Easter Sunday English Service – 17 APR 22

Transcript

You can turn your Bibles to John chapter 20. John chapter 20, verse 24 to 31. John chapter 20, verse 24 to 31, John chapter 20, verse 24 to 31. Now Thomas, one of the 12 called a 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. And 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, 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. As I read that passage, you can tell this is about Thomas, as soon as we say, Thomas in the Christian world, what’s the next word that comes to our mind? Doubting Thomas. That’s so unfair, and so unfair. Christian history the last 2000 years, somehow, we’ve managed to characterize Thomas as merely doubting Thomas, as though only he doubts and nobody else doubts. The truth is, many people doubt. That’s the truth. It’s like in school when the teacher teachers, or even in college, whatever. Teacher teaches something, and then they say, do you have any doubts, any questions? And nobody raises their hands, as though they understood everything the teacher just said.

But there’s always that one or two, those one or two who always raised their hand. And then the others make fun of them [inaudible 00:02:29] there.Always trying to pull one up on us or trying to show themselves whatever. But thank God for those one or two, the voice out what we keep in our mind. Thank God for those one or two, because without the one or two, we won’t even learn what we learn. You won’t understand what we actually — what I’m trying to say is many doubt, but only few actually expressed their doubt, many doubt, but only few actually admit their doubt. And then much less express it. And I think, Thomas doubted extra, and we’ll see the reason why he did when he doubted more than the other disciples. But I think even the other disciples would have had some level of doubt. And even today in a gathering like this, there is bound to be people with doubt. All kinds of levels of doubt. I’m talking about doubt whether Jesus rose again. Or should we say that in a gathering like this, everyone is 100% sure. No, that’s just not reality. The truth is, there are people who doubt. There are Christians who doubt, there may be different levels of doubt, some may doubt little more, some may doubt little less. Some may not be doubting now, some may have doubted before, some may doubt later, whatever. What I’m saying is, Thomas is not the only one. And the very fact that Thomas is highlighted at the end of the Gospel of John. This is actually the climax we will be moving to the climax of the Gospel of John Chapter 20 when it ends, that’s the climax Chapter 21 is the close glued kind of. The ending after the climax, to show you why that is the case? There is a reason why John, the wise apostle with inspiration of the Holy Spirit, puts the epistle of doubting Thomas right there. Doubt about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

That has to be dealt with. You can doubt certain things in the Christian faith and it won’t really affect you. I mean, it will affect you. Any kind of doubt will affect you. But certain things you can doubt, you can say I don’t think that, I don’t know I’m not convinced about that. And you can kind of get by, you can manage. But if you doubt the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it will ruin everything ultimately. If that doubt is left unchecked. If the doubt is just left to fester and grow, if that doubt is not taken seriously and dealt with, it will affect everything in your Christian faith and life itself. Such is the importance of this truth that Jesus rose again, like I said, certain things you can manage without, but this is so huge. It’s such a big deal, that if you doubt this, you will doubt everything because everything in Christianity is connected to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And if the resurrection of Jesus Christ goes, everything else goes. That’s how important this is in in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. I’m not going to read it, but you can turn if you’d like. And just look at the verses from 14 to 19. In 1 Corinthians 15:14 to 19. Paul is actually trying to convince the Corinthians. Again, they’re believers, Christians in the church is trying to convince them of the importance of being sure about the resurrection. Because perhaps even they had doubts. The Bible is quite open that only we are scared of doubts.

The Bible is quite open that, yes, people did doubt. 1 Corinthians 15, Paul’s writing to people who perhaps doubted the resurrection, and trying to strengthen their faith in it. And even in the Gospel epistles, if you read carefully after Jesus rose again, there is a mixture of reactions from these disciples and humans, they are they are amazed they are joyful. At the same time, they’re scared, withdrawal. And he believed at the same time, some doubted Matthew chapter 27:28, the Bible is open about it. We are scared about it. 1 Corinthians 15 says, I mean, I just want to say that if you have a doubt about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, did Jesus really rise again? Is Jesus really alive today? Don’t brush it under the carpet. Don’t just say I’ll manage it. Don’t say I live with it because you can’t. You simply can’t. It will affect everything because it’s connected to everything. And Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 15. He says in verse 14, he kind of gives a list. Suppose Jesus did not rise again. Let’s just suppose, let’s just imagine what would be lost. In verse 14. He says, Christian preaching is useless if Jesus did not rise, our preaching is in vain. Vain means meaningless, useless. This whole exercise of me preaching, you listening is becomes meaningless if Jesus did not rise again. Then in verse 15, he says, if Jesus did not rise again, the apostles and the New Testament authors become liars. They’re false witnesses. Everything they said, becomes false and lies and the entire New Testament would be a lie. And then in verse 17, Paul says, if Jesus did not rise again, then we are still in your sins, you are still in your sins, he says. You can’t even get forgiveness of sin if Jesus did not rise again.

