John 20:24-31
There is a lot of Skepticism in our world today and that's not always a bad thing. We ought to be skeptical of a fisherman’s claims about the size of the fish he caught. We have to teach our children to be skeptical of strangers to keep them out of danger. We are naturally skeptical of our government/politicians because they've shown duplicity at times in their dealings. We know all the claims of advertisers can't be true so we're skeptical of what they promise. Uninvited guests at our door are usually met with skepticism no matter what they are selling or giving away.
As you can see, skepticism can be a good thing in the right settings. If it motivates you to protect yourself from harm...then it’s clearly a good thing. But, if it prevents you from investigating important, life-altering facts...it’s a bad thing.
There have been things/people of which I have been skeptical in the past, but upon further examination, learned their truthfulness or worthiness of consideration. And, some matters are just too important not to investigate the claims and never is that more true than with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
You nor I are the first ones to question the resurrection of Christ. Long before any of us ever considered the claim that Jesus rose from the grave there was another man named Thomas that was skeptical about Jesus’ resurrection. He had been with Jesus for nearly three and a half years listening to Him teach and seeing the miracles He performed. And, even though Christ had repeatedly indicated He would die and rise again, Thomas remained skeptical.
I for one am glad that John included this story of Thomas’ skepticism because it allows us to consider a central question about Christ's resurrection. Did Jesus really rise from the grave? If He did, then that changes everything about what I believe and whom I will follow.
Larry King was once asked who he would most want to interview if he could choose anyone from all of history. He answered, “Jesus Christ.” The questioner asked, "And what would you like to ask Him?" King replied, "I would like to ask Him if He was indeed virgin-born. The answer to that question would define history for me." (from Just Thinking, RZIM, Winter 1998)
I agree Larry King’s question is central to the claims of Christianity, but I contend that the question is also answered in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If He really did rise from the dead then that validates the claims about His virgin birth and declares Him to be God.
One of the things you discover when you study the characters surrounding the events of Christ's resurrection is that Thomas wasn't the only one that had questions about the resurrection of Jesus.
For instance, after Mary Magdalene encountered the risen Christ she reported to the disciples that He was alive, but they were not convinced by her testimony.
And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. (Mark 16:11)
When the two men on the road to Emmaus reported to the disciples that they had seen Jesus alive, they didn’t believe their report either.
After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either. (Mark 16:12)
So skeptical were the disciples that first Easter that Jesus on the evening of His resurrection rebuked them for not believing the witness of the others.
Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. (Mark 16:14)
And, even though Jesus was standing right there in their very presence they still initially had difficulty grasping His reality, probably because they were shocked/joyous at seeing Him alive (i.e., “this is too good to be true...,” “this is unbelieveable...”).
But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, “Have you any food here?” So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in their presence. (Luke 24:37-43)
When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. (John 20:20)
But, finally, ten of His disciples were fully convinced that the One standing in their presence speaking with them was the risen Christ. He was alive! These men were originally skeptics that had to be convinced by the evidence.
One of the harshest skeptics concerning Jesus was His own half-brother, James. He had lived with/around Jesus for probably twenty-five or thirty years but he never believed the claims His brother made for Himself from the very beginning.
When his family heard what was happening, they tried to take him away. “He’s out of his mind,” they said. (Mark 3:21 NLT; cf. 6:1-3)
His brothers therefore said to Him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” For even His brothers did not believe in Him. (John 7:3-5)
And yet, after Christ's resurrection, James became a fully devoted follower of Jesus; wrote one of the NT books that bears His name and became a significant leader in the Jerusalem church. What could have effected such a dramatic change in Jesus' brother that alleviated his earlier skepticism? The answer is found in 1 Corinthians when Paul revealed that Jesus had specifically appeared to James following His resurrection. The reality of Jesus' resurrection changed him, just like it changes people today. He finally believed what Jesus had told him all along about His person and purpose.
