John 20:30

John 20:30 says, "Father, we thank you that you have been so good to us. You have given us life and that more abundantly. As we stand in your presence this morning, rejoicing in the life that you have given, I pray, Lord, that you would help us to fix our hearts and our minds upon you, upon your word. Your word that you have exalted above your name. Lord, that you would speak to us. God, that you would give us insight into this passage and that you would continue to transform us by the renewing of our minds, that you would continue to sanctify us by the washing of the water of the word. For we ask it in your awesome and powerful name. Amen."

You can be seated.

We read here that many other signs did Jesus in the presence of his disciples that were not written in this book. But John, the author of this Gospel, wrote this book for a purpose and with a plan. He says, "These signs, these things that I've spoken to you of here, they were written to the intent that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah, the one who came to fulfill all the prophecies of the Old Testament. He is the Christ, but not only is he the anointed one, he is the very Son of God."

These works that he did have been written that you might believe that, and that by believing, you would have life through his name. The Gospel of John is filled with this idea, this word belief. The Greek word "pisteo," which means believe or is translated in our Bibles as belief, is seen 98 times in the Gospel of John. Quite obviously, in these 21 chapters, John is seeking to bring us to the place of placing our faith in Jesus Christ to the end that we would receive life.

That life that we began to speak about almost more than a year ago, when we started John chapter 1, is significant. We read there, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was nothing made that was made. In him, in Christ, was life, and that life was the light of men."

There was a man sent from God whose name was John, and he came for a witness to bear witness of the light, that all men through him might believe. In the first seven verses of this Gospel, John focuses our attention on the life that is found in Jesus Christ and the way that you and I can receive that life by faith. It is not by works of the law that you and I could do, but by faith. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. These things are written that you might believe.

John mentions that many other works did Jesus in the presence of his disciples during that three to three and a half year period that Jesus ministered here on earth, in the region of Jerusalem, around Judea and Samaria, and up in Galilee. He performed a multitude of miracles. Constantly, his ministry was focused on healing the sick, casting demons out of those who were possessed, and even raising the dead. He walked on water and fed the multitude. So many different things are given in the four Gospels, but in this Gospel, the Gospel of John, there are only seven signs, only seven miracles that are displayed.

John had a purpose when he wrote this, and he only mentions seven miracles. I want to take a minute, just as we start this morning, to look at the seven miracles that Jesus did here in the Gospel of John. In John chapter 2, Jesus went up to Cana of Galilee, and there he was at a wedding feast. As he was at this wedding feast, Mary, his mother, came to him and told him that they had no wine. Jesus answered her in verse 4, saying, "Woman, what have I to do with thee? My hour has not yet come."

Now, if I talked like that to my mom, I don't know what would happen; it wouldn't be good. However, when we look through the Gospels, we see that this was a common way that a Jewish man would interact with a woman.

We see this in John chapter 4, when He met the woman at the well. He also calls her "woman." This was a common way to interact, and there is no disrespect here. He says to her, "What have I to do with thee? My hour has not yet come." It would seem, when Jesus first talked with His mother there, that He wasn't going to fulfill her request. Yet, she, by faith, says to the servants that were standing there, "Whatever He tells you to do, do it." I think that's a good word from Mary: whatever He tells you to do, do it.

There were six water pots of stone there, after the manner of the purification of the Jews. Jesus said to those servants, "Fill these water pots with water." These earthen vessels, stone pots, were for the purification of the Jews; they were for cleaning. Therefore, those pots were dirty and, in the eyes of the Jews, unclean—unclean earthen vessels. Yet, Jesus says, "Fill these water pots with water." So they did. After they had filled them with water, He said in verse 8 of John chapter 2, "Draw out some of that water and take it to the governor of the feast. Take it to the master of ceremonies."

Now, that is a step of faith. Those water pots are unclean, and here Jesus tells these servants to take some of that water and carry it to the master of ceremonies. When he drank of that water, he found that it was no longer water; it had been changed to wine, and it was the best wine he had ever tasted. Jesus takes earthen, unclean vessels, pours into them water, and changes that which is ordinary into that which is extraordinary. This is a beautiful picture of what Christ has done in my life, what Christ has done in your life, or desires to do, as we submit ourselves to Him, just as the servants did that day.

