John 21:1-14. How does Jesus Christ treat people who have disobeyed Him, Who have gone their own way, done their own thing, sought to meet their own needs in their own way, and have ended up with absolutely nothing to show for it? How does Jesus treat them?

Well we know how society treats them; “you made your bed, now just lie in it.” “You’ve messed it all up, now you need to experience the consequences of what you’ve done, and maybe then you’ll learn to change.” And if we should whisper, “but I need help now”, we’ll hear back from society, “you should thought of that before you went off and did your own thing.” That’s pretty much how society treats people who have messed things up.

But how does Jesus treat people who got it all wrong? Well according to the passage today He provides for them miraculously, He accepts them graciously, and He restores them fully. And that is a summary of John chapter 21. There are really three sections in John 21. Jesus provides for them supernaturally, He accepts them graciously, and He restores them fully. Does this mean that there were no consequences to their actions? There is always consequences, but what this shows us today is that there is grace available to all who do it wrong. Let’s pray.

Well in John chapter 20 Jesus had appeared to the disciples twice, and in our passage today He appears a third time. Notice the names of those He appeared to in vs. 2. There are 7 disciples here, we do not know where the others are. But notice the two who are listed first: Peter and Thomas. Peter the denier and Thomas the doubter are listed first. You see in God’s kingdom the first are last, and the last are first, because where sin abounds grace much more abounds. Those who have stumbled and failed, those who have faltered in their faith are often restored to a place of prominence, simply because God is a gracious God, a restoring God.

So let’s look at the setting of our passage today. Peter has decided to go fishing, and 6 other disciples joined him, and they began fishing but they caught nothing the whole night. Can you imagine? These men have fished all night, they’ve seen the sun go down and the sun come up, they’re tired, and discouraged, the whole night is wasted and they have caught nothing.

The famous missionary William Carey worked in India for 6 years, and had preached the gospel from one end of Malda to the other, and he had not made a single convert. In describing his feelings, he said: “I feel like a farmer does about his crop; sometimes I think the seed is springing up, and then I have hope; but a little time blasts it all away, and my hopes are gone like a cloud.”[1] I thank God that William Carey persisted, and won much of India to Christ. But his first six years and he had not caught one single “fish”.

And let’s ask ourselves, what are these disciples doing here fishing? Jesus had not told them to fish for anything other than men. At the beginning of His ministry, in Matthew chapter 4, He said “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” That was their calling. They were supposed to leave their nets behind, and follow Jesus and use the gospel bait of forgiveness to catch men for the kingdom. These disciples, right now, are disobeying Jesus, ignoring their calling, they have gone back to their old life, the life they were called out of. In essence, they are doing things their own way, deciding to meet their own needs, independent of God, in disobedience to what He has told them to do. They are now putting priority on their physical needs, ahead of the spiritual.

And vs. 3 tells us it was night. It was dark. John often draws out a double meaning in this word. When Judas went out to betray Jesus “it was night”. And here the disciples had forsaken their calling and gone back to their old life, and it is night. In other words, they are not walking as children of light, nor living as children of the Day. No, it’s night. And Jesus is not with them that entire night. They have been left to themselves. And they are unsuccessful in what they do because they do not have the Lord’s blessing.

Let’s apply this to ourselves for a minute: any time we disobey God, anytime we choose to go our own way and do our own thing, independent of God, we end up in a black night of despair, without God’s presence and with nothing to show for our lives. I invite you to turn with me to Luke chapter 15 as we illustrate this principle. In Luke 15 Jesus tells the story of a man who had two sons. And we pick it up in vs. 12:

¹² The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. ¹³ “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. ¹⁴ After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

A universal truth, as certain as the Law of Gravity, is that if we leave the Father’s presence, if we celebrate our own independence, and go do our own thing, our lives end up in a famine, and we have absolutely nothing to show for it.

