JESUS IS LORD AND GOD (32 OF 32)
Scripture: John 20:24-31
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Jesus Is Lord and God (32 of 32)
Series: John
Patrick Edwards
John 20:24-31
Introduction: About five months ago we met this man named Thomas in John's Gospel, back in chapter 11. You remember there we read the story of where Jesus and his disciples find out that Lazarus, their friend, has died. Mary and Martha had sent word to Jesus for Him to come, but part of the problem was that Bethany, where the family was, was right outside of Jerusalem, where Jesus' enemies were. Jesus and the disciples knew that to go to Bethany and then into Jerusalem would likely result in Jesus' arrest and possible murder. And so naturally there is a bit of hesitation on the part of the disciples to agree to go to Jerusalem. But when Jesus tells the disciples to come with Him, nonetheless, we read that Thomas steps forward and says to his fellow disciples, ''Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.'' (John 11:16)
What we find is that Thomas was a very loyal and willing follower of Jesus, he was devoted, maybe even a little impulsive. Certainly, he was someone who believed the words of Jesus and was willing to die in obedience to Him. But as we see this morning in John 20, he wasn't a man of perfect faith. Despite his loyalty to Jesus he didn't not seem to fully understand all that Jesus had taught and warned the disciples about. In other words, before the death and resurrection of Jesus he was a man of good intentions, but not yet a man of faith.
My argument this morning is that Thomas is representative of all of us, in that before we come to faith in Jesus, even as we journey in our faith, we all have doubts and misunderstandings; and, the fact that such a loyal and devoted follower of Jesus had the same doubts should encourage us and let us know that we are not alone. Moreover, how Jesus approaches and deals with Thomas' doubts should give us even greater confidence to know that we don't have to be perfect or have everything figured out before we put our faith in th ...
Series: John
Patrick Edwards
John 20:24-31
Introduction: About five months ago we met this man named Thomas in John's Gospel, back in chapter 11. You remember there we read the story of where Jesus and his disciples find out that Lazarus, their friend, has died. Mary and Martha had sent word to Jesus for Him to come, but part of the problem was that Bethany, where the family was, was right outside of Jerusalem, where Jesus' enemies were. Jesus and the disciples knew that to go to Bethany and then into Jerusalem would likely result in Jesus' arrest and possible murder. And so naturally there is a bit of hesitation on the part of the disciples to agree to go to Jerusalem. But when Jesus tells the disciples to come with Him, nonetheless, we read that Thomas steps forward and says to his fellow disciples, ''Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.'' (John 11:16)
What we find is that Thomas was a very loyal and willing follower of Jesus, he was devoted, maybe even a little impulsive. Certainly, he was someone who believed the words of Jesus and was willing to die in obedience to Him. But as we see this morning in John 20, he wasn't a man of perfect faith. Despite his loyalty to Jesus he didn't not seem to fully understand all that Jesus had taught and warned the disciples about. In other words, before the death and resurrection of Jesus he was a man of good intentions, but not yet a man of faith.
My argument this morning is that Thomas is representative of all of us, in that before we come to faith in Jesus, even as we journey in our faith, we all have doubts and misunderstandings; and, the fact that such a loyal and devoted follower of Jesus had the same doubts should encourage us and let us know that we are not alone. Moreover, how Jesus approaches and deals with Thomas' doubts should give us even greater confidence to know that we don't have to be perfect or have everything figured out before we put our faith in th ...
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