Easter Sunday
at Epiphany on
John
The man had come to a detour. The black-on-yellow sign said, “DETOUR, ROAD UNDER REPAIR.” Two months before, he would never have thought twice about that sign. He would have grumbled, but he would have taken the detour. But now the man was sitting behind the wheel of a brand new, four-wheel-drive, high road clearance, sport utility vehicle. To him, the sign wasn't a detour, it was a challenge. He maneuvered past the sign, saying, “Let's see what this thing can do.” A washboard road, no problem; slippery gravel, no sweat. After about twenty-three miles, he came to the end of the road. I mean the end of the road. It stopped at a ravine which dropped about forty feet down and was thirty feet across. With no other choice, he turned around. Approaching the original detour sign, he noticed a hand-painted sign on the back of the first. It read, “WELCOME BACK, DOUBTING THOMAS.”
This sermon is for doubters. It's probably not for hard-core unbelieving doubters
like Robert Ingersoll. In the 1800s, Ingersoll regularly spoke against the Savior
and Scripture. At one of his lectures, he took out his pocket watch and said, "I'll
give God a chance to prove that He exists. I challenge Him to strike me dead within
five minutes!" People waited. Those minutes crawled by. Those in the last seats
said they could hear the ticking of Ingersoll's watch. When the time was up, Ingersoll
smiled and sneeringly said, “You see! There is no God! I am still very much alive!”
That's when a Christian lady stood up and said, “You didn't prove that there is
no God. You just proved that God isn't taking orders from atheists today.” No, this
message will probably not touch hardcore doubters. But then, I don’t think we have
any hardcore doubters who ventured to church with us this morning.
This sermon
is more for the middle-of-the-road, day-to-day, doubters. Though you may never want
to admit it, you have probably had moments when you have wondered, “Is it possible
Christianity is only myth, mist and mirrors?” Have you asked, “Am I a Christian
only because my parents brought me up that way?” For those of you who are confronting
some trouble, trial, or terror that has caused you to question, “Does God care?
Is He real? Is the living Lord Jesus by my side?” This sermon is for you who believe,
yet must fight valiantly against the devil as he whispers words of doubt, disbelief
and distrust into your ears. This sermon is for doubters.
This sermon
is for doubters, because today we meet one of our own – Jesus' disciple, Thomas.
For a good many years, Thomas has carried around the misnomer, “Doubting Thomas.”
It's almost as if “Doubting” was his first name, and “Thomas” his second. Doubting
Thomas is known for being shaky, for being the skeptic among Jesus' followers. People
forget that he was the one who was willing to die in
Let me
tell you about Thomas. Jesus had died and Thomas was mourning. No doubt, he had
heard the reports of an empty tomb. There were the remarks of the women and then
some Emmaus disciples who said they had seen Him. But what rational man could believe
such a thing? Would you? Suppose you had gone to a friend's funeral. Suppose later
that weekend, somebody came up to you and said, “Guess what, I met our friend at
Wal-Mart today and he looks fantastic. And you know, you would never think he had
died a few days ago.”
You wouldn't
believe it, just as you don't believe that Elvis is alive and working at a gas station
in Sturtevant. You don't believe such stories and neither did Thomas. Thomas didn’t
get upset at his friends for telling him a tasteless joke. Thomas simply said, “Guys
believe what you want, but until I see the nail marks and put my hand into His side,
I'm not going to believe it. OK, let's drop it now.”
I'm glad
Thomas said those words. I'm glad because his reaction is so much like ours. I’m
glad because you know that God’s Word always tells the truth, even when it must
show our Bible heroes with all their sins and shortcomings intact. I'm glad Thomas
said those words, because, even in disbelief, he said what it would take to change
his mind. He said, "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." Thomas wasn't
the first to ask for a sign.
Over the
years, others have said what it would take to make them believe. During Jesus' ministry,
the Sadducees and Pharisees asked Jesus to show them signs from heaven. (Matthew
16:1) Today, students say, “Jesus, I'll believe if You let me pass this test I haven't
studied for”. Would-be brides say, “Lord, I'll believe if You let me marry this
guy”. Speeders promise loyalty if the policeman will give them a warning instead
of a ticket. Comedian Woody Allen has said he would believe in God, if God would
send him a sign, such as making a large deposit in his bank account. What people
want is for God to do something so spectacular, so stunning, so shocking, so surprising,
that they are forced to believe. Maybe, to their way of thinking, God should rearrange
the planets and spell out the words, “I am here.” Maybe He should show up at the
United Nations and make a speech that would bring about universal hope and happiness.
Maybe God should just give us all exactly what we want, in the right size, in the
right color, in the right quantity. Maybe, He should … maybe He should make Somebody
rise from the dead.
Or doesn’t
that count?! Thomas wanted a man who was dead, to show Himself to be alive. Thomas
wanted a real, walking, talking, eating, breathing, appearing, touchable ex-dead
person. And what Thomas wanted was just as impossible as all the other things I've
mentioned. We don't expect the stars to be rearranged, and we don't expect Somebody
to rise from the dead. It can't happen, unless of course, that person is God.
