me, so I 221 00:20:29.859 --> 00:20:34.579 am sending you receive the Holy Spirit. And then, with this action, 222 00:20:34.769 --> 00:20:40.450 very much like again at the beginning of the world, he breathes the Holy 223 00:20:40.569 --> 00:20:45.930 Spirit. The word goes out and just as God breathed into man and when 224 00:20:45.970 --> 00:20:52.000 he created man and brought life into him, he breathed that breath of God, 225 00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:56.480 that wind of God, that spirit of God. Now he breathes the 226 00:20:56.599 --> 00:21:03.960 spirit of God on them as well, and new creation is beginning. And 227 00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:07.190 he says to them, if you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven. 228 00:21:07.710 --> 00:21:11.950 If you withhold this forgiveness, forgiveness from any, it is withheld. 229 00:21:15.509 --> 00:21:26.819 What do you think of that? God has given forth in the sun the 230 00:21:26.099 --> 00:21:34.210 promise of life, the promise of life in such a way that those who 231 00:21:34.410 --> 00:21:44.250 believe will not just have a better life, but eternal life. The cut, 232 00:21:44.329 --> 00:21:49.000 the the flip side of this is also true. Those who receive the 233 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:55.680 promise or refuse the promise of God, those who turn away from eternal life, 234 00:21:55.680 --> 00:22:00.680 will have what they turn away from and turn towards, which is death. 235 00:22:02.109 --> 00:22:07.869 Remember John's record, when John Records in John Thirty six, a Jesus's 236 00:22:07.990 --> 00:22:15.180 words, and he says whoever believes in the sun has eternal life. Whoever 237 00:22:15.299 --> 00:22:19.819 does not obey the son shall not see life, but the wrath of God 238 00:22:21.339 --> 00:22:29.019 remains on him. Listen again, John Thirty six. Whoever believes in the 239 00:22:29.220 --> 00:22:34.970 sun has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the sun shall not see life, 240 00:22:36.529 --> 00:22:44.210 but the wrath of God remains on him. This is the message that 241 00:22:44.359 --> 00:22:52.599 Jesus is as the word of God who comes into the world, he is 242 00:22:53.039 --> 00:23:00.230 this message. He embodies this message literally, and on him, when we 243 00:23:00.509 --> 00:23:04.269 believe, we find eternal life and when from him we turn away, as 244 00:23:04.309 --> 00:23:11.710 Jesus did, we find condemnation and death and the wrath of God remains on 245 00:23:11.869 --> 00:23:18.619 us. And that word that came into the world, that word that died 246 00:23:18.940 --> 00:23:26.690 and brought to life, this the reality of that message. Who secured it 247 00:23:26.890 --> 00:23:33.450 forever now takes that word and gives it to his disciples and says say this, 248 00:23:34.529 --> 00:23:42.640 proclaim this. Few forgive the sins of any they are forgiven in them. 249 00:23:42.680 --> 00:23:47.680 If you withhold the forgiveness from any it is withheld. And how do 250 00:23:47.799 --> 00:23:52.839 they forgive sin is do they forgive sins from their own power? Know, 251 00:23:52.519 --> 00:23:56.869 they give it as it has been given to them. They say, as 252 00:23:56.950 --> 00:24:00.869 I said to even today, in the name of Jesus Christ, if you 253 00:24:00.269 --> 00:24:08.150 believe these things, you are forgiven, and if you refuse these things, 254 00:24:10.299 --> 00:24:18.220 then you remain under the wrath of God. This is the message, the 255 00:24:18.500 --> 00:24:25.210 most important thing in all the world. This is what John has been writing 256 00:24:25.289 --> 00:24:27.369 about, this is what the other gospels are writing about. This is why 257 00:24:29.089 --> 00:24:34.410 Jesus came, and Jesus now in trusts that message to his disciples, who 258 00:24:34.410 --> 00:24:40.359 have been empowered by the very spirit of God to keep and to hold that 259 00:24:40.599 --> 00:24:45.680 message. And this will be God's work going forth. It is God's work 260 00:24:45.839 --> 00:24:49.759 even now. This is the work that is the wind, the word that 261 00:24:51.000 --> 00:24:53.789 is proclaimed in the world, this is the work that the church does. 262 00:24:56.349 --> 00:25:03.150 And so we see the pattern again. They see Jesus, they believe Jesus 263 00:25:03.869 --> 00:25:08.339 and then he sends them the last time. We see this in this chapter. 264 00:25:08.420 --> 00:25:15.220 The way this is emphasized this with Thomas. Thomas made a bad decision. 