Life in the King
Series: Abundant Life
Speaker: Steve Jeffrey
Date: 29th September 2024
Passage: John 20:1-31
00:00:00 --> 00:00:04 Well, good morning, everyone. Great to be in church with you this morning. If you've
00:00:04 --> 00:00:10 just joined us, we have been working our way this year through John's Gospel and looking
00:00:10 --> 00:00:18 at the Christian faith in terms of it being reasonable, relevant, and it being good for
00:00:18 --> 00:00:22 us in this day and age. And so we're getting to that section in the last couple of weeks
00:00:22 --> 00:00:28 in that section of John's Gospel, which really is the centre, the whole building up of the
00:00:28 --> 00:00:34 main point of why Jesus came to live. There's a number of directions we could go on a message
00:00:34 --> 00:00:38 like this. I've got to say that passage in John's Gospel has to be one of my favourite.
00:00:39 --> 00:00:45 As someone who likes to run, I think it's unique that John, talking about the resurrection
00:00:45 --> 00:00:52 of Jesus, he makes sure that four times in the first few verses, he makes it clear that
00:00:52 --> 00:00:58 he beat Peter to the tomb. And so for the rest of the next 2 years, everyone's going
00:00:58 --> 00:01:04 to know that John was a faster runner than Peter. I don't know why that's there, but he
00:01:04 --> 00:01:10 emphasises it. But we're not going to focus on that this morning. Maybe a sermon on humility
00:01:10 --> 00:01:17 might be useful. But each year, Easter time, which is what we're looking at around these
00:01:17 --> 00:01:25 central Easter events, mainstream newspapers across our country, publish an opinion piece
00:01:25 --> 00:01:32 on why it is that we're having this thing called a long weekend, an Easter long weekend. They
00:01:32 --> 00:01:38 try to either explain it or explain it away. The central events of Easter day, namely the
00:01:38 --> 00:01:49 resurrection of Jesus Christ from death, they often tend to water it down to a sentimental level,
00:01:49 --> 00:01:57 if you like, a lesson about life beyond death or hardship or triumph over difficult circumstances,
00:01:57 --> 00:02:05 something like that, turned into something like a nice life lesson. And so I was surprised to read a
00:02:05 --> 00:02:13 couple of years ago in the Australian newspaper this in an opinion piece, which was not written by a
00:02:13 --> 00:02:20 Christian. Easter provides hope because it shows us that death does not have the final victory.
00:02:21 --> 00:02:30 But this works for a person, helps them only if they understand something of the whole supernatural
00:02:30 --> 00:02:40 quality of human life. Modern Christians make a tremendous mistake if underplaying the essential
00:02:40 --> 00:02:48 supernatural claims of Christianity and of Jesus and the Christian tradition. It is understandable that
00:02:48 --> 00:02:55 modern Christians tend to emphasize Christianity's good works. It's hospitals, it's schools, it's shelters for
00:02:55 --> 00:03:04 the homeless. But if in truth, Christianity stripped of its supernatural claims is not just an attractive
00:03:04 --> 00:03:14 ethical system, it is literally nothing at all. Without its supernatural claims, it is at best delusional
00:03:14 --> 00:03:24 and really a system of lies. Nothing of lasting good can come from a system of lies.
00:03:25 --> 00:03:34 As St. Paul says in Ephesians, if Christ is not risen, our preaching is useless, our faith is useless.
00:03:34 --> 00:03:42 We are all, of all people, the most to be pitied. Christianity is a powerful good because it is true.
00:03:42 --> 00:03:46 And if it's not true, it's not a power for anything.
00:03:46 --> 00:03:54 I may, I may, I'm pretty sure the guy wasn't a Christian who wrote that, but I'm prepared to be corrected.
00:03:55 --> 00:04:00 Because it's profoundly true what they've written. Very insightful.
00:04:00 --> 00:04:07 Christianity is not a powerful good unless it's true.
00:04:09 --> 00:04:12 It is no power for anything unless it's true.
00:04:12 --> 00:04:19 And so the resurrection of Jesus raises two big questions for us.
00:04:20 --> 00:04:22 Two big questions of Christianity.
00:04:23 --> 00:04:25 That is the truth question and the meaning question.
00:04:25 --> 00:04:29 The truth question is, you know, did it actually happen?
00:04:29 --> 00:04:32 And the meaning question, well, who cares if it did happen?
00:04:32 --> 00:04:37 People will reject Christianity on both accounts.
00:04:38 --> 00:04:40 On the truth question and the meaning question.
00:04:41 --> 00:04:47 So both questions, the truth question and the so what question are important to address at the same time.
00:04:48 --> 00:04:50 I'm going to do that fairly briefly.
00:04:51 --> 00:04:52 I want to say three things this morning.
00:04:52 --> 00:04:54 The truth question is a true.
00:04:54 --> 00:04:57 The second one doesn't matter question.
00:04:57 --> 00:04:58 What's its relevance?
00:04:59 --> 00:05:06 And thirdly, what it might be to experience life, abundant life in King Jesus.
00:05:06 --> 00:05:08 So first of all, is it true?