Even as Christians we want to minister, we want to catch fish for the kingdom. But if we run when we’re not sent, if we choose the time and the manner of our ministry, if we think we have certain gifts therefore we should have a certain ministry, we may have nothing to show for it. ⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

So here are the disciples, having fished all night, tired and sweaty, worn out, having caught nothing. But surely we have noticed a theme by now in the Book of John. And that is, whatever difficulties people are going through, whatever trials people are experiencing, Jesus changes everything. Mary is at the tomb weeping, Jesus comes and she begins worshipping. The disciples are in the upper room fearing the Jews, Jesus comes and their fear is replaced with joy. Thomas is doubting, Jesus comes and doubting Thomas becomes worshiping Thomas. This is a theme: Jesus changes it all. He gives grace to the sinful, He gives hope to the despairing, He gives joy to the fearful. Oh how I love Jesus. So notice what He does here:

The end of vs. 3 says ³ “that night they caught nothing” but look at vs. 4: “⁴ Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore…” This is the Bible’s way of creating anticipation. “they caught nothing”…. “Jesus stood on the shore!” Something was about to happen. It’s early in the morning, and weeping only endures for a night, joy comes in the morning. For the Christian, all problems, struggles, trials and difficulties are temporary. And Jesus is the solution. Something is about to happen here.

Vs. 4 says “But they didn’t realize it was Jesus.” Why not? Look at vs. 1, it says “He appeared to His disciples” and that word “appeared” is the Greek word “phaneroō” and it means “to reveal oneself plainly”, or “to make oneself known” or “to show yourself clearly.” Paul uses it in Colossians 4:4 when He asks them to pray that he would “proclaim the gospel clearly”, or “make it manifest.” So Jesus made Himself known and showed Himself plainly and clearly, but they didn’t recognize Him. It could have been because they were a little ways from shore. Or it could be that when you return to your old life, when you live and work apart from Christ, when you focus on physical needs, you can hardly recognize Jesus. Our spiritual eyesight has gotten dim. You can’t make Him out in His Word, you can’t experience His power in the body. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 4: “¹⁸ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” We are not to focus all our attention on meeting our physical needs. We are to learn to place the priority of our lives on spiritual things. So Jesus Phaneroo them, revealed Himself, but they couldn’t recognize Him.

So in vs. 5 He asks them a question in vs. 5: “⁵ He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered.” Now why did Jesus ask that? He knows everything! You see this question was so they would acknowledge their failure. In essence Jesus is saying to these disciples, “consider your efforts. How’s it going? Look at your life, what do you have to show for it?” It’s the same thing as when God came to Adam and Eve in the garden, after they had sinned, and He asked a question “Where are you?” God knew where they were, He asked them to get them to consider where their choices had taken them: into guilt and shame and hiding. Just the same, He wanted these disciples to acknowledge that their own plans and their own efforts had gotten them absolutely nowhere. He brings us to the point of examining ourselves and seeing what following our own plans has gotten us. “⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Then He says in vs. 6 “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” Now notice what they did not do. They did not say, “Hey wait a minute, mister, we are professional fisherman, and if there are no fish here, there certainly won’t be any fish a few feet away.” No, they didn’t stop to consider if His instructions were logical, they just obeyed Jesus. And when they did, the Bible says “they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.” Wow, they went from nothing to abundance, in one moment. Isn’t this proof that “¹⁹ ..my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”  

Now, let’s stop and acknowledge for a moment that Jesus is sovereign over all the fishes of the sea. Jesus had been directing those fish away from the disciples all night long, and at the right time He tells them, “guys, I need you to go over to the right side of the boat, right now.” And they obeyed. Jesus is sovereign over all the fish in the sea, all the birds in the air, all the animals on the earth, and all the people in the world. And one day this King will say to those on His right (on the right side of the boat), “come you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

These disciples acknowledged they had nothing, they had failed, they did it wrong, and He gave them everything. They turned their backs on Him temporarily, and He provides for them supernaturally. He poured out such a blessing on them that 7 men were not able to haul the net in. Their net is overflowing with fish. They are abounding with fish.

