INTRODUCTION:

A. The "same day" is the day of the resurrection. This is the only day mentioned by number in the New Testament and is always the day of the resurrection, the Lord's Day and the day that all believers are expected by God to set aside for worship and support of the gospel. It is not assumed in the Holy Scriptures that anyone would ever miss the gathering of believers on this day of resurrection and redemption! This is the day the Lord chooses to meet with believers, Hebrews 10:25.

B. It was the day the Lord revealed His resurrected life to Mary Magdalene and stated He had not ascended yet to the Father to present Himself as the sacrificial offering for sin.

C. The disciples trusted the barred doors for protection more than the Lord of creation power. There were ten of the disciples as well as others in this private meeting, Luke 24:33. The disciples first meeting was because of fear, our meetings are because of faith.

D. To assure and confirm His faith in them, He appeared personally at their secret meeting.

E. Seeing Him in resurrected life was better than hearing that He had raised by way of a second-handed messenger. Christian living is designed to be first-handed experiences with the Lord.

F. Jesus appeared in the room with the disciples. It is not said that He walked through closed doors, but it does seem to be the sense of the text. Apparently the resurrected body can still be physical and yet not limited to physical laws.

G. The first message of the risen Lord was one of peace not shame, forgiveness not condemnation and acceptance not rejection. This is special since Peter had denied Him and they had all forsaken Him!

H. It is the story of church history that believers are more faithful in attending church when they have had to meet in secret caves and hiding places than those who meet freely in nice facilities.

I. Peace with God is possible, Romans 5:1

II. SEEING AND BELIEVING, 20:20

A. Closed doors cannot keep out the one who just rose from the tomb. Resurrected bodies will not be limited to mortal laws.

B. The death and life of Christ is the base for our faith and our faith is the base for peace with God.

C. Seeing is not always believing, but believing makes spiritual understanding possible, Hebrews 11:1-6. In fact, God will not make Himself or His plans knowable without faith. It is the only way to please Him.

D. Faith is not blind wishful thinking, but rather trusting the trustworthiness of God as He has revealed Himself in Holy Scriptures.

E. The believers were glad when they knew for sure that Christ was no longer dead. Glad implies they were lifted above the circumstances of fear to a high level of faith.

G. We are not told how the Lord shielded His glory on His public appearances, but apparently He did. Nothing is said about the effects of His glory as occurred during the transfiguration.

III. PEACE AND PROVIDENCE, 20:21

A. Everything in my life argues that Jesus is still replacing fear with peace and with this peace, bringing new life to those who have failed.

B. The only question that needs to be settled today, in anyone's life,

Is the same question the disciples settled -- was Jesus now alive in the same body that many had seen nailed to the cross and placed in a tomb?

C. Peace implies that the war between God and man can be over by Christ's substitutionary payment for sin. Peace also implies that one has sufficient resources. With a forgiven life also comes the same power demonstrated at the resurrection to enable the believer to successfully serve the Lord. This power is usable through a submitted life of faith, Philippians 3:10.

D. John uses the "as" and "so" conditions in his writings. Here he uses it to commission believers to faithful living and worldwide conversions. The believer is expected to be as faithful to Christ as Christ was to God the Father.

E. Jesus identified Himself by showing the wounds to His hands and to His side. Jesus eternally reveals Himself through His hands and His heart, 16:22.

IV. HOLY SPIRIT AND POWER, 20:22-23

A. Jesus offered the Holy Spirit to the disciples as if it is a down payment on what would follow at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit accompanies the commissioning for service.

B. The Holy Spirit is the person of the Godhood that supplies the energy for creation, life and eternal life. A believer is really powerless to produce anything spiritual without the life giving work of the Holy Spirit. The believers were to wait for this power before attempting anything for God, Acts 1:8; Luke 24:49.

C. The concept of disciples forgiving sin is used only here. The text is related to the commission to present the gospel of God's grace through the finished payment of Christ. Clearly, the rest of the scriptures make it clear that the message rather than the messenger contains the forgiving grace. However, great error has been attached to this text in the form of confession to earthly priests, their ability to forgive or refuse to forgive and the theology that makes the church the receptor and dispenser of grace rather than God Himself.

D. Even if in the strictest sense, the original disciples were given the apostolic power to forgive and judge individuals (Ananias, Sapphira, and Elymas), there is no indication that it continued beyond the early days of the church and no thinking person would want such powers and the responsibilities that would accompany it! Human fallibility often perverts the gospel.

E. True forgiveness and God's grace must be maintained on the strictest loyalty to divine doctrine to have eternal life giving capacity.

A. You never know what a person may miss by skipping church. Thomas missed seeing Christ in all His resurrected glory.

B. We still know about Thomas as the "doubting disciple" and the "disciple that skipped the very first meeting of believers on the first Lord's Day."

C. Thomas earlier had said he would "die" with Christ, 11:16, but later didn't understand that Christ was the way to God, 14:5.

A. It is true that the Lord appeared eight days later to Thomas, but it is also true that God is not playing an eternal "do over" game with absentee believers who skip church when not providentially hindered.

B. Thomas' reasons for rejecting Christ were the very reason He appeared the first time, namely, so they could see His hands and side and believe in the physical resurrection of Christ from the tomb.

C. When Thomas was sure of the resurrection, peace came to him at the same time doubt left.

D. The body of Jesus was not recreated, but resurrected.

E. Intellectual doubts still keep people from God. The answer to their doubt is show the evidence of Christ's power, "the blind see", "the deaf hear", the hungry were fed, the storms were stilled, etc., the body rose again!

F. Jesus appeared again on the second Lord's Day following His resurrection. On the eighth day later would again be the first day of the week.

G. Notice that Thomas made an open and eternal confession of his unquestioned faith in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.

VII. BELIEVING AND BEING BLESSED, 20:29

A. Christ acknowledged Thomas' belief, but also identified that it was a result of seeing in order to believe. This is not the greatest kind of faith.

B. Faith today is believing even when the supportive evidence is not physically available. It is believing that God will always keep His word.

C. Faith for us today is based on revelation, inspiration as well as observation of factual information and experiences.

D. Jesus made it clear that Thomas would not have believed without seeing Christ in His resurrected body.

E. Faith in the Old Testament as well as now is based on a greater belief than observation. It believes God's words will and must always be true and thus trusted.

F. Thomas made an open profession of his faith and God expects the same today.

GAA/April 30,2006