00:05:09 --> 00:05:17 The great C.S. Lewis once wrote that in a world that was making rapid advancement like ours in scientific knowledge,
00:05:18 --> 00:05:22 he said there was a danger of chronological snobbery.
00:05:22 --> 00:05:31 Chronological snobbery is the assumption that people from generations past and particularly way past like around when Jesus was,
00:05:31 --> 00:05:36 they were just a bunch of gullible peasants who did not know how the world worked.
00:05:37 --> 00:05:40 But this is not the picture that you get from John 20.
00:05:41 --> 00:05:43 Look at the first couple of verses with me.
00:05:43 --> 00:05:56 And so she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciples, the one whom Jesus loved.
00:05:56 --> 00:05:57 That's John talking about himself again.
00:05:58 --> 00:06:00 And notice what she says here.
00:06:01 --> 00:06:08 They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we don't know where they have put him.
00:06:08 --> 00:06:16 Now, Jesus had mentioned several times that he would come back to life after he was executed.
00:06:17 --> 00:06:23 But Mary was in this moment not expecting an empty tomb.
00:06:25 --> 00:06:29 The first assumption she had with the stone rolled away,
00:06:29 --> 00:06:33 the first assumption was that the body of Jesus had been moved.
00:06:34 --> 00:06:37 It's the same in verse 13.
00:06:38 --> 00:06:45 And the assumption was that the enemies of Jesus, most likely the Jewish leaders, had taken his body away.
00:06:46 --> 00:06:50 Even Peter and John, two of Jesus' key followers,
00:06:51 --> 00:06:56 did not automatically jump to the conclusion that Jesus had resurrected.
00:06:57 --> 00:06:59 Verses 8 and 9, down a bit further.
00:06:59 --> 00:07:04 Finally, the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went inside.
00:07:04 --> 00:07:06 He saw and believed.
00:07:07 --> 00:07:12 They still did not understand from scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.
00:07:14 --> 00:07:25 The early followers of Jesus were not gullible people falling for any conspiracy theory that might come up.
00:07:25 --> 00:07:34 The fact remains, what they were confronted with on that morning was a bodiless tomb.
00:07:34 --> 00:07:54 One of the great historical evidences of the resurrection of Jesus Christ was that the tomb where the Romans and the Jews put Jesus was empty on the third day.
00:07:56 --> 00:07:57 It's historical fact.
00:07:57 --> 00:08:04 The enemies of Jesus, they themselves could not produce the body of Jesus.
00:08:05 --> 00:08:14 And if they could have produced the body of Jesus, they would have killed this thing called the Christian movement, dead in its tracks, within three days.
00:08:17 --> 00:08:18 Overnight, it would have been done.
00:08:18 --> 00:08:24 So what's the possible explanations for the empty tomb?
00:08:26 --> 00:08:29 Some suggest that Jesus didn't really die.
00:08:31 --> 00:08:35 Put him in the dark tomb and he revived in the coolness of the tomb.
00:08:36 --> 00:08:38 He then moved the stone away by himself.
00:08:39 --> 00:08:42 The stone that took four burly soldiers to put into place.
00:08:46 --> 00:08:48 I mean, that's just incomprehensible.
00:08:48 --> 00:08:54 But it's been a view that's been circulated for some time.
00:08:55 --> 00:09:00 It's certainly a view that doesn't come to grips with the horrible realities of crucifixion.
00:09:01 --> 00:09:08 Nor the rigorous steps that Pilate and the leaders themselves took to make sure that he was dead.
00:09:08 --> 00:09:14 And the further steps that they took to make sure that no one got in or out of the tomb.
00:09:14 --> 00:09:22 Others have suggested that the disciples themselves stole the body.
00:09:22 --> 00:09:35 Which means that if they did, the same disciples gave themselves over to death for what is nothing more than an April Fool's joke.
00:09:37 --> 00:09:38 Again, incomprehensible.
00:09:38 --> 00:09:45 What we do know about these disciples is that they were utterly dejected.
00:09:46 --> 00:09:53 They were terrified of losing their own lives after the crucifixion of Jesus.
00:09:53 --> 00:10:03 They were hiding in a secluded room and were unwilling to believe the first reports that Jesus had risen from the dead.
00:10:03 --> 00:10:17 And yet within weeks, the same disciples, overflowed with joy and courage, suffered for the resurrected Jesus.
00:10:17 --> 00:10:24 This little band of ordinary believers changed the course of human history.
00:10:26 --> 00:10:33 They and those who came to believe through them loved and served their enemies across the Roman Empire in such a way
00:10:33 --> 00:10:37 that within three centuries, the world was changed.
00:10:40 --> 00:10:41 What happened to them?
00:10:41 --> 00:10:50 Their own explanation was that they had seen Jesus alive after he was dead.
00:10:53 --> 00:10:58 Now there is a heap more historical evidence than just that.
00:11:00 --> 00:11:03 But doubting the resurrection is not uncommon.
00:11:05 --> 00:11:08 It is a worldview changer.
00:11:09 --> 00:11:10 The resurrection of Jesus.