If Jesus did not rise again that means maybe he died for his own wrongdoing. It’s the resurrection that confirms that he died not for his wrongdoing, but for our wrongdoing, for our sins, He died, and therefore he was vindicated by God in the resurrection. The Resurrection confirms that, yes, he bought our sin. In verse 17, Paul also says, if Jesus did not rise again, your faith is in vain. Your faith is useless. Christian faith is meaningless, useless if Jesus did not rise again, we can say we have faith, we can really even have strong confidence but if Jesus did not rise again all our confidence amounts to nothing means nothing is useless. It’s not enough if we believe strongly if what we believe strongly does is not true, all our faith is useless. Let me say that again. If what we believe strongly is not true, all the faith we have all the strong belief is useless. Faith is validated in part, by the truthfulness of its object. What do we believe? Is it true? If it’s true, then your faith becomes meaningful, useful, powerful. It’s not true, it’s useless. Verse 18, Paul says, if Jesus did not rise again, there’s no hope for those who died in Christ, no hope for those who died in Christ. If Jesus did not rise again, verse 19, he says, we are to be pitied more than anyone else in this world. If Jesus did not rise again, we are the most sorry, bunch out here in the world. People have to pity us. If you lose the resurrection, you lose everything. If you doubt the resurrection, you doubt everything. If you doubt the resurrection, it’ll affect everything in your life, sooner or later, ruin your faith. This is not something to play with. I remind you this on this Resurrection Sunday, Easter Sunday. If you have doubts, please do something about it.

Actually, that’s my main message to you. If you have doubts, please do something about it to get rid of that doubt, don’t take it lightly. Doubt does not please God. Certainly faith only pleases God not doubt. But doubt can be a stepping stone to faith. Don’t fear doubt. If doubt comes, that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It doesn’t have to end bad is what I’m saying. It can become a stepping stone to greater, more meaningful, solid faith. I’ll give you an example. children growing up in Christian homes. I’m an example, there are many others. Why do we believe in Jesus in the beginning? Because our parents believe. Why do we go to church? Because they take us. Why do we do this? Because they say do this. We basically run on their faith. But then there comes a time in our own life, maybe you go through the teenage years, maybe you go to college or you grow up, you start to think is everything they’re saying true? Is my parent’s faith true? Is it really true? Is this content or this preaching true? What my church that teaching all this in my church? Is it true? That doubt comes. Now let me ask you, is that a good thing or a bad thing? Because some people immediately when they hear that doubt, from the child, some parents will just try to hush it up. Ah, don’t dare question God. He’s going to get so upset with you. You better believe. They’ll say you just better believe, you can’t, just better believe that’s not how faith works. Faith needs some grounding. You can’t just say, without any proof, any evidence without nothing, you can’t just force yourself to believe. That’s not how it works. And so I say to you, if doubt — I would say for most children growing up in Christian homes, that doubt comes. Very few maybe it doesn’t come, but for most children it comes and what do you do? I don’t think that’s a bad thing. It’s time for you to find out for yourself. It’s time for you to get sure yourself. Don’t live your life on your parent’s faith. You seek after the truth, you have a doubt it’s fine. God’s not going to be — God has seen so many people like us. He has seen doubting Thomas. You see his doubt, it’s an extreme level. Unless I put my finger in the place where the nails went, he says. I don’t know if many people would ask so extreme. God has seen everything. He’s not surprised by anything. And even if we have the pot of doubt, he knows. And I tell you, if you’re a person like that, maybe doubts are starting to come up. Don’t suppress them, deal with them. How do you deal with them? Take steps do whatever they you know to do. Listen to, read the word I’ll talk about more later on. But what I’m saying is do something about it, do something about it. Just do something about it. That’s my main message today is if you have doubts, please do something about it.

If you get up and walk away right now, also you got something. Because today, I’m going to be able to just discuss this passage and give you a little help, but I can’t really solve all the doubts today. I’m not that good of a preacher. How can anybody solve all the doubts about the greatest truth in all of history that Jesus rose again, in one-hour sermon? That’s impossible, I’m sorry. I’m not setting myself that goal. If I give you a few pointers here and there, I’m satisfied. But most of all, I want to say to you If you have doubts, do something about it, handle it very carefully and very seriously because if you don’t, it will affect you and if you get sure about this, I’ll tell you, you will get sure about many things. It will just strengthen you just like that very quickly. If you get sure about the fact that Jesus is alive today, if you get more sure, you will get more sure about everything. For example, if Jesus is alive today, if Jesus rose again, then that changes everything. Let me give you an example. That changes my past, present and future. If Jesus is alive today, that changes my past, it changes my present, it changes my future, how does it change my past, just one example is, all my sins are forgiven. The person could have lived the worst life, but if Jesus really rose again, their past is forgiven by God Himself, their sins are forgiven, forgotten by God Himself. And therefore you can forget it and move on forward with your life. That’s your past. Frees you from your past.

If Jesus is really alive today, it enables you to live in the present, it changes how you approach the present. If today any of us are having any doubt, any fear, any confusion, we are really affected mentally, emotionally, whatever it is, I tell you, it’s because the truth that Jesus is alive is not doing anything to us, we have become numb to it. Every year celebrating Easter, become numb to this greatest truth. 2000 years of celebrating Easter, having become numb to the efficacy of it, if he is alive, if he’s ready, in the early church, the truth that he was alive just penetrated them and made them change in every way. If we really are convinced ensure that is alive today, why should we worry about anything or fear anything because the King of Kings is on the throne, alive and well ruling and reigning and he’s on my side, won’t he helped me out today in my presence. The one who gave his life for me, the one who shed his blood for me won’t he helped me now no matter what my condition is, situation is, he will. You don’t have to worry about anything if he’s alive. But you got to be sure about it. If he’s alive, it changes our future.

