Blessed To Believe The Risen Savior

Minister:
Date: AM
Text: John 20:26-29
Psalters: 269, 29, 30, 79
  1. Thomas’ confession.
    1. Thomas’ confession is the most obvious confession of the deity of Jesus of Nazareth.
      1. Some say Thomas used this blasphemy to express his surprise as a way to escape the force of this confession.
      2. Note that Jesus did not rebuke Thomas, but accepted it as an evidence of faith (“thou hast believed,” 29).
    2. This statement is a devout expression of holy wonder at the fact that Jesus was assuredly his Lord and his God.
      1. He realized that the man he had been following is assuredly God and it amazed him.
      2. While deeply humbled, there is also intense joy, that God would die for me and that he is “my” lord and God!
      3. And may this confession of faith express my willing submission to Him.
  2. How did Thomas come to this exclamatory confession?
    1. Thomas’ problem was his unwillingness to believe unless he could see and touch; it was not doubt.
      1. This desire to experience it with his senses made him to refuse to accept the testimony other his fellow-disciples.
      2. This testifies to the utter hopelessness Thomas and the other disciples were experiencing because of Jesus’ death.
    2. Suddenly Jesus appeared through locked doors.
      1. “Peace be unto you:” He came to bring peace to His troubled ones.
      2. He immediately singles out Thomas and repeats exactly what Thomas said – He is divine because He was always there!
      3. Jesus’ wounds manifest Jesus’ deity too – especially the sword pierce into His heart.
  3. Jesus then speaks of how we can believe and make this same confession.
    1. The conscious experiential knowledge of our salvation does not come because we see or touch Him physically.
      1. The Spirit of God was at work in Thomas and works in us giving heavenly illumination.
      2. Faith is a matter first of the heart, not of the mind nor of our experience.
    2. We cry, “My Lord and my God.”