03/24/2022
Having a conviction is to have a firmly held belief in something. Is this how we describe our belief in Jesus Christ? Is this how we confessed it to be on the day we first accepted Him as our Lord and Savior? On that day did what we were unable to see become alive to us? Well it is Eastertide, that time between Easter and Pentecost, and what better time to reaffirm our core belief, and conviction, in Jesus Christ.
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:1 ESV
There are times when we must be convicted regarding something we are unable to see, whether it is earthly, or spiritual. Not being able to do this was Thomas the disciple’s problem… his natural beliefs fought against his spiritual conviction, so to aid him in this regard Jesus offered him His hand, and His side. He did this so that Thomas would not only believe, but would be able to do so with absolute conviction.
“Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.””
John 20:27 ESV
But we seem to forget that Thomas wasn’t the first of the disciples that needed to see Jesus in this way; Thomas was just the first that verbalized his doubt, and disbelief. Listen carefully to how Jesus presented himself to the other disciples before dealing with Thomas, and his doubt…
“On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.”
John 20:19-20 ESV
The other disciples were just like Thomas… they too weren’t glad to see Jesus until they had first seen His hands and His side. He had entered a locked room by some miraculous method that they didn’t understand, and that we don’t understand any better today, so most likely they had questions about His authenticity, and His presence there. So to believe they needed to see His hands and side just as Thomas would… but why wasn’t Thomas there with them.
“Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.””
John 20:24-25 ESV
This begs the question… why did Jesus choose to reveal himself to them in the absence of Thomas? Why didn’t He wait until they were all in one place together? I believe that it was so that he could use Thomas to demonstrate emphatically to us a truth about ourselves… that our faith can be flimsy too, and that we are no better than Thomas and the other disciples; we need to see Him just as they did. We need the miracles, the amazing and mysterious encounters, and to see the wounds of Christ too. We all have a little of Thomas in us, and most of us aren’t glad to see Jesus until we see His hands, and side, like the other disciples.
Let’s consider this further, and in order to make the point clear, let’s look at the nature of Jesus following His resurrection, and the stone that was rolled away from His tomb. We will begin with Jesus suddenly revealing Himself to His apostles in a locked room. If He was able to do this without unlocking the door then why was it necessary to roll the stone away? I propose to you that rolling away the stone wasn’t to free Jesus, but to give Mary and the others access to this Holy ground, for the angels to speak to them, and so that Jesus could reveal Himself to them, and us. Or, perhaps it was so that one very important question could be asked of all men….
“And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”
Luke 24:2-5 ESV
This is the first question that every man, woman, and child, must answer for themselves before they become convicted in their belief in Jesus. By answering this question we are revealing whether we believe in a risen Christ who is alive, or in history, and the story of a historical Jesus… do we believe in an ancient story of Jesus who is dead?
So the open tomb is for all of us. From it we are asked this incredibly important question regarding the resurrection of Jesus, and then, if we are convicted in our faith, we receive our first miraculous encounter with Him.
“Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’””
John 20:17 ESV
Today each Christian should have answered the question, found themselves convicted in their faith, and be clinging to Jesus because He is alive, and has ascended. Today we should believe with conviction that He is the living Son of God, and today it should be our firm belief that He is coming again.
It is Eastertide, and what better time to answer the question of the ages, and cling to the eternal Christ. Are you convicted?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your Son Jesus Christ, for his life, death, resurrection, ascension, and for having rolled the stone from His tomb so that we can all enter into that Holy place to answer the eternal question of life, and meet your son face to face. Thank you for revealing to us that you moved that stone to let us in, and not yo let Him out. Help us to believe with absolute conviction in Jesus, and in His return. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who loves us so much that you would offer your Son in this way to redeem us. Praised be your name for the hands and side of Christ that He is willing to show to us, and that secure us firmly in our faith in Him. Merciful are you who washes us in His blood, and perfect is your grace that flows from Jesus, and is sufficient to save us all from sin and death. Judge us to be worthy in Christ of eternity with you, and claim us to be your own forevermore.
“They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’””
John 20:13-17 ESV
““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 ESV
Rich Forbes