People talk about we don’t know what is going to happen in the future. We don’t need to know what if this happens, what if that happens? The Christians response should be so what whatever happens, Jesus is there. Forever more, alive and ruling and reigning and that alone should just bolster up our courage. What I’m saying is, if we don’t pay attention to this, it’ll affect everything. If we do, it will strengthen everything, it’ll strengthen our faith on a broad level. So it matters, and you got to pay attention to it. Alright, so let’s pay attention. Let’s look at Thomas and how his doubt and how he got out of that. And in the process, we will learn things I believe about our doubt and maybe how we can get out of that. Some pointers. Let’s see, Thomas’s doubt and how he got a little bit first focus on Thomas, say some things on the way about us. Then in the end, we’ll focus more on us. In the passage, first of all, notice why Thomas doubted. Why did Thomas doubt? He’s known as Doubting Thomas, right? Implying that other disciples didn’t doubt but he doubted, but why? Why did he doubt extra? Why did he doubt more than the other disciples? The reason is given in verse 24.Now, Thomas, one of the 12 called the Twin was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him we have seen the Lord, but said to them, so the very simple reason why Thomas doubted more than the other disciples is he didn’t see Jesus. He missed the first important meeting, the resurrection appearance.

One week earlier, Jesus had actually appeared to the other disciples, they were all in a room and Jesus appeared to them. Thomas alone was missing. Judas, of course, died by this time. Thomas alone was missing, the other 12 disciples Jesus had made disciples, or that Judas died. So there’s 11. Thomas wasn’t there one week earlier to this epistle, so 10, 10 of them at least in that room, and Jesus appeared to those disciples. And Thomas was not there in that group. And that’s why he didn’t see the Lord. The other saw, he didn’t see, that’s why he doubted more than the others. The reason is quite simple, on one level, at least, but what did Thomas want? So we know why he doubted. But what did he want? He said to them, what is it that he thinks will solve this doubt that will bring him faith? He says in verse 25, 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. Notice those words unless I see in his hands, the mark of the nails. What did he say? He’s saying, I want to make sure that you guys saw the right Jesus. Not some look like twin or something. The right Jesus, the one whom they drove nails into, on the cross? Are you sure you saw the right Jesus? I want to see the mark of the nails. And then he says, I want to place my finger into the mark of the nails. Now that’s a little extreme, isn’t it? I understand, okay, he wants to see, the other saw, he didn’t see. Then he say I want to see and then place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side. What is he talking about the side? Because the side was where Jesus was pierced with a spear, remember, that was unique to Jesus, actually.

Two others were crucified along with Jesus. The two thieves, perhaps they also might have had nails driven into their hands. But they never had a spear pierced into their side. Only that happened only for Jesus. If you read the crucifixion account carefully, you will see that the soldier pierced only Jesus. He pierced his side with a spear and blood and water get out. So he’s saying, and I want to make sure you don’t confuse Jesus with the other two guys. I want to see the nail mark as well as the side wound and put my finger my hand into those areas, then only I’ll otherwise, I won’t believe. I want to say about the pharmacist demand. In one sense, there is something good in it. But in another sense, there is something bad in it. I’ll explain that. Why do I say there’s something good and what I mean is Thomas is saying, I want some proof. I want proof in order to believe. I can’t just believe like that. I need proof. I need proof. That’s the good thing. The bad thing is, he is asking for too much proof, is just going to an extreme and just laying down the conditions. Who does he think he is, and who does he think God is? He thinks maybe God is his servant, to do whatever he wants, put the conditions and say here it is, meet my conditions, then only I will believe. He spoke too much. His conditions were too tall, it’s not bad to ask for proof. It’s not wrong to ask for proof or evidence. But you have to be reasonable. He says not only see, but I want to put my finger into that wound and say, put my hand into this wound that was very meant to an extreme. But what is good about what he asked is he said, I need proof.

I can believe only, why I say that’s a good thing is because sometimes people think Christian faith is something where you believe without any proof any evidence. Have you heard that notion? They say faith is just our personal preference. We believe what we want to believe I believe what I want to believe you believe what you want to believe. We don’t need to find this and that about that. We don’t need to question, is this faith valid? Everything is equally valid. It’s after all, it has to do with personal, religious, spiritual preference. That’s all. I believe what I believe. You believe what you want to believe. We all believe what we want to believe. Let’s not bother each other’s beliefs, and question each other’s beliefs and ask whether there’s proof evidence, is it true? All of those questions are unnecessary faith is our problem, personnel matter. Man in his great advancement has come to that view on faith. The Bible, the New Testament does not agree. Faith is not real faith. If what we believe is not true. Faith is real faith only when what we believe is true. And Thomas is saying, I want to have real faith or no faith. Real faith or no faith, I don’t want the superficial faith. I don’t want this fake faith. I want real faith or nothing? That’s it. And real faith needs proof. The idea that you know this idea of blind faith. We don’t see anything yet you believe in one sense this is true in one sense is not true. You see some things. The idea of faith is a leap in the dark.

Again, in one sense is true one sense is not true. Those can be misleading terms, especially in today’s world where they take faith to be such a subjective thing, all you believe and I believe we’ll all believe, and it’s fine. Thomas is saying, no, no, no, no, I want to prove that this is true. That’s a good thing. The bad thing is he asked for unreasonable proof, too much proof. And he lays down the conditions to God. He speaks too much. Before God, that’s the bad thing I would say. But let’s move on. Let’s see how Thomas got out of his doubt. Already get out of his doubt. How did Thomas get out of his doubt, and go towards faith? First, Jesus did something huge. What did Jesus do? He appeared to Thomas. That was huge. That’s what happens in verse 26. After eight days, his disciples were again inside and Thomas with them. And Jesus came the doors being shut and stood in the midst and said, peace to you. Then he said to Thomas. So Thomas is right there in the room this time. One week later, Jesus appears, doors are shut. Now think about that scene there. These are not fables. This actually happened. eyewitness report, John, who was there, he’s giving us the report here. Doors are shut, Jesus appears like that he never did that kind of trick when he was alive, before he went to the cross. Only after the resurrection, he did those things just appearing in a room with the door shut. How did he do that? I don’t know. His resurrection body is a kind of an enigma. You can’t fully understand everything about it.