The second miracle that we find Jesus performs here in the Gospel of John is found in John chapter 4. After Jesus had gone down to Jerusalem and spent some time ministering in Samaria, He moves back into the region of Galilee. There, He is met by a wealthy ruler, a high official of the city of Capernaum. This man's son was sick, and he came to Jesus seeking healing, and Jesus healed his son.

In John chapter 5, Jesus returned to Jerusalem during one of the feasts, and as He came into the city through the Sheep Gate,

Just a little bit north of the East Gate, near the Temple Mount, Jesus went to a place called the Pool of Bethesda. There, at the Pool of Bethesda, were five covered patio areas where many sick people would go and lay. They would look at the waters in the Pool of Bethesda because there was a fable among the Jews that at a certain time, an angel would come down from heaven and stir the waters. The first one to get in would be healed of whatever sickness he had.

Picture that scene. We've talked about this before, but it is one of the most awkward pictures in the Bible. All these sick, blind, lame, and maimed people were waiting for the moving of the waters. I find it very interesting that there are many people in the world today, in the body of Christ, in the church, who are also waiting for the moving of the waters. They are praying for revival, hoping for God to move, and looking for God to do something. However, they often do not recognize that God is always working. He is always doing great and awesome works.

Here were all these lame and sick people surrounding the waters of the Pool of Bethesda, and yet the fountain of living waters, Jesus the Christ, was outside of the Pool of Bethesda, healing and preaching the gospel. There was a man at the Pool of Bethesda who had been lame for 38 years, longer than Jesus had been alive. He was found waiting for the moving of the waters when Jesus came to him and asked him a very interesting question in John 5:6: "Do you desire to be made whole?"

The man probably could have been a little upset at that question and said, "Why do you think I'm here?" Instead, he focused on his limitations and replied, "Sir, I have no one to help me down into the water, and when the water is disrupted, I can't get there fast enough. Somebody always gets to the water before me."

Jesus then said to him in verse 8, "Rise, take up your bed, and walk." This was His third miracle in the Gospel of John, as He healed that lame man at the Pool of Bethesda.

In John chapter 6, we read that Jesus was in the wilderness, and multitudes came to Him. He preached to them all day long. You might sometimes think that my messages are long, but He preached to them all day long. As evening approached, nobody had had a chance to eat anything that day.

And so Jesus said to his disciples, "Where shall we buy bread that these people may eat?" One of his disciples replied, "Even if we had 200 denarii, we wouldn't have enough bread sufficient to feed these people." But Jesus told his disciples to make the people sit down. Someone had given them five barley loaves and a couple of fish. Jesus took these, prayed, blessed them, and gave them to his disciples, who distributed the food. That day, 5,000 were fed.

In that same chapter, in John chapter 6, right after Jesus had fed the multitudes and sent them away, he told his disciples to get into the boat and go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. They got into the boat, and he went up on the mountaintop to pray. There is a great example we see in Christ and the Gospels: every single time he was in the midst of the multitudes, he preached the Gospel, and every time he was alone, he was in prayer. For you and I, we need to be those who are constant, in season and out of season, preaching the Gospel to those we come in contact with. When we are in that place of solitude, by ourselves, we should be seeking the Lord and following Him, just as Jesus laid the example.

Meanwhile, his disciples were on the Sea of Galilee when a great storm arose. We know that at least four of those disciples were fishermen: Peter and his brother Andrew, and James and John. When that storm came up, I have a feeling that Peter on that boat was probably saying, "Don't worry, guys, I got this under control. I know this lake, I know this sea; we're fine." But then the storm stretched into the late hours of the night. At the third watch of the night, Jesus came walking to them on the waters. This was his fifth miracle, Jesus walking on the waters after feeding the 5,000.

In John chapter 9, Jesus returned to Jerusalem, where he was confronted by a man who was born blind. He gave that blind man sight. Then, perhaps one of the grandest of his miracles in the Gospel of John, Jesus in John chapter 11 went up to Bethany. He had been ministering in the region of Judea, outside of Jerusalem, down to the south towards the Dead Sea. Word came to him that one of his friends, Lazarus, was sick, even unto death. Lazarus was a very close friend of Jesus and his ministry.

Just about every time we see Jesus go up to Jerusalem, he was staying in Bethany, probably at the house of Lazarus. Lazarus had two sisters, Mary and Martha, and they had sent him word that Lazarus was near death. However, Jesus tarried in Judea for a couple of days, three days, and then he started to move up to Jerusalem, up to Bethany. When he got there, he was met by Lazarus's sister, Martha, who said to him, "If you had only been here, my brother would not have died."