And surely we can apply this to ourselves today. If we will just acknowledge where our lives apart from God have gotten us, if we will just confess what we’ve done and where we’ve been and what that’s gotten us, and look to Jesus. He will pour out a blessing on us that we will not be able to contain it. Psalm 68:19 says “¹⁹ Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily loads us with benefits”. And look with me at Romans chapter 5. This passage contrasts Adam’s sin with God’s grace. “¹⁵ But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!” The gift of God’s salvation to sinners is one that overflows us. It nearly sinks our boat, it almost breaks our net. God gives grace abundantly. Hallelujah!

So Jesus provided for them supernaturally. But He also welcomed them graciously. In vs. 7 John recognizes the Lord first, and Peter jumps in and swims to him while the rest come in the boat. And then notice vs. 9 “⁹ When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.” What a warm welcome. What a gracious welcome. For those who are cold and hungry, Jesus has fire and food. To those who are tired of their long dark night, tired of trying to make it work on their own, Jesus has a warm welcome and will meet all your needs. The reality is He gave His own body and shed His own blood to warm us and nourish us. To forgive us and pardon us. You see Jesus can welcome us this same way, because He has already paid for our sin through His death.  

And what an amazing change Jesus makes. I want to share something with you now that can absolutely change the life of anybody. This is powerful. Notice in vs. 10 Jesus tells them to bring some of the fish they caught and look at Peter in vs. 11: “¹¹ Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn.” Now wait a second, just a short time ago all 7 men could not drag this net in. Remember vs. 6? Imagine 7 men out in a boat, that’s 14 hands pulling the net. If each fisherman weighed 180 pounds that’s over 1200 pounds of man power. And they could not pull that net in. But now, Peter is doing it all by himself. One man is doing the work that 7 men could not do.

Here’s the lesson. When we are away from Jesus, making our own choices, we are weaklings. But if we draw near to Jesus He draws near to us, and our lives will have spiritual power and authority. We will feel the truth that “I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.” One man walking with Jesus, fellowshipping with Jesus can do miraculous things. Because He’s with the miracle worker.

²⁹ He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. ³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; ³¹ but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:29-31 They will be able to do more work than 7 men.

³² It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. Psalm 18:32

¹⁴ Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. Psalm 27:14  

⁹ O my Strength, I watch for you; you, O God, are my fortress, Psalm 59:9

³⁵ You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God! Psalm 68:35

²⁶ My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:26

⁷ They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion. Psalm 84:7

And now let the weak say “I am strong” because of what the Lord has done for me. And so if we will just be with Jesus, if we’ll just get near Him, we will have spiritual strength to fish for men and bring them to Jesus.

Vs. 11 tells us there were 153 fish, as God knows those who are His, and it says “even with such a large number of fish, the net was not torn.” They didn’t lose one fish. Jesus prayed to His Father and said, “I have not lost one of those you gave me.” John 18:9

And then Jesus ministers to His tired disciples. In vss. 12-13 He feeds them breakfast. “¹³ Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.” “³⁷ he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.” Luke 12:37

And so here we have this story. What we can see in this story is our lives as Christians. We have gone our own way, done our own thing, not depended on Christ, and now we’re tired. And with horrible results. We ended up in a dark night, without the presence or the blessing of God. With nothing to show for our miserable lives. And then we hear the word of Jesus. And we can barely make Him out, but we obey what we hear. And He provides for us miraculously, and He receives us graciously. And He ministers to us powefully. He gives us His body and His blood. “If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” And we are warmed and nourished and strengthened in His presence. So this is really our story.

And I’d just like to close with 3 things we can learn from this story:

First, we cannot live our lives properly without Jesus. It will be a dark night, and we will look back at the end of it and say, “what a waste.” We will be powerless, and we won’t have anything to show for it.

Secondly, after we’ve messed it all up, Jesus will receive us graciously. He will provide for us. He will minister to us. He will warm our hearts with the gospel, feed our souls with His Word. With God there is grace and forgiveness.