In one way, it’s like our body because Jesus said himself. It’s a body with flesh and bones, even ate fish. You remember that? He cooked fish, he gave it to the disciples he himself ate to convince them that it’s a real body. He said, it’s not a spirit, it’s a body, look I’m eating. So in one sense, he had a body like our body, but in another sense, it was not a body like our body, he could just appear in the room with shut doors and so on. He did it many times appear and disappear. So we can understand everything there is to understand about Jesus’s resurrection body fully now. But one day we will understand because we will be given a body like his body. So that scene itself must have been shocking to Thomas. Jesus just appears like that. And then Jesus shows. He gives Thomas special treatment. He speaks directly to Thomas. Did you see that? He almost ignores the others, and he does speaks to Thomas at least that’s what the passage tells us. He speaks he looks at Thomas and says in verse 27, reach your finger here. Look at my hands, reach your hand here, put it into my side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing. Now those words must have shocked Thomas. Not only did he just appear like that, he then looks at him. And he tells him what exactly he’s been wanting. He says you want to reach your finger. Go ahead, reach. You want to touch me want to look, look, reach your hand, do whatever you want to do. Do whatever it takes to move from unbelief to faith. Do not be unbelieving, but believing. It seems like Jesus almost lowers himself for the sake of Thomas.

He could have responded in so many ways here. He could have said — he could have just ignored Thomas. He could’ve just left it like that. Or he could have just straight out flat out rebuked him. But no, that’s not what he does. The way he says it. It’s part rebuke, but it’s part love. There is rebuke in it almost. But there is a love and compassion. He’s saying Thomas, do whatever you need to do, man. Whatever step you need to take to get out from that place of unbelief and doubt do it, take it, come over to the side, believe. [inaudible 00:29:12] do what it takes to come towards faith in me. He shows him extra care and compassion. Even though Thomas made arrogant and unreasonable demands. Jesus says, okay, fine. That’s what you want, do whatever it takes for you to believe. It’s important for you to believe, Jesus was so patient with him. Show him so much love and compassion and care for him. Why? One reason is, I think that’s how Jesus is, is the kind of God for whom every person is important. And he does not want to lose even one. Jesus will not lose even one who comes to Him. He will leave the 99, go after the — That’s the kind of God he is. He doesn’t say all the 99 up there fine, so what if one goes, find that one? No,he stops talking to the others. And he talks to Thomas alone, he pays special attention to Thomas, when I look at you, I see a crowd. When Jesus looks at you, he sees each person he calls you by name, he knows you in out better than you know yourself.

He knows your background, he knows what you’re going through. And he knows that doubts, that those doubts that linger in your mind. Maybe if you have doubts, he knows that. And he wants those doubts, to be cleared. He wants you to move from that place of doubt, to greater, more solid faith. And he will do what it takes. He will do what it takes. He invites you to do what it takes from your end. There’s two things happening here. Jesus is doing something Thomas is also doing something I’ll show you more. But for now, I’m just trying to focus on how much Jesus does to remove his doubt. He says Go ahead, Thomas. So one thing is why Jesus did it is, that’s how Jesus is. I think that’s how Jesus is even today, with every believer, because in one sense, Thomas is just like us. He is like every believer, every believer matters to God, matters to Jesus, and every believers doubts matter to Jesus. Come towards him, don’t go away from Him. Seek and you will find, make an effort, take a step towards him, and you will go towards faith. So in one sense, Thomas is just like us, and Jesus will do the same for us, but in another sense, Thomas is not just like us, he is actually a little special. And why do I say that? Because he’s one of the original apostles, I say original apostles, because today also people use the title apostle, in the Christian world. Apostle so and so. Apostle so and so. The title is used so much that we lose sight of its greatness and value, the original apostles are original. They were truly special, more special than anybody who can claim to be an apostle, after that I’m talking about the original, the 12 that Jesus called, but Judas fell through there. Paul, also is considered an apostle in the New Testament. So it’s those 11 plus, Paul, those original apostles, nobody who can claim to be an apostle like that after that, in the same way, because to be an original apostle, one of the criteria was you had to see the reason Jesus alive in person.

You had to have seen the risen Jesus in person, you can’t say I saw him in a vision, I saw him in a dream no in person, only those who saw him in person can be considered an original apostle. That’s very minimum criteria actually. You can read it in Acts chapter one, where Peter talks about that. What I’m saying is, Thomas was one of the 12, Jesus called them to be one of the 12 and one of the 12, to be one of the 12, to be an apostle to do the work he was called to do, Jesus had to appear to himself to Thomas and give him that Resurrection appearance because you have to prepare him for his calling for his ministry and so on. Because after Jesus rose again, only a few days, he was on this earth and then he ascends to the heavens, and it’s these original apostles, who take the leadership who function as the chief eye witnesses, they testify about Jesus, they witness about Jesus, they preach the gospel. They are the ones who write the New Testament through which we get all our information. What I’m saying is in one sense, Jesus would do what he did to Thomas to anybody, he would do a lot to alleviate to relieve our doubts. But in one sense Thomas was special he was one of the original why I say that is that’s why in personal appearance to Thomas. Now we cannot look at Thomas passage and say today, I also want in person appearance, that would be the wrong way to apply it.

