Revealing Reality
Download MP3If you would, just bow as I read this, for this this verse from first John chapter 5. You don't have to look it up. It's very brief, but I just like to begin with this word. And let us all listen very carefully. This is the word of our lord.
Collin Hansen:First John chapter 5 verse 20. And we know that the son of God has come, and has given us understanding. So that we may know Him who is true. And we are in Him who is true. In His son, Jesus Christ, He is the true God and eternal life.
Collin Hansen:Pray with me. Almighty God, we ask that in this time you would speak to us. I might have, neat things to say or even clever things, but father, those things do not bring life. You do. And we recognize that and we recognize our need for that.
Collin Hansen:So as we are desperate to hear from you, father, please, for your own glory and name, speak to us. We pray these things in the strong name of Christ. Amen. I do my best thinking when I'm driving. I do not, however, do my best driving when I'm thinking.
Collin Hansen:I've ended up in many a dead end cul de sac as I think and drive. I grew up in Paducah, Kentucky in this little suburb called Hendren, which is a suburb of Loanoak, which has 450 people. But I would drive around my small town, and I would listen to music, and I would think. And that that followed me when I went to Murray State in Murray, Kentucky. A little bit more than 400 people, but not not much.
Collin Hansen:But lots of farmland, and these little two lanes would split the farmland, and I would just drive and drive and think. And usually what I would be thinking about had something to do with my faith and my doubts. We are celebrating, the 2nd Sunday after Easter, and this is sometimes known as Saint Thomas Sunday. And we are gonna be spending tonight looking at this encounter between Thomas and the risen lord. But I would drive around and I would think about my doubts.
Collin Hansen:I would think about my faith. And I would wonder, is this faith a faith that I hold, or do I hold this because of my friends, because of my family, because I'm in the south, although neutral state, Kentucky. Always like to point that out. But but is it is it because of this American Christianity? Is it because of that, or is it because I believe these things to be true?
Collin Hansen:And so I would drive, and I would doubt. And so when we when we go and and enter into this story, into this story in John 20, this climax of John's gospel, I think that there are a couple of definitions that we need to have, some things kind of outlined before we enter in. And so I want to give 3 definitions, essentially, and then talk about how one of them doesn't exist. The first thing would be to divine define a believer. A believer is is a person who has received the gift of faith and grace from God on the account of the work accomplished by his son, Jesus Christ, on the cross and in his resurrection.
Collin Hansen:This gift of grace was received in a believing trust that Christ's sacrifice was and is sufficient for the forgiveness of sins, and the gift of life forever with a triune god, father, son, and spirit. That is a believer. Then there is the nonbeliever. Now this is a person that does not see any relevance to this issue whatsoever. They do not care.
Collin Hansen:It is not important to them. They are a non believer. And then the third thing, an unbeliever. An unbeliever has heard the message of the gospel and has been exposed to the truth of Christ's sacrifice and resurrection and rejects it with a refusal to believe. An unbeliever does not believe in the risen lord.
Collin Hansen:Now all of these can doubt. Everyone can doubt. A believer can doubt. An unbeliever can doubt. Tim Keller in his book, Reason for God, does an amazing introduction when it comes to doubt.
Collin Hansen:Talking about doubt is a belief. It's an alternate belief, and that's why I would say that the non believer does not really exist, Because the non believer is the person that says, I don't care about this. I I have nothing to do with this. That is a belief. And so what we're going to be talking about tonight is not necessarily doubt.
Collin Hansen:We're gonna be talking about unbelief. You see, I I have doubts all the time. I've had doubts since being a minister. I've I had doubts all through growing up. I've driven around very, very angry and doubting.
Collin Hansen:And so if you are here and you are you are in a season of doubt, do you not think that that that means that you are an unbeliever? Although, unbelievers do doubt. And so now that we have some of these things, laid out, with doubt, we have doubt that is questioning, and then we have rejecting. And in Thomas's story, Thomas's story is more than just doubt. It is about unbelief.
Collin Hansen:See, sometimes doubt can be a very good thing because that means we are engaging in these issues. We see that it is relevant and it matters, and we need to make up our minds about things. Doubt can be an element that drives us through the power of the spirit to faith. But tonight, as we look at the apostle Thomas, we can no longer call him doubting Thomas, but perhaps more fittingly, we will refer to him as unbelieving Thomas. And so if you would turn with me to chapter 20 in the gospel of John, we will be, we will be beginning with verse 24.
