Peace through the Risen Jesus

All right, well, good morning to you. Good morning. I trust you're all getting enough sleep. Yeah. Well, let's continue in our study of God's Word. We're moving on to the last portion of John 20, and this will begin verse 19, and we'll read just about to the end of the chapter, so we'll stop at verse 29. To John chapter 20, verses 19 through 29, hear the reading of God's holy and inspired word.

Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, Peace be with you. When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, peace to you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you. And when he said this, he breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.

Now Thomas, called the twin, one of the 12, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, we have seen the Lord. And so he said to them, unless I see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and put my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days, his disciples were again inside and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said, peace to you. 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. And Thomas answered and said to him, my Lord and my God. Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed.

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Our Lord, we thank you for your Holy Spirit who has given us a sight beyond sight, a sight with eyes of faith in order to see and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we pray that as we look upon him today, that you would grant us peace and reassure us of the peace that we have through our risen Savior, Jesus Christ. And bless our time this morning. Lord, help us to be awake. Help us to be attentive and attuned to Your Word. And we ask that You would use this jar of clay for Your glory's sake. In Jesus' name we ask it. Amen.

Well, as we return to our study of the end of John's Gospel here, of the resurrected Jesus, we find that it is the Lord's Day. It's Sunday, the day that Jesus rose from the dead in our text here. Jesus has already appeared to Mary Magdalene. Luke's Gospel tells us that he's appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and that he's already appeared to Peter. Angels have conveyed a message to some of the other women saying that Jesus was going to go ahead of them and meet them in Jerusalem.

And so now they're all gathered there together in this little room. And they're all gathered together here, and for some reason or another, Thomas has left the scene. We don't know why he has left. Maybe he drove down to Casey's to pick up some pizza for the disciples while they're waiting for Jesus to show up, I don't know. But we don't know why he's gone, but we have 10 of the apostles here in this room together with some of the other disciples of Jesus Christ. And they're waiting, perhaps to meet Jesus, based on the words that they had received from the women, that he was going to meet them in Jerusalem, but they're not sure what to expect.

And yet what they find is that Jesus comes to them to communicate peace. Peace with God through the risen Jesus Christ. And we'll look at the way Jesus gives peace, we'll see that Jesus gives us peace, by considering how firstly Jesus gives peace by His presence, verses 19-20. Jesus gives peace by His Spirit, verses 21-22. Jesus gives peace by the authority of His Word, verses 22-23. Jesus gives peace by His wounds, in verses 19-20. And then we'll consider the sign of peace to strengthen our faith, verses 24-29. So let's first look at how Jesus gives peace by his presence, and we see this beginning in verse 19.

John tells us there that it's the first day of the week, and he emphasizes that fact. Listen to how he says it. He says, being the same day, the first day of the week. Now he's already said that it is the first day of the week, but he reiterates that fact, seeming to emphasize the point that it's this particular day that Jesus has appeared to them, appears to the disciples. It's as if he's setting apart the day, trying to draw special attention to it, like he's sanctifying this day, this particular day for the appearance of Jesus Christ. And is not the Lord's Day a special day? John seems to be indicating that here by this reiteration. The same day being the first day of the week. And this is intentional on John's part, I think, and on Jesus' part.

Jesus rises and appears on the Lord's Day, and then the next time we see him meeting with the disciples is eight days later. which just so happens to be the Lord's Day again, because in the Hebrew accounting of things, you always count the day that you are in as the first day, right? So we have Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, then the eighth day, Sunday, again, right? So the next time he meets with them is on Sunday, again, the Lord's day. Jesus intentionally meets with his people on Sunday, showing us that Sunday is the Lord's day. So we meet for church on this day because this is the day that Jesus meets with his church.

John seems to be pointing this out. Well, on this particular Sunday, the disciples were gathered together and they have the doors locked because they are in fear. or fear of the Jews, John tells us. And we don't really know why they're afraid of the Jews, but it's not hard for us to guess.

They just saw their Lord and their master crucified by these Jews. And so perhaps they're thinking, well, we have followed him. Jesus said something along the lines of the servant isn't greater than the master. If they persecuted me, they'll persecute you. And so perhaps they're thinking, well, they put Jesus to death, maybe we're next. Maybe they're gonna come after us.