And finally, we are supposed to learn that the key to supernatural power is to be near Jesus. Learn to get alone with Him. Learn to sit as His feet and learn of Him. Learn to draw near to Him throughout the day. And we will discover that when we’re weak, He is strong.

OK, fine I have one more principle to learn here, for those who are in ministry, which is every Christian. Here it is: Success in ministry is not due not to your eloquence, your power of persuasion, or your earnestness, or your anything. It is due alone to God’s sovereign drawing-power. He drew the fish to the right side of the boat where they would be caught.

 

So here we have this story, and this is the last miracle Jesus did on earth. It’s much like His first miracle. His first miracle was at a wedding, and they had no wine, and Jesus supernaturally provided wine for them. They had no wine, Jesus was the solution. Now they have no fish, and Jesus supernaturally provided fish for them. Jesus is the solution. You got a problem? Any problem? Jesus Christ is the solution.

One of the children here today told me that the name Jesus can be an acronym. J.E.S.U.S. He said it stands for Jesus Equals the Solution that is Utterly Satisfying.

John 20:24-31. I want us to consider a question this morning: what is the only reasonable response to the cross of Jesus Christ? Some people ignore the cross (it has no meaning for them, their life is no different because of the cross), some people mock and ridicule the cross, some people wear it as jewelry, but what is the only appropriate response? And there is only one. Well what we see in our passage today is that Thomas refuses to believe the report that Jesus has risen from the dead; his heart had become hard, and he was self-willed. He said to the other disciples in vs. 25, “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 it.”  

And so in vs. 27 Jesus appeared to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” And in that moment, doubting Thomas became worshipping Thomas. He said in vs. 28, “My Lord and my God.” And so we learn that one sight of the suffering of Jesus for Thomas, one view of the hands and side that were pierced for his transgressions, put worship into the heart of Thomas. The fact is that doubters become worshippers when they “see Jesus’ hands” and remember Jesus’ sacrifice. And worship is the only appropriate response to the cross. We’re going to study this. Let’s pray:

Now we’ve seen up to this point in John chapter 20 that Mary Magdalene was bent over looking into the tomb, and was weeping. She was crying because she was viewing her circumstances by sight rather than by faith. And then last week we saw 10 disciples in the upper room and they locked the doors for fear of the Jews. You can picture them all huddled in a corner with the doors all locked because they’re afraid. They were living in fear rather than living by faith. And today we see Thomas who is life is characterized by doubt rather than living by faith. This chapter presents people living by sight, by fear and by doubt rather than by faith.

And to each one of these people-groups, Jesus came with such grace, and the very presence of Jesus changed everything. Jesus came to Mary and she fell at his feet and worshipped Him. And Jesus came to the disciples and their hearts were filled with joy. Jesus came to Thomas and Thomas worshipped Jesus. And all of this tells us that the presence of Jesus Christ changes us. None of these people had their circumstances changed, but each one of them had their hearts changed, just by the presence of Jesus.

So we left off last week with Jesus coming to the disciples in the upper room, but according to vs. 24 Thomas was not there with them. Why? Well if we remember reading through the gospel of John we discover that Thomas was an eternal pessimist, he found it hard to believe anything good. He was very much like Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh, just this constant melancholy attitude. In John chapter 11 Jesus is going to Jerusalem where the people are who want to kill him, and Thomas says, “let’s go to Jerusalem that we may die with Him.” He just had a knack for finding a dark cloud in every silver lining. But Thomas did love Jesus. He would rather go to Jerusalem and die with Him that live without him.

And Thomas right now may have felt alone, betrayed, forsaken. His hopes were crushed, the One He loved so much was gone, and Thomas’ heart was torn, and he may have just wanted to be alone. And Thomas’ own words help us understand why he was not there. When the disciples came and told him they had seen the Lord, in vs. 25 he says: “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 it.” And that statement earned Thomas the title “Doubting Thomas.” But it’s more than mere doubting, Thomas refused to believe, he had become prideful and self-willed when he was away from fellow believers. He said “I will not believe it.” His heart had grown cold, hard, defiant. And so he refused to come to the assembly with his brothers.  