Well, you know the story. Jesus went on to raise Lazarus from the dead there in Bethany on that day. As he stood before the tomb, he said, "Lazarus, come forth." The Gospel of John is constructed around these seven signs, these seven miracles that Jesus performed. John tells us in John 20:31 that these signs are written to the intent that you might believe, and that by believing, you might have life through his name.

But what does he say that you're to believe? Believe that Jesus is the Christ, that he is the Messiah, the Son of God. It is important to note that the miracles Jesus performed were not enough to prove that he was the Son of God, because there were others who performed miracles in the past, in the Old Testament, and they were not the Messiah; they were not the Son of God.

How is it that John could say these miracles are meant for you to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God? As I have said many times while going through the Gospel of John over the last year and a half, the miracles of Jesus were to substantiate the message of Jesus. The miracles were to prove that the message was true.

So, what is the message presented in the Gospel of John? Not only does the Gospel of John surround seven signs that Jesus did, but it also includes seven statements that Jesus made. We call them the seven "I am" statements of the Gospel of John. In John 6, after he had fed the multitudes, we read in John 6:35 that Jesus says, "I am the bread of life." In John 8:12, he says, "I am the light of the world." In John 10:7 and 9, Jesus says, "I am the door," or "I am the gate for the sheep." Also, in John 10:11 and 14, Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd."

In John chapter 11, just before He raised Lazarus from the dead, He said to Martha, when she questioned Him, "If you had only been here, my brother would not have died." He replied, "I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"

The sixth "I am" statement comes in John chapter 14, after one of His disciples, Thomas, says to Him, "Lord, we don't know the way." Jesus responded, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." Then, in John chapter 15, He told His disciples, "I am the true vine."

Seven times we see Jesus in this Gospel say, "I am," which is a reference to the great "I am" in Exodus chapter 3, when Moses asked God, "Who shall I tell them in Egypt? Who shall I tell them sent me?" God replied, "Tell them I am sent you." The Jews understood very clearly that Jesus was referring to that name for God when He said, "I am the bread of life," "I am the light of the world," "the door," "the good shepherd," "the way," "the truth," "the life," "the resurrection and the life," and "the true vine."

Several times in the Gospels, including the Gospel of John, we see that the Jews took up stones to kill Him when He said, "I am," most specifically when He declared, "Before Abraham was, I am."

Jesus declares Himself to be the Christ, the Son of God, and the Messiah in this book. The miracles that Jesus performed were to substantiate the message that He gave. John tells us in John 20:31, "These are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you might have life through His name."

The purpose of the message is to bring people to faith. It is to bring people to the point of placing their faith in Jesus Christ. That is the most important thing that you and I, as Christians, could do in our interaction with unbelievers: to bring them to the place, by the preaching of the Gospel, where they place their faith in Jesus Christ. It is by faith that we live. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

You can have the best apologetic. You can have one of the best defenses of the faith. You can interact with someone who calls themselves an atheist or an agnostic. You can use all kinds of philosophical methods to defend the faith. You can use the ontological argument, the teleological argument, the cosmological argument, and go down the list of all the arguments. But at the end of the day, they have to take a step of faith if they're going to receive Christ Jesus as Lord and become the children of God.

The purpose of the message of the preaching of the gospel is to bring people to the point of faith. In this chapter, John chapter 20, we see four different people pictured, four different groups pictured, and the way that they received the knowledge of the truth and what it did in their lives.

The first ones that we see as we get to John chapter 20, verse 1, are Mary Magdalene. It says, "The first day of the week came Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the tomb, and she saw the stone taken away from the tomb." It wasn't just rolled away; it was actually removed. She ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved. She said unto them, "They have taken away the Lord."

Mary came to the tomb early that day, and when she found it with the other ladies that were with her, she saw that the tomb had been opened, the stone was taken away, and the body of the Lord was not there. Upon seeing this, she wrongly interpreted what she saw.

Next, we read of James and John, and we considered them a few weeks ago. They ran to the tomb, and when they got there, it says that John stooped down and looked in. He clearly saw what was there; it was like he took a snapshot and recognized that the body of Christ was gone and the tomb was open. Peter, it says, went into the tomb and started to contemplate. He looked around, trying to figure out and put all the puzzle pieces together to understand what it was that he was seeing.