265 00:25:15.980 --> 00:25:19.259 He wasn't with the disciples. You should have been worshiping with them on 266 00:25:19.339 --> 00:25:27.809 the Lord's Day and he missed Jesus an important lesson for us all. They 267 00:25:27.890 --> 00:25:32.329 came to him, though, doing the thing that they had been called to 268 00:25:32.410 --> 00:25:36.519 do. They came to their brother. There's a brother. We have seen 269 00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:41.359 the Lord, Jesus. You should have been there. Thomas fulge's arms and 270 00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:48.119 says I'm not going to believe and then he says this thing that has strikes 271 00:25:48.200 --> 00:25:56.630 me and you perhaps as rather crass. But this, this thing he says, 272 00:25:56.829 --> 00:26:00.109 unless I see the hands in the mark of his nails and place my 273 00:26:00.230 --> 00:26:03.869 finger to the mark of his nails, of the nails, and place my 274 00:26:03.029 --> 00:26:11.019 hand into his side. I will never believe. Here, in this statement, 275 00:26:11.140 --> 00:26:15.500 we see a lot of things. One is the hardness of heart. 276 00:26:15.539 --> 00:26:21.609 And despite all that Jesus and said, despite all that Jesus has done, 277 00:26:21.970 --> 00:26:27.250 despite the testimony of these very people that Thomas had been with, right Mary 278 00:26:27.410 --> 00:26:30.450 and others and the disciples, we've seen the Lord. We've seen the Lord 279 00:26:30.569 --> 00:26:42.759 was no Thomas is being grumpy, Thomas is being Thomas is demanding a level 280 00:26:42.799 --> 00:26:51.349 of proof that is not necessary. And a lot of people still do this 281 00:26:51.549 --> 00:26:57.150 today. Say, unless I see it in my way and on my terms 282 00:26:57.190 --> 00:27:00.990 and hear it exactly like I to hear it, and hear it from the 283 00:27:00.029 --> 00:27:03.019 right person and hear it at the right time, and Yada, Yada, 284 00:27:03.019 --> 00:27:08.579 Yada, I'm not going to believe it. But who are we to judge 285 00:27:08.619 --> 00:27:12.539 God and the Word of God? When the word of God comes to you, 286 00:27:14.220 --> 00:27:23.289 listen. I think of Balem is donkey talking to him the word of 287 00:27:23.329 --> 00:27:30.240 the Lord. Strange, but you better listen. If an angel comes to 288 00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:32.640 you and speaks the word of the Lord, you listen. If the word 289 00:27:32.680 --> 00:27:37.759 of God comes to you in strange ways, in the strange places, you 290 00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:44.710 listen. Well, the Bible tells us that it God spoken many times and 291 00:27:44.789 --> 00:27:48.990 in many ways, but in these last days he has spoken by his son 292 00:27:48.509 --> 00:27:52.710 and the message of that son is proclaimed in his people. And here are 293 00:27:52.789 --> 00:27:57.900 the people, here's the Church of God saying Thomas, Thomas, you're supposed 294 00:27:57.900 --> 00:28:00.539 to be with us. You weren't with us, but it's okay, here's 295 00:28:00.579 --> 00:28:07.180 the word of the Lord. But he doubles down, but not fully, 296 00:28:07.380 --> 00:28:11.700 because eight days later, on the next Lord's Day, Thomas is with them. 297 00:28:14.009 --> 00:28:17.930 Maybe something in his heart was beginning to stir, maybe something in him 298 00:28:18.049 --> 00:28:23.289 new that he was needed to be with the people of God. Hard to 299 00:28:23.410 --> 00:28:27.880 say, but there he was, and good thing he was, because here 300 00:28:27.960 --> 00:28:33.319 again comes Jesus, as he does every Lord's Day ever since. Here comes 301 00:28:33.400 --> 00:28:37.200 Jesus and he comes to them and again and he says to them, even 302 00:28:37.279 --> 00:28:44.150 to Thomas, peace be with you. Oh those words, those are good, 303 00:28:44.390 --> 00:28:49.990 good words to sinners who struggle, sinners who, like Thomas, struggle, 304 00:28:51.430 --> 00:28:55.390 sinners who doubt. We all are like these people, aren't we? 305 00:28:55.470 --> 00:29:00.420 We all have been just like them, weeping sorrowful, running, confused, 306 00:29:00.900 --> 00:29:10.369 wondering, doubtful. We're just like them. We're human. and Jesus says 307 00:29:10.450 --> 00:29:17.890 to him, in both an act of grace and maybe an act of discipline 308 00:29:17.930 --> 00:29:25.519 as well, Rod and the staff of the Lord comforting his disciples, put 309 00:29:25.559 --> 00:29:29.319 your finger here and see my hands, and put out your hand and place 310 00:29:29.440 --> 00:29:37.079 it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe. Thomas