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John 20:24-29  JESUS ERASING ALL DOUBT ABOUT HIS RESURRECTION

Introduction:
	
	Thomas had been hard to convince that Jesus had arisen
from the dead, but Jesus erased all doubt.

I.  Some personal information about Thomas
	
	Thomas was one of the twelve apostles.  That is, he was
one of the remaining eleven apostles.  Judas Iscariot was
dead.
	His name was "Thomas."  This is a Hebrew or Aramaic
name meaning "twin."  The was sometimes called "Didymus,"
which was a Greek name which also means "twin."
	It is, therefore, not difficult to conclude that Thomas
was a twin.  Yet we are not told in Scripture whether or not
he was an identical twin.  Neither are we told whether or
not his twin was a man or a woman.  Nor are we told if his
twin was a Christian nor whether the twin was dead or alive.

II.  The absence of Thomas at the first appearance of Jesus
	to His church

	V. 24, "But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus,
was not with them when Jesus came."  We are told that Thomas
was absent when Jesus made His first appearance to His
church after His resurrection.  That first meeting had been
called because there had been reports that Jesus had been
seen alive.  Some women had gone out to the tomb early onthe
morning of the first day of the week, which is Sunday, and
had come back telling that Jesus had risen from the dead.
They said that they had seen Him.  The Apostle John reported
that he believed the report because he had seen the evidence
within the tomb that the body of Jesus had not been stolen
or moved.  The grave clothes were still there and were
neatly folded.  The Apostle Peter reported that he had seen
Jesus.  Furthermore, two of the disciples, who knew nothing
about those reports, had been on the road to the village of
Emmaus when a man appeared and walked with them to Emmaus.
They said that after the man went inside the home with them
that He revealed His identity to them and that He was Jesus.
	Thomas, being an apostle, had surely been informed of
these reports and, like the others, had been summonsed to
discus them to try to determine their credibility.
	There is no indication in Scripture that Thomas was
circumstantially hindered from attending the meeting.  He
evidently stayed away because his mind was made up that he
did not believe that the reports were true.  He thought that
there must be some mistake.  There just had to be some other
explanation.  He did not see any sense in meeting to even
discuss the possibility that Jesus had arisen from the
grave.
	Even after Jesus made His appearance to church and the
whole congregation who were present declared firmly that
Jesus had arisen from the grave and had appeared to them,
still Thomas was very adamant.  V. 25, "The other disciples
therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord, But he said
unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the
nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and
thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe."  Thomas
had seen Jesus crucified.  He had seen the nails piercing
the hands of Jesus.  He had seen the nails piercing the feet
of Jesus.  He had seen the Roman spear thrust deeply upward
into the side of Jesus and all of this had made a great
impression on him.  He knew what he had seen and he was not
about to change his mind without some very strong and very
positive evidence.

III.  The presence of Thomas at the next meeting

	V. 26, "And after eight days again his disciples were
within, and Thomas with them..."  That first appearance of
Jesus to His church had been on the first day of the week,
Sunday.  That counted as the first day.  On Monday, the
second day, there were no further reports of Jesus being
seen.  On Tuesday, the third day, there were, likewise, no
further reports.  On Wednesday, the fourth day, there were
still no further reports.  Neither were there any on Friday
the sixth day nor on Saturday the seventh day.
	By the time that Sunday, the eighth day, came around,
Thomas must have been feeling rather smug.  He would think,
"If Jesus has truly risen from the dead, He surely would
have made another appearance by now."  So, when the
disciples met this time Thomas was right there among them.
I strongly suspect that he could hardly wait to tell them,
"I told you so."
	Once again they met behind closed doors.  All who came
to the door had to identify themselves before they were
admitted into the building.  Then the doors were locked
tight after each group would enter.  Nobody could slip in
unawares through the door.