And God
is exactly what Jesus was and is. He was the Son of God, born of a woman. Jesus
had entered this world to fulfill the law we had broken; to stand against the temptations
that had tripped us up; to die the death we had deserved and, in so doing, wipe
away the sins of all who believe. These are the things Jesus did. Perfectly. Completely.
Graciously. But that first Easter night, all Thomas knew is that Jesus was dead
and his friends were talking nonsense. That's why Thomas was pretty confident when
he said, “If I'm going to believe, this is what it will take: I need to see Jesus'
nail holes. I need to touch His side.”
Jesus
decided He would answer that challenge. That's because, even though Jesus doesn't
approve of our unbelief, He certainly understands that we sinful humans are – all
of us – weak, wondering doubters. A first-grader in Sunday School hung on every
word of every Bible story. At the end of one of the lessons, the little girl said
to the teacher, “I just love hearing about Jesus, you just never know what He's
going to do next.” She was so right.
The truth
is, God often does what we least expect. That's certainly what Thomas experienced.
Because Jesus is our living, loving Lord, He accepted Thomas' challenge. Understand
that He doesn't do that all the time. Why should He? Quite frankly, if people aren't
going to believe it when He rises from the dead, they're not likely to believe any
other miracle that He does. But this time, for Thomas, for us, Jesus came. Jesus
appeared to Thomas, and the others. He appeared, not with anger, disgust, or disappointment.
With love, Jesus came to Thomas and to you, saying: “Here, check Me out. Get rid
of your doubts. Believe. Trust. No, don't tell Me you didn't mean what you said.
I want you to touch My hands. Here, you can almost put your whole hand into My side
where the soldier's spear sliced into Me. Thomas, check Me out, and believe.” And
Thomas did believe. He fell to his knees and said, “My Lord and my God.” Did he
whisper those words? Was he crying? Did he shout? I don't know, but he said it,
and he shows the way for all who have doubts. The Bible says: “Thomas believed.”
Do you
believe? Thomas saw and believed. We have the testimony of over 500 eyewitnesses
who saw the resurrected Christ and believed. The evidence of the Bible proves Christ’s
resurrection. The change in the lives of Thomas and the other disciples proves it.
At Jesus’ arrest, they ran away and hid. After Easter Sunday though, instead of
denying Christ’s resurrection or renouncing the Savior who died so that all who
believe in Him might live, they were willing to be thrown in prison, clubbed to
death, skinned alive and even run through with a spear. They died because they believed
this truth: Jesus Christ has risen, and now all who believe on Jesus as Savior are
forgiven and given eternal life.
Throughout
the centuries, millions of others have held fast to Christ’s cross and empty tomb.
It was their life, their hope.
Do you believe? If you do, then Christ’s resurrection is your confidence. It is your joy. It is your peace. It is your never-failing assurance.
Do you believe? When the wheels seem
to be coming off in your life and one problem is followed by the next, you can look
to God’s perfect plan that led from the Garden of Eden and the serpent to the serpent
being crushed on
Do you believe? When
you are crying out in pain and confusion, wondering if God even cares about you,
then see that God cared enough to let His Son die for you, then live for you. “He
who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-- how will he not also,
along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Rom
Do you believe? When you confess your sins to God and still feel guilty, then put your finger into the nail holes, put your hand into His side and believe. “The blood of Jesus Christ purifies us from every sin.” (1 John 1:7)
Do you believe? When you have a Christian loved one who is near death because of cancer or you feel your loved one is already gone because of dementia, then see the rolled away tombstone and believe, “Because I live, you also will live.” (John 14:19)
“The resurrection story is a myth.” That's what the high school teacher told his class a few days before what used to be called “Easter vacation” but now is known as “spring break.” One of his students countered, “Sir, I believe Jesus rose.” The teacher, with condescension, countered, “You can believe what you wish, but the resurrection is a scientific impossibility.” Then the instructor went to the Science lab fridge and brought out a raw egg. He announced, “I am going to drop this egg, and gravity will pull it down, and it will break.” Looking at his student, he said, “I propose you pray that God will keep this egg from breaking when it hits the floor.”
The student thought, folded his hands, bowed his head and prayed, “Dear Lord, I pray when the teacher drops the egg, it will break into a hundred pieces and when it does, the teacher will have a heart attack and die. Amen.” The class was in shock. They waited. Then very slowly, the teacher carefully put the egg back into the fridge. “Class dismissed,” he said. The doubter wasn't ready to risk his life on his doubt. Are you?
The resurrection isn’t a myth. It is a glorious reality! The empty tomb isn’t a dead end. It is the way to eternal life! Christianity isn’t for the timid or weak-minded. It is for those who are willing to stand up for their faith, risk everything, and believe!
Whether you are a hardcore doubter or a middle-of-the-road doubter, today we become ex-doubters. Whisper, cry out, shout: “My Lord, and my God!” Amen.