00:11:10 --> 00:11:18 John 20 is in fact a worldview changer and a step too far for many despite its evidence.
00:11:19 --> 00:11:21 And if that's you, that's okay.
00:11:23 --> 00:11:28 After all, the first person to doubt the resurrection of Jesus was one of his closest supporters.
00:11:30 --> 00:11:35 Thomas, we read there in chapter 20, is the most famous of doubters.
00:11:35 --> 00:11:39 We even have a saying in our culture for the skeptic.
00:11:39 --> 00:11:41 We call them doubting Thomas.
00:11:41 --> 00:11:42 I mean, the poor guy.
00:11:42 --> 00:11:43 He's never let it down.
00:11:43 --> 00:11:48 I mean, John's known as the runner and Thomas is known as the doubter forever since then.
00:11:48 --> 00:11:54 And so for those who are struggling to understand or accept the resurrection,
00:11:54 --> 00:11:57 we have to wonder if Thomas can help us here.
00:11:59 --> 00:12:05 Thomas was absent, we are told, when Jesus first appeared to his followers after he'd risen from the dead.
00:12:06 --> 00:12:06 Verse 24,
00:12:06 --> 00:12:25 Notice Thomas says there,
00:12:25 --> 00:12:27 Hands,
00:12:27 --> 00:12:27 Hands,
00:12:27 --> 00:12:27 Hands,
00:12:27 --> 00:12:28 Side,
00:12:28 --> 00:12:32 All the marks of Jesus being fully, completely dead.
00:12:35 --> 00:12:41 And I will only believe if God turns up, Jesus turns up and shows me himself.
00:12:42 --> 00:12:45 His response to the news is absolute.
00:12:46 --> 00:12:48 He makes his demands in absolute terms.
00:12:48 --> 00:12:55 Unless I see and I place my hands, I will not believe.
00:12:56 --> 00:13:00 So what he demands here is what you might call exhaustive proof rather than sufficient evidence.
00:13:01 --> 00:13:07 He rejects the witness of 10 or more of his trusted friends.
00:13:08 --> 00:13:12 And he dictates absolute terms to God about believing.
00:13:12 --> 00:13:21 Now we don't know, because the text doesn't tell us, why it was that Thomas, of all of them, was particularly sceptical.
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 There could be many reasons for that.
00:13:25 --> 00:13:28 Maybe his issue was an intellectual problem.
00:13:29 --> 00:13:32 You know, dead things don't come back to life again.
00:13:32 --> 00:13:33 You know, that sort of stuff.
00:13:33 --> 00:13:35 Or maybe it was more personal.
00:13:37 --> 00:13:39 Could have been much more personal.
00:13:39 --> 00:13:43 Imagine, for instance, someone who is close to you.
00:13:44 --> 00:13:45 They are in the process of dying.
00:13:46 --> 00:13:51 This may not be imagination too hard for some of us gathered in the room or on screen this morning.
00:13:53 --> 00:13:57 Maybe you've come to the point where you have accepted it.
00:13:58 --> 00:14:01 That all hope of recovery is lost.
00:14:02 --> 00:14:04 And your one is going to die.
00:14:04 --> 00:14:09 You've been through the journey with them over a long time.
00:14:12 --> 00:14:16 And then all of a sudden, someone makes contact with you and says,
00:14:16 --> 00:14:25 I've just been reading online that there's a possible cure for your loved one's disease on the other side of the world,
00:14:25 --> 00:14:26 in some clinic.
00:14:26 --> 00:14:33 And you hear that news and you go,
00:14:34 --> 00:14:43 there was a time when you had hope for recovery and you did everything you could to bring about that healing.
00:14:44 --> 00:14:46 However, your hopes have been dashed.
00:14:46 --> 00:14:52 And you've finally come to the point of realizing that your loved one is going to die.
00:14:54 --> 00:14:59 When you receive news like that, this brand new piece of information,
00:15:00 --> 00:15:03 very few people in that moment will go,
00:15:04 --> 00:15:08 fantastic, pull out all stops.
00:15:08 --> 00:15:10 I'm now buoyant again.
00:15:10 --> 00:15:19 Most people cannot, once they get to their hopes being dashed and come to the realization of that,
00:15:19 --> 00:15:26 most people cannot bear to get back out of that place again and to have their hopes up in order to be dashed again.
00:15:28 --> 00:15:33 Most people in that scenario will be the skeptic on the new piece of news.
00:15:33 --> 00:15:41 We have no, and I think it's potential.
00:15:41 --> 00:15:43 This is what's happening for Thomas.
00:15:44 --> 00:15:47 He loved Jesus just like all the other disciples.
00:15:49 --> 00:15:55 He would have been just as devastated as all the other disciples at the crucifixion of Jesus.
00:15:57 --> 00:15:59 And now they come along and say, hey, Thomas, no worry.
00:15:59 --> 00:16:00 Good news.
00:16:01 --> 00:16:01 We've seen him.
00:16:01 --> 00:16:02 He's alive.
00:16:03 --> 00:16:13 Thomas is like the other disciples had put all their hope of a new future in Jesus.
00:16:14 --> 00:16:19 And those hopes were dashed when he saw Jesus nailed to a cross.
