Daily Scripture Reading John 20:19 - 21:8
Very few pastors and churches in the 21st century emphasize the Lordship of Jesus. They want to make Christianity attractive, so as to win as many so-called converts as possible. Since people generally don’t want to serve anyone else, the Lordship of Jesus does not make Christianity appealing. Furthermore, many Christians hesitate to talk about the Lordship of Jesus because they think that concept contradicts the concept that salvation is a free gift.
In today’s passage we will read how Thomas reacted when he saw that Jesus was alive again. He identified Jesus as his Lord. His declaration regarding Jesus illustrates the extent to which the Lordship of Jesus is a core component of being a Christian, a fact we cannot ignore.
Yesterday, we read that Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Pilate granted it to him, and Joseph buried Jesus in a new tomb. On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb, but it was empty. Peter and another disciple went to the tomb and saw it was empty. Then Jesus appeared to Mary and proved He was alive. Mary informed the disciples that she had seen the Lord.
John 20:19 ¶ So while it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and while the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
The term “that day” refers to the day Jesus resurrected.
Note the phrase “for fear of the Jews”. The Jewish leaders were strongly opposed to Jesus. Now that they had put Jesus to death, it was a real threat that the leaders would go after the disciples of Jesus. As much as the leaders were opposed to Jesus, they knew Jesus had extraordinary power and that knowledge would have constrained their actions against the 12 while Jesus was alive. Now that they had killed Jesus, that constraint on their revenge against the 12 was lifted.
John 20:20 And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
John 20:21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
John 20:22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
John 20:23 If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”
John 20:24 ¶ But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
John 20:25 So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
Thomas refused to believe Jesus was alive unless he saw the proof with his own eyes. The testimony of his fellow disciples was not good enough.
This is the opposite of faith. Faith is the assurance of things not seen. Believing Jesus rose from the dead based on the testimony of the 1st century eyewitnesses is faith. Refusing to believe in Jesus based on their testimony reveals a lack of faith.
John 20:26 ¶ And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”
Notice it was eight days after the resurrection till Jesus appeared to Thomas.
John 20:27 Then He said to Thomas, “Bring your finger here, and see My hands; and bring your hand here and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
John 20:28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
The word “God” is a translation of the Greek word “Theos”. Calling Jesus his Theos was a clear acknowledgment of the deity of Christ.
The term Lord is a translation of the Greek word “Kurios”. Kurios means master. Thomas called Jesus his Master, meaning Thomas made himself a servant of Jesus.
Thomas did not call Jesus his friend or buddy. He called Him his Lord.
Today, many churches do not talk about the concept that Christians are servants of Jesus. However, the word “kurios” appears over 600 times in the New Testament. There are many verses that identify Jesus as our master. Romans 10:9-10 say that confessing Jesus as Lord is a requirement to be saved. Therefore, being a servant of Jesus is a core component of being a Christian. Pastors and churches who do not plainly teach that Christians are servants of Jesus are not teaching accurate theology.
John 20:29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are those who did not see, and yet believed.”
Thomas refused to believe unless he saw Jesus with his own eyes. However, all people who became Christians after the 1st century AD did so without seeing Jesus with their own eyes. Jesus said those people are blessed.
Faith is believing Jesus rose from the dead without being eyewitnesses. That does not mean our belief is not based on fact and evidence. The evidence for believing Jesus rose from the dead is the eyewitness testimony recorded in the Bible.
John 20:30 ¶ Therefore many other signs Jesus also did in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
John 20:31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
This verse tells us the purpose of miracles and why John wrote his gospel. Jesus performed miracles in order to prove He is God. John recorded the miracles of Jesus so that you and I might believe in Jesus and have eternal life.
John 21:1 ¶ After these things Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and He manifested Himself in this way.
John 21:2 Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together.
John 21:3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will also come with you.” They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.
John 21:4 ¶ But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.
John 21:5 So Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered Him, “No.”
John 21:6 And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish.
It is interesting that the disciples did as Jesus told them even though they did not know it was Jesus. If they thought the man on shore was a stranger, why did they do what the stranger told them to do?
John 21:7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on (for he was stripped for work), and cast himself into the sea.
John 21:8 But the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from the land, but about two hundred cubits away, dragging the net full of fish.
Two hundred cubits is about 300 feet, which is the length of a football field. That is quite a distance for Jesus and the disciples to carry on the conversation they had.
The trend in 21st century Christianity is to downplay the Lordship of Jesus. However, when Thomas became convinced Jesus had risen from the dead, he called Jesus his Lord and his God. Being the master is a core component of who Jesus is.
Does your Pastor talk about Jesus being Lord?
Does your church clearly communicate that making Jesus the Lord of our life is a core part of being a Christian?
Does your church clearly inform people that confessing Jesus as Lord is a key component of how a person gains salvation?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”