April Fools?
John 20:19–28
“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After He said this, he showed them His hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you.” And with that He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” A week later His disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told Him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Happy Easter! Today we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ our saviour, our LORD and our God (v. 28). Today’s verses and anything that has got to do with Jesus’s post-mortem appearances gets me excited, it is a wonderful time of dawn after the dark night, that the disciples are now reunited with the risen LORD! What an exciting time in history to have experienced God in His magnificent resurrection body, which is very much physical as He demonstrates with the Apostle Thomas here. It is an amusing happenstance that Easter coincided with April 1 - April fools day and this year, I happen to chance upon the eminent New Testament Historian and scholar Dr./Rev/Bishop NT Wright, I’ve shared this a few weeks ago, when He connects the necessarily physical and historical resurrection of Christ to be the only potent defense against the 20th century prophets of 21st century post-modern thought, Marx, Freud, and Nietzsche, “beating them at their own game”, that indeed, Wright quotes St. Paul, “the foolishness of God is wiser than humanity, and the weakness of God is stronger than humanity (I Cor 1:25).” The fool says in his heart ‘there is no God’ (Psa 14:1), and the biggest foolish mistake in history, wasn’t counting down and partying on the 31st of March thinking it was New Year’s Eve in the 14th century, but was way earlier than that, 1400 years ago, when they thought that was the end of Him. However, the message of Easter is that Christ is risen and indeed He has, the God professed by Jesus of Nazareth had vindicated Him— His life, claims, and ministry. The mockers and scoffers alike (Matt 27:40), as many of us were, now confounded that God made good of His challenge, “Jesus answered, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days (John 2:19).” Bishop Wright emphasises that Jesus’s bodily resurrection is central in that God doesn’t leave His good creation behind, He transforms it. If we "have a theology that says the body of Jesus stayed in the tomb and He went off somewhere else in another form, a so-called spiritual form, you get a theology that says 'the present world does not matter, it was not an entirely good thing that God has made it and really our destiny is to leave this physical world behind and go somewhere else.' However, the New Testament is quite clear that the physical matters: God made it, God loves it, God is going to redeem it. It is, at present, heading for death because of sin and corruption, but God is going to make it incorrupt", like the resurrected Christ. God said, "Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert (Isa 43:19)", "And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also He said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true (Rev 21:5)." The last part of these verses is a reminder to us to believe, not with the blind faith of not seeing first hand, as most would like to think He meant that, but in the apostolic witness (v. 25), the very witness that won their world over. Indeed, “some sort of powerful, transformative experience is required to generate the sort of movement earliest Christianity was. . .” (Johnson, 1996) and, back to bishop Wright, “that is why, as an historian, I cannot explain the rise of early Christianity unless Jesus rose again, leaving an empty tomb behind him.” Celebrate the risen LORD, like the disciples, let us be filled with joy (v. 20) and peace (from the Prince of Peace Himself) (v. 21), and let us receive the Holy Spirit as God breathes into our lives (v. 22). Again, happy Easter, sisters and brothers!
“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After He said this, he showed them His hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you.” And with that He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” A week later His disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told Him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Happy Easter! Today we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ our saviour, our LORD and our God (v. 28). Today’s verses and anything that has got to do with Jesus’s post-mortem appearances gets me excited, it is a wonderful time of dawn after the dark night, that the disciples are now reunited with the risen LORD! What an exciting time in history to have experienced God in His magnificent resurrection body, which is very much physical as He demonstrates with the Apostle Thomas here. It is an amusing happenstance that Easter coincided with April 1 - April fools day and this year, I happen to chance upon the eminent New Testament Historian and scholar Dr./Rev/Bishop NT Wright, I’ve shared this a few weeks ago, when He connects the necessarily physical and historical resurrection of Christ to be the only potent defense against the 20th century prophets of 21st century post-modern thought, Marx, Freud, and Nietzsche, “beating them at their own game”, that indeed, Wright quotes St. Paul, “the foolishness of God is wiser than humanity, and the weakness of God is stronger than humanity (I Cor 1:25).” The fool says in his heart ‘there is no God’ (Psa 14:1), and the biggest foolish mistake in history, wasn’t counting down and partying on the 31st of March thinking it was New Year’s Eve in the 14th century, but was way earlier than that, 1400 years ago, when they thought that was the end of Him. However, the message of Easter is that Christ is risen and indeed He has, the God professed by Jesus of Nazareth had vindicated Him— His life, claims, and ministry. The mockers and scoffers alike (Matt 27:40), as many of us were, now confounded that God made good of His challenge, “Jesus answered, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days (John 2:19).” Bishop Wright emphasises that Jesus’s bodily resurrection is central in that God doesn’t leave His good creation behind, He transforms it. If we "have a theology that says the body of Jesus stayed in the tomb and He went off somewhere else in another form, a so-called spiritual form, you get a theology that says 'the present world does not matter, it was not an entirely good thing that God has made it and really our destiny is to leave this physical world behind and go somewhere else.' However, the New Testament is quite clear that the physical matters: God made it, God loves it, God is going to redeem it. It is, at present, heading for death because of sin and corruption, but God is going to make it incorrupt", like the resurrected Christ. God said, "Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert (Isa 43:19)", "And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also He said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true (Rev 21:5)." The last part of these verses is a reminder to us to believe, not with the blind faith of not seeing first hand, as most would like to think He meant that, but in the apostolic witness (v. 25), the very witness that won their world over. Indeed, “some sort of powerful, transformative experience is required to generate the sort of movement earliest Christianity was. . .” (Johnson, 1996) and, back to bishop Wright, “that is why, as an historian, I cannot explain the rise of early Christianity unless Jesus rose again, leaving an empty tomb behind him.” Celebrate the risen LORD, like the disciples, let us be filled with joy (v. 20) and peace (from the Prince of Peace Himself) (v. 21), and let us receive the Holy Spirit as God breathes into our lives (v. 22). Again, happy Easter, sisters and brothers!
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