In one sense Thomas is like us, in one sense Thomas is not like us. Is part original apostles who needed to have in person appearance of the risen Jesus. We don’t need that. In God’s wisdom, we don’t need that. In God’s plan, we don’t need that. We are not wiser than God. That’s why Jesus says in verse 29, also, Thomas, you believe me because you see, now you’ve seen me. But blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Okay, so that’s why Jesus really helps Thomas. But I want you to consider Thomas’s response also, Thomas’s response in verse 28, Thomas answered and said to him, as soon as Jesus said, okay, Thomas, do whatever it takes. Don’t disbelieve, but believe, then Jesus, Thomas response, he says, my Lord, and my God, my Lord, and my God. Now, first of all, have you notice something? Did Thomas put his finger into the place of the wound?Did Thomas put his hand into the side of Jesus, you don’t see that? Do you? It doesn’t say anything about it. In fact, the way it reads, if you just read it naturally, it looks like John is trying to communicate the fact that Thomas didn’t do that. As soon as Jesus said, go ahead, put your finger put your hand here, touch me if you need to do whatever it takes to believe. As soon as Jesus said that, Thomas says, my Lord, and my God, that’s it. Forgot about those conditions, those unreasonable conditions, this was enough for him. I want you to think about his confession, My Lord and my God. I said, it’s so unfair that people characterize Thomas as Doubting Thomas only. Doubting Thomas became the Thomas, who gave one of the greatest confessions about Jesus. This confession here, my Lord, and my God, is the greatest confession of Jesus in the Gospel of John, no other man has said anything like that. That is why he does at the climax, My Lord and my God, it’s even greater than Peter’s confession, I would say, Peter said, you are Christ, the Son of the living God, but this is my Lord, and my God, why is this greater?

Well, first, look at that word, my God, oh, my God. He says, my God. People say sometimes I don’t know if you’ve heard, where in the Bible, does it teach that Jesus is God? Have you had of that. Very clever question. Where in the Bible, does it teach that Jesus is God. Right here, it teaches that Jesus is God. But they’ll say no, but that’s Thomas saying, that’s not Jesus claiming that for himself? Well, you one thing we got to understand is usually very great people don’t claim very great things for themselves. Have you noticed that? Very great people kind of underplay it. They go don’t go around saying I’m very, very great. The others say they’re very great, but they themselves slightly underplay it. Jesus is a little bit like that, but there are places where he claimed it. He kind of does it in a subtle way. But it’s not so subtle that you can understand it. For example, to the Jews, he said, Before Abraham was I am. That’s Jesus talking. How that before Abraham, now let’s just take it first as I was, because that’s grammatically wrong to say, before Abraham was I am. The correct grammar would be before Abraham was I was, let’s just take it like that. How could you have been there before Abraham was? The only way you could have been there as if he was God. What he was saying is, I am God, only I was there before Abraham was itself. That’s who I am. And the Jews understood it very clearly. But I think that that passage is even greater because he doesn’t say I was he says, I am. He takes the divine name for himself. The name that Yahweh, the God of Israel claim for himself, I am who I am.

Before Abraham was wrong grammar, I am, right theological truth. Sometimes you’ve got to change the grammar to communicate the right truth. He claims it for himself, there are passages he says if you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father, Father and I are one. The Jews understood it very well. Only the people today the so called critics don’t understand it. The Jews took up stones to stone him to death when he said before Abraham was I am, they very clearly understood he was claiming to be God. Same way when he said my father and I are one the Jews took up stone to stone him. So what I’m saying is this clever little claim that where does the Bible teach plenty of places the teaches, right here to teach us because Thomas calls him, my God. And Jesus accepts that worship, you will notice angels don’t accept worship. Sometimes in the Bible, angels appear to people and the people think their God and they thought worshipping them falling down the angels. They don’t they don’t fall down before they don’t worship me get up, get up. I’m just an angel. I’m not God. Only God is worthy of worship. Angels never accept worship. Jesus accepts it. Not only does he accept it, he almost says, Thomas, you only believed you only came to this conclusion because you saw me. But well, there are others who will come to the same conclusion without even seeing me.

He accepts it. Accepts that worship. My god, the other word, my lord, my lord, I hope your Bible, I hope you can see the connection between this Lord and the Lord in the Old Testament, because that’s what you’re meant to see. I don’t know if your Bible has Lord in all caps. But it should if Old Testament has it in all caps, sometimes the Old Testament again and again, it will say Lord, Lord, Lord, in capital letters in the New King James, what does that mean? It’s the word, Yahweh, the divine name, which the Jews would not utter. And so they read. They will look at that word, Yahweh, and pronounce it as Adonai. And Adonai basically means Lord. And so that’s the translations that stuck. Basically, what I’m trying to say to you is, when he says, My Lord, what he means is Thomas is a Jew, Thomas, who is a guy who knows the Old Testament. He knows who the Lord is. He knows who Adonai is. He knows who [Foreign Language 00:41:42] is the Greek word there. He knows who that is. What he’s saying is when he says, my Lord is saying, the God of Israel, that’s what he means. The Lord who, the Yahweh who said that I am the Lord who heals you, the Old Testament, the Lord who spit open the Red Sea, the Lord who selected Abraham, the Lord who made David a king, the Lord who brought the people out of Egypt, and took them into the Promised Land. What he’s saying is the God of Israel, you are my Lord and my God. He made the connection between Jesus and the God of Israel. This is the same person. My Lord and my God.

