This is a familiar story, but I think it has a very interesting lesson for us as we look into John chapter 20. I'd like to read verses 19 through 31. So we're beginning in the middle of chapter 20 at verse 19, and reading to the end of the chapter, hear God's Word. So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, Peace be with you. And when he had said this, he showed them both his hands and his side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, they have been retained. But Thomas, one of the twelve called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, we have seen the Lord. But he said to them, unless I see in his hands the imprint of the nails and put my finger into the place of the nails and put my hand into his side, I will not believe. After eight days, his disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, Peace be with you. Then he said to Thomas, Reach here with your finger and see my hands, and reach here your hand and put it into my side. And do not be unbelieving, but believing. Thomas answered and said to him, My Lord and my God. Jesus said to him, Because you have seen me, have you believed? Blessed are those who did not see and yet believed. Therefore, many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book, but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing you may have life in His name." Let's pray. Father, again, thank you for your Word. It is good. Thank you that we have this record concerning the events surrounding the birth, the life, the death and the resurrection of our Lord. And we thank you, Father, that in your providence, in your special care, you have been pleased that this record, this Word, has been preserved for our benefit, and that through it you are pleased to give us life. So this evening, Father, we pray as we look into this your Word that we might be recipients of the life that comes from you, the peace and the grace, the mercy and the forgiveness. that only comes from You and as an instrument through Your Word. Bless us, we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen. Pete was an elderly man who came to the Lord and his wife was very glad for that, as you can imagine. As he sat in a Sunday school class one Lord's Day morning, as was often the case, he raised his hand to ask a question. We were looking at the passage in Exodus that had to do with Moses going up onto Mount Sinai. And after he raised his hand and I recognized him, he said, Sure would be nice if we could go back there in the time of Moses and go up on that mountain with them. I said, maybe not. The truth is that we are actually in a better position than Moses was thousands of years ago when he went up on that mountain. And the reason we're in a better position is that we have the Word of God written, which has been given to us. And we don't need these kinds of experiences. Some people are looking for these kinds of experiences. But you don't need these kinds of experiences and I don't need these kinds of experiences because we have the Word of God and we ought not to seek experiences but to seek God in his word. See, this is the big error that too many make, that they want the experience and they don't consider that the primary means that God meets with us is through his word. And so that's a simple message that comes from this passage this evening. Don't seek special experiences. Seek God in his word. Now, the scene begins the evening of the resurrection, and we find this is the case in verses 19 and 20. So when it was evening on that day, that would be Resurrection Day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, and notice that this was the case, they were locked in a room This was a closed church, I guess. They were locked in a room for fear of the Jews. Perhaps they feared that the Jews would come after them also since they crucified Jesus. Jesus came and stood in their midst, the door locked, and there He appears. How does He do that? He does that, it seems, because he has a glorified body. He can walk through what we would call material walls. This is a very strange thing, isn't it? At any rate, he appears in this room. Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, Peace be with you. This is the peace that God brings. And it's a benediction, if you will, upon the lives and the hearts of the disciples. Peace be with you. And verse 20 says, And when he had said this, he showed them both his hands and his side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Seeing is believing. This seems to be the case in the text, and often you've said this, I know. Seeing is believing. You want to go into the laboratory and perform the experiment and see the results of the experiment. It's not enough for the instructor to tell you what the results of the experiment will be. You want to run the experiment and see the results yourself. Seeing is believing. We live this way. And yet Jesus, when he appears, it seems has a deeper message for you and for me. Well, let me take a step back here and ask you to turn Back to John 14 and verse 27. Because in John 14, Jesus says something similar. Verse 27, Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Now, you can understand that Jesus was experiencing a deep sense of peace after having arisen from the grave and knowing the love of his father in a more consummate way. His father having brought him back from the grave. And there is a deep peace within his own heart. And his desire is to communicate that peace His disciples. And of course, that would include you and me. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. And of course, what did we just read in verse 19 of chapter 20? They were behind closed doors because of their fear of the Jews. What did the disciples need? A deep sense of peace within the heart, a reserve of peace so that they could stand in a frightful situation. And then when Jesus showed them both of his hands and his side, what did the disciples do? The text tells us they rejoiced when they saw the Lord. They believed. It seems to me that's the bottom line. Then in the next verses, Jesus takes what seems to us to be a rather unusual step. And I think we can characterize this step this way. He commissions his disciples and symbolically, empowers them. Let's read the next verses. So Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you. This seems to be on his mind. He wants to communicate this sense of peace to his disciples. So Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you. I have received a commission from my Father. And the principal commission I have received from my Father, outside of doing the will of my Father in dying on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins, is to preach the Gospel. And we see this early in the Gospels. Jesus goes out and preaches repentance towards God and directs individuals to His own life and faith in Him. And so he was a preacher. And Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so send I you. I want you to go out and I want you to preach the good news of my resurrection. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. I'm going to pass over that for a moment because I want to go to the next verse. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, they have been retained. We kind of draw back from that text. But really what it means is this. I commissioned you to preach the gospel. And what is this gospel? This is a gospel of forgiveness. This is a gospel that has to do with the remission of sin. And you are to preach the gospel of forgiveness. Now, the Bible often does this. It sometimes speaks of the results of a matter. When the reference is actually. The matter itself, for example. There's a puzzling text in James. And Martin Luther stumbled over this text. It speaks of being justified by works. Well, we know that's not right. But you see, the effect is put in the place of the cause. What is the cause? The cause is faith. And what is the result of true faith in Jesus Christ? It's works that follow. And the result is put in the place of the cause. This is the use of figurative language. Some of you will and know the appropriate term. It's a metonymy. You can look that up. I encourage you to do so. It's used frequently in the Bible. The cause. Is put in the place of the effect or the effect is put in the place of the cause. And what we have here in John 20 is A reference to the forgiveness of sins. Well, we know the disciples themselves could not forgive sins, but the disciples could pronounce individuals forgiven of sin who genuinely believe in Jesus Christ. Is that not the case? Can you not say to individuals when they trust Christ, your sins are forgiven if you genuinely trust the Savior? I think you can. And so this is the idea embedded in the text. They were commissioned to preach the gospel of forgiveness. And we, too, are sent. You, too, are sent to your friends to preach the gospel, to teach the gospel of forgiveness. And what does Jesus do also? He empowers his disciples. And this is the idea in verse 22. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. Now, this is another text around which swirls a lot of discussion. But to clear away the smoke, I think this is what it means. A symbolic act. It's a prophetic, symbolic act. Do you remember the story in the Old Testament about Ahijah the Shillinite? It's a great name. Ahijah the Shillinite, who put on a new robe and he went out to meet Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. It's another great name. This was before the kingdom was divided. And he took off his robe and he tore it into twelve pieces. A brand new robe. He tore it into twelve pieces. Some of you are shaking your heads, yes. He tore this brand new robe into twelve pieces and he said to Jeroboam the son of Nebat, take ten of them. Why? Because ten tribes are going to be given to you. You see, this was a prophetic, symbolic act. that spoke about something that was going to take place in the future. Well, I think we have the same thing here in John chapter 20 and verse 22. It's an act, a prophetic act. And Jesus breathes on his disciples. Here is this act, you see, and it symbolizes what's going to take place in the future. And what is going to take place in the future? They're going to be given the gift of the Holy Spirit. And it was going to come a few days hence. Jesus had already promised this would be the case. And so what does Jesus do? He commissions His disciples. He empowers them. He does the same thing with us. Thank you, Lord, that that's the case. And so what do the disciples do? Let's look at the next little piece. 24 and 25. But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, we have seen the Lord. But he said to them, unless I see in his hands the imprint of the nails, and I put my fingers into the place of the nails, and put my hands into his side, I will not believe." The disciples dutifully go to Thomas and report that they'd seen the Lord. They carried out their commission. They told Thomas that Christ was risen. And that's exactly what you need to do and what I need to do. You need to proclaim the message that Christ is risen. Now, Thomas is called Doubting Thomas because he refuses to believe unless he is able to see. And not only see, but he says, I want to be able to put my fingers in the nail holes in his hands. And I want to be able to put my hand in his side where that spear went. I want to be able to do it. I'm not going to believe unless I'm able to do that very thing. Seeing is believing. And so that was Thomas's stance. I suppose some of you have heard this kind of response from people. Only seeing is believing. Well, that was rather Pete's stance. He wanted to go back to Mount Sinai and see it and witness it. He didn't remember that. The Israelites were cowering at the foot of the mountain and were saying to Moses, you go up. We don't want to come near. Well, we better move on in our text. Verse 26, after eight days, his disciples were again inside and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut. and stood in their midst and said, Peace be with you." And we hear it again. Peace be with you. Not the peace of the world do I give you, but my peace do I give to you. Then