Or maybe the Jews finding out that Jesus' body is no longer in the tomb, maybe they might come after the disciples of Jesus as a way to substantiate the claim that the disciples stole the body of Jesus away. Remember, they wanted to propagate that lie that the disciples came and took Jesus' body out of the tomb. And what better way to substantiate that claim than for the Jews to come, grab the disciples, put them on some sort of false trial, and condemn them for stealing the body of Jesus. And so maybe they're hiding from the Jews for this very reason. But whatever the case may be, they're meeting together, they're talking about these sightings of Jesus, they're talking about their fear of the Jews, and then all of a sudden Jesus shows up.

And it's interesting how John conveys that here. He says, and stood in their midst. John conveys this idea of movement into their midst. He didn't just appear like a phantom out of nowhere right in front of them. And it wasn't as if God somehow beamed Jesus down like Scotty would beam Captain Kirk down onto to some planet and he sort of materializes, right, before their eyes. No. Somehow, someway, Jesus in his glorified body, doors being locked, comes into where the disciples were, appearing before them and standing in their midst.

And so you can imagine the scene here, what's going on. The disciples are talking together about what's going on. They're looking out the window to see if any soldiers are coming or any guards are coming to arrest them. And then suddenly turning around and seeing Jesus standing there and scaring them, right? Shocking and startling them. And you parents with children know what this is like, right?

This is exactly what happens right around 2.30 in the morning when you're in a deep sleep, and yet something rouses you from your slumber. And your eyes are still closed, but you just sense this presence. right next to your bed, right? And you open your eyes and there's your child just staring at you, watching you sleep, right?

It's really freaky. And you jump, right? Your heart starts to pound and you can't sleep for the rest of the night. You're startled by this appearance of your child. Well, this is what happens to these disciples. They're startled. Luke tells us that they're terrified, actually. They're thinking this was a ghost standing in front of them.

But Jesus, He immediately calms them down. He says, peace be with you. And then He shows them His hands and says, look, it's me. I'm real. I'm not a ghost. Luke says that He even asked them for something to eat. Hey, do you guys have anything to eat? I'm here. I'm alive. I'm well. I'm not a ghost.

Jesus comes to meet with His disciples in this time of confusion and disorganization and fear in their lives. Jesus comes to them and meets them within their hardship. And that's what Jesus is all about. Meeting His people in our times of fear and confusion and hardship.

Jesus is with us, not just in the good times. Not just in the happy times, but in the valleys, in the dark times, in the difficult times. We've been talking a lot about this fact, haven't we? Sending a spirit to comfort us, to be with us, to grant us His presence. No matter what is going on around us, no matter how scary things might be, no matter how confusing life might become, Christ is there in the midst, with us, walking with us, guiding us.

And so Jesus comes to the disciples and what he does afterwards is that Jesus gives peace to them by his Spirit. Look at what John goes on to tell us in verses 21 and 22. So Jesus said to them again, peace to you as the Father has sent me, I also send you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit.

Well the first thing we see here is a divine commissioning. As the Father has sent me, I also send you. God the Father had divinely commissioned Jesus to come into the world to carry out the task that the Father had sent Him to do, which was the salvation of man. And Jesus came and lived a righteous life, died a wrath-satisfying sacrifice, and was raised again from the dead for our justification. And because of that, and in faith in that, we are saved. Jesus fulfilled the work that His Father had given Him to do. And so now Jesus does the sending.

Jesus here commissions with divine authority the disciples to go into the world and carry out the task which God has called them to do. And we know by implication that this mission falls upon us, the Church. This is the Church's mission, to go into the world and preach and share forgiveness of sins through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. This is your mission as disciples of Christ, as members of His Church. And what Jesus speaks here, he reiterates in greater depth in Matthew 28, in the Great Commission, where he tells us that we're to teach those all over the world and make disciples of all nations. And so we see that Jesus authoritatively commissions these disciples, commissions the church, commissions you and me for this task of disciple-making, for preaching the gospel. But friends, this is a big task. This is an intimidating task, intimidating mission, and quite frankly, it's a scary mission.

Because Jesus did tell the disciples, and he tells you and me in John 15, that if the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you."

