Title: RESURRECTION FAITH

Focus: Exercising faith in the resurrected Christ unites us with him and leads to new life. Such exercise of faith is based on historic facts and called for by Jesus himself.

Function: To encourage the people to face each day by putting their faith in the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

Text: John 20:19-31

My “problem” started already when I was quite young. My mother would ask me to get something (a specific shirt from a closet, for example), and sure enough I never could find the object. My mother would be annoyed, of course, but she would join me in searching for the object and she would find it in an instant. Right in front of me! And I would feel kind of dumb and wonder how I could have missed it.

I still have that problem today. Just ask my wife, Rosanne. When I need a spatula to flip the hamburgers I may end up in the kitchen opening two drawers, turning over a hundred other items in those drawers, looking for that gizmo and not finding it. Rosanne takes one second and shows up with the spatula. And I am left wondering: why can’t I find it myself? It’s maddening.

I have a similar experience when I sit in front of my computer, staring at an error message. I read the message, and usually I end up saying “Now what?” An error message seems to trigger an automatic response in me: a blank stare.

Then comes Pastor Cody into my office. He looks at the error message, and a miracle happens: he knows right a way what to do: a key punch here, a click there—and sure enough, the computer hums again. And I sit there, feeling stupid, wondering why I can’t do what Pastor Cody does.

I suppose we all have a set of problems to deal with. Some are similar to the ones I just mentioned. Many people today, for example, will look at Christians with a blank stare and say, “How can you believe in the resurrection? How can any sane person, living in this day and age, still maintain that it is possible for someone like Jesus to walk out of a tomb, having been dead for three days?

It’s a mystery to them. They just don’t “see” it. I look at them and wonder, “how can you NOT believe and see the resurrection for what it is: an historical fact.”

Today the Scriptures help us to come to grips with resurrection faith. The story in the gospel of John 20 reminds us that exercising faith in the resurrected Christ unites us with him and leads to new life. In fact, such exercise of faith is based on historical facts and is called for by Jesus himself.

And thus the Scriptures encourage us to face each day by putting our faith in the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

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Let’s begin by making some observations about the passage. Number one: the story in John 20:19-29 comes to us in the shape of an hourglass. An hourglass, for example, has a top funnel and a bottom funnel. And in the middle of those two funnels you’ll find the “neck.” Sand in the top funnel seeps through the neck into the bottom funnel. That takes a certain amount of time. Thus the name “hourglass.” John 20:19-29 has the shape of an hourglass.

For example, verses 19-23 form the top funnel. In those verses, we encounter the risen Lord Jesus, revealing himself to his disciples (except for Thomas). Jesus pronounces his blessing of peace on them. He shows them his hands and side. And then he commissions his disciples, enlightening their minds and hearts and authorizing them to declare good news of forgiveness of sins. That’s the top funnel of the passage.

Then, in verses 24-25, we notice the “neck.” We meet Thomas. And Thomas has a hard time accepting the witnesses’ account that the crucified and buried Jesus has risen from the dead and has revealed himself to his friends: “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.” Stiff-necked, sober-minded Thomas refuses to put his trust in the account of his fellow disciples who said, “We have seen the Lord!”

The hourglass passage closes with the bottom funnel. And the bottom funnel is similar to the top funnel. In verses 26-29, for example, we again encounter the risen Lord Jesus, revealing himself a week later to his disciples. But now Thomas is included. Again, Jesus pronounces his blessing of peace on them. And again, Jesus shows his hands and his side—in particular to Thomas—and Jesus invites Thomas to “Put your finger here: see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side.” And whereas Jesus in the top funnel commissioned his disciples, enlightening their minds and hearts and authorizing them to preach a message of forgiveness of sins, in the bottom funnel Jesus stresses the need for faith or deep trust in the witnesses’ accounts of his resurrection: “Stop doubting and believe…Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” As you can see, the story in John 20:19-29 comes to us in the shape of an hourglass.

“So what’s the big deal?” you say. Well, the shape of the passage directs our attention to the core or heart of the story—which is the “neck” where Jesus encounters Thomas. The top funnel’s observations flow into the “neck” and as it sifts through the neck of the passage; the clear command to stop doubting and continue believing drops into the bottom funnel. Therefore, we do well to pay attention to the hourglass shape of the story.

Number two: The story has two fascinating parallels. For example, the story opens with the reference “On the evening of that first day of the week….” And we learn that Jesus reveals himself to his close friends—the male disciples. The reference parallels the opening line in chapter 20:1, which says: “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark….” And we learn that Jesus reveals himself to his female friends or followers such as Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and others (cf. Luke’s account as well).