he said to Thomas, Reach here. Reach here with your finger. and see my hands. And reach here your hand and put it in my side. And do not be unbelieving, but believing." This must have been a stunning scene. A week later, a week after the resurrection, Thomas is there in the room. with the other disciples. And here's Jesus suddenly. Put your finger, Thomas. And the disciples are standing by. What is Jesus going to do? Thomas is here now. Put your finger in my hand. How gracious this is of the Lord to appear again for the sake of Thomas. And put your hand in My side. And don't be unbelieving, Thomas. You didn't believe the report of the others. They told you. You heard the report, but you didn't believe. I don't want you to be unbelieving. It's important that you not be unbelieving. So put your put your fingers here in my hand and put your hand in my side. Don't be unbelieving, but believing. And and you can see the scene in your mind's eye that that Thomas won't even stretch out his hand. He he won't even touch the Lord. But what does the text say? Thomas answered and said to him, my Lord and my God. And most of the English texts have an exclamation point at the end of that verse. He exclaims, my Lord and my God, there is no doubt in his mind who this person is who stands before him. It is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is risen. But then Jesus, responds with some instruction. Look at verse 29. Jesus said, Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet Now, think about this. Jesus appears to the twelve. And there's evidence from Scripture that there were other sightings. And the Apostle Paul says that he appeared to more than 500 at one time. But even if there were many more than that, that number is relatively small in comparison to the population of the world and to the uttermost reaches of the earth where the gospel was and is to penetrate. And so what does Jesus say? The blessing falls upon you who hear. Isn't that what verse 29 means? Blessed are they who did not see and yet believed. The blessing falls upon the blessing of peace. The blessing of peace with God through Jesus Christ falls upon you who hear the gospel and believe, yet do not see Jesus. This is important for all of us to grasp. Blessed are they who did not see and yet believed." And notice the next verses. Therefore, many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book. But these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. Go back with me to John 14. Look, if you would, at verses 25 and following. These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives, do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. You heard that I said to you, I go away. and I will come to you. If you love me, you would have rejoiced because I go to my Father, and my Father is greater than I." And when he goes away, what does he do? He sends the Helper, the Holy Spirit. And what does John 14.26 say? That the Helper will work in the disciples so that they can set forth a record, a record of all that Jesus has said and done. And then people like you and me can read the record and hear the record proclaimed. And when we hear Hear the good news of Jesus Christ. What can take place? God can warm your heart and you can embrace Jesus Christ and enjoy eternal life. Verse 31 in chapter 20, But these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, that believing, and that believing you may have Life in His name. Hearing is believing. This is the message. Hearing is believing. And in the Hebrew text, the word hearing means really understanding, taking it in. That's how John understood it. That's how Jesus understood it. Hearing is believing. You see, we've gone past the stage where you need special visitations from God. We've gone past the stage where Jesus appears in a room. The blessing is upon those who hear. This is what He tells you and me. I wonder how many of you came to Christ Maybe you'd raise your hand. How many of you came to Christ because he entered your house and appeared to you? Is that how you came to Christ? I don't think so. And if you raised your hand and said, yes, this is how I came to Christ, I question that a little bit. No. You came to Christ by reading this book and believing what you read, or you heard the word of the gospel and you came to Christ. Yes. And I'll not forget when I sat in the chaplain's office and he opened the Bible and read the verses of the Gospel to me and I heard the Gospel for the first time. I'd heard it many times before. But then I heard it and I understood that Christ died for my sins according to the Scriptures and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. And it was the hearing of the gospel that led to the believing of the gospel. And so, friends, again, this is the message. It's a simple message, isn't it? And it's given to us by this story in the gospels that Thomas wouldn't believe without seeing. And a week later, Jesus comes a week after Christ is raised from the dead. He comes into that same room and he says to Thomas, don't be unbelieving, but believing. And he gives to Thomas and the other disciples the Holy Spirit so that in turn they can give us this book. In the New Testament, And in the preaching and in the hearing of this record, you and I have the opportunity to believe and to have eternal life. What a privilege that is that God has given to you and to me. So I say simply to you, don't seek extraordinary experiences. Seek God in His Word. Let's pray. Father, perhaps it's too simple a message for us. Yet, it's a message, Father, that you've been pleased to relate to us through your Word so that we would be more fully grounded in you. And so we pray together tonight that we might be individuals who understand that hearing is believing and that it's not necessary for us to seek extraordinary circumstances. but to seek you and your word. Time and time again we've heard this, Father, and yet it needs to be brought home closely to our hearts. And we pray that this might be the case through this particular text in John chapter 20. We pray in the name of Jesus, Amen.