So this is not the most exciting or comforting prospect, is it? But Jesus does not expect us to go at this alone. But in fact, He wants us to have peace in our mission. And so look again at what Jesus says in verse 21 and 22. Jesus said to them again, Peace to you, as the Father has sent me, I also send you. And when He said this, He breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. And so in their commissioning to go into this hostile world to preach the gospel, Jesus says, peace to you, then he gives them the Holy Spirit. And this is exactly what Jesus promises to them in John 14, right before he talks to them about the resistance and persecution they're going to experience in John 15.

If you have your Bibles with you, turn to John 14, verses 26 and 27. I want you to see exactly what Jesus says here. John 14 verses 26 and 27. Remember, this is right before Jesus starts talking to them about the persecution. In John 15. Verse 26, Jesus says, But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you." I think that's the Holy Spirit that he's talking about there. Not as the world gives do I give you, let not your hearts be troubled, neither let it be afraid. And so in Christ's commissioning of his disciples here in chapter 20, Jesus breathes upon them the Holy Spirit that peace which he promised them all the way back in John 14. And that's exactly what they needed in this moment, isn't it? Because why were they gathered in that little room in the first place? Verse 19 of chapter 20, for fear of the Jews. But now Jesus tells them to go and preach the gospel to those Jews.

And he tells them peace and he gives them peace by giving them the Holy Spirit. Well how is it then that the Holy Spirit would give these disciples peace? And how is it that we can have peace by His presence with us as we speak and share the Gospel with others?

Well we need to look at some of the descriptions that Jesus gives to us about this peace-giving spirit and his work in John 14 through 16. So if you still have your finger in John 14, flip back there. We're going to spend a little bit of time in John 14 through 16. We're just going to look at this briefly, but I want you to see what the Holy Spirit does and how that can give us peace. And remember, this is the spirit of the risen Christ.

First Point

First, we have peace by knowing the truth. Take a look at John 14. We'll start at verses 16 and 17. We have peace by knowing the truth.

Jesus says, And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. Then turn over to verse 26. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I have said to you." Look over to chapter 16, verse 13. However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak, and He will tell you things that are to come." You see the common theme. It's the theme of truth. He's the Spirit of truth. He teaches us the truth. He helps us to remember the truth. He guides us into all truth.

And of course, this would be most immediately helpful to these disciples, these apostles, because these are the ones who are about to be dragged before synagogues and before rulers and authorities. And in Luke 12, 11, Jesus tells them not to be afraid when this happens. Why? Because the Holy Spirit's gonna be with them and tell them what to say, lead them into the truth of what to say. But it's also gonna be very helpful to them because they are about to be used by God to write the New Testament.

And the Holy Spirit is going to guide them and work through them by His Spirit of Truth to bring to remembrance everything that Jesus has said. I remember talking to my aunt at one point who was a pretty staunch Roman Catholic, but she had questions about the Bible and how we could trust what the New Testament says because, you know, those letters that the apostles wrote, they were written so long after the fact. How could they remember everything in detail? How could they remember everything that Jesus said to them?

Well, Jesus gives us the answer right here. The Spirit of Truth will bring to their remembrance everything that He has taught them and lead them into the truth. And friends, Jesus gives us peace by giving this Spirit to us, who gives us a knowledge and a firm conviction of the truth. of God's Word.

So that when we read the Word of God, when we talk to others about Christ, we ourselves are convinced that we stand upon the rock of God's Word. And we're not standing on the shifting sands of worldly philosophy and earthly argumentation. No, we have peace. We have the peace of knowing the truth. The Spirit convicts us of such things. Well secondly, we have peace by the Spirit in knowing that we belong to Jesus and that He is with us. John 14, 18. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you.

Knowing that you have support or backup can be very helpful and can take the fear out of an otherwise scary situation. So maybe you remember being in school and that bully that would pester you. That bully was not so intimidating whenever you had your crew rolling up behind you, right? You had backup. Or maybe when you got a little bit older and you saw that cute girl across the room that you were a little bit intimidated to talk to.