Here is the parallel: whereas the risen Lord Jesus revealed himself first to the women early in the morning, he now reveals himself to the men later in the evening of that Sunday of the resurrection. The women are the first to exercise faith in the risen Christ. They see; they believe; they witness. And they have begun a new life. Now it’s the turn of the men who are close to Jesus’ heart.

The other parallel in this passage is quite subtle, yet fascinating. We encounter the risen Lord doing something “strange.” He breathes on his disciples and he says: “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Now the early Christians who were raised as Jews would pick up on this act of Jesus. They knew the Scriptures; and they would see a parallel with God’s dealing with Adam at the beginning of creation.

For example, in Genesis 2:7 we read that “the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” In other words, God gave Adam life. God’s breath or Holy Spirit brings birth (or life) to Adam and his offspring. Sin, however, brought the power of death into the world. And we have all been living under a “shroud of death.”

But the risen Lord Jesus has broken the power of death. He is the Son of God. And now he comes to his disciples (and to us) and he gives us new birth (new life, everlasting life). And he signifies that life by breathing his breath (or Holy Spirit) into the nostrils or lives of his friends. Do not miss these parallels! For they underscore good news to a broken world. That good news calls for a response from us: Put your faith in the risen Lord Jesus Christ. Here’s why: exercising faith in the resurrected Christ unites us with him and leads to new life. Such exercise of faith is based on historic facts and is called for by Jesus himself.

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So far, we have observed the “hourglass” structure of the passage, and we noticed the parallels in this passage. Now we need to focus on Thomas’ encounter with the risen Christ. From this story we gain some powerful insights.

For example: The resurrection of Jesus is an historical event, a fact. There are numerous witnesses to that fact. Faith in the risen Lord Jesus, then, is not an irrational act by simple-minded folks. The resurrection faith is based on historical fact.

Also, the resurrection of Jesus ushers into our lives a state of peace. In the midst of economic uncertainties and persecutions and threats to our lives, followers of Jesus may draw upon a hidden strength—the peace of Christ. That peace comes to us not only when we face death and our own mortality, but also when we try to meet the challenges of each day. In the end, the peace of Christ sustains us as we long for the day when Christ comes again and makes all things new.

When I consider Jesus’ dealings with doubting Thomas, I’m struck by Jesus’ treatment of Thomas. Jesus indicates that he is aware of Thomas’ reply to his fellow disciples a week ago: “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.” Striking, is not it? Jesus was not physically present when Thomas said this; yet Jesus is fully aware of what Thomas said.

Also, Jesus does not treat Thomas differently from the other disciples. Just as the other disciples had seen the hands and side of Jesus, so Jesus also convinced Thomas that he is not some spook or ghost. Thomas, too, could see and touch the risen Christ.

And Jesus’ command to Thomas and the disciples (and to us) remains the same: “Stop doubting!” Rather, continue to believe! Do not let your resurrection faith be founded on your own eyesight or touch, but let it be based on the eyewitness accounts of those who saw the historic fact of an open tomb and a risen Christ. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed,” says Jesus. Exercising faith in the resurrected Christ unites us with Jesus and leads to new life. Such exercise of faith is based on historic facts and is called for by Jesus himself.

Folks, here is the bottom line: In Christ Jesus, we have life, new birth. In Christ, we have good news: forgiveness of sin and the promise of eternal life. If you don’t know Jesus, if you have put him off, so to speak, or if you are keeping him at a distance, you have one more opportunity to come to grips with him today. Faith in the risen Christ makes all the difference.

You say, “Pastor, I can’t. I have my doubts.” I say, “Exercise your faith! Open your hearts to that what seems a mystery or miracle to you.” That you and I struggle with doubt is not a sin. We are not commanded to ignore our moments of doubt. Christ, however, commands us to overcome our doubts by exercising faith: “Stop doubting. Continue to believe.” And when we test our believing, we’ll discover from Scripture that our resurrection faith rests on historical facts. Therefore, we can live with assurance of resurrection faith.

Here’s how the apostle Paul puts it in Romans 10:8-11 “’The word is near you: it is in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’”

I know: faith is God’s gift to us. I can only exercise that gift. One Reformed confession tells us (B.C. art. 22) that faith is “the instrument by which we embrace Christ…(It is the) “instrument that keeps us in communion with him and with all his benefits.” That’s why I say that exercising faith in the resurrected Christ unites us with him and leads to new life. Faith is the hand or the mouth of the soul (cf. B.C. 35).

I may never become as quick or good as my mother or my wife when it comes to seeing or finding things. I may never come close to Pastor Cody’s practical understanding of computers. But like Thomas, you and I can exercise resurrection faith. And that faith says: “Christ is risen indeed!

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.