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. (1 Corinthians 15:3-7)
It wasn’t only James that needed to be convinced; there was another famous Jew whose skepticism may have surpassed that of Jesus' own brother. His name was Saul (changed to Paul after he became a believer in Christ) and he was filled with zeal for his Pharisaic religious traditions. He was reared in Tarsus and exposed to the most advanced philosophical teaching of his day. He studied under one of the greatest Rabbis of his time: Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). He said about himself, “...I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.” (Galatians 1:14) While Saul was actively involved in trying to destroy Christianity, he had a conversion on the Damascus road and his life was dramatically changed (Acts 9:3-9). Consequently, the one that had formerly arrested and executed Christians (Galatians 1:13) became an ardent follower of Jesus. And to what does Paul attribute the transformation in his life? He saw the resurrected Christ!
Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? (1 Corinthians 9:1)
Perhaps, no greater polemic against the skepticism surrounding Jesus' resurrection exists than Paul’s on words in 1 Corinthians 15. It is incontrovertible that Paul believed Jesus rose from the grave, proven by the testimonies of those that had seen Him and His own experience with the living Christ.
Or, consider John, the author of the text we are reading. He was thoroughly convinced that Jesus was resurrected and wrote about it in his Gospel account and his first epistle forty to sixty years after the fact. Just listen to the words about the resurrected Christ that unmistakably declares that this was more than a mere apparition or hallucination.
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you... (1 John 1:1-3)
Look carefully at two specific phrases in this text (...which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon...) The two verbs literally mean: to scrutinize; examine carefully; to behold intelligently; they...express a 'definite investigation by the observer’” (Westcott)]. (John R.W. Stott, The Epistles of John, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries [Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1977], p. 60.) In other words, there was no mistaking the fact that Jesus was alive and the apostles had carefully investigated the facts of His resurrection.
Arguably, though, the best known skeptic to most people is the man Thomas. Think about how he has been known throughout a great portion of Christian history: “Doubting Thomas.” Not a very flattering title! He was clearly not the only skeptic among the apostles immediately following the resurrection of Jesus, but he is the one John chose to highlight at the end of his Gospel account. It took Thomas eight days longer than the other disciples to come to faith in the resurrected Christ. Even though the other ten apostles continued to tell (“The other disciples therefore said to him...” -- imperfect tense indicates that they kept on saying...) him that they had seen the risen Christ (John 20:25), he refused to accept anything other than material evidence. No eyewitness testimonies were good enough for him. If he couldn’t touch the nail prints in Christ’s hands and put his hand in His side...he would not believe.
What is so remarkable is that Jesus allows him the proof he asked to see, which led to one of the greatest declarations about Jesus in scripture: My Lord and My God (John 20:28). These two names are commonly juxtaposed in the OT speaking of the one true God. But, stop and consider the significance of this assertion in light of the Jewish law of monotheism. The deification of any mere human being was considered utter blasphemy (John 10:33). However, because of the resurrection evidence, Thomas ascribed to Jesus two names that demonstrate His deity. In other words, he now believed that Jesus was all he had witnessed Him to be during the three plus years he had followed Him.
When you put it all of Christ’s appearances together, there at least twelve occasions that He was seen following His resurrection. Is it any wonder that so many first century Jews came to faith in Jesus? We know that He appeared...
- To the women as they returned from the tomb after seeing the angel who informed them Christ had risen (Matthew 28:1-10).
- To Mary Magdalene at the tomb, probably during her second visit to the tomb that morning (John 20:10-18; Mark 16:9).
- To Peter sometime before the evening of the resurrection day (Luke 24:34; 1 Corinthians 15:5).
- To Cleopas and another disciple on the road to Emmaus on Easter afternoon (Mark 16:12; Luke 24:13-35).
- To ten of the apostles (Thomas is absent) and others whose names are not given gathered together at their evening meal on the eve of Easter day (Luke 24:36-40; John 20:19-23; 1 Corinthians 15:5).
- A week later to all eleven apostles, including “doubting Thomas” (John 20:26-28).
- To a number of the disciples fishing at the Sea of Galilee (John 21:1-23).