Then we read that John also entered into the tomb, and when he looked, he perceived and understood. In contrast to Mary, who saw the tomb, John grasped the significance of what had happened.

She saw the empty tomb. There were grave clothes there, and she wrongly interpreted it, saying that somebody had stolen the body of the Lord. When John first looked inside the tomb, he took a snapshot, trying to gather all the information. Peter, on the other hand, was theorizing and contemplating, trying to figure it all out. Ultimately, John put two and two together and understood what had happened.

John and Peter saw the same things, but they had different understandings and reactions to what they witnessed. After they left the tomb, in John chapter 20, verse 10, we read about Mary again in verse 11. Mary Magdalene stood outside the tomb weeping. As she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb, where she saw two angels in white sitting—one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. They said to her, "Woman, why do you weep?" She replied, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him."

Again, she wrongly interpreted what she saw, even though she was now looking at two angels in the tomb. Typically, when someone encounters an angel in the Scriptures, their reaction is fear. Yet, she was not afraid; she perceived this as a normal, everyday occurrence. The angels asked her why she was crying, and she responded that they had taken away her Lord and she did not know where he had been taken.

Mary saw the same things that John and Peter saw, but she misinterpreted them. Consider for a moment what she actually saw. She saw the table in the stone tomb where Jesus had been laid, and now he was gone. All that remained were the blood-soaked cloths. On that table, where his feet had been, sat one angel, and where his head had been, sat another angel. This scene mirrors the exact picture that God gave to Moses in Exodus chapter 25.

In verse 10, we read, "And you shall make an ark of shittim wood, or acacia wood. Two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof." God instructed Moses to make a box, about two feet by three feet, and to overlay it with pure gold, both within and without. Additionally, he was to make a crown of gold around it.

And you shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them in the four corners thereof. Two rings shall be on one side, and two rings on the other side. You shall make staves of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. You shall put the staves into the rings on both sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne by them, carried by the Levites. The staves shall be in the rings of the ark, and they shall not be taken from it.

You shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you, and you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. You shall make two cherubim, or angels, of gold; of beaten work shall you make them, at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub on one end and the other cherub on the other end. Even of the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on the two ends thereof. The cherubim shall stretch forth their wings on the high covering of the mercy seat, and with their wings, their faces shall look at one another. Toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be.

You shall put the mercy seat above the ark, and in the ark shall be the testimony that I shall give you. There I will meet with you, and I will commune with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two angels which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all the things which I give you in commandment unto the children of Israel.

You see, Moses was to construct this box, a two-foot by three-foot golden box. On top of it, they were to put a lid that they called the mercy seat. Above that mercy seat were two angels with outstretched wings looking over the mercy seat. This ark, this box, was to be placed in the Holy of Holies of the tabernacle.

One man, on one day a year, the high priest, would go in on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, after offering the sacrifice for the nation. He would take the blood of that sacrifice and sprinkle it on the mercy seat. Because there, God says, "I will meet with you. There I will commune with you." It is through the sacrifice of the lamb and the blood that is slain that man is able to have fellowship and communion with God.

What was it that Mary saw when she stooped down and looked into that tomb that day? She saw the new Holy of Holies. She saw the new ark. There was the table upon which Jesus, the sacrifice, the Lamb of God, had lain, and now at His head and at His feet, the angels. And they said unto her,

Why do you weep? She said, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don't know where they have taken him." Look at that in verse 13 of John 20 and circle that she says, "My Lord." This was a woman who had sincere devotion to Jesus.

As we continue, she tells them, after she sees the Lord and does not perceive that it is him, "Tell me where you've taken him, and I will take him away. Tell me where you've hidden the body of my Lord, and I will take him away." Consider her sincere devotion to the Lord there.

Why was it that Mary, this woman, was so devoted to Jesus? There is not a lot said of Mary Magdalene in the Scriptures, but we do read in Luke chapter 8, verse 2, about a certain woman who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, called Mary Magdalene, out of whom came seven devils. In Mark chapter 16, verse 9, it says, "Now when Jesus had risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven demons." She was so devoted to Jesus because her life had been dramatically altered and changed by him.