She wasn't so scary when you had your wingman right next to you and you can go up and talk to this person, right? or for my seven-year-old daughter, how the dark is not so scary whenever she has her eight, almost nine-year-old brother with her to walk with her through the darkness. When you have someone with you to encourage you or to support you by their presence, especially when they're bigger and stronger than you or the situation that you face, you have peace and confidence in your heart. And knowing that you have The creator God, the almighty creator of heaven and earth with you, your savior, your redeemer, your friend, your big brother, with you, can give you peace to stand before kings or commoners, friends or family members, those who are hostile, and even those who are hopeful, and give you the strength and the courage to speak and preach the gospel, the saving gospel of Jesus Christ.

You are not left as orphans. You have not been forsaken, but Jesus is with you. He stands by your side, and as Psalm 16 says, you will not be moved. He stands with you, and we have peace, the peace of knowing we belong to Jesus, and that He is with us.

Well, thirdly, we have peace of knowing that the Spirit is the true witness bearer. Look at John 15, verse 26. John 15 verse 26, Jesus says, but when the Helper comes, this is the Spirit, who I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. Then look at chapter 16 verses 7 and 8. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send Him to you.

And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." What a relief this is to know. to know that it's the Spirit of God who does the convicting in this world. It's the Spirit of God who does the convincing. It's not up to us to change the hearts of other people. All we need do is speak and then wait upon the One who said, let light shine out of darkness to shine in the hearts of others to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We have the peace of knowing that the Spirit is the true witness bearer. Our risen Jesus gives us peace by giving to us His Spirit.

Third Point

Alright, well let's back up a little bit, back up to the main theme and flow of things, pulling out of this peacegiving spirit idea and move on to the third main point here and how Jesus gives peace by the authority of His Word. Look at verses 21 through 23 again of chapter 20.

So Jesus said to them again, peace to you as the Father has sent me, I also send you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.

And so as a seal of that divine commissioning that he has given to them from God, Jesus breathes on them and conveys the Holy Spirit of God upon them. And so just as Jesus received the Holy Spirit from God at the beginning of his work, at the beginning of his public ministry, so now Jesus gives the Holy Spirit to them at the beginning of their work and at the beginning of their ministry.

So they can carry out what God has called them to do. And this private receiving of the Holy Spirit here will be manifested in a very public and a very dramatic way, powerful way on the day of Pentecost. Where it will be the granting of the miraculous gifts and signs and wonders that the Apostles will do to verify and certify the message which they preach. The healing, the raising from the dead, the casting out of demons, the speaking in various languages. The Spirit will come in power and give them those gifts.

But Jesus gives them the Spirit here as a down payment as it were of that power that they will receive from on high in Acts chapter 2. And this commissioning and this granting of the Spirit here beyond the peace that it gives to them also authorizes the disciples and by extension the church to speak in Jesus name. And that's just what He tells them to do in verse 23.

He says, if you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained. Now what this does not mean is that somehow the disciples or the church can hold God captive by their declarations. And so if someone were to come up to the church and we looked at them and said, eh, you know what? You're forgiven.

And God has to say, oh, okay, well, you forgave that guy, so now I guess I have to write him down in my book of life. That's not how it works. That's not what Jesus is communicating here. That's not what Jesus is saying. God isn't captive to our declarations. But what Jesus is doing here is He's authorizing them to speak on behalf of God regarding the truth of the Gospel. He just gave them the Holy Spirit. which enables them to proclaim the Word of God, the Gospel of God.

And so when they go into this world preaching the death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, the forgiveness of sins in His name through faith in Christ, if anyone comes to faith in Jesus, the disciples can authoritatively say to them, your sins are forgiven you because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. And for those who reject, like those unbelieving Jews you can read about in Acts 13, who consider themselves unworthy of eternal life, as the disciples put it. For those who reject the gospel, the disciples say, your sins remain on your head. There's no salvation outside of Jesus Christ. And so all the disciples are doing here is saying what is already true in heaven.

Luke tells us in Luke 24, 46 through 47 that Jesus says, it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sin should be preached in his name to all nations. And that is what Jesus is authorizing them to do here, to go into the world, preach forgiveness in my name, and those who repent and believe, forgive them. Tell them that they're forgiven in my name, in the name of Jesus Christ. And for those who reject me, tell them that their blood is on their heads. And friends, it is because of this authoritative word that Jesus gives to the church that I, as a preacher of the gospel, can say to you who have placed your faith in Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven.

