Sunday Sermon - Ta-Daaaah

Today's reading comes from John 20:19-31

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Jesus Appears to Thomas

24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “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.”

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!” 27 Then 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.”

28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

The Purpose of John’s Gospel

30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe[b] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

A Sunday School teacher asked the children in her group what they thought Jesus' first words were when he stepped out of the grave. One young girl jumped up and said "I know, I know" so the teacher asked her to go ahead and tell every one and so the little girl jumped up with her arms outstretched and said "Ta-daaah". While this may not have been entirely accurate, the resurrection of Jesus was a real "Ta-dah" moment.

When you tell someone not to do something because they will get hurt, most of the time they will do it anyway, especially young people. It's how we learn. We learn more from experience than we do from having people tell us.

It wasn't until Jesus appeared to them that the disciples truly believed. Thomas wasn't the only one that doubted. Even though they had seen the risen Lord they still hid in locked rooms for fear of the Jews.

The Christian life is a journey, not a destination. It has its ups and downs. Some people don't "get it" and until they do will never believe. Even John Wesley, who had believed int Christ all his life was known to call out "Lord, help my unbelief".

In Verse 29 Jesus says "Blessed are they that have not seen and yet believe". Those that have seen the Lord go on to do great things in His name. I believe in Jesus and am willing to help spread His message of hope to the world, but I have not yet seen Him so I call out withe Mr Wesley "Lord, help my unbelief".

May God bless you richly this week.

Richard.