00:16:24 --> 00:16:29 And so with this new piece of news, maybe he is simply saying to them,
00:16:29 --> 00:16:31 don't you dare get my hopes up.
00:16:33 --> 00:16:44 Maybe Thomas was afraid to hope again in the same way that many are afraid to hope nowadays in a glorious new future.
00:16:44 --> 00:16:57 It might be a narrow, secular, materialistic worldview that says resurrection of Jesus just can't happen.
00:16:57 --> 00:16:59 It might be a personality that needs a little bit more evidence.
00:16:59 --> 00:17:05 It might be a personality that needs a little bit more evidence.
00:17:07 --> 00:17:13 But it also might be a heart that is afraid to be drawn into something so good,
00:17:15 --> 00:17:19 so remarkable, so excellent, so brilliant,
00:17:19 --> 00:17:25 that you don't want to be disappointed.
00:17:29 --> 00:17:34 In the end, Thomas was able to overcome his scepticism and believe in joy.
00:17:34 --> 00:17:36 Verse 26,
00:17:36 --> 00:17:40 A week later, his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them.
00:17:40 --> 00:17:43 And though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said,
00:17:43 --> 00:17:44 Peace be with you.
00:17:45 --> 00:17:46 Then he said to Thomas,
00:17:46 --> 00:17:47 Put your finger here.
00:17:48 --> 00:17:48 See my hands.
00:17:49 --> 00:17:50 Reach out your hand and put it into my side.
00:17:51 --> 00:17:53 Stop doubting and believe.
00:17:54 --> 00:17:55 Thomas said to him,
00:17:56 --> 00:17:57 My Lord and my God.
00:17:57 --> 00:18:00 That's a remarkable statement.
00:18:01 --> 00:18:03 My Lord and my God.
00:18:04 --> 00:18:12 For a Jewish man to call another human being not just his Lord,
00:18:12 --> 00:18:14 but his God,
00:18:15 --> 00:18:18 is incomprehensible to Jewish culture.
00:18:21 --> 00:18:24 There is, what we see here with Thomas,
00:18:24 --> 00:18:28 the movement from scepticism to a deep face.
00:18:28 --> 00:18:34 In fact, I would probably argue that there is no greater confession of faith in Jesus Christ,
00:18:35 --> 00:18:36 in all of the Bible,
00:18:38 --> 00:18:39 than the words of Thomas,
00:18:40 --> 00:18:41 My Lord and my God.
00:18:42 --> 00:18:46 The biggest doubter to the greatest trust and joy.
00:18:48 --> 00:18:50 Now that brings me to the who,
00:18:50 --> 00:18:51 you know, doesn't matter question,
00:18:51 --> 00:18:54 you know, the who cares question.
00:18:55 --> 00:18:59 Thomas' declaration is broadly the meaning of the resurrection.
00:18:59 --> 00:19:00 My Lord and my God.
00:19:00 --> 00:19:01 His first words,
00:19:02 --> 00:19:03 noticeably,
00:19:04 --> 00:19:05 when Jesus appears to him,
00:19:05 --> 00:19:07 were not about the facts of the resurrection,
00:19:08 --> 00:19:11 but what the resurrection meant.
00:19:12 --> 00:19:12 My Lord and my God.
00:19:13 --> 00:19:15 The whole issue for Thomas was,
00:19:15 --> 00:19:17 I want to see him for myself,
00:19:17 --> 00:19:20 and I'm not going to believe unless I touch his wounds.
00:19:20 --> 00:19:23 Jesus shows up into the room,
00:19:23 --> 00:19:24 and Thomas doesn't even touch him.
00:19:27 --> 00:19:28 Doesn't even touch him.
00:19:30 --> 00:19:35 You see, the wounds on Jesus were so much more than evidence of resurrection.
00:19:35 --> 00:19:38 They were evidence for Thomas of something significantly more,
00:19:38 --> 00:19:40 something much more powerful.
00:19:40 --> 00:19:44 The evidence of Jesus' resurrection
00:19:44 --> 00:19:51 is that every single thing that Jesus said about himself
00:19:51 --> 00:19:53 is absolutely fundamentally true.
00:19:53 --> 00:19:56 He is God.
00:19:57 --> 00:19:59 He is the king of the universe.
00:19:59 --> 00:20:01 He is the creator of all things.
00:20:01 --> 00:20:03 He is my lord, my king, my boss.
00:20:03 --> 00:20:04 He's my ruler.
00:20:04 --> 00:20:05 He is my God.
00:20:06 --> 00:20:08 He is my savior.
00:20:09 --> 00:20:11 He is my friend.
00:20:11 --> 00:20:19 It means that Jesus promises all of them have been delivered.
00:20:20 --> 00:20:23 He is the one who guarantees my own resurrection.
00:20:26 --> 00:20:29 The wounds of the cross on Jesus,
00:20:30 --> 00:20:34 the things that Thomas thought had ruined his life,
00:20:35 --> 00:20:39 had in fact, in reality, saved his life.
00:20:39 --> 00:20:44 The resurrection means everything Jesus said about himself
00:20:44 --> 00:20:46 is absolutely true.