Now if you understand the Jewish mindset, you will realize that no Jew would look at another person and say, my Lord, and my God, and no Jew would have been the right man at the right mind accept that, unless it was true. The Jews were very clear about who God is. The Lord is one, they believed,you can’t see him, he is invisible. How can Thomas now look at someone who’s visible in front of him who has the form of a man and call him my Lord and my God? And how can Jesus accept that? It shows that it still shows its true? Thomas really believed it’s true, Jesus accepted it. It’s clearly teaching. Notice this from such a bad state of unbelief, Thomas goes to such an amazing state of faith. Such a big difference from A to Z. From so much doubt, to so much faith, not only does he believe in the resurrection, he seems to understand that there’s no one like this Jesus. He is God. He is Lord. He is the God of Israel. He is everything. Everything hangs on him. Everything depends on him. Everything is fulfilled through him. How did he come to that conclusion in just one second, or it looks like it just happened just like that. Jesus says, go ahead, Thomas, do whatever it takes. And he immediately says, my Lord, and my God, how did Thomas go from such extreme doubt, to such extreme faith? So quickly? That it worked like magic. Like that. We tend to think like that. But I think it would have been a process. I think it would have been a process. If you think about it. I think for one week, Thomas would have been running these things in his mind. One week back, we would have been told that Jesus rose again.

One week back, Jesus appeared to the other disciples, and they would have told Thomas immediately if someone rises again from the dead today. Why don’t you call your friend and tell them the next minute? If you heard that someone rose from the dead, you will surely tell your close friend. When the other 10 disciples saw the risen Jesus, they would have immediately told Thomas. And Thomas had a whole week to think about these things. Is this true? Is this not true? If it is true, what are the implications? If it’s not true, what are the implications? 10 disciples are saying, we saw Jesus, he appeared to us. It’s two or three we can dismisses, 10. Peter and John were saying they went to the tomb, and they found the tomb empty. In one week, nobody’s been able to produce a body. Thomas would have been thinking about all that. This is what he would have been thinking about the whole week, he would have been contemplating this, what if it is true? What if this and then he would have I think, remember other things like the teaching of Jesus Himself? Remember, Jesus himself taught that he was going to suffer and die on a cross and then rise again, on the third day that would have been there in Thomas’s mind, I think. He would have thought, yes, Jesus predicted. So what if it is true? What I’m saying is Thomas for a whole week would have been running these things in his mind. And I think he would have come to a certain place where he would have thought, if this is true, this changes everything. If this is true, this Jesus must be the greatest person ever, even greater than I thought, because after this point, nobody has confessed Him as my Lord and my God. You would have realized if this is really true, if this is a person who can just appear inside the closed rooms, with a body different from anybody else’s body, then something special has happened here. The Jews believed in resurrection at the end of time, all the Jews believed that. They believed that one day everyone will rise again, that’s simple.

One day, everyone will rise again, together, that’s it. But they could never comprehend how one person alone would rise again, first, especially. And he will be the first fruits of others and all that, no, their whole thinking was one track, shall we say, or it was basically where one day God will come, the Messiah will come and change everything, he will rule over the world, immediately, everything will change. And that’s the way they thought. They could not foresee how only one person can rise again, and the whole world doesn’t change. They thought, if it happens, it’ll happen. Everybody will rise again at the same time. So Thomas is thinking through all these things. He is thinking through all these hundreds of years of Jewish interpretation of the Old Testament. He is thinking fits through, if it’s true, then what is he done, he has brought in the kingdom, maybe that’s why he preached thing, the kingdom of God is here, the kingdom of God is here. And maybe he has risen to inaugurate the New Kingdom, the new creation, and I don’t know, maybe he would have thought that maybe I don’t know. But at least he thought, if he really rose again, there is no one like him, he is Lord and God. Where is he said that is, with all that, in this one week only, this additional proof comes. People think Thomas believe just because Jesus appeared to him. That’s not the only proof. He was running all these other proofs in his mind, I think, that would have brought him to the brink of faith. But he just needed something more. It wasn’t enough. He just needed to see the risen Lord, one time.

So having come to the brink of faith, I think when Jesus appeared, it pushed him over the line like that, as the only way he could just suddenly utter my Lord and my God. If he hadn’t thought through it, how would he ever come up with that statement? Think about it, my friend. What I’m trying to say — why I said that is the way you move from doubt to faith is not by magic. It’s not instant. You have to go through a process. You have to think things through for yourself. You cannot run your Christian life and faith with somebody else’s thing, your parents or whoever. You have to think things through for yourself. And you have to go through the process. You have to go step by step. Maybe it will take one week, maybe it will take 10 weeks. It’s a process you got to do things, you got to study, you got to read the Bible, you got to meditate, you got to pray, you got to want it, you got to want clarity, you got to want surety. You got to seek it. And if you take steps, God will bless your efforts and God will lead you out of doubt into faith. It does not happen automatically. It’s not just what God does. It’s also what you do. Jesus played a role Thomas played a role as well. So that’s Thomas.

Now let me just say a few words about how we can get out of our doubts. Well, I’ve already given you certain pointers. But for those who have doubts, I would say there is plenty of proof, there is plenty of proof, do not for a moment, believe or think that Christianity is just blind faith leap in the dark. We don’t know anything. But still we believe, we don’t have any evidence but still we believe. No, there is plenty of evidence for the fact that Jesus rose again, if you want to find out, go after it and find it out. And there’s plenty of, there’s all kinds of evidence, there’s different kinds of evidence, I’ll just give you two kinds of evidence. One is historical evidence, historical proof. That’s one kind of evidence. Another is personal experience. Both are important. I purposely say that both are important. Some people focus only on one and leave the other. But both are important historical proof and personal experience. You starting a proof first, let me talk about that. It’s important to realize that we don’t believe that Jesus rose again, just because we experienced him and that’s it. In other words, the fact that Jesus rose again, does not depend only on our personal experience to validate it. It’s not our personal experience of Jesus, that alone validates his resurrection. Why do I say that? Because sometimes people think I didn’t experience Him. So how can you say he’s alive?