So there she stands, and she sees these angels. They say, "Why are you weeping?" She replies, "Because they've taken away my Lord. Tell me where you've taken him, and I will carry him away." She did not consider the fact that she was probably not large enough or strong enough to carry away the dead weight of Jesus' body. Consider her devotion.

When Mary saw the empty tomb and the grave clothes, she wrongly interpreted what she saw. Peter and John saw the same thing and began to grasp what it was that they were beholding. But then we read on with Mary. It says in John chapter 20, verse 14, "When she had thus spoken, she turned herself back and saw Jesus standing, but she knew not that it was Jesus."

Jesus said unto her, "Woman, why do you weep? Whom do you seek?" She, supposing him to be the gardener, said unto him, "Sir, if you have borne him hence, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." Jesus said unto her, "Mary." She turned herself and said unto him, "Rabbi," which is to say, "Master." As soon as Jesus said to her,

Mary perceived that she knew it was Him, although there was something that had changed in Jesus' appearance after He had risen from the dead. Something was different about Him. How do we know that? We know for certain that His scars remained, as we will see as we finish up this chapter today.

We also know that two of His disciples, as they journeyed away from Jerusalem after His burial, were headed toward Emmaus when Jesus met them on the way. However, they did not recognize Him. When Mary first looked upon Him, she did not realize it was Him; she supposed Him to be the gardener near the garden tomb. But as soon as He said to her, "Mary," she perceived that it was Him.

Not only did she wrongly interpret what she saw in the empty tomb, but she also did not recognize Him when He was first revealed to her. However, when He called her name, she realized it was Him, and she embraced Him. We read in verse 17 that He said, "Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended unto my Father, but go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."

In the King James Version, when we read "Touch me not," it may seem a bit strange, as if He is saying, "Stay away from me." That is not what is going on. We need to look at this in the original language to understand what He is saying. In fact, He really says, "Cling not to me." The word and tense used in the Greek indicate that He is speaking to her to stop an action that had already begun. She had embraced Him when she recognized that it was Him, and He said, "Do not cling to me."

Why? Because there was a lot to do over the next 40 days before He ascended into heaven. After she recognized and saw the risen Lord, He said to her, "Go. Go and tell my brethren that I ascend unto my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."

You see, that is the same thing that God has said to me. It is the same thing that God has said to you. When we meet the risen Lord, when we by faith come into this relationship with the risen Christ, He says, "Go and tell this world that He is risen indeed."

It is also interesting that the very first witness of the risen Lord was a woman. In this culture and in this day, a woman's testimony...

It was not admissible in court. It is very interesting that God would choose to reveal Himself first as risen to Mary. Not only did He reveal Himself to a woman, but to a woman who had something of a rough background. In fact, she was not very well received, and her testimony was not believed by many.

In Luke chapter 24, when we meet those two disciples on the road to Emmaus, they mention that a few ladies said they had seen Him risen from the dead, but they did not believe her. Yet, Jesus first reveals Himself to Mary. In this passage, we see that when Mary first saw the empty tomb, she did not interpret it correctly. When she first met with the Lord, she did not recognize Him. Peter and John also interpreted the things they saw differently; they understood or reacted to them in various ways.

Now we come to the third group in John chapter 20. It says in verse 18 that Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that He had spoken these things to her. Then, on the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled because of fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst. He said unto them, "Peace be unto you."

The doors were shut because they were afraid. I wonder how many doors we have considered to be shut in our lives because we are afraid. How many things have we said, "No, I just can't do that because of fear"? "I just can't teach children's ministry." "I just can't go on that short-term mission trip." "I just can't say that to that person." So many times, we think that the doors are closed, not because they truly are, but because we are afraid to go through them.

Notice that Jesus is not limited by closed doors. There the doors were shut, and the disciples were all gathered because they were afraid, yet Jesus stood in their midst. He just appeared right there with them. That must have been a crazy sight! Can you imagine? There you are, fearful, believing that the one you thought to be the Messiah had been crucified just three days before. You are afraid that the Romans are going to come and hunt you down and kill you. The chief priests are looking for you, and there is a group of people saying, "Hey, He is risen indeed! He is not dead; He is alive!" And there you are, seated in this upper room, just trying to figure it all out.