Collin Hansen:Gospel of John chapter 24. It's the 4th gospel. You find Matthew, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and we'll be towards the end of John in chapter 20, starting with verse 24. This is the third part of John's gospel. There are lots of different ways we can break the gospels down and look at different things, but, with the synoptic gospels, that's easy, You know, we we see all of these, similar stories being told between Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
Collin Hansen:But with John, we have a very different style, a different approach, and so he's gone through 3 different sections. And this section, this third part of John begins with John 11. It begins with Lazarus being raised from the dead, and and what's interesting is that, in this third part, Thomas enters in for the first time. It's when they're saying, we're Jesus says, we're going back to Jerusalem. I'm I'm going to go heal Lazarus.
Collin Hansen:I'm gonna bring him from the grave. And the disciples say, you do know that's where they want to kill you. And he says, I know. And he is persistent, and it is Thomas that speaks up and says the words that I think are boldly said, come, let us go that we might die with him. Now, you could say that he's rejecting what Jesus had said so far, and it's just like, okay, Jesus is saying that, you know, that that's not going to happen, and I think it is, and so he's being very pessimistic, but at least he's courageous enough to speak up.
Collin Hansen:And John notes that, and so this beginning, of the 3rd section in John 11, carried out to the end of the gospel, begins with these words of Thomas. And so here we are in chapter 20. Like Joel talked about last week with the resurrection story with Mary, the disciples are gathered together still in Jerusalem, and it is Sunday evening. Sunday evening, Easter evening. And, the disciples are in a locked room because they fear for their own lives.
Collin Hansen:And as they are in this room, indoors locked in, Jesus appears to them. And he says to them, peace be with you. And it was an amazing moment. John talks about how the disciples were glad to see him, but Thomas was not there. Thomas wasn't with them.
Collin Hansen:Verse 24 says, now Thomas, 1 of the 12 called the twin, was not with them when Jesus came. Thomas was out. Thomas was out thinking that Jesus was dead. He was not there, and we can't see this as an accident or bad luck for Thomas or even worse, bad timing for Jesus. Rather, according to god's sovereignty, Thomas was not there.
Collin Hansen:And as soon as he returns, in verse 25, as soon as he returns, the disciples rush to tell him. Verse 25, so the other disciples told him, we have seen the lord. With clarity, and compassion, and excitement, the disciples tell him the news. They did not try to develop an attractive environment for him. In hopes of wooing Thomas.
Collin Hansen:They did not trick him into a pizza party, or a skate park, or hassle him at the mall. They loved their friend. They loved their brother, Thomas, and they rushed to tell him about the reality. Not just suggest a preferred ideology, but the reality of the risen lord. The disciples told him, we have seen the lord, and Thomas refuses to believe.
Collin Hansen:Never, he says. Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe. This is emphatic. He's not just wondering about this news and saying, I wonder if it's true. Turning the question over in his heart like a person who doubts.
Collin Hansen:He is rejecting this truth outright, And it's it's very offensive, on 2 different levels, really. The the first the first offensive thing is that he's rejecting all of the prophecy that Jesus has spoken concerning his death and resurrection. We looked at a lot of those verses last week where Jesus is is saying that he will be killed and he will rise again, and in Thomas rejecting the news from the disciples, he's rejecting the prophecy, the words of the Lord. And then something that that kind of slips under the radar here, the second thing is he's rejecting the words of his friends. He's rejecting the testimony of his friends.
Collin Hansen:He's rejecting the credibility of his friends. He is calling them liars, that what they have experienced or say that they have experienced, they have not. This is so offensive. At the dawn of the Enlightenment, right around 17th century or so, painters really enjoyed painting this scene. They called it the incredulity of Thomas, not the the doubt of Thomas, but the incredulity that that he was rejecting belief.
Collin Hansen:He was refusing belief. And they they depicted the scene because, at a time where facts were becoming so important, here was the one who got the facts. And I think that that misses the point of the story, but at least it recognizes his rejection of the truth. Probably the most, famous one is the, Caravaggos. If you're a fan of Lost, it was in a couple episodes ago.
Collin Hansen:Benjamin Linus points it points it out, and he he talks about how, you know, this this doubter, and and he he needs proof, and he gets the proof, and so now he's this man of faith, and because he got this hard fast evidence. But this picture has Thomas with this inquisitive look on his face, poking his finger into the side of Christ, where he sees his rejections refuted. So he rejects the words of Christ and he rejects his friends. And then in verse 26, 26, a week goes by. And that's why this is known as Saint Thomas Sunday, because it is exactly the the Sunday after Easter, tonight in the evening time, when a week has gone by and Thomas is with them now I wanna I wanna pause here for a second and point something out.