Frankly, he can still say it because these three first of all, well, experience is only second in the order actually. First of all, it is history. This is real history. We’re not talking fables. This is real history. It is a historical fact. It is real history that Jesus lived, died rose again. I’ll give you some historical facts, historical facts. And these facts are not just found in the Bible, what I’m about to give you. There are many, many things we can say. But what I’m about to give you is not just found in the Bible, it’s found in other sources as well. I say that because sometimes people will say, you just tell us what is in there in your Bible. Why should we believe that? What I’m about to say is not just found in the Bible, it’s found in other sources itself, so much so that historians, the great scholars of history, in the present day, people who really know history, who are experts in history, even the non-Christian historians, and those who kind of always attack Christianity, many times, even they admit to the facts I’m about to give you.

Most of them will admit to the facts that I’m about to give you. I’m just going to list some say quickly and go. If you add up all these facts, it will lead you to the historical conclusion or explanation that Jesus must have risen again. One fact is, it is real history that Jesus lived, died by crucifixion. Jesus really lived he really died by crucifixion. I say this because some people today say, we can’t even be sure whether there was a person named Jesus whoever existed. That’s utter nonsense. That is totally wrong. Because if you doubt the existence of the historical Jesus, then we have to doubt the existence of the Roman emperor. We cannot say for sure, whether Julius Caesar lived that means or Tiberius Caesar lived, there is more evidence for the existence of Jesus than there is for the existence of most of the Roman emperors. People who talk like that they don’t need –everybody, anybody can write anything on these days on the internet. About the crucifixion, here is a non-Christian critical scholar, one who criticizes constantly he says that Jesus was crucified is as sure as anything historical can ever be. His life is death by crucifixion. Now, why is this important? Because after crucifixion to appear alive is no joke. People have all kinds of theories. They’ll say, oh, Jesus was not killed. They almost killed him, and then they let him in the tomb. And then within three days, he recovered and then came back and disappeared alive. How can that be true? We’re talking about professional Roman soldiers whose job is to execute people, torture them and execute them, kill them professionally. They are experts in that.

Don’t they know when the person is dead or not? Yeah, he lived and he died. That’s real history. Another fact, Jesus’s tomb was empty. This is again accepted by even the critical historians. Something happened to the body of Jesus. On the third day it was reported that the tomb was empty. For this we have historical witness, not just in the Bible, even outside the Bible, and the body of Jesus was not found. That is remarkable. The tomb was empty. Thirdly, so he died, lived and died, his tomb was empty. Thirdly, Jesus’s disciples claimed they had seen the risen Jesus multiple times, Jesus’s disciples claimed that they had seen the risen Jesus multiple times. Now, what do you do with that claim? It’s not one or two people claiming. It’s a whole lot of people claiming. There’s all the disciples, the 12. There is the 500. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, Paul mentions this proof. He is giving proof there, he’s saying Jesus, after rising again appeared to more than 500 at a time. And then Paul says, most of whom remain until now, what he’s saying is Jesus appeared after the resurrection to 500 on at one time, and most of that crowd is still alive, if you want, go check with them. The kind of surety Paul has.

And he then says, he appeared to me also. The disciples claim they saw the risen Jesus, that is another accepted fact very important, almost universally accepted by all the historians. Another fact, Jesus’s disciples were transformed from scared and afraid people, to bold witnesses who are ready to give their life for the gospel of Jesus. The transformation of the disciples, something that demands explanation, how can a bunch of guys, ordinary guys who ran away scared when Jesus was nailed to the cross, then come back three days later, or a few days later, and say, I saw the risen Jesus is alive. This changes everything. Now, I’m willing to die for him also. I would rather die than change my story. I saw him alive, he is alive. I know he’s alive. And that changes everything. This is the good news. I’ll do anything to stand by this. How do you explain that change? That there was this transformation is an accepted historical fact. Another fact. The fact, the disciples, original disciples preached the message of Jesus’s resurrection, first in Jerusalem, first in Jerusalem. And why is this an important thing? Because Jerusalem is where everything happened. Jesus was crucified publicly. Everybody, the whole town knew about it, and buried. Now if you go somewhere far away, 1000 miles away, 3000 miles away, and preach. They’re saying, oh, there was a man who came and his name was Jesus, and he lived and he died on the cross and now he is alive. That’s a different story.

But these disciples, like Peter, just a few days after he was publicly crucified in front of the town, everybody knows about it has the guts to stand up in Jerusalem and say, the one you crucified, God has now raised from the dead and made them both Lord and Christ. Think about that. 1000s got saved hearing Peters first sermons, 5000 3000, many more would have heard and the news spread. Somebody could have said no, this can’t be true. We’ll go search for the body and produce the body. Until today, there is no historical reports of people challenging the early Christians with here is the body. They preached it in Jerusalem. Finally, one more fact. I’ll give you this many more, one more, the massive change of Saul to Paul. This is something that perturbs the historians. How can a man like Saul, become a man like Paul, the worst persecutor of the church, one who hated Christianity, Christ, Christians, then somehow something happens. He embraces Christ. He thinks Christ is everything. I mean, Paul is not a madman. Paul is one of the most brilliant minds of that age. Everybody accepts that. Even the non Christian critical scholars accept that. He is a highly educated, extremely well thought person. And he not only does he transformed, he then lives decades. For this Jesus whom he first was persecuting, writing about him teaching about him, establishing churches, willing to suffer for him, and then finally dies for him probably had his head cut off by the Romans. That transformation, nobody can deny. It is a historical facts of how Saul changed into Paul. May give you a bunch of facts. Say again, these are historical facts. If you add up these facts, they demand an explanation. How can all this be true?