IV.  The appearance of Jesus

	(V. 26), "...then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and
stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you."  Again
Jesus spoke words of peace to them.  It is always startling
when someone just suddenly shows up before you.  Although
this time I feel sure that nobody thought that He was a
ghost as they had done at His first appearance.  But Jesus
spoke words of comfort. He said in effect, "Be not afraid."
	The way that I have it pictured is that Jesus appeared
right in front of Thomas. V. 27, "Then saith he to Thomas,
Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands..."  In effect
He said, "Thomas, do you see the nail prints in my hands?
Go ahead and put your finger in the nail print.  Go and push
your finger down into the hole.  You will find that the hole
goes all the way through."
	(V. 27), "...and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it
into my side..."  In effect He said, "Thomas, go ahead and
put your hand right up into this hole in my side.  Push it
way up in the area of the heart.  Can you feel the heart
beat?  Is this enough to convince you that the brethren were
telling you the truth?  Why didn't you believe them?  These
are truthful men?
	(V. 27), "...and be not faithless, but believing." Now
Thomas was not an unbeliever in the sense of not believing
that Jesus is the Christ.  He had believed John the Baptist
that the Christ would soon make His appearance to Israel.
He had believed John the Baptist when John identified Jesus
as the Christ.  He had believed the Apostle Peter when Peter
told Jesus, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living
God."  Thomas had believed in Jesus and he was saved.  He
was a believer in that sense.  But he had refused to believe
the disciples when they told him that Jesus had arisen from
the grave.  It was in this sense that Jesus said to him, "It
is time that you stop your doubting and that you believe."

V.  The faith of Thomas
	
	V. 28, "And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord
and my God."  Instantly Thomas believed.  He believed and he
expressed his belief.  He acknowledged that Jesus has risen
from the grave.  He acknowledged that Jesus is Deity God in
human flesh.  He acknowledged that Jesus is his God.
	V. 29, "Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast
seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not
seen, and yet have believed."  It was good that Thomas
believed.  But Thomas believed as a result of seeing Jesus,
seeing the nail prints in His hand and the hole in His side.
Therefore his faith was not as strong as the faith of those
who had believed without first seeing Jesus after His
resurrection.  For instance, his faith was not as strong as
the faith of the Apostle John who had believed even before
he saw the resurrected Christ.  He had looked into the grave
and had been convinced by the evidence that he saw.  There
were probably others who had believed at the testimony of
those who had seen Jesus.  Down through the years there have
been countless thousands who have believed because they
believed the Holy Scriptures which bear record of His
resurrection.
	Jesus pronounced a blessing upon those who believed
without seeing.  It was a blessing to Thomas that he now
finally believe after seeing, but the greater blessing goes
to those who have the greater faith.  Those who believe
without seeing have the greater faith and they have the
greater blessing.

VI.  The situation as it exists today

	Today it is our task to spread the good news of the
resurrection of Jesus along with all of the other good news
of the gospel message.  We have the good blessed privilege
of telling those who are lost in sin that Jesus came to this
world to give Himself on the cross of Cavalry to die for
them so that they might be saved.  We have the privilege of
telling them that Jesus arose from the grave.  A dead Savior
could not save anybody.  But a risen Savior lives today and
He is able to save to the uttermost those who place their
faith in Him.
	Yet many, like Thomas, are hard to convince.  Even
though we have the testimony of those good honest truthful
men who were eyewitnesses.  They did not see Jesus arise
from the grave, but they saw Him after He arose and they can
testify that He did arise.  Many are hard to convince even
though we have the very word of God recorded in God's Holy
Bible giving testimony that Christ arose.
	But, like Thomas, the time will come when they will all
be convinced.  Jesus Christ will come back to this world and
every eye shall see Him.  Every living person will know that
He is the Christ.  Furthermore, all of the dead who have
refused to believe in Him will arise from the grave and
stand before Him at the Great White Throne of God.  They
will see Jesus for themselves as He sits before them.  He
will be their God and He will be their Judge.  They will be
able to see the nail prints in His hands.  I am not certain
that they will see the scar in His side.  But all will see
and all will be convinced.
	But for them it will be too late.

Conclusion:

	It is time right now for you who have never yet
believed to stop your unbelief.  Stop rejecting the gospel
message.  Start right now believing in Jesus Christ as the
Son of God and as your Savior.  Call upon Him now and ask
Him to save your soul.  Trust Him now to save your soul.
	Then after believing in Him commit your life to Him and
let Him have His way with your life.