Collin Hansen:I think this is pretty incredible, and and for as many times that I've heard this story, I've always, moved past this point. An entire week goes by, and Thomas is with the disciples, and the disciples are with Thomas. A week of rejecting their words, calling them liars, and he remains with them, and they remain with him. I mean, can you imagine what this week was like as as they they would go over the story again and again, trying to convince him, and he says no over and over. This but Thomas doesn't leave the disciples and the disciples don't leave Thomas.
Collin Hansen:11 guys, one calling the 10 liars. The all the the the the example that I think of in my mind is like if you were dating someone, and they invited you to go on vacation with their family, and the first night of the week long vacation, they break up with you. And then you spend the entire week stuck with these people. I mean, I that has happened. Thankfully not to me, but it has happened to people.
Collin Hansen:And that that tension for a week in this small space, because they're fearing for their lives. They're not just like blowing off steam walking around the neighborhood. They're stuck locked in this room waiting to go back home. And here they are. But they don't leave one another.
Collin Hansen:And in verse 26, although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, peace be with you. And then he said to Thomas, put your finger here. See my hands, and put out your hand and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe. He speaks directly to the words that Thomas used to reject this truth.
Collin Hansen:He knew the doubt that had become unbelief. He knew what it was, and he spoke directly to it and called Thomas by name. And then he says to him, do not disbelieve, but believe. Do not disbelieve, but believe. This is not a boy asking a girl to dance.
Collin Hansen:This is not a guy getting up enough courage to walk to the back wall of the gymnasium and say, would you like to dance? This is the sovereign creator Lord calling belief into the unbeliever. This is vital for us to understand what's happening here. This is an imperative call to Thomas. Do not go on in your disbelieving, but believe.
Collin Hansen:This is the message of the risen lord made effective by the risen lord. See, the the the disciples had done that legwork, the evangelism. They had done it. They had spoken the word of the lord to Thomas, yielding zero results. And this is someone that has all the evidence ready for them, that that he he had seen Lazarus pulled out of the grave.
Collin Hansen:He was there at the table when when Jesus was describing his death and his resurrection. He had all the evidence ready, yet he went on unbelieving. But it was not until the message of Christ was made effective by Christ Himself. 28, Thomas answers, my lord and my god. My lord and my god.
Collin Hansen:Thomas makes his own that Jesus is lord. The disciples had said, we have seen the lord, and Thomas now takes this message to be his own. Recognizing the the humanity of Jesus as the Messiah. And he also says that Jesus is god. Jesus had said this to him in John 14.
Collin Hansen:We have an exam we we have the scene where he says to him, if you have if you have seen me, if you've known me, you have known the father. My lord and my god. Both the humanity and the divinity recognized. Confessing one alone misses the reality of the risen lord, but Thomas sees them both. And then Jesus said to him, have you believed because you have seen me?
Collin Hansen:Verse 29. Blessed are those who have not seen, yet have believed. See, facts facts do not spark the fire of faith. Christ himself does that by revelation. Facts aid to fuel and fan the fire of faith.
Collin Hansen:But lighting the fire is revelation. These facts, they fuel it, and they grow it and grow our faith through the power of the spirit, grow the faith. But we are not looking for the gaining and acquisition of facts. Although there are plenty out there to fuel this faith, Faith comes from the risen lord. And so in verse 30, we get the point of the entire book of John.
Collin Hansen:Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written so that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in his name. The point is that you would see that he is lord and god just like Thomas. That is why this is the climax of the entire book. It is all leading up to this point, my lord and my god, that Thomas's confession would be your confession, and that you would not go on unbelieving but believing. 27 times in, the gospel of John are the references, direct references to Jesus being Lord and God.
Collin Hansen:And this is a, this is a drumbeat that carries throughout the gospel, and it is the climactic point. The confession of Thomas, my lord and my God. In closing, I want to address both the unbeliever and the believer. And this is where it gets tricky. To the unbeliever, I apologize for how often believers do not remain with you.
Collin Hansen:Believers, we we often treat you, as Thomas Merton put it, like a like a physician treats a patient. We wait for you to stop talking so we can give you the answers. We have treated you not like a person in need of the risen lord, but as a project. And for this, I apologize. However, as believers, we have seen the risen lord.
Collin Hansen:He has conquered the grave and ransomed many by the mercy of god for the forgiveness of sin. And we do not simply seek your agreement in our argument, but we seek that god would reveal himself to you and cast out all fear and doubt. And to the believer, I think there are three points of application that we that we have to put into action in light of this scene with Thomas. First thing, the disciples shared the good news with Thomas, and we are called and commanded to share the news of the risen lord, Clearly, honestly. They went to him, their friend, to declare the risen lord.