The only explanation that can make all these to be true in any reasonable way is Jesus rose again from the dead. The historians, they will accept all the facts, then if you say what explains these facts, they will say well, we can’t be sure. Thomas, demanding unreasonable proof. This is historical fact, my friend. First, this is not just personal experience, but historical fact that Jesus rose in a way, why do I say that sometimes our personal experience takes a hit, unfortunately. In fact, one of the reasons people have doubts today is maybe some personal tragedy has happened. Personally, they feel like God has not heard that prayer. God didn’t do what they wanted. Why did God allow this? Why did this happen? Why did this not happen? If this is the case, then this God really there? Is Jesus really there? How can I believe. But I want to remind you that whether Jesus rose again or not, does not depend on our personal experience, whether we have had a good experience or a bad experience. If he rose again, he rose again, a fact is a fact. It is a historical fact that Jesus rose again, because it says historical fact, you can put your faith in it. And you can believe and it will change your personal experience. It will change your personal experience.

Maybe you have had a bad personal experience. But my friend, we are preaching real historical truth. We’re not talking fables here. We are not just saying, imagine and everything will be well, believe. No, no, this really happened. He rose again, he is alive, you believe he will work today he is on the throne, he rules and reigns he will change your situation today. Only the historical experience, historical fact leads to personal experience, not the other way around. I say this because when your personal experience takes a hit, you need to be reminded that it doesn’t. Everything doesn’t depend on your personal experience, in fact, is a fact whether you experience the benefits of it or not. Is this history we’re talking about? But personal experience is also important. Let me just say a few words on that and close. Because that is also important. You can’t just say this is real history, and never experienced anything for yourself that will not give you a surety that will also leave you with doubt. You’ve got to experience Jesus for yourself. And when you experience Jesus for yourself, if somebody comes and says to you, haven’t you led the ray latest book on how they have a new finding in history that shows Jesus didn’t rise again. You will say what nonsense, man. It’s like Billy Graham’s speaking to college students and one of the students very smartly asked the question, he says, oh, you’re saying, God, God, God, don’t you know God is dead.

In that time, there was a philosophy saying God is dead. So Billy Graham looked at the student and said, well, that’s news to me, because I just spoke to God and came this morning. That’s personal experience. If you just talked to Jesus, if Jesus just talked to you, if you know he’s with you, if you know he’s in you, you’re sure of that. It sounds ridiculous when somebody tries to say, oh, this actually didn’t happen, because you know it happened. It’s like looking at somebody and saying sugar is not sweet when you’re tasting the sweetness in your mouth. Personal experience, have you experienced Jesus personally? Even if you’ve had bad experiences, I say do you have you had good experiences? Where did that come from? Think about that my friend, and you can have good experiences again, that will strengthen your faith. Believe again, in the truth that is based on real history that Jesus did rise again. And that really does change everything you believe, again, you will have new personal experiences that will strengthen your faith a little bit.

If you’re young, if you’re, like I said, trying to ground your faith for yourself and not just because your parents believe or something, go after personal experience with the Lord and experience him. Go after fellowship with him. Give that a priority. Speak to him, he will speak to you call out to Him, He will answer you. And he will meet you in your point of need. That experience both are important historical fact as well as personal experience. Once you’ve experienced Jesus forgiveness, once you’ve experienced the peace and joy that only Jesus can give, once you’ve experienced and the prayers, it’s very difficult for somebody to convince you otherwise. Both these things are important, I think, historical fact historical proof as well as personal experience being as evidence, because when one side takes the hit, the other side will stand. But history never takes a real hit, people try to take a hit at it.

All right, so finally, I’ll just read this verse and close, the end of that passage. This is the conclusion that John himself gives. This is the conclusion to the doubting Thomas passage, and basically the entire Gospel of John. Jesus says, Thomas, you saw me therefore you believed, but blessed are those who have not seen yet have believed. Jesus was seeing in the future as those of us who will believe without seeing. And then John says in verse 30, truly, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written 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 see what John is saying, is what I just said was complicated. Here’s John, real simple. He says, John is one of the last books being written in the New Testament, John is alive even after most of the apostles are dead, other apostles are dead, and he is writing, and he says, listen, I’ve seen Jesus with my eyes. And Thomas also saw him with his eyes, but how are you going to clear your doubts? You can see Jesus with these eyes. So what has been left for you? What’s the way for you to move from doubt to fake them? And he says, these are written, verse 31, these are written what has been written here this gospel of John these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, everybody says, these are written. That is the New Testament is written. The written word of God is there. What is the purpose of this written word of God? These are written that you may believe, that you may believe, everybody say that you may believe. You want to go from doubt to faith, you want to go from unbelief to belief. The simple thing is, take your Bible dusted off, open it to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John first and read it. It will give you history. It will give you the meaning of that history. It will lead you to a personal experience of the present and forever ruling and reigning Jesus. Let’s all stand. John’s point is read your Bible. These are written that you may believe there is nothing like the written word of God to lead us toward more and more evidence surety. Let’s thank God.