St Matthew Derrington & St Giles Houghton
Acts 5.27-32 & John 20.19-end
What happened last Sunday?
What event were we considering?
Is this event historically verifiable?
Does it make any difference to the world if this event took place or
not?
Does it make any difference to your world if it took place or not?
Those five questions could form the basis of five study sessions –
perhaps for a home group, so we do not have the time to explore them all in
depth this morning.
Pulling all those questions together we might ask, did the resurrection
of Jesus actually happen and if so, what difference does that make?
Personally, I think that is the most important question that we can ask.
In 1 Corinthians 15.13-15 Paul writes…
… if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been
raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your
faith also is vain. Moreover, we are even found to be false witnesses of God,
because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise,
if in fact the dead are not raised.…
In our story from Acts we read of the Apostles (we are not told how many
or which ones) proclaiming Jesus as risen and the offer of new life, a
different way of being in the world, a true way of being human as God first
intended, reflecting glory back to God.
They have been told directly not to do this….
"We gave you strict
orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled
Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man's blood upon
us." But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather
than men.”The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by
hanging Him on a cross.…
“And we are witnesses of
these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey
Him.”
Thomas in our Gospel story
wanted physical proof of the resurrection of Jesus – which was granted to him.
Then for us standing where
we are and considering those questions I began with, we have these encouraging
words.
“Have you believed because
you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe”
Believe what exactly –
well the resurrection for one thing. Then something else as well, something
very important to help us answer those questions with which I began.
Remember Thomas is a Jew,
and as a good solid Jew, he was part of a tradition that had the Shema at its
very root and core. The Shema began…
Hear, Israel, the Lord is
our God, the Lord is One.
In this story as John has
told it, is this son of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, a son of the law. As he
encounters the risen Jesus he declares…
“My Lord and my God.”
Some scholars argue that
chapter 20 brings an end to John’s Gospel and it certainly seems to read
that way when taken at face value.
It offers a summary of why
John set out to write his Gospel account…
‘Jesus performed many
other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this
book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is
the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his
name.’
As such, it concludes
things. Some consider chapter 21 as an epilogue that tells of the story of
Peter’s restoration – itself a lovely story.
Therefore, if chapter 20
verses 30-31 do bring to end John’s Gospel let us consider just for a moment
how he began.
He began with the Prologue – those words so
familiar from the Christmass story.
‘In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning
with God…’
John then takes us on a
journey with Jesus that moves this way and that until we arrive where we are
today with this story about Thomas encountering the risen Jesus.
‘…these are written that
you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by
believing you may have life in his name.’
Remember Jesus’ words to
Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe”
Therefore…
What happened last Sunday was a recalling of that first Sunday
morning when Jesus rose from the dead. Again remembering that we have good Jews
as the first followers of Jesus, and if the Shema was important of equal
importance was the Sabbath, which was on Saturday. What happened to make them
begin to make their Sabbath a Sunday and not a Saturday?
Was this an event that is historically
verifiable? Well the Jewish historian Josephus makes mention of it. Of course, it
depends on what you might mean exactly by historical veracity. The Gospels also
seek to bear testimony to the resurrection.
Does it make any difference to the
world if this event took place or not? This is the big question, perhaps one of the biggest and most important
questions we could ever ask. In our Gospel story, the post resurrection Jesus presents himself as
both of this world, and yet strangely of another sphere or dimension with the
ability to pass through shut doors. Yet he
was certainly not a ghost or phantom, but real and fully human as God intended in
the beginning and as our own goal and ultimate destiny…
Ephesians 4.13
‘…until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.’
If the resurrection is true then we need to take a very careful account
of all that Jesus said and did…
Because as we read in Colossians2.9
‘For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,’
Does it make any difference to your world if it took place or not?
Well, only you can answer that question.
For Thomas according to tradition his belief in Jesus as both Lord and
God took him off to India and the foundation of the Thomasina Church.
Not as dramatic as that but I came to affirm a belief in Jesus and
became a Christian on the 1st January 1975 at the age of 24. That
led me into ministry and serving in London, Luton, Northumberland, Cornwall and
Sussex and now in the West Midlands.
In this, I have sought to be a faithful witness much in the same way as
the Apostles who were brought before the Sanhedrin and the High Priest in
Jerusalem.
Acts 5:32…
“We are witnesses
of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who
obey him.”
Witnessing that because of the resurrection of Jesus the world is a very
different place.
Witnessing people who, having giving over their lives to Jesus, become
free from addictions and other harmful behaviour.
Witnessing to God’s faithful provision.
Witnessing that in Jesus there is life and life in all its fullness.
So – where are you this morning in your own belief about Jesus?
Is Jesus your Lord and your God?
Because if he is your Lord and your God that will make all the
difference in the world to your life and how you live it.
For if Jesus is not Lord of all, then he is not Lord at all.
However living as a disciple of Jesus is a daily discipline when we have
to displace those things that seek to take his rightful place as our Lord and
our God.
Galatians 2.20 puts this new life very well…
‘I have been crucified with Christ and I no
longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by
faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.’
I hope you know that this morning and I hope you are seeking to live
that out.
Let me suggest that as we come to take the body and the blood of Jesus
we rededicate ourselves to him.
That as we receive the elements we say, ‘my Lord and my God’ – then
determine to live out the reality of that confession as faithful witnesses
wherever God may guide us.
That through our faithful witness, many others may
believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing may
have life in his name.
Ephesians 3.20-21
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
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