answered him 311 00:29:37.119 --> 00:29:45.109 and said my Lord and my God. He confesses his faith. This is 312 00:29:45.190 --> 00:29:48.470 what we are all called to do when we come to hear the Lord, 313 00:29:49.589 --> 00:29:56.019 when we hear the promise, when we hear we say my Lord and my 314 00:29:56.180 --> 00:30:00.700 God. Again, is even as we have done by God's grace here this 315 00:30:00.859 --> 00:30:07.250 morning. And then Jesus says to him, and I believe also to us, 316 00:30:08.089 --> 00:30:11.450 have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have 317 00:30:11.650 --> 00:30:18.329 not seen and yet have believed. Do you know who he's talking about there? 318 00:30:18.849 --> 00:30:26.559 He's talking about you. Are you, those who have not seen and 319 00:30:26.759 --> 00:30:34.599 yet believed? You are? You are, and Jesus says to you, 320 00:30:34.680 --> 00:30:42.230 you are blessed. You are not lacking something, you are not in need 321 00:30:42.509 --> 00:30:51.099 of something else. You are blessed by God. You have not seen, 322 00:30:52.299 --> 00:30:56.859 and yet you have believed, you have heard the word of the Lord from 323 00:30:56.019 --> 00:31:04.250 his disciples. The spirit joined with that word to create new life in you 324 00:31:06.170 --> 00:31:10.529 so that you too would believe. And this, of course, is the 325 00:31:10.650 --> 00:31:15.569 very reason why John has written these things and why I have confidence in saying 326 00:31:15.970 --> 00:31:21.759 that this word is for you, because the Holy Spirit says it in verses 327 00:31:21.880 --> 00:31:26.880 thirty and thirty one. Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the 328 00:31:27.000 --> 00:31:30.799 stiples, which are not written in this book. You don't know about them, 329 00:31:33.029 --> 00:31:36.549 I don't know about them. They knew about them, but it doesn't 330 00:31:36.589 --> 00:31:42.069 matter. Those were God gave those signs to them and for that purpose and 331 00:31:42.109 --> 00:31:45.029 in that time, and that was good for them and that was right for 332 00:31:45.069 --> 00:31:51.500 them, and God will. Similarly, has given the signs and the words 333 00:31:51.619 --> 00:31:55.339 to us in our time and in our ways. That's good for us. 334 00:31:55.900 --> 00:32:02.930 That's exactly what we need. Those things are written in this book so that 335 00:32:04.089 --> 00:32:08.930 you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and 336 00:32:09.410 --> 00:32:16.799 that, believing, you may have life in his name. And having life 337 00:32:16.799 --> 00:32:22.720 in his name, can you guess what we're supposed to do? To share 338 00:32:22.759 --> 00:32:27.319 it with our children, with our sons, with our daughters, with our 339 00:32:27.640 --> 00:32:31.349 other family members, as we come to Christ with our neighbors, to announce 340 00:32:31.549 --> 00:32:40.549 that the work of God has been done, that peace with God is now 341 00:32:40.950 --> 00:32:46.539 possible, that the joy of all the earth has come, that Jesus Christ 342 00:32:46.900 --> 00:32:52.660 has risen from the dead and instead of wiping us all off the face of 343 00:32:52.819 --> 00:33:00.250 this earth, he has waited to come in his glory. He has postponed 344 00:33:00.410 --> 00:33:06.769 the consummation and the coming judgment of the Kingdom of God. It will come. 345 00:33:07.049 --> 00:33:10.650 It's not as though that is something that Jesus doesn't care about. Holiness 346 00:33:10.730 --> 00:33:15.000 and righteousness is him. Those who rebel against him will face his wrath. 347 00:33:15.519 --> 00:33:22.400 But you know what he's doing right now? He's waiting. He's waiting so 348 00:33:22.559 --> 00:33:29.069 that that word would go out to more and more people until the full number 349 00:33:29.109 --> 00:33:36.230 of all his sons and daughters are brought in. And so, if you 350 00:33:36.390 --> 00:33:42.980 hear this word this morning, believe. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, 351 00:33:43.059 --> 00:33:45.220 and you will be saved. And if you doubt, if you're not sure, 352 00:33:45.940 --> 00:33:51.099 believe, look at the way that the Lord has risen from the dead. 353 00:33:51.220 --> 00:33:54.539 Look at the evidences that are presented to you. Hear the voice of 354 00:33:54.730 --> 00:34:00.970 Your Shepherd speaking. Jesus tells us in John Ten that when the shepherd speaks, 355 00:34:01.049 --> 00:34:07.849 his sheep recognizes voice and if you hear his voice, respond to it 356 00:34:07.530 --> 00:34:12.679 and share it with others. Let's pray