And notice for a second what he lost by not joining with his brothers: According to vs. 19, he lost Christ’s presence and Christ’s peace, according to vs. 20 he lost the joy that the other disciples had. According to vs. 22 he lost the gift of the Holy Spirit.  And in addition, he had a whole week spent in discouragement and doubt. Surely we can learn a very important lesson from this: we lose a lot when we are not in the assembly. Because it was the gathering together of the disciples where Jesus first came, and the gathering together of believers today is where Jesus still comes. “Where 2 or 3 are gathered in my Name, there am I with them.” Paul writes, “when you are assembled together, and the power of the Lord Jesus is present”…and for that reason Hebrews 10:25 says: “²⁵ Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching”.

 

Vs. 25 says,^“25 …the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” That’s what Mary said to these disciples, in vs. 18 she ran to them and said “I have seen the Lord.” Luke chapter 2 vs. 17 talks about the shepherds that went to see Jesus’ when He was born and it says “when they had seen him, they spread the word…” And just 2 weeks ago right here in this church, little Ramie Hogan came right up to our girls and gave them a card that she had made, and inside it said, “I have seen the Lord.” People who see Jesus just want other people to see Him too.

 

And notice that these brothers loved Thomas. They went and found Thomas and told him the good news. They didn’t just say “if he had been where he belongs, he would have seen the Savior, and received the Spirit; but he wasn’t here; let us leave him alone.” They did not say “Oh he can’t be a believer, he’s gone away from the fellowship.” No, the love of Jesus constrained them to love their brother and to go to him. Paul writes to the Galatians: “¹ Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.”

So here is Thomas and he is surrounded by all these witnesses, you can picture Thomas in the middle surrounded by 10 witnesses, telling him they have seen the Lord, and encouraging him to believe. And I want us to compare Hebrews chapter 12 and see some similarities. Hebrews 12:1 starts with the word “therefore” and that reminds us of chapter 11 where the writer showed us numerous people who lived by faith. He brought in, as it were, many people who lived and died by faith, to show us their lives and show us the reward they gained from living by faith. And then he says in chapter 12: “¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” So in context the sin that easily entangles all of us is unbelief. And we are admonished to listen to the great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, the witnesses who lived by faith, and we are to throw off our unbelief. And likewise Thomas was surrounded by 10 witnesses calling him to believe.

Then we come to vs. 26 and we see that ^“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!” Jesus said to Thomas, the one who had deserted the fellowship, the one who had grown cold and hard, “Peace be with you.” Not “shame on you” but “peace be with you.” Listen to this statement from Bishop Ryle: “Let us never say that people who are struggling with doubts and discouragements are graceless or godless, simply because their faith is feeble and their love is cold. Let us remember the case of Thomas, and be very gracious and of tender mercy toward our brothers. Our Lord has many weak children in His family, many slow students in His school, many raw soldiers in His army, and many lame sheep in His flock. Yet He bears with them all. Happy is that Christian who has learned to deal with his brothers the same way that Jesus dealt with Thomas.”

Jesus said “peace be with you” and He invited Thomas to touch His wounds. But let’s notice for a moment that Jesus showed Thomas the very thing Thomas said he needed in order to believe. Thomas said I need to see His hands and side, Jesus came and showed him His hands and side. God is gracious to those who want to believe but who need some evidence to believe.  

But wait a minute, how did Jesus know that’s what Thomas needed? Nobody had come to Jesus and said, “Oh Jesus, you might want to go to Thomas and show him your hands and your side. He told us that would help him believe.” Jesus already knew that. Jesus was there when Thomas made that statement, Jesus heard Thomas say that. This is proof that Jesus is Omniscient, He is all-knowing. The One who died on cross was “God in the flesh.” And being God, He not only sees everything we do, but He hears every word we say. Psalm 34:17 says, “¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.” Psalm 69:33: “³³ The LORD hears the needy and does not despise his captive people.” If our eyes could be opened today, we would literally see Jesus right here with us, in this room. He is seeing everything we do and hearing everything we say.