00:20:48 --> 00:20:53 Jesus is the way for humanity to be reunited with our creator God.
00:20:54 --> 00:20:56 The resurrection means human guilt and shame
00:20:56 --> 00:21:00 has been finally dealt with, fully, completely dealt with,
00:21:00 --> 00:21:04 totally satisfied in God's justice on the cross.
00:21:05 --> 00:21:07 As I said last week, it is finished.
00:21:07 --> 00:21:10 The resurrection guarantees it's finished.
00:21:13 --> 00:21:16 Death has not only been confronted,
00:21:17 --> 00:21:18 death's been conquered.
00:21:19 --> 00:21:24 It means that new and true life can be experienced before death
00:21:24 --> 00:21:27 and eternal life after death.
00:21:28 --> 00:21:30 It means that there is a new heaven and a new earth
00:21:30 --> 00:21:34 where those who put their trust in Christ will live forever
00:21:34 --> 00:21:38 like he right now lives forever.
00:21:41 --> 00:21:43 It's what Jesus offers us today.
00:21:46 --> 00:21:49 Several chapters earlier in John's account
00:21:49 --> 00:21:51 of the good news of Jesus,
00:21:51 --> 00:21:55 we have Jesus declaring the life-changing news of the resurrection
00:21:55 --> 00:22:00 and his own resurrection guarantees this for us.
00:22:01 --> 00:22:03 I am the resurrection and the life.
00:22:04 --> 00:22:07 The one who believes in me will live even though they die.
00:22:07 --> 00:22:12 And whoever lives by believing in me will never die.
00:22:12 --> 00:22:19 Something incredibly unique and life-changing
00:22:19 --> 00:22:21 and worldview-shaving has happened
00:22:21 --> 00:22:23 with the resurrection of Jesus.
00:22:28 --> 00:22:30 And so here's the implication
00:22:30 --> 00:22:34 from that article a couple of years ago
00:22:34 --> 00:22:36 from the Australian newspaper.
00:22:36 --> 00:22:42 There is really no halfway house with Christianity.
00:22:43 --> 00:22:46 Either Jesus is God
00:22:46 --> 00:22:48 and we are immortal beings
00:22:48 --> 00:22:51 fueled with eternal destiny, moral choice,
00:22:52 --> 00:22:55 divine status, irreducible human dignity
00:22:55 --> 00:22:56 and moral responsibility
00:22:56 --> 00:23:02 and loved as though an only child of God.
00:23:03 --> 00:23:06 It's either that or lies.
00:23:06 --> 00:23:10 And I'd rather be at the beach.
00:23:18 --> 00:23:19 There's no halfway house
00:23:19 --> 00:23:21 with the Christian faith.
00:23:23 --> 00:23:25 So I want to ask you,
00:23:25 --> 00:23:27 is that how you treat it?
00:23:29 --> 00:23:30 Like a halfway house?
00:23:30 --> 00:23:31 Yes.
00:23:31 --> 00:23:38 We pick and choose the bits of the Bible
00:23:38 --> 00:23:40 that we want to believe
00:23:40 --> 00:23:41 and want to affirm in our life
00:23:41 --> 00:23:43 and bits that don't suit we don't.
00:23:43 --> 00:23:49 How do we discover full and complete life in the King?
00:23:49 --> 00:23:52 That's my final point.
00:23:52 --> 00:23:56 The first thing we need to do
00:23:56 --> 00:23:59 is it's so crucial to him
00:23:59 --> 00:24:02 that we listen to the eyewitness accounts.
00:24:02 --> 00:24:06 We are told that Thomas wasn't there
00:24:06 --> 00:24:08 when Jesus first appeared to the disciples.
00:24:08 --> 00:24:09 One week later,
00:24:09 --> 00:24:11 Jesus showed up again with Thomas present.
00:24:12 --> 00:24:13 During that week,
00:24:14 --> 00:24:17 during that week in between,
00:24:17 --> 00:24:19 we are told in verse 25
00:24:19 --> 00:24:23 that the other disciples kept telling him
00:24:23 --> 00:24:24 that they had seen the Lord.
00:24:24 --> 00:24:28 What that means is
00:24:28 --> 00:24:30 that every single one of us
00:24:30 --> 00:24:32 on the face of the earth right now
00:24:32 --> 00:24:33 who are still breathing,
00:24:35 --> 00:24:37 we're in the same position as Thomas.
00:24:39 --> 00:24:40 We have access
00:24:40 --> 00:24:43 to the same people
00:24:43 --> 00:24:46 who saw Jesus raised from the dead.
00:24:50 --> 00:24:51 And that's what we've been doing
00:24:51 --> 00:24:53 as we go through John's account.
00:24:54 --> 00:24:57 His eyewitness account of Jesus.
00:24:59 --> 00:25:01 It's written down in the four Gospels
00:25:01 --> 00:25:02 of the New Testament.
00:25:04 --> 00:25:07 There is an enormous amount of scholarship
00:25:07 --> 00:25:09 that supports the Gospel accounts
00:25:09 --> 00:25:11 as having the marks of oral history
00:25:11 --> 00:25:14 and eyewitness testimony
00:25:14 --> 00:25:16 rather than being myths or fables.