- To the apostles on a specific mountain in Galilee (Matthew 28:16-20).
- To James (1 Corinthians 15:7).
- To the apostles on the Mount of Olives at Jerusalem just prior to the ascension (Mark 16.:19; Luke 24:50-52; Acts 1:3-9).
- To 500 witnesses all at once (1 Corinthians 15:6).
- To the apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 15:8; Acts 9:1-9).
And, these may not be all of His appearance, but only the ones that were recorded in the biblical record (John 20:30).
Add to the above evidence the fact that the resurrection of Jesus was the central theme of the ministry of the early church. The very people that could have proven the eyewitness accounts wrong knew that the evidence was incontrovertible. Listen to the appeal of the early church witnesses:
This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. (Acts 2:32)
But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. (Acts 3:14-15)
But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree...And we are His witnesses to these things...” (Acts 5:29-30, 32)
Even Paul argues from the empirical evidence about the resurrection of Christ when he stands before the Roman Procurator Festus.
But he said, “I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason. For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner. (Acts 26:25-26; cf. 2:22)
In essence, he says, check out the evidence for yourself. Investigate the facts of the resurrection and you'll find what you’ve been told is true. This wasn’t “done in a corner,” i.e., in an out of the way place where no one could corroborate the evidence. The resurrection proof is right there before you and out in the open.
There is simply no way the resurrection of Jesus could have been fabricated and survived for two millennia as the centerpiece of Christianity. There's just so much evidence proving its reality from numerous sources. After all, Jesus’ appearances involved a variety of circumstances, times, places and people. He appeared to women, men, groups, and individuals. He was seen at the lake, on a mountain, on a road, in a closed room, in the country, in town, and on a hillside. He didn’t appear just once to one person, but numerous times and in different locations to individuals and groups. You just can’t make this stuff up and it survive the scrutiny of the first century (or later) and the people that could check out the facts.
This undeniable and unassailable evidence about Christ’s resurrection is the cornerstone of the church and the foundation on which our eternal salvation rests.
Dr. Merrill Tenney comments: Confronting a learned and hostile hierarchy who had opposed Jesus bitterly during his lifetime, the apostles did not dare to make indefensible assertions. To claim falsely that Jesus had risen from the dead would expose them to ridicule and would invite disaster to their cause. They were too astute to offer to the public baseless legends or wild dreams as the initial proof of their new faith. (Merrill Tenney, The Reality of the Resurrection, Chicago: Moody Press, 1972. pg. 123-124)
You can reject or accept Jesus, but it’s impossible to deny the evidence that He is alive. That’s why Jesus told Thomas, “...because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)
John went on to say, And 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 believing you may have life in His name. (John 20:30-31)
Acknowledging the resurrection is central to anyone becoming a Christian. If there is no resurrection of Christ there is no truth to the claims of Christianity. There’s no hope of our sins being forgiven (1 Corinthians 15:17) or a life with God beyond the grave (1 Corinthians 15:18). Everything about the central truths of the Christian faith rests on the claims of the resurrection of Jesus...even His virgin birth. That’s why so many of us today exclaim with the apostle Peter, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead... (1 Peter 1:3)
Now, the question is...will you believe that He lives and submit your life to Him? There is no other hope of being made right with God except through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Paul laid down the terms of eternal life and forgiveness with God when he wrote, ...if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)
What you have been feeling throughout this message is the tug of God on your heart to trust His Son.
A famous professor of theology came upon a young boy flying a kite. The kite was so high that it couldn’t be seen; it was out of sight in the mist, in a low cloud. The professor asked the boy, "How do you know it’s there?" And the boy replied, "I can feel the tug of it." Not long afterwards, someone asked the professor, "Why do you believe in God and in spiritual reality?" He said, "I believe because I feel the tug of it."
If you’ll respond to the tug of God calling you to believe the evidence of His resurrection then you can be a new person, with your sins forgiven, reconciled to a holy God, and your eternal destiny settled with God in Heaven. It's decision time...what will you do with the living Christ?