Jesus says to Thomas, “peace be with you.” Well this is now the third time that Jesus says these words, “Peace be with you” and each time Jesus uses them with a different purpose. And I want us to look at these 3 times Jesus uses these words. The first, in vs. 19, tells of the results of the cross: vs. 19 says “¹⁹ Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side.” In other words, “Peace be with you, because I died for you.” The punishment that brings us peace was upon Jesus. So the first time Jesus says “Peace be with you” He is telling them the results of the cross.

The second in vs. 21, is His provision for service. “²¹ Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” In other words, Jesus provides us with peace so we go to the world to witness. So the second time Jesus says “Peace be with you” He is giving them the provision for service.

But the third “Peace” is the method of restoration. In vs. 26 Jesus says “Peace be with you” and in verse 27: “^27…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.” In essence Jesus said, “I bring you peace through my death, now believe it and come back”. So that the reminder of the cross was for the very purpose of restoring this brother.

Now this is such an important concept that I want to reinforce it today. Please turn to Job chapter 33. In this chapter, a young man by the name of Elihu is speaking, and at the end of Job God says “Elihu spoke what is right.” And Elihu is going to describe a man who was healthy but then becomes sick, in pain and in distress. And Elihu shows us what will restore this man to health.

¹⁹ Or a man may be chastened on a bed of pain with constant distress in his bones, ²⁰ so that his very being finds food repulsive and his soul loathes the choicest meal. ²¹ His flesh wastes away to nothing, and his bones, once hidden, now stick out. ²² His soul draws near to the pit, and his life to the messengers of death. Job 33:19-22

 This is the problem of all mankind. Sin and sickness have brought sorrow and suffering. You might picture all of humanity on a huge conveyor belt and each day we draw nearer to the pit of death and hell. Well how can we be restored? Is there a way for us to get off the conveyor belt?

²³ “Yet if there is an angel on his side as a mediator, one out of a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him, ²⁴ to be gracious to him and say, ‘Spare him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom for him’—now here is the Solution: a messenger who would intercede, and would show that a ransom has been paid; a price has been paid for the condition of mankind, and this ransom spares us from going down to the pit. “²⁸ the Son of Man came…to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28

Well what is the result? Vs. 25 “²⁵ then his flesh is renewed like a child’s; it is restored as in the days of his youth. ²⁶ He prays to God and finds favor with him, he sees God’s face and shouts for joy; he is restored by God to his righteous state.” You know what it is that restores a man to righteousness? It is the ransom paid, the price paid for our condition. It is the Atonement that Jesus made on the cross. This is what Jesus is doing with Thomas. Thomas, look, there is a ransom made for you, I paid a price for you. And Jesus is restoring Thomas to his righteous state.

As Thomas looked at the nail prints in Jesus’ hands, Thomas could remember that “by Jesus’ wounds, he was healed.” As Thomas looked at the gaping hole in Jesus’ side, a hole big enough to put his hand through, he would remember that Jesus was pierced for Thomas’ transgressions. It was the sight of the Savior’s wounds that removed all Thomas’ doubts, overcame his self-will, and brought him to the feet of Christ as an adoring worshipper.

When we have gone astray, what is it that calls us back? It’s a reminder of Jesus’ dying for us. It is not being taught the importance of keeping the Law, it is not focusing on prophecy, or arguing the finer points of doctrine, although doctrine is very important. Know what brings us back? The great truth of the Atonement. Being reminded that no matter how far I’ve gone, no matter what I’ve done, Jesus died for me then and He loves me now.

