Sermon Notes - John 20:24-31 - Believe - Littleby Baptist Church - January 21, 2024

 1.        Jesus died on the cross.

2.        His body was gone three days later.

3.        Some believed, some did not know what to think.

4.        Then Jesus appeared to His disciples and said, “Peace be with you.”

a.        He was offering His peace over the fear, pain, guilt, and anxiety they were feeling.

b.       A peace that comes from the Hope of forever with Jesus.

c.        A peace that grows out of the Love our God has for us.

d.       A peace that is not dependent on us or our situation.

5.        We are to turn to our God in prayer, but the peace of God is not dependent on us.

a.        It is not based on what we want.

b.       It is not situational in nature.

c.        The peace of God comes from our Lord Jesus.

d.       It is a peace that is beyond our understanding.

e.        Meaning that through our God we will have His peace in the face of those situations that cause us pain, fear, and anxiety.

f.          It is a peace that defies our logic.

6.        A peace that helped the disciples go from fear to joy.

a.        A peace that helps us stand strong regardless of what life throws our way.

7.        Before we get to John 20, let’s flip back to chapter 11.

8.        Lazarus has died and Jesus was talking about going up to Bethany.

9.        This is before the Sign of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.

10.   John 11:11-16

a.        Thomas gets a bad rap for what we are about to read in chapter 20.

b.       Here in chapter 11 Thomas is showing his complete faith in Jesus.

c.        His faith in Jesus was so strong that he was willing to lay down his life to follow Him.

d.       We would like to think that faith like that will never waver.

e.        But we see otherwise in Thomas as we continue in chapter 20.

11.   John 20:24-25

a.        The man who was ready to charge forward in faith.

b.       Yet, He did not believe that Jesus had defeated death.

c.        He went as far as saying that if he does not see Jesus and touch His scars, that he will never believe.

d.       Thomas’ faith took a major hit when Jesus died on that cross.

e.        His faith was clobbered.

f.          He wanted physical evidence of Jesus’ resurrection.

g.        He needed more than what he was being told in order to believe.

12.   I wonder how many of us heard the story of Jesus’ resurrection but needed something more to believe.

a.        I bet we know a lot of people who say that it is hard to believe that Jesus is God or that He really died for us or that He rose from the dead.

b.       They are looking for proof in the pudding.

c.        They need to see it to believe it.

d.       Many of us doubted it at one point or another.

e.        Some, like Thomas, doubt even though they believe Jesus is God.

13.   John 20:26

a.        Jesus appears and this time Thomas was there to witness it.

b.       Most commentaries state that it was believed that Jesus miraculously appeared in the room.

c.        The room was likely locked like it was in His first appearance in verse 19.

d.       In that moment Thomas saw Jesus standing before him.

e.        Witnessed His miraculous power as He appeared.

f.          He heard Jesus’ voice when He stated, “Peace be with you.”

g.        I would expect that the doubt - was quickly fading.

14.   John 20:27

a.        Jesus used Thomas’ words to encourage him to act on his faith.

b.       Challenging Thomas’ statements from the last week.

c.        Jesus ended with ‘Don’t be faithless, but believe.’

d.       Don’t let doubt keep you from believing.

e.        Thomas had expressed belief in Jesus being the one the Father sent.

f.          But he needed to believe in the resurrection of Christ.

g.        He needed to believe that Jesus died for his sins and then rose again giving him new life.

h.        Thomas needed to believe.

15.   Every one of us has been there and we know people who are there now.

a.        Each person needs to come to that point of believing in Jesus and what He has done for us.

b.       We cannot believe for them.

c.        Each person must make that choice themselves.

16.   In Mark 9, we find a man asking for help in freeing his son from demon possession.

a.        The disciples prayed for the boy, but it did not work.

17.   Mark 9:20-24

a.        The man asked Jesus to help his unbelief.

b.       As the author and perfector of our faith, Jesus can help us to believe.

18.   I would say His appearing to Thomas was a way of helping Thomas’ unbelief.

a.        A visual and physical example of what He does for us when we struggle to believe.

19.   John 20:28

a.        Here we have a skeptical man who has been confronted with the evidence of the risen Jesus.

b.       Re-read vs. 28.

c.        John 1:1 – Jesus is God.

d.       John 1:14 – God in the flesh.

e.        With this proclamation, Thomas is confessing that everything Jesus had said was true.

f.          He is proclaiming his faith in Jesus once and for all.

g.        Thomas believes!

h.        There is no longer any doubt.

20.   John 20:29

a.        The first part of the verse is affirmation, that Thomas believes!

b.       The second part probably did not feel too good when Thomas heard these words coming out of Jesus’ mouth.

c.        As much as it may have been a bit of rebuke for Thomas’ lack of faith, it is an encouragement to us.

d.       Those who have not seen Jesus, but hear and read the words of God and believe are blessed.

e.        We who are following Jesus today are blessed!

f.          Reminds me of Jesus’ prayer we talked about a few weeks back.

g.        John 17:20

h.        The These in the ‘not only these’ is in reference to the disciples at the time of Jesus’ death.

i.          All those who believe through the word of the disciples, are those who came to faith through the ministry of the disciples.

j.          That includes us.

k.        Vs. 23 that we may be completely one, in unity.

l.          We are blessed by others in the family of God.

m.     Vs. 26 so that the love of the Father and Christ Himself would be in us.

n.        As people who believe, without physically seeing the resurrected body of Christ we are blessed.

o.        We are blessed by the Love of God being with us.

p.       1 Peter 1:8-9

q.       Through our faith in what we cannot see, we are saved.

r.          Saved through faith in Christ and all that He has done for us.

s.        Faith in Jesus leads to Salvation of our souls.

t.          Praise God!

21.   John 20:30-31

a.        John focused on seven signs, but states that there are many others that he did not include in this letter.

b.       The seven were chosen to help people believe that Jesus, the man who walked among them, is the Son of God.

c.        That He is the Messiah who came to save them.

d.       Signs that showed that Jesus was the one the Father sent.

e.        Turning water into wine showed that Jesus had power over creation.

f.          Healing the royal official’s son for a long distance, showed that Jesus was not limited by what He could touch.

g.        Healing the man at the pool of Bethesda gave physical restoration to let us know that He can restore our relationship to the Father.

h.        Feeding the 5,000 proved that Jesus is more than we need.

                                                                              i.        He wiped away every sin including those we have yet to do.

i.          He showed that He is not bound by earthly limits as He walked on water.

j.          Healing the blind man reminds us that our eyes need to be opened to His truth.

k.        Resurrecting Lazarus proved that Jesus has the power over life and death.

22.   Sign after sign, pointing to Jesus being the Son of God.

23.   Sign after sign, given in hope that people would believe that Jesus was the one that the Father sent.

24.   That we would believe that Jesus is the one and only Son of God, our Lord and our Savior.

25.   John 3:16-18

a.        We are condemned because of the sin in our lives.

b.       Yet, Jesus came to this earth out of love so that He may save us.

c.        Some will believe and will be granted everlasting life with God.

d.       Some will remain condemned because they lack faith.

26.   The only way to be saved, is by believing in Jesus.

a.        If you have not made the choice to follow Jesus, don’t wait.

b.       We don’t know when our time will be up.

c.        Make the choice to follow Jesus while you still can.

d.       If that is you, I would love to show you the way.