I Got Your Back
John 20: 19-31 NIV
Purpose: To trust in Jesus when He commands us
to do something
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the
disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders,
Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The
disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with
you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
22 And with that he breathed on them
and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their
sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with
the disciples when Jesus came.
25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But
he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger
where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and
Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among
them and said, “Peace be with you!”
27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands.
Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then
Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those
who have not seen and yet have believed.”
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his
disciples, which are not recorded in this book.
31 But these are written that you may believe[b] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son
of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Footnotes:
- John 20:24 Thomas (Aramaic) and Didymus (Greek) both mean twin.
This is the Word of God
For the people of God.
Praise be to God.
Amen.
I
Got Your Back
John 20: 19-31 NIV
Purpose: To trust in Jesus when He commands us
to do something
Outline
I.
Introduction
What is Obedience?
II.
Why don’t we want to obey?
III.
Explanation of the text, John
20:19-31
IV.
Conclusion[s]
V.
Prayer
We have learned that the death of Jesus shocked all of His
disciples, friends, and followers. They were terrified that they could easily
be the next in line to be executed. They were in the locked upper room. It has
to be very hard to understand and to live such experiences. Their minds didn’t
have enough time to process all the events. Their Master had been massacred
before their eyes. It was chaos and panic in their hearts and minds. It was a
very shocking period for them. After they witnessed the suffering and cruel
treatment and death of Jesus, they were terrified. No one in a healthy mind
wanted to suffer the same fate. Have you been so scared in your lives that you
cannot function? Have you had the impression that someone is going to assault
or to attack you but you cannot react or defend yourself? Or maybe you are in
constant alert of your surroundings that you cannot enjoy your life. For
instance, nowadays, do you live in fear that ISIS and/or terrorism is going to
reach America? Or are you scared that someone is going to shoot at the schools
of our children? Have we reached the
point of being alert as to where our children go to school, where we go on
vacations, and where we go shopping, that we have to be praying the entire time
when we get in our cars, or in a plane, or in a train?
Well, the disciples and the followers of Jesus were
very afraid as British Bible scholar William Barclay has pointed, “Of the
bitterness of the Jews who had put Jesus to death.”[1] Ok, they were so scared and then, Jesus came
and told them, “Peace be with you.” That means, “May God give you every good
thing.” Once they had recognized Jesus in their midst, they were at peace.
They were in the presence of Jesus, they changed. Their fear changed
into joy, their Master, their friend, and their mentor was there with them. He
was alive. He didn’t remain in the tomb. Intentionally,
Jesus gave them the common greeting among them, “Peace be with you.” Have you heard the greeting of Jesus this
morning? Actually, have we heard His greeting every morning of our lives? May
God give you every good thing, Peace be with you Claudia, peace be with you
Beth, peace be with you Addi. I know that we, this church, are serious
about Jesus and His presence in our lives, but maybe sometimes we forget to
continue to wish each other well. We are the living church. I want you to
notice something about Jesus, He was/is so kind and loving, but He never beat
around the bush. He was very clear. He demanded. He commanded. He wished. And
He expected obedience from each one of His disciples.
Now the church in some way was established at this
point. Everybody was gathered there and they were communicating each other
their thoughts and feelings. Of course, they were praying also. Then, when
Jesus appeared, he told them that He was sending them as the Father had sent
Him. Someone can ask, but where was Jesus sending them? Jesus was sending them
out, to the world, to our homes, to our jobs, to our schools, to our neighbors.
Even when we are afraid, or tired, or frustrated, we need to go.
In this part, we need to pay attention how Jesus
has chosen to depend on the earthly church to spread His kingdom because, if is
not the church which spreads the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who
other person or organization is in charge? And the church with no doubt has to
depend on Jesus for everything. If we have to depend on Jesus for everything,
then the obvious, is to obey in everything that He has commanded us to do.
Here is when things start becoming difficult and we
have to be very careful to be obedient. There is a great parallel between the
relationship of Jesus and the Father and Jesus and us. Jesus loved the Father
in such a way that He was willing to obey in everything that Father commanded
Him, because Jesus loved so much God that He knew that everything that the
Father said was for His own good and for the good of others. Are our lives in
this way? Is our church in this way? Do we love Jesus so much that we don’t
hesitate to obey Him? Or do we doubt? And question Him? What about when we
delay intentionally and we don’t want to hear what Jesus is telling us to do?
What about when we are afraid of what Jesus is directing us to do, or what
about when we don’t like what He is telling us to do, or what about if the
actions that Jesus is commanding us are not according to our own plans, or what
about when we are resisting His will? Jesus was always so competent and
efficient in everything He did because His obedience was supported in His
perfect and devoted love and confidence on the Father. Do we love Jesus in this way? Do we love
Jesus in such a way that we know, He has a good future already planned, and
planned for the good of us?
In this encounter Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit in
His disciples. There is a great parallel with the creation story in Genesis.
When God created man and breathed on him in order to give him life (Genesis
2:7). Jesus was giving the Holy Spirit to the church. The Holy Spirit already lives inside us. We
have the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit helps us to be obedient and
surrender/submit our life to God and be obedient as individuals and as a
church. Are we doing it? Are we being obedient to Jesus?
Without delay, after Jesus gives the Holy Spirit,
He talks about the authority to forgive sins. We have to be careful how we
understand this part of the Gospel. The meaning is NOT that man can forgive
sins, only God when we have a repentant, sorrowful heart. Jesus was referring
to us as the church, His church. The church has the privilege and the
responsibility of carrying the message to let the world know how God can
forgive sins. In other words, God has entrusted the message of salvation to us,
the church, and it is going to depend on us how well we obey Him to carry this
message efficiently and well. If our relationship with God is profound,
serious, and honest, then our message to the world is going to be the same way.
We, the messengers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, are not going to hesitate in
how we present to the world the message of salvation, on how well we represent
the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ in our own personal life and as a
church.
Next the text is telling us that Thomas was not
there, and when he came, the rest of the disciples told him that they had seen
the Lord. However, he didn’t believe. It was not a surprise that Thomas didn’t
believe. After all the turmoil, chaos, and killing, of course he was not going
to believe. Then, a week later, they were gathering again, and Thomas was
there, the context was the same, the door was locked and Jesus appeared to
them. Then He referred to Thomas and commanded him to put his finger and his
hand into his hands and his side. Thomas believed. Jesus exclaimed, stop
doubting and believe!
I need you to notice how things happened in this
narrative. When they were together, even with fear and chaos, amazing things
happened. When we gather in the church, amazing things will happen, that maybe
we cannot understand if we are alone or isolated.
My dear ones when we doubt something that Jesus
commands us to do, come to the church and talk about it. We are here all of us
together in the good, in the bad, and in the ugly. We are no different that the
first disciples. Here, in the church, we can find comfort and an honest ear
that will listen to our discernment. We can find support and encouragement when
we are struggling to accomplish the Will of God. And we can find peace because
God always is going to let us know that the Holy Spirit is inside us guiding
us.
The great challenge for each one of us today as
individuals and as a church is to stop doubting and start believing.
Let us pray,
Good Father,
Thank You for being so good to us. Thank You because
everything that You command us to do is for our good. Thank You for the Holy
Spirit who lives inside us and helps us to understand Your will better. Help us
to stop doubting and start believing.
In Jesus’ name, we pray.
Amen.
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