All this stuff. The doors are locked. Everything's closed. There's Jesus right in the middle. What would you do? That would be kind of trippy. But he says unto them, "Peace be unto you." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

Now the disciples see Jesus' hands. They see his side, where he had been pierced by the nails and by the spear. When they saw, they were glad. Then Jesus said unto them, "Peace be unto you. As my Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had thus spoken, he breathed upon them and said, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit. Whosoever sins you remit, they are remitted to them. Whosoever sins you retain, they are retained."

Jesus, as he meets with his disciples, shows them his hands that had been pierced and his side that had been pierced. They were glad. Now he breathes on them and says, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit."

This is interesting because there are three times in the Scriptures where we see this picture, this illustration of the breath of God. In Genesis chapter 2, it says that God formed man of the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. God the Father, there in the garden, breathed physical life into man.

Jesus told Nicodemus in John chapter 3, "You must be born again." Now here in John chapter 20, he stands in that upper room that was all closed up, and Jesus, the Son, breathes on the disciples. He says, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit." The Father breathed physical life, the Son breathed spiritual life.

Then in Acts chapter 2, as we will see in several weeks when we get there, on the day of Pentecost, the disciples all gathered together in one accord. It says there came the sound of a rushing mighty wind. The word in the original language in Greek is "pneuma," which can also be translated as breath. The Holy Spirit breathed upon them and gave them power.

God the Father breathes physical life. God the Son breathed spiritual life. The Holy Spirit breathed powerful life. Every individual in this room and in this world needs all three.

Oh, that if you haven't already, you would receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit by the work of Jesus Christ through faith. If today you sit here as one who has been indwelt by the Holy Spirit, may the Holy Spirit overflow you with His power as He breathes upon your life and mine. He breathed on them and said, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit."

We see that Peter and John witnessed the same events, yet they had different understandings and reactions to them. Mary, for instance, initially misinterpreted what she saw and did not recognize Jesus when He was first revealed. The disciples, too, needed to see His nail-pierced hands and His pierced side before they were glad.

In verse 24, we read about another disciple. Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples said to him, "We have seen the Lord." But he replied, "Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe." Unless I see and handle, I will not believe.

After eight days, His disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them. Then Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, saying, "Peace be unto you." He then said to Thomas, "Reach here your finger and touch my hands. Behold my hands. Reach here your hand and thrust it into my side. Be not faithless, but believing."

Thomas answered Him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen, you have believed. But blessed are they that, having not seen, believe."

Thomas insisted, "Unless I see, unless I touch, I will not believe." Yet Jesus encouraged him, saying, "Be not faithless, be believing."

There are four different groups represented here. Mary, who misinterpreted what she had seen, and multitudes throughout the ages who have also wrongly interpreted the cross of Christ and the gospel of our Lord. There are those who see the same things that you and I see, just as Peter and John did.

When they saw the tomb, they didn't fully understand what it was. There are those who, when presented with the Gospel, do not recognize Christ as who He truly is. There are others, like the disciples in the upper room, who need to see before they believe. They want to see a sign; they want to see something. Then there are those like Thomas, who say, "Unless I touch it, I'm not going to believe." But Jesus says, "Blessed are those that, having not seen, believe."

John goes on to say, "And many other signs did Jesus in the presence of His disciples. But these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. And that believing, you might have life through His name." You see, God desires that you and I would be in that last category—those who believe without having seen. Having heard the Gospel, which is sufficient to raise us to newness of life, we are called to believe.

Paul told the church at Rome in Romans 1:16, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of God because it, the Gospel, is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes—to the Jew first and also to the Gentile." The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation for all who would believe.

Now, I want to point something out that I found very interesting. A friend of mine gave me a book several weeks ago about the Hebrew pictorial language. In the Hebrew language, each letter is associated with a sound, but each letter is also associated with a picture. When Jesus says in verse 27, "Behold my hands," the name for God given to the Jews, Jehovah, or as they would write it, Yahweh (Y-H-V-H), consists of four letters: the Yod, the He, the Vav, and the He.

The picture associated with the first letter, the Yod, is the hand. The picture associated with the second letter, the He, is a window, which means to reveal. Therefore, the first letter conveys the meaning "the hand revealed." The third letter, the Vav, represents a nail. Thus, the name for God, Yahweh, means "the hand revealed, the nail revealed." "Behold my hands," Jesus says, as He stands before His disciples that day.

The hand revealed, the nail revealed. The rabbis of old interpret that differently than we do. We understand exactly what God is trying to say. I hope you nod your head if you understand. The rabbis believed that Yahweh, God, is the one whose hand binds everything together. His hand is the creation of all things. The hand revealed, the nail revealed. But oh, it's not until Calvary that we fully understand what He means.

