Christ Born & Witnessed, Crucified, Risen, Ascended..
It’s really easy to hear someone’s story of a baby born in a manger during the census of Augustus Caesar.
The Babe in a manger (and His mother) have become our iconic emojis of virtue.
Roger Harned – talkofJesus.com– on Christmas traditions replacing the significance of Christ’s Resurrection
The Witness of Thomas
Imagine what Thomas must have pondered before he saw Jesus once more..
His miracles were authentic. He was a man like us, yet so unlike us.
We discovered many times that the Lord Jesus was more than any man we had ever met, even John the Baptist..
Like when He calmed the raging Sea of Tiberius, fed thousands and especially when Jesus healed the sick and even raising some like Lazarus just recently from the grave.
But we witnessed also the defeat of Israel’s Messiah, our only hope — His rejection by our own Jewish leaders and Rome’s cruel sentence of His death on a cross, mocking our Rabbi as “Jesus, the King of the Jews.”
I wasn’t close for His execution, for I was afraid like all the others; but Jesus is certainly dead as any other nailed to a Roman Cross.
This is the witness of Jews who had hoped that Jesus would restore the Kingdom of Israel.
(Translations incl. Complete Jewish Bible)
All of the Twelve were born as Jews, as was the Lord Jesus (Yeshua).
24 Now T’oma [Didymus in common Greek] (the name means “twin”), one of the Twelve, was not with them when Yeshua came.
When the other talmidim [disciples] told him,
“We have seen the Lord,”
he replied, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, put my finger into the place where the nails were and put my hand into his side,
I refuse to believe it.”
Believe it .. or not
Well there it is: Like what happens so frequently, someone else tells us about the biggest event ever in their lives.. AND we missed it. Just like Thomas, we weren’t there.
I either don’t believe them, pause with the uncertainty of doubt .. OR maybe I find it beyond belief that the Lord did not also choose ME to be part of such a life-changing moment.
Perhaps you and I are not so unlike ‘doubting Thomas’ as we would like to believe.
A timely note about time:
Even though we've slowed the actual timeline of events between Jesus raising Lazarus and His own Resurrection,I will not delay John's Gospel an additional weekto reflect real time. RH
26 Eight days later His disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst..
Although the doors were locked, Yeshua came, stood among them and said, “Shalom aleikhem!”
27 Then he said to T’oma, “Put your finger here, look at my hands, take your hand and put it into my side. Don’t be lacking in trust, but have trust!”
Witnessed Crucified; Witnessed Risen
Thomas finally experiences the risen Christ Jesus the slain Messiah of Israel the same as the other Apostles and the women who saw Him first.
Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
John 20:27 NKJV
28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
Depicting Christ Crucified and Jesus Risen to Life!
The scene of Thomas witnessing the wounds of the Risen Messiah, Jesus, their friend and their Teacher is beyond illustration.
John must have recalled Jesus’ similar approach to Martha just before the Lord raised her brother Lazarus to life.
“I am the resurrection and the life,” Jesus had asked the bereaved sister of Lazarus. “Do you believe this?”
John 11:25-26 excerpt with context
Martha and Mary had mourned the death of their brother.
Mary the mother of Jesus also mourned helplessly. She could not save Him from suffering as she sorrowfully watched His death on a Cross nearby.
Faithful painters of the Renaissance could neither paint nor sculpt the horror of the Lord Jesus’s wounds.
Our focus draws to the hearts of the living rather than to the Redeemer of our lives.
Believe by faith
29 Jesus said [to Thomas, with all the Disciples present], “Because you have seen me, you have believed.
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”
By their witness and that of many others who had seen the risen Christ Jesus, many came to believe by the time John writes his Gospel, even many who would take up their cross to follow Him. These too the Apostle John would witness.
30 So then, many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that by believing you may have life in His name.
To be continued...
Next: We will return briefly to further witness of the Eleven near the conclusion of John's Gospel.
“Eli, Eli, lama” are Hebrew words in the Hebrew Bible (Ps. 22:2)
David said “lama azavthani” (why have you forsaken me?) and
Jesus said “lama sabachthani” (why have you sacrificed me?).
-source [2016 site not secure]: http://messiah-study.net/sabachthani.htm
Jesus from the Cross
So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other one who had been crucified with him. When they came to Jesus, they did not break his legs since they saw that he was already dead. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.
Is your own heart pierced by the cry of death — the death of a loved one, that of your own inevitable failing flesh?
Would your soul cry out even from the grave that the death of God’s own Son should have been your own?
What those imprisoned in the dark dungeons of death must have thought as Jesus cried out as Sacrifice of Blood and Flesh from the Cross!
Who is the Son of Man entering the Jerusalem of the Jews?
In the year of our Lord, 2020, of these last days of a new covenant, I have been sharing the Good News of John.
We cannot cover all of the nuances of reactions to the Messiah entering Jerusalem for the Passover some two thousand years ago, but look back to some of the thoughts of those encountering Jesus between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday which the church celebrates with great joy.
The context of their first century perspective also includes witnesses of many signs of the Messiah including healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, miraculously feeding crowds of followers and raising the deadwho include recently Lazarus of Bethany.
The Apostle Philip & the crowds
John 12:
9 Then a large crowd of the Jews learned he was there. They came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, the one he had raised from the dead.
10 But the chief priests had decided to kill Lazarus also, because he was the reason many of the Jews were deserting them and believing in Jesus.
