All too often the resurrection of Jesus captures
our attention only at Easter. This is
unfortunate, and spiritually unwise, for there is no tenant of our faith more
essential than the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead. “Faith in the resurrection is the very
keystone of the arch of Christian faith, and, when it is removed, all must
inevitably crumble into ruin.” (H.P. Liddon quoted in Evidence That
Demands a Verdict, by Josh McDowell)
But as we have seen now for so many years here at
Westwood, one of the benefits of working our way through whole books of the
Bible is we spend time on topics not according to the calendar or whims of the
preacher, but according to divine outlines of God laid out in His Word. So we spent several weeks in John 18 and 19
walking with Jesus to the cross, seeing him humiliated, suffer and die in full
obedience to the Father for the sake of sinners like us. But Sunday has come! Now we get the opportunity to walk with Jesus,
and his disciples, in the reality of his resurrection. For the next few weeks we will be in John 20
and 21, and in these chapters we will consider the theme: Changed: Walking in
the Light of the Resurrection.
In his
book Be Sure You Believe, Pastor Joe
Nesom writes, “The Gospel is about what God did, once and for all, in human
history, to secure the salvation of his people.
We must tell the world about the cross of Christ. And we must tell the world about the empty
tomb. We must be convinced ourselves
that Christ is alive. We must believe
that his death accomplished redemption for his people, and that his
resurrection proves that he is King of kings and Lord of lords.”[1]
As you prepare for worship this week consider
this question: are you personally convinced of that Christ was raised from the
dead and is now alive? John wrote as an eyewitness of
Jesus’s life, death and resurrection so you would be. “He who saw it has borne
witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that
you also may believe. (Jn 19:35) “..that
you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing
you may have life in his name.” (Jn 20:31)
John’s account of the Jesus’s resurrection is presented and
organized around two central themes: the historical evidence of the
resurrection and the what it means for his disciples (and us) to live in the
light of this historical truth.
I also ask you to consider this as Sunday
approaches. John tells us he saw the
linen cloths lying there in the tomb and the face cloth that had been on Jesus'
head folded up in a place by itself. John then tells us he saw these things and
believed (Jn 20:6-8). What John says
next is important to the way you and I see and believe the resurrection
account. “for as yet they did not understand the
Scripture, that he must rise from the dead (Jn 20:9). The
transparency of John’s faith and testimony are strengthened by his confession
that belief based only on what he had seen was not as certain and complete as it
would be when that belief was grounded in Scripture.
A.W. Pink says it well: “Faith, to be of value and have power, rests
not on sight or inference, but on Scripture. This, as Peter tells us in his
first Epistle (1 Pet. 1:8), is characteristically the faith of a Christian,
who, having not seen Christ, loves Him; and on whom, though not now seeing Him
but believing he exults with joy unspeakable and full of glory. The faith that is founded on evidences may
strengthen against Deism, Pantheism, or Atheism, but it never gave remission of
sins, never led one to cry Abba Father, never filled the heart with His grace
and glory who is the Object of God’s everlasting satisfaction and delight".[2]
On the day of his resurrection Jesus said to
Thomas: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have
believed” (Jn 20:29). Those that have not seen
and yet believe are those who, through spiritual eyes opened by the Holy
Spirit, see by faith through the window of God’s Word. Those who have not seen and yet believed are
people like you and me.
As you prepare for worship this
week pray and ask God to open your eyes to see, and your heart to believe, the
inerrant, infallible testimony of those who did see, and recorded their story so that you and I would “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing
you may have life in his name.” (Jn 20:31)
I look
forward to worshipping with you this Sunday.
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