Your sins are forgiven. They're covered over by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. That comes from the authority of King Jesus himself, your risen Lord. Amen? Your sins are forgiven if you believed in Jesus Christ. This is not just some nice sentimentality that we say to one another to help alleviate the guilt of the things that we experience in this life, to help us feel better and cope with the things that we've done wrong. No, this is Jesus giving his church the authority to speak in such a way in order to give true peace to those who hear it. This declaration of your forgiveness comes from the Risen Lord Jesus Christ, the Risen Lord of Glory Himself, who guarantees your pardon. And if you believe in Jesus, your sins are forgiven you.

Fourth Point

What wonderful truths we have. What great assurance we have that Jesus has forgiven our sins. We have peace by the authority of Christ's Word. But of course all of this comes from the peace that we have by Christ's wounds. And that's our fourth point. Jesus gives peace by His wounds. Look again at verses 19 and 20.

Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, Jesus came in the midst and said to them, peace be with you. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands in his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. And so Jesus appears before them and he says, peace be with you. And while this was a very common style greeting in those days, Jesus fills it with so much more significance because of who he is and what he has done. Look at the connection Jesus immediately makes between his words, peace be with you, and the wounds that he bore for their sacrifice. He said to them, peace be with you.

And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. And so the risen Jesus shows them the nail holes and the spear thrust that he received upon the cross as he hung for a propitiation for their sins, a wrath-satisfying sacrifice for their sin. And so this risen Jesus, what he's doing here, he shows his disciples that he is the living fulfillment of Isaiah 53.

When Jesus says, peace be with you, and then shows them his wounds, he is visually quoting, visually quoting Isaiah 53.5. I was wounded for your transgressions. I was bruised for your iniquities, the chastisement for your what? Your peace. was upon me, and by my wounds you were healed."

So the risen Jesus points them not to a dead sacrifice, but to a living Messiah Savior who still bears the wounds of that sacrifice and who by them declares to them that they have peace with God. Because you cannot have peace with God apart from the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. But brothers and sisters, you cannot have peace with God apart from the risen sacrifice who is Jesus Christ. As Paul says, if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is in vain. If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile. You are still in your sins. But Jesus is alive.

He is the risen sacrifice from the dead, and this risen Savior still bears the wounds of that sacrifice to assure His disciples, to assure you and me that we have peace with God. But something we also need to see here is that the wounds of Christ not only give peace, but they strengthen the faith of the weak. And so lastly, let's consider this sign of peace that strengthens our faith. And we see this playing out in verses 24 through 29. Now Thomas called the twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.

The other disciples therefore said to him, we have seen the Lord. And so he said to them, unless I see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and put my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days his disciples were again inside and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut and stood in the midst and said to them, peace to you. And when he said, and then he said to Thomas, reach your fingers here, look at my hands and reach your hand here and put it into my side.

Do not be unbelieving, but believing. As I said before, we're not sure why Thomas wasn't there to begin with initially, but he doesn't get to see Jesus appear to the rest of the disciples. But when Thomas shows up, you can imagine that all he hears from the other guys is the fact that Jesus was here, right? Jesus shows up! And you know what he was thinking? They've all gone mad, right? They've all gone mad. Or maybe they're just, you know, hallucinating. They're seeing things out of an overzealous expectation that Jesus is alive. Or maybe Thomas, in his subconscious pride, is thinking, well, surely Jesus wouldn't have shown up without me here. Like, why would he have shown up to everyone else but not me? Why would I be excluded from this appearance of Jesus?

Whatever the case may be, Thomas doesn't believe Jesus has appeared. And as he says at the end of verse 25, I will not believe, I'll never believe. Which seems to indicate that he doesn't just disbelieve that Jesus appeared, but maybe Thomas doesn't even believe that Jesus has been raised.

I don't believe it, I won't believe it unless I see his wounds. So evidently his disciples told Thomas that Jesus had displayed his wounds to prove that it was truly he. And surely the disciples told Thomas the rest of what happened, that he spoke peace to them, that he commissioned them, he granted them the spirit, gave them the authority to speak in his name to forgive sins. But Thomas doesn't believe any of it. And he says that he won't believe any of it unless he sees Christ's wounds. And so for Thomas, all that Jesus is, all that Jesus has said, all that Jesus has done, rides on Thomas seeing the wounds of Christ. All of it rides on Thomas seeing Christ's wounds. His faith rides on the wounds of Jesus.