The Apostle Philip, of course, travels with Jesus when the Messiah returns to Bethany. Crowds follow them into Jerusalem and friends of the Apostle hear about Jesus the Rabbi of their friend Philip.
21 So they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and requested of him, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
23 And Jesus answered them, saying,
“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified…
Jesus has much more to say and then this witness before them:
“…and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.”
John 12:27b-28a NASB
Then a voice came out of heaven:
“I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”
29 So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “An angel has spoken to Him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes.
Philip witnesses this truly awesome scene after Jesus had said,
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit…
John 12:24 NASB
Thomas: ‘Lord, we know not..’
Don’t you have to love a guy who just has to ask the questions you want to ask the Lord?
Peter was one of these sometimes clueless Disciples who asked Jesus the obvious. We have heard much preaching on Peter, this anointed Apostle of the early church, about his denials and restorations in this Holy Week.
Like Peter, a man of bold faith, Thomas, a man of bold questions often gets a bad wrap for questions and doubt exactly like ours.
The Lord got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself, after which Jesus washes his feet along with the other eleven.
[Later]He became troubled in spirit, and testified and said,
“Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me.”
22 The disciples began looking at one another…
33 Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come…’
36 Simon Peter said to Him,
“Lord, where are You going?”
Jesus answered,
“Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.”
37 Peter said to Him,
“Lord, why can I not follow You right now?
[Thomas must have also have wondered what Peter so typically blurts out.
Again, fellow believer, consider the gravity of Jesus’ exclusive claim.
For the Lord draws a line in the dust we often omit, when witnessing to win others to Christ through our own blurred vision of this life.
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life;
no one comes to the Father
but through Me. –
John 14:6
Jesus’ exclusive ____line____ in the dust between death and eternal life
7 If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”
8 Philip said to Him,
“Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip?
Let’s pause a moment there, fellow saint of Christ:
Has Jesus been so part of your routine that you have failed to know your Lord?
Jesus continues instructing Thomas:
He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say,
‘Show us the Father’?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me?
John 14:10a NASB
The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.
12 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.
15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
Between Gethsemane & Doubt
We know that Thomas and the Disciples fail to keep alert in the late hours after Jesus shares the New Covenant Cup of communion and broken bread symbolizing and making memorial of what is about to happen to His broken Body and shed Blood of Sacrifice for our sins.
Jesus prays, is betrayed by Judas as the eleven stand near, then bound and taken away to appear in secret before those who will judge their Messiah. They will then sentence their Redeemer to death on a Cross — ALL in fulfillment of Scripture.
We may self-righteously go on about Peter denying Jesus as he also attempts to run away from death for a time.
In fact, all of us may only escape death — for a time.
CHRIST DIED!
The Apostle John relates more details of these events worth your perspective on DEATH from the darkness of these days.
Perspectives of these first witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection
Mary of Magdala (a small village on the shore of the Sea of Galilee) discovers Jesus’ tomb EMPTY!
“They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”
Mary tells Peter and John
They all return to the tomb with the sealed stone rolled away.
“Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”
“Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” [My great teacher, master.]
Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
Later Appearance to the Disciples
When it was evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because they feared the Jews.
Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them,
“Peace to you.“
20 Having said this, he showed them his hands and his side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
21 Jesus said to them again,
“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.”
22 After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit…
Did you miss the RESURRECTION OF JESUS?
Don’t some of the most important things in life often happen when you least expect?
Returning later to the scene of the Disciples (but not all of them) in the locked room), Thomas returns.
He missed it! (and perhaps was somewhat sceptical when he heard the witness of his fellow Disciples).
“We’ve seen the Lord!”
“Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
Eight more days pass
What disappointment. To have followed Jesus the Messiah as He walked the earth for three years of His ministry prior to His fulfillment of Scripture. AND you missed HIS return!
His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst…
“Peace to you.“
And the Lord, turning to Thomas,
“Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
“My Lord and my God!”
And yet again…
John tells us:
30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book…
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying,
“Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
John 21:14 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
My purpose here is not to convince you of proof of the resurrection, but to convict you with the command of our our risen Lord.
Mark 16:15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.
16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned…”
We would do well to study all of the Gospel and what Christ Jesus, our Lord, has commanded His servants, those saved by the Blood of the Cross and sent into all the world as witness of God’s compassionate love for sinners like us.
Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.
13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
Dr. Luke, historian recording his gospel and the Acts of the Apostles from the first hand testimonies of Peter and the Apostles probably records this with the most details:
36 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!”
37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit.
38 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”
40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate before them.
44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
Here is a lesson in Scripture from our risen Lord I would have liked to have heard.
Trust that Luke and the other scribes of the Gospel have accurately recorded much of this as part of what we have read from the life of Jesus Christ prior to the Crucifixion and Resurrection.
45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgivenessof sinsshould be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
One witness betrayed, then hung himself. Condemned to Hell, Judas was not present for these commands.
One witness to the dark night of Jesus’ trial did not flee, but remained near enough to have denied Jesus as His lord three times. John is witness of Jesus forgiving Peter, before sending Peter to follow in His way to the Cross.
One witness had to place his hand in the wounds of the resurrected body of Jesus.
But we would not have been any less skeptical than Thomas, who was also later martyred for His witness of these things.
Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
One witness had to place his hand in the wounds of the resurrected body of Jesus.