August 20, 2001
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September 23 Lesson
Seeing may be believing, but faith is better
___John 20:10-18, 26-31
___10Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
___13They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." 14At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
___15"Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"
___Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
___16Jesus said to her, "Mary."
___She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
___17Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"
___18Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her. ...
___26A 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!" 27Then 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."
___28Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
___29Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
___30Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
___By Karen and Tim Gilbert
___It's been said that seeing is believing. In a world that's heavily influenced by science, things we can taste, touch, smell, feel or hear are generally those things we believe in. But what about those things that are not available to our senses? Can we believe in those things we cannot see?
___John, the apostle, proclaims in his gospel that everything he is writing down is done in order that we might believe Jesus is God in the flesh. This requires us to believe the witness of those who have come before, who themselves observed the events John has recorded.
___This gospel was written by John, traditionally the youngest of the apostles. John presents Jesus as the eternal Word of God. Its audience is the widest of all the gospels so far.
___John's gospel is a theological argument that Jesus is the Word of God who has become flesh. It is written so that readers might believe that Jesus is the promised Savior, the Son of God and through faith in him they might have life.
___John emphasizes the gift of eternal life through Christ, a gift which begins now and comes to those who respond to Jesus as the way, the truth and the life. A striking feature of the gospel is the symbolic use of common things from everyday life to point to spiritual realities such as water, bread and light.
___John presents Jesus as doing many signs and miracles to prove his messiahship in order that people might believe. John is saying that the only reason Jesus ever did any miracle was to proclaim something about the nature of the kingdom of God. The temptation for Jesus was about the kind of Messiah he would be.
___One of the aspects of this temptation was to use the power to perform miracles as a shortcut to get people to follow him. But John says Jesus' use of miracles was always as a pointer to the larger message of his role as the suffering servant Messiah. The resurrection is the supreme sign that Jesus is the promised Savior. By raising Jesus from the dead, God puts his stamp of approval on all Jesus taught and did. The focal passage deals with the events immediately after the resurrection of Jesus.
___The first thing to note in the passage is that it is Mary Magdalene, a woman, who is the first person to be greeted by the resurrected Christ. She is among the women who have gone to the tomb to care for the body of Christ.
___They were unable to do this on the day of Jesus' death because of the approaching Sabbath. The measure of a day in Jewish life is from sunset to sunset. Jesus was crucified on Friday and taken down from the cross on Friday as sunset was nearing. Sunset began the Jewish Sabbath, which is celebrated on Saturday.
___Sunday morning would have been the first opportunity for the women to properly anoint the body for burial. The apostles seemed to have been fearful for their own lives and remained in hiding in Jerusalem.
___When Mary first sees Jesus, she does not recognize him. In fact, she thinks he is the gardener. Why is it that Mary doesn't recognize Jesus? There are several possibilities. Neither Mary nor any of the disciples really were expecting Jesus to rise from the dead, even though he told them he would. Humans simply don't come back to life. Mary still believes Jesus is dead and that his body has been moved somewhere. In this confusion, she perhaps didn't recognize Jesus. Another possibility is that his resurrected body may have appeared different, causing the need for him to identify himself by speaking to her.
___This is also seen in Luke when Jesus walks with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and neither recognizes him for the whole journey. They only come to recognize him when he sits down and breaks bread with them as he did at the Last Supper (Luke 24:13-25).
___Mary falls at Jesus' feet and embraces them. Jesus says, "Stop clinging to me." Another translation says, "Do not hold onto me."
___Why would Jesus say this to Mary? Jesus himself says he has not gone back up to his Father, which means his presence in this physical resurrected form is not something his disciples will be allowed to keep at the present time. Once he ascends to his Father, he will send his Spirit, which is the permanent possession of the Christian in this present age. Or perhaps he meant that he was not back to stay and he didn't want to Mary to cling to him when he knew he would leave her.
___It could also be because Jesus had an immediate task for her to perform. He tells her, "Go to my brothers and tell them I am returning to my father." John says Mary obeyed Jesus, went to the disciples and told them what she had seen and heard.
___Later that same evening, Jesus appears to the disciples who are gathered behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities. Once again, we see an event that shows the disciples still have a hard time believing in the resurrection.
___Jesus says, "Peace be with you" to calm their fears. He then shows them the wounds in his hands and side. The disciples are filled with joy. Jesus breathes on them and says, "Receive the Holy Spirit."
___Why does Jesus do this if the Spirit was to come at Pentecost? Perhaps this is a symbolic act so the apostles will know the Spirit who comes at Pentecost is the breath of Jesus himself.
___Jesus also adds, "If you forgive people's sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." This demonstrates the power of the Spirit that is being given to the church. It is the Spirit of Christ who has the ability to forgive or not to forgive sins.
___Thomas, called the twin, was not present when Jesus appeared to the other apostles. They tell him, "We have seen the Lord!" Thomas refuses to believe. He says unless he sees the scars and touches them, he will not believe.
___We are too quick to condemn Thomas for his questioning attitude. People rising from the dead is something that does not happen, and Thomas is voicing what all the rest of them had earlier believed. The resurrection was such a remarkable event that Thomas refused to believe until he saw the evidence for himself.
___A week later, Jesus appears to the disciples who are once again gathered together inside. Even though Christ has appeared to them, they still seem fearful for their lives. Thomas is with them this time. Jesus lovingly presents his hands and side for Thomas to see and touch. Jesus says, "Stop your doubting and believe." Thomas cries out, "My Lord and my God!" without touching Jesus' hands or side. For Thomas, seeing is believing. But Jesus tells them that those who do not see but believe are truly blessed.
___John ends this passage by telling the reader that Jesus did many other miracles which are not written down in this book. The ones recorded in the Gospel of John are there to convince readers that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. John promises that all who believe this statement of faith about who Jesus is will find life in him.
___The various statements about Christ in this passage define in detail his messianic mission. Jesus is the Messiah (John 20:31), the Anointed One of God, whom the Jews have been anticipating. However, John reminds us that Jesus is the Messiah in a unique way.
___He is the Word of God who has become flesh for us, the only begotten Son of God. Thomas' statement, "My Lord and my God" is the affirmation of the believer's faith. Thomas recognizes that before him is the incarnation of God.
___To believe in John's Jesus as the Messiah is to express the faith that Jesus is the incarnate God come to redeem the world.
For thought and discussion
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