And so for a whole week, while the others are rejoicing and have peace in their hearts, Thomas is living in doubt. He's unsettled. He has no peace. And then Jesus shows up in verse 26, and this time Thomas is there. Jesus shows up and look at what he says. Peace to you. He says it again. And then look at what he does, being omniscient. He knew what Thomas said. He shows him his wounds immediately. Again, making that connection between his wounds and peace.

He shows Thomas and Thomas falls down on his face and says, my Lord, And my God, no longer is Thomas' heart filled with doubt, no longer is his heart in a state of unrest, but upon seeing the risen Jesus and His wounds, Thomas has peace and believes and he falls down in worship. And so not only do the wounds of the risen Jesus convey peace, but we see that they elicit and even strengthen faith in those who are weak in faith. The wounds of Christ elicit and strengthen faith in the heart, because they not only prove that He is alive, but they confirm the work of salvation accomplished by Christ. The risen Jesus still retains these wounds, and seeing these wounds strengthens the faith of Thomas.

And as Jesus says in verse 29, how blessed are they who have the strength of faith that they don't need to see the wounds to believe in Christ and his work. And this would certainly have to be the case for the rest of church history, right? Because Jesus wasn't going to be around for people to look at his wounds. He was going to ascend into heaven so people couldn't put their fingers into the hands and side of Christ any longer. And so how blessed, how happy are those who have greater faith than Thomas did?

Because they can believe without seeing. And sometimes that's us. Right? Sometimes that's us. We have the blessed belief in a Christ we have not seen. We know the happy assurance of the work of Christ accomplished for us even though we cannot see His hands and we cannot see His side. But isn't it true that our faith is often weak? Isn't it true that we're a whole lot like Thomas, that we don't experience the blessedness and happiness of a faith without sight?

How encouraging it would be to us to actually be able to look upon the wounds of Christ, to have our faith strengthened, our assurance of peace made more secure by seeing the wounds of Jesus. There's something I want you to think about here, something I want you to see here. That if the marks of the broken body of Jesus Christ His wounds convey peace to and elicit and strengthen faith in the disciples. And how fitting is it then that the Lord Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper as a perpetual ordinance for us to observe. so that we can continually look upon the symbols of our Lord's broken body and sacrifice His wounds for the forgiveness of our sins to the end that our faith in His work would be strengthened and increased and our assurance of God's peace towards us would be made more secure.

Sometimes our faith can be strong as we go through this life. We might see Jesus with great eyes of faith and be strong in our walk. But sometimes we're a whole lot like Thomas, and we're weak. We need to see Jesus in order to have our faith kindled in us.

And so how good God is to condescend to our weakness, to give us things we can see, give us things that we can taste and touch and feel and experience of His promises to us. we may see a sign of our peace, a sign of the work accomplished on our behalf, that we could come to the risen Jesus in communion with Him and hear the words from His mouth, peace be with you as we look upon His wounds. So friends, as you come to the table, the next time you celebrate the Lord's Supper, May you see Jesus Christ, not just physically before your eyes in the elements, but may you see the Spirit of Christ. And may He use them as a means of grace to strengthen you to see Jesus with eyes of faith. And as you come to the table, may your heart and soul fall down and say, My Lord and my God.

Jesus gives peace by His presence. Jesus gives peace by His Spirit. Jesus gives peace by the authority of His Word. Jesus gives peace to us by His wounds. And Jesus has given us a sign of peace to strengthen our faith. And may we have that peace by the power of the Spirit.

Closing Prayer

May it be so. Let's pray. Our Lord in heaven, thank you for being so good to us, so good to meet us in our weakness, to give us things, to draw our hearts and affections up to you where Christ Jesus is enthroned. And Lord, we pray that you would meet us in times of fear, you would meet us in times of confusion, and you would indeed strengthen our faith. Bless us that you would receive the glory and we would receive the good that only comes from you. Bless us and keep us the rest of this day. In Jesus' name we ask it. Amen.