Sermon Tone Analysis

But Believe!

John 20    |   Shaun LePage   |   Resurrection Sunday, April 16, 2006

 

 

I.

Introduction

A.   Eleven years ago, my wife, Beth, was invited to sing at a wedding.

1.

The ceremony was to take place the Saturday after Easter Sunday in a church we’d never visited.

I went with her to the rehearsal on Friday evening.

At one point while we were standing around, waiting for everyone to arrive, I explored the beautiful church building we were in.

I eventually found myself standing behind the large, ornate pulpit.

I discovered that the church’s pastor had left his sermon manuscript on the pulpit from the previous Sunday—Easter.

I began to read it and as I did, I got angry and I got sad.

I stole the manuscript (don’t worry, there were lots of copies available in the foyer) so I could share it with others.

But really, it’s not worth sharing.

A man who preached from a pulpit with a cross on the front stood there on Easter Sunday morning and explained why the Resurrection of Jesus was not to be taken literally.

2.     It made me sad because the church he preached in was part of a denomination that was begun by men who believed in and taught that the resurrection was not only true—literally—but also foundational to the Christian faith.

Where did they go wrong?

Why are their seminaries teaching that the Bible can’t be trusted and the Resurrection of Christ was not literal?

Because we have a tendency to slide.

A tendency to fail to pass the truth on to younger generations.

3.     The other sad fact is that that man’s sermon was not unique.

Many churches—dare I say most?—will hear a very similar message this morning.

The last statistic I read indicated that only about half of the pastors—so-called “Christian” pastors—in the United States will proclaim that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a literal fact of history.

B.    But there is nothing new under the sun.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ has always been hard for people to believe—that’s not surprising.

God is not surprised that such a thing seems unbelievable to us.

1.     That’s one of the reasons why this day is so important.

No matter what else we are studying or learning or exploring, we always take at least one day each year to return to the eyewitness testimony of those who were there and saw the Risen Lord Jesus.

On this special day, we remind ourselves of the fact that Christianity is not based on a philosophy, but on a Person.

A historical Person who lived and died and rose again.

2.     But even though the Resurrection is hard to believe, that is exactly what we are asked to do.

Jesus Christ Himself looked down through time and invited all who are willing to examine the evidence He has given us to “no longer be unbelieving, but believe!”

II.

Body—John 20:26-29

A.   Jesus welcomes honest doubt.

(26-28)

1.     “*After eight days*” tells us this visit was a full week after Christ rose from the grave.

He had already appeared to several people the week before.

2.     “*And Thomas was with them*.”

This time, Thomas was with them.

The week before, he had not been with them.

We’re not told why, but the fact that he wasn’t sets up what I believe is the climax of the Book of John.

Thomas has been labeled “Doubting Thomas” forever because he missed one meeting.

Think about it—Peter didn’t appear to believe when he saw the empty tomb, so he could have been called “Doubting Peter” if he hadn’t been in the Upper Room that first night.

But Thomas had to wait a week.

He had to hear everything second-hand instead of seeing Jesus with his own eyes.

a)    Read vs. 24-25.

Thomas didn’t believe the “*other disciples*.”

Who—exactly—is meant by “*other disciples*” we’re not told.

But at the very least, we’re talking about 10 men that Thomas knew well and loved.

Despite the fact that 10 or more of his dearest friends were telling him Jesus is alive, he couldn’t believe it—he doubted.

But put yourself in the sandals of Thomas.

Let’s not be too quick to judge Thomas.

If the people you most loved in this world came to you and said a dead person—whose funeral you had attended—was now alive, you’d find that hard to believe, wouldn’t you?

You’d want more proof.

You see, Thomas was an honest doubter.

When faced with the same proof these “*other disciples*” had been given, he believed.

b)    It’s okay to be an honest doubter.

An honest doubter is someone who doesn’t believe just anything he is told.

An honest doubter is capable of standing alone—thinking for himself—if necessary.

He doesn’t just go along with the crowd.

But, he is willing to examine the evidence to see if what he is being told is true.

It’s okay to be an honest doubter—for awhile.

Eventually, Jesus challenged Thomas to believe.

He did.

c)    A dishonest doubter is something completely different.

A dishonest doubter refuses to examine the evidence.

Refuses to listen to eyewitness testimony.

Refuses to consider that he might be wrong.

Refuses to believe—no matter what.

d)    For the honest doubter, the evidence is abundant in this chapter.

(i)   *Verse 1: *The stone was removed.

Matthew tells us one of the angels rolled back the stone.

Did you ever ask why?

If Jesus could walk through the locked door of the Upper Room, surely He could walk through the stone in front of the tomb.

No, the stone wasn’t rolled away so Jesus could get out, but so Mary and Peter and John and whoever could get in.

They could look in and see that Jesus’ body was gone.

The first piece of evidence was the stone.

(ii) *Verse 2: *Mary made it clear that the tomb was empty.

The empty tomb has no other explanation than that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.

(a)  If Jesus’ body was stolen, the robbers somehow had to get past a Roman guard*.*

If the Apostles took the body, then they all suffered and died martyr’s deaths for nothing.

That’s simply harder to believe than the Resurrection.

People don’t die for a lie.

The enemies of Jesus didn’t take His body either.

A few days after Jesus died in Jerusalem, His followers were proclaiming—in Jerusalem—that He had risen from the dead.

All the enemies of Jesus had to do was produce the body.

In fact, don’t you think they went to the tomb and tried to find the body?

They couldn’t produce the body because Jesus had risen from the dead.

(b)  Some have suggested that Jesus didn’t really die—this is called the “swoon theory”.

He didn’t really die, but was placed in the tomb, somehow revived in the tomb—despite massive loss of blood and no medical attention—got up and managed to move the stone and get out and convince everyone that He had miraculously risen from the dead.

But this, too, is harder to believe than the resurrection.

1.

The scourging alone probably came near to killing Jesus.

The loss of blood must have been tremendous.

Then, He was crucified.

It seems preposterous that anyone who understands the brutality of crucifixion could suggest that Jesus survived it.

2.     Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus.

Pilate was surprised that Jesus had already died, so he had the fact confirmed by a Roman centurion.

3.      In John 19, John reported that blood and water flowed from the pierced side of Jesus.

Concerning this report, author Michael Green writes, “This is evidence of massive clotting of the blood in the main arteries, and is exceptionally strong medical proof of death.

It is all the more impressive because the evangelist (John) could not possibly have realized its significance to a pathologist.

The ‘blood and water’ from the spear-thrust is proof positive that Jesus was already dead.”