00:25:18 --> 00:25:21 John, who wrote this biography
00:25:21 --> 00:25:23 that we've been working through for months now,
00:25:23 --> 00:25:25 was one of those eyewitnesses.
00:25:27 --> 00:25:28 This is what he says
00:25:28 --> 00:25:30 about how we,
00:25:31 --> 00:25:32 in 2024,
00:25:34 --> 00:25:34 in Sydney,
00:25:36 --> 00:25:37 how we
00:25:37 --> 00:25:39 come to see
00:25:39 --> 00:25:40 and believe
00:25:40 --> 00:25:42 as Thomas came to see
00:25:42 --> 00:25:43 and believe.
00:25:44 --> 00:25:45 Verse 30.
00:25:45 --> 00:25:48 Jesus did many other miraculous signs
00:25:48 --> 00:25:50 in the presence of his disciples
00:25:50 --> 00:25:52 which are not recorded in this book.
00:25:53 --> 00:25:55 But these are written
00:25:55 --> 00:25:57 that you may believe
00:25:57 --> 00:25:59 that Jesus is the Christ,
00:25:59 --> 00:26:00 the Son of God,
00:26:01 --> 00:26:02 and that by believing
00:26:02 --> 00:26:03 you may have life in his name.
00:26:03 --> 00:26:07 He says that what is written
00:26:07 --> 00:26:11 in this biography of Jesus' life,
00:26:11 --> 00:26:12 his ministry,
00:26:13 --> 00:26:14 his death,
00:26:14 --> 00:26:15 his resurrection,
00:26:15 --> 00:26:17 by an eyewitness
00:26:17 --> 00:26:20 is absolutely everything
00:26:20 --> 00:26:21 that you need
00:26:21 --> 00:26:22 to have certainty
00:26:22 --> 00:26:23 of the hope
00:26:23 --> 00:26:24 of eternal life.
00:26:24 --> 00:26:26 you need
00:26:26 --> 00:26:27 nothing more.
00:26:32 --> 00:26:33 All I'm suggesting
00:26:33 --> 00:26:35 is to operate
00:26:35 --> 00:26:36 with the news
00:26:36 --> 00:26:37 of the resurrection
00:26:37 --> 00:26:37 of Jesus
00:26:37 --> 00:26:38 in the same way
00:26:38 --> 00:26:38 you operate
00:26:38 --> 00:26:39 with the rest
00:26:39 --> 00:26:40 of your life.
00:26:42 --> 00:26:43 I mean,
00:26:43 --> 00:26:45 think about this.
00:26:45 --> 00:26:46 How many
00:26:46 --> 00:26:47 of the things
00:26:47 --> 00:26:47 that you believe
00:26:47 --> 00:26:48 happened in history
00:26:48 --> 00:26:50 did you actually see?
00:26:50 --> 00:26:54 I mean,
00:26:54 --> 00:26:54 come on.
00:26:57 --> 00:26:58 How many of them
00:26:58 --> 00:26:58 were you there
00:26:58 --> 00:26:59 as an eyewitness?
00:27:03 --> 00:27:04 We believe
00:27:04 --> 00:27:05 eyewitness
00:27:05 --> 00:27:05 a testimony
00:27:05 --> 00:27:07 that has been
00:27:07 --> 00:27:08 written down
00:27:08 --> 00:27:08 by historically
00:27:08 --> 00:27:10 reliable authors.
00:27:11 --> 00:27:12 All I'm suggesting
00:27:12 --> 00:27:13 is you do the same
00:27:13 --> 00:27:14 with Jesus.
00:27:15 --> 00:27:16 It's as simple as that.
00:27:17 --> 00:27:17 Do the same
00:27:17 --> 00:27:18 with Jesus.
00:27:18 --> 00:27:20 We don't need
00:27:20 --> 00:27:21 to know anything
00:27:21 --> 00:27:22 more than what
00:27:22 --> 00:27:22 is written
00:27:22 --> 00:27:23 in John's gospel
00:27:23 --> 00:27:24 to see and believe.
00:27:26 --> 00:27:27 And so read
00:27:27 --> 00:27:27 John's gospel.
00:27:28 --> 00:27:29 Read one of the gospels.
00:27:31 --> 00:27:32 And just pray
00:27:32 --> 00:27:33 a simple prayer.
00:27:34 --> 00:27:34 God,
00:27:34 --> 00:27:35 if you are
00:27:35 --> 00:27:36 true,
00:27:36 --> 00:27:37 if you are real,
00:27:37 --> 00:27:38 if Jesus did
00:27:38 --> 00:27:39 rise from the dead,
00:27:40 --> 00:27:42 help me see
00:27:42 --> 00:27:42 and believe.
00:27:45 --> 00:27:46 You see,
00:27:46 --> 00:27:46 the Christian faith
00:27:46 --> 00:27:47 is no mere
00:27:47 --> 00:27:48 philosophy,
00:27:48 --> 00:27:49 even though
00:27:49 --> 00:27:50 it is a
00:27:50 --> 00:27:51 philosophically
00:27:51 --> 00:27:52 viable worldview.