On that note, consider that Christ was crucified on what mountain? Mount Zion. The word "Zion" in Hebrew is made up of four letters. The first letter, associated with the picture of a hook, resembles a fishing hook. The last letter looks like a school of fish moving. So, the picture is a fishing hook with fish moving towards it. The two middle letters are the bait: the yod and the vav, representing the hand and the nail. Zion leads the fish by the hand and the nail. God desires to speak to you and me, even in the most simplistic of things, through these letters of the Hebrew alphabet. It's phenomenal what God is saying. Behold the hand, behold the nail, and be led to Him like a fish to the hook. The hand and the nail. The cross of Christ is that which leads all men to salvation. Salvation is found only in the cross of Christ. There is no other name under heaven whereby men must be saved.

We have been given the words of eternal life. We have been given this message of reconciliation to take into all the world. In this world, there are people who see the church. They drive by the church every single week. I don't even know how many, but I can't imagine how many cars go by this church daily, down the 15 or on El Norti. So many people are not just looking at this church but looking at the church as a whole. They take a snapshot and think, "Oh yeah, that's a church. I wonder what they do in that place." I constantly have people asking me, "What do you guys do all week?" My wife asks me that all the time. "What do you do all week?" I'm sure your wife asks you too, Omar. There are people who just look at it and wonder what happens inside.

Some of you are here this morning, as I talked about several weeks ago, contemplating these things. You're thinking about them and mulling them over.

You're theorizing about it. There are some who have come to an understanding of just what it is. What is it that Christ has done through the hand and the nail of a life laid down for you, for me?

Mary wrongly interpreted what she saw, and there are so many who wrongly interpret the gospel of Christ. They don't fully understand or comprehend what it is that God is speaking through it. There are those who look at the gospel of Christ and all they see is a bunch of do's and don'ts, a list of things that they have to try and do, and they don't recognize the grace of the living God. They don't recognize it, just like Mary when she first encountered the risen Lord.

Those in the upper room said, "Unless we see, we won't believe," and God was gracious to reveal Himself to them. Thomas said, "Unless I touch, I will not believe," and again, God was gracious to him. But there Jesus says, "Blessed are those who have believed even though they have not seen." That's you and me. Having not seen Him, we love Him and we wait expectantly for Him.

The earnest expectation of every soul, of everyone here on earth in the body of Christ, is that we earnestly expect and await the coming of the Lord. The whole of creation groans for the manifestation of the sons of God. We are waiting for Him to come. That's why we're instructed in some of the very last words of the Bible in Revelation chapter 22. There we read, "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come.' Even so, Lord Jesus, come. Come quickly, we say."

Having not seen, we believe. Oh, how blessed you are if you believe this day. But remember, the whole point, the whole purpose of the gospel is to bring people to faith in Jesus Christ, that He is the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Son of God. By believing, you receive life, abundant life, as He breathes into you the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. What an awesome gospel.

Let's stand and pray. God, You are an awesome God, mighty in power and strength. Lord, Your mighty hand...

And outstretched arm has redeemed us from death, from darkness, from the power of hell. Because of the work that You did on our behalf on the cross, Lord, we are simply amazed today.

I pray for this fellowship, for this body, that as we prepare to go from here this morning, You would pour out Your power and Your Spirit upon them. Lord, give us boldness and the ability to speak the truth of the gospel of Your Son in this lost and dying world. God, may we be a light to this dark world and an assault upon this wicked generation. Use us to bring Your grace and truth to those who are in such desperate need, many of whom are family members, neighbors, friends, or co-workers. God, would You use us to minister Your truth?

Lord, You've given us the ministry of reconciliation. You've torn down the middle wall of separation and called all to come to You in repentance. I know that in this fellowship, even right now, in this sanctuary today, there are those who have just been outside observers. Even now, the enemy, our adversary, is seeking like a bird to steal away the seed of Your word.

I pray that by Your Holy Spirit, You would plant Your word deep in hearts and cause it to grow. For those in this congregation this morning who have believed in You, may Your word begin to bring forth fruit. I pray that You would prune my life and the lives of my brothers and sisters here as well, that we would bear much fruit for You.

For we ask it in Jesus' name, Amen.