Collin Hansen:The second thing is that we the, the disciples remained with Thomas and he remained with them. You are called to love the unbeliever and remain with them. I'm sure you can probably think about someone in your life, the unbeliever, the one that has rejected the things that you have said, that you feel such relief when you break that relationship. When you say, I do not have to email them anymore, I've done my part. Because that was proclaiming the word, I've done my part, now it is up to the Lord.
Collin Hansen:You are not finished with your part until you remain with them. Remain with them. Though they might call you a liar and a mad person, you remain with them. I had a friend that I called once a month for 5 years without a return phone call. Remain with them.
Collin Hansen:The second thing or the the third thing here. It is Christ alone that makes the message of the good news transformative. You must look only to Christ to reveal himself, not for us to argue someone into belief. In Luke, 24 on the Emmaus Road, Jesus himself drew near, and that is when the message of the risen Lord is made effective by the risen lord. And sometimes when it comes to application, I think that what enlisting the dangers of these things, what what is the danger of not doing these things, sometimes we can gain a better understanding, because more often than not, we're not doing these things, and we can we can hear the resonating tone by hearing the dangers if we don't.
Collin Hansen:I know that that that works best for me. So the dangers. The first one, concerning the call to share, the command to share. If we reject Jesus' command to share, we deny him as our lord and our god. For, in in Romans 7, Paul talks about the servant does what the master calls him to, and whoever you are obeying is your master.
Collin Hansen:And so our silence is rejecting the lord. 2, rejecting the unbeliever and refusing to remain. This comes from arrogance. The only difference between the believer and the unbeliever is that Christ himself has drawn near and revealed himself, called them out. Do not go on unbelieving, but believe.
Collin Hansen:It is not because we are more moral, because we have better families, better education, better finances, health. You you see you see these things? It is not because we have these things. It is because we have revelation from Christ himself. If we start putting our stock in the things that we have, then we begin to be so arrogant and prideful, and we do not walk humbly with our lord, seeing that it is his gift of faith and grace that believe that brings us to being a believer.
Collin Hansen:We are no more faithful, virtuous, or moral, nor as the world might call us gullible, foolish, or weak. Brother god himself has revealed his reality to us. Remaining is about a relationship, not a result. There's, this really bad movie called death to Smoochy. I do own it on, DVD.
Collin Hansen:Do not watch it. There's no need. But there's a scene. It's this it's this kinda like Barney like character, and, and he but he's like a rhinoceros, and he has a guitar, and he sings songs. Anyway, the this he gets a cable show, and there's this guy who's marketing it and all this stuff, and I think it's John Stewart.
Collin Hansen:So all all this stuff is happening, and and Edward Norton, the guy who dresses up in the rhino costume, he says, you don't even see children anymore. You see wallets with pigtails. And sometimes we don't see people any anymore. We see projects. You know, we we just see that thing that we need to get we're gonna swoop in there and save them, and that that takes us to this third caution.
Collin Hansen:We all want to be Superman. We all think that the world needs me. The savior they are in need of is me. I will hold them up. I will be there, and I will turn things around for them.
Collin Hansen:We spend our time and resources and our ability to persuade unbelievers into belief, but belief in what? Belief into our argument, belief into our cleverness. See, this fuels our own arrogant pride in thinking that if we perform well enough, we will win the soul, rather than humbly plead with god to reveal himself to the unbeliever and admit our complete inability to save another person. So what if we do this? To the believers, what if we do this?
Collin Hansen:What if we recognized that the difference between the believer and the unbeliever is the desperate, desperate need for revelation. That we will be faithful to preach the word and proclaim it. That we would remain with the unbeliever throughout the duration of their unbelieving. In steadfast prayer, that god would reveal himself and cast out all fear and doubt. I think that if we did that, our worship, our perspective, our evangelism, our church would look more like Christ.
Collin Hansen:And so that is, that is my my charge to you. And that doubt, it's there. But but we are called as believers to remain faithful to the unbelievers, seeking after the power of Christ to take the message of the risen Lord and make it effective by the risen Lord. Will you pray with me? Father, we recognize and, father, we desire to recognize much more greatly the power of your revelation.
Collin Hansen:Father, guard our our hearts from the pride of thinking that people need us rather than your son. Teach us what it means to remain, to love and care for the unbeliever. And teach us what it means to praise and worship the risen Lord. And father we, continue to worship in this time. May you be honored and glorified with the words of our mouths, and the words of our hearts.
Collin Hansen:We pray this in the name of Christ. Amen.