00:27:52 --> 00:27:53 It is not
00:27:53 --> 00:27:54 merely subjective,
00:27:55 --> 00:27:56 even though
00:27:56 --> 00:27:56 there are
00:27:56 --> 00:27:57 emotional,
00:27:57 --> 00:27:58 satisfying experiences
00:27:58 --> 00:27:59 for followers
00:27:59 --> 00:27:59 of Jesus.
00:28:00 --> 00:28:01 The Christian faith
00:28:01 --> 00:28:02 is not merely
00:28:02 --> 00:28:02 sentimental.
00:28:04 --> 00:28:04 It's not just
00:28:04 --> 00:28:05 uplifting,
00:28:05 --> 00:28:06 like a piece of art,
00:28:06 --> 00:28:06 even though there
00:28:06 --> 00:28:07 is lots of beauty
00:28:07 --> 00:28:08 to behold
00:28:08 --> 00:28:10 in the Christian faith.
00:28:10 --> 00:28:10 faith.
00:28:12 --> 00:28:13 The Christian faith
00:28:13 --> 00:28:14 is absolutely
00:28:14 --> 00:28:15 nothing.
00:28:16 --> 00:28:18 It is nothing
00:28:18 --> 00:28:20 if Jesus Christ
00:28:20 --> 00:28:22 did not actually
00:28:22 --> 00:28:23 rise bodily
00:28:23 --> 00:28:23 from the dead.
00:28:23 --> 00:28:28 the truth of his
00:28:28 --> 00:28:28 resurrection
00:28:28 --> 00:28:30 is not based
00:28:30 --> 00:28:32 on experiential
00:28:32 --> 00:28:33 methods of
00:28:33 --> 00:28:34 natural science.
00:28:34 --> 00:28:35 It's not
00:28:35 --> 00:28:36 verifiable by
00:28:36 --> 00:28:37 test tubes
00:28:37 --> 00:28:38 or empirical
00:28:38 --> 00:28:38 data,
00:28:39 --> 00:28:40 nor is it based
00:28:40 --> 00:28:41 only on the
00:28:41 --> 00:28:41 arguments of
00:28:41 --> 00:28:42 logic.
00:28:42 --> 00:28:43 It is based
00:28:43 --> 00:28:44 on history,
00:28:44 --> 00:28:45 on eyewitness
00:28:45 --> 00:28:46 accounts.
00:28:47 --> 00:28:48 And so read a
00:28:48 --> 00:28:48 gospel if you
00:28:48 --> 00:28:49 haven't done one
00:28:49 --> 00:28:49 yet.
00:28:49 --> 00:28:53 read it
00:28:53 --> 00:28:54 as if it is
00:28:54 --> 00:28:55 eyewitness
00:28:55 --> 00:28:55 account
00:28:55 --> 00:28:56 and think.
00:28:58 --> 00:28:58 The second
00:28:58 --> 00:28:59 thing to do,
00:28:59 --> 00:29:00 to see and
00:29:00 --> 00:29:01 believe here,
00:29:02 --> 00:29:03 to move from
00:29:03 --> 00:29:03 doubt to
00:29:03 --> 00:29:04 receiving certain
00:29:04 --> 00:29:04 hope,
00:29:04 --> 00:29:05 is to drop
00:29:05 --> 00:29:06 your conditions.
00:29:07 --> 00:29:08 Every one
00:29:08 --> 00:29:08 of us,
00:29:10 --> 00:29:11 every single
00:29:11 --> 00:29:11 one of us
00:29:11 --> 00:29:12 is like Thomas
00:29:12 --> 00:29:12 in this.
00:29:13 --> 00:29:14 Every single
00:29:14 --> 00:29:14 one of us
00:29:14 --> 00:29:16 moves towards
00:29:16 --> 00:29:18 Jesus with
00:29:18 --> 00:29:19 a set of
00:29:19 --> 00:29:19 conditions.
00:29:19 --> 00:29:21 they might
00:29:21 --> 00:29:21 be different
00:29:21 --> 00:29:22 for all of
00:29:22 --> 00:29:22 us,
00:29:23 --> 00:29:23 but none
00:29:23 --> 00:29:24 of us
00:29:24 --> 00:29:25 moves towards
00:29:25 --> 00:29:25 him without
00:29:25 --> 00:29:26 a set of
00:29:26 --> 00:29:26 conditions.
00:29:29 --> 00:29:30 No one
00:29:30 --> 00:29:30 just goes to
00:29:30 --> 00:29:32 him purely
00:29:32 --> 00:29:32 on his
00:29:32 --> 00:29:33 terms,
00:29:33 --> 00:29:35 because he's
00:29:35 --> 00:29:35 great and
00:29:35 --> 00:29:36 he's glorious
00:29:36 --> 00:29:36 and he's
00:29:36 --> 00:29:37 majestic.
00:29:38 --> 00:29:39 No one
00:29:39 --> 00:29:39 ever moves
00:29:39 --> 00:29:40 towards him
00:29:40 --> 00:29:41 just for his
00:29:41 --> 00:29:41 sake.