 

I want to give you an example of this. I want to read to you something somebody in our body, right here, sent to me through email two weeks ago, because I want you to notice the connection between the cross and worship. This person writes, “For the first time in many years, I am really alive in Christ … I can honestly say that He has restored my soul! I am growing in grace and knowledge of Him, and I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ for it is the power of God (unmistakably, unequivocally, and without any reservation) unto salvation. To say that he has invaded my heart and has completely flooded my soul with his joy would be a mild understatement.” Notice the connection between the gospel and worship. The cross of Jesus Christ is so very powerful, it recovers people and restores them.

 

So just as a reminder: the first time Jesus says “Peace to you” it was to show the results of the cross. “Peace be with you, and He showed them His hands and His side.” The second time Jesus said those words it was to show the provision for service. “Peace be with you, as the Father sent me, so I’m sending you.” The third time is to show the method of restoration. “Peace be with you.” I died for you Thomas, now come on back.

So Jesus shows Thomas His hands and His side, and Thomas in a heart erupting in worship said in vs. 28: ²⁸ “My Lord and my God!” He calls Jesus “Lord,” “Kyrios”, meaning Master, the Supreme Authority, Lord over all. My Lord, and my “God”, “Theos” meaning Divinity, Almighty God. Thomas says Jesus You are Immanuel, “God with me.” He is now giving up all his doubt, letting his pride go. Turning away from all his self-will. Surrendering to the Lordship of Jesus. He goes from “I will not believe” to “my Lord and my God.”

And Jesus did not rebuke Him. He did not say “Thomas, I am but a man like you, don’t worship me.” No look at vs. 29: “²⁹ Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed.” “You’re right Thomas, you have believed correctly. Well done.”

And then Jesus stops, and He look down through the corridors of time. He sees you and He sees me. He sees our struggles with believing a message that goes entirely against evolution, against all modern philosophy, against everything our culture would tell us. And He sees the sin in our hearts that hardens us, He sees our rebellion, our self-will, and our pride. And He says directly to you and to me, “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” And this word “blessed” carries with it the idea of being accepted by God. When you and I see the cross and believe, against all odds, turning away from our own internal rebellion and pride, we are accepted by God and so we are blessed.

And John closes this chapter by saying in vs. 30: “³⁰ Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.” Isn’t it amazing to consider that this Book records the healing of a man who was sick for 38 years, the feeding of 5,000 people with a sack lunch, the opening of a blind man’s eyes, the raising of a dead man, and this is just a sampling of all He really did. This is just a small portion. It’s like when Abraham sent his servant to a distant country to get a bride for Isaac, the servant took just a sample of the wealth, the jewels and rings, etc. to show to the prospective bride, just enough to draw her to the son. And here John records just a sample, just enough to draw us to the Son. Why? Vs. 31 answers:

³¹ 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.”  Now just compare vs. 29 with vs. 31. In vs. 29 Jesus said, “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Vs. 31 shows the blessing you get by believing. You get life. You escape the conveyor belt of death. You get life right now. Abundant life, and eternal life.

And so chapter 20 ends.  And I just want to close with the reminder of the only appropriate response to the cross of Jesus is worship. As Thomas was reminded of the cross He worshipped Jesus. And as we by faith go to Mt. Calvary and we see Jesus suffering, we hear the mocking of the crowds, we see His blood-stained body and we see the soldier stabbing His heart, we should remember that He is taking our punishment so that we can have peace with God. He is covering over our sins in His blood. He is literally dying to forgive us. And what should we do? We should worship. The only appropriate response is “oh my Lord and my God. This is love vast as the ocean. This is God kissing a guilty in world in love.” And as we have been reminded of the cross today, let’s stand and lose ourselves in worship just now.

 

It was for this very reason that Jesus established the Lord’s supper for His church. It’s like the scars. It is a reminder of His broken-body and the poured out blood that should move our hearts, and quicken our spirits, and thrill our souls, and rekindle the joy which we had when we first looked by faith upon His hands and side. A remembrance of the cross should produce worship in our hearts, and we should express that worship in praise to Jesus.