00:29:43 --> 00:29:44 We always
00:29:44 --> 00:29:44 move towards
00:29:44 --> 00:29:45 him because
00:29:45 --> 00:29:46 we want
00:29:46 --> 00:29:47 something,
00:29:47 --> 00:29:49 which means
00:29:49 --> 00:29:50 we have
00:29:50 --> 00:29:50 conditions.
00:29:52 --> 00:29:53 I've known
00:29:53 --> 00:29:53 of people
00:29:53 --> 00:29:54 who refused
00:29:54 --> 00:29:56 to move
00:29:56 --> 00:29:57 towards Jesus
00:29:57 --> 00:29:57 because it
00:29:57 --> 00:29:58 would mean
00:29:58 --> 00:29:58 that they
00:29:58 --> 00:29:59 would need
00:29:59 --> 00:29:59 to repair
00:29:59 --> 00:30:00 a relationship,
00:30:00 --> 00:30:01 it would mean
00:30:01 --> 00:30:01 that they
00:30:01 --> 00:30:02 would have to
00:30:02 --> 00:30:02 change a
00:30:02 --> 00:30:02 habit,
00:30:04 --> 00:30:04 it would mean
00:30:04 --> 00:30:05 that they
00:30:05 --> 00:30:05 wouldn't be
00:30:05 --> 00:30:05 able to go
00:30:05 --> 00:30:05 to the
00:30:05 --> 00:30:06 beach on a
00:30:06 --> 00:30:06 Sunday
00:30:06 --> 00:30:07 morning,
00:30:07 --> 00:30:07 for instance.
00:30:07 --> 00:30:12 we need
00:30:12 --> 00:30:12 to drop
00:30:12 --> 00:30:13 our
00:30:13 --> 00:30:14 conditions
00:30:14 --> 00:30:16 because
00:30:16 --> 00:30:16 every time
00:30:16 --> 00:30:17 we have
00:30:17 --> 00:30:17 a condition
00:30:17 --> 00:30:18 they say
00:30:18 --> 00:30:18 I will
00:30:18 --> 00:30:19 love you
00:30:19 --> 00:30:19 God
00:30:19 --> 00:30:21 and I
00:30:21 --> 00:30:21 will accept
00:30:21 --> 00:30:22 your hope
00:30:22 --> 00:30:23 if,
00:30:25 --> 00:30:26 if.
00:30:29 --> 00:30:29 The great
00:30:29 --> 00:30:30 news of
00:30:30 --> 00:30:30 Christianity
00:30:30 --> 00:30:31 is that
00:30:31 --> 00:30:31 Jesus did
00:30:31 --> 00:30:32 not love
00:30:32 --> 00:30:32 for us,
00:30:32 --> 00:30:33 he has
00:30:33 --> 00:30:34 loved us
00:30:34 --> 00:30:35 unconditionally.
00:30:35 --> 00:30:37 the death
00:30:37 --> 00:30:38 of Jesus
00:30:38 --> 00:30:38 was no
00:30:38 --> 00:30:39 accident
00:30:39 --> 00:30:39 in history.
00:30:41 --> 00:30:42 He said
00:30:42 --> 00:30:42 last week
00:30:42 --> 00:30:43 Jesus died
00:30:43 --> 00:30:44 and rose
00:30:44 --> 00:30:44 to redeem
00:30:44 --> 00:30:45 us and
00:30:45 --> 00:30:45 to reclaim
00:30:45 --> 00:30:46 us to
00:30:46 --> 00:30:46 God.
00:30:48 --> 00:30:49 It is a
00:30:49 --> 00:30:50 plan that
00:30:50 --> 00:30:51 is historically
00:30:51 --> 00:30:52 reliable
00:30:52 --> 00:30:54 and experientially
00:30:54 --> 00:30:55 satisfying as
00:30:55 --> 00:30:55 we navigate
00:30:55 --> 00:30:56 life.
00:30:57 --> 00:30:58 And so
00:30:58 --> 00:30:58 friends,
00:30:58 --> 00:30:59 Jesus has
00:30:59 --> 00:30:59 brought you
00:30:59 --> 00:31:00 here this
00:31:00 --> 00:31:00 morning,
00:31:00 --> 00:31:01 he has
00:31:01 --> 00:31:02 tuned you
00:31:02 --> 00:31:03 in online
00:31:03 --> 00:31:04 for this
00:31:04 --> 00:31:04 message.
00:31:05 --> 00:31:06 for this
00:31:06 --> 00:31:06 little bit
00:31:06 --> 00:31:06 of the
00:31:06 --> 00:31:07 Bible,
00:31:07 --> 00:31:08 for this
00:31:08 --> 00:31:09 story of
00:31:09 --> 00:31:09 the resurrection
00:31:09 --> 00:31:10 of Jesus,
00:31:10 --> 00:31:10 for this
00:31:10 --> 00:31:11 eyewitness
00:31:11 --> 00:31:12 account of
00:31:12 --> 00:31:13 John so
00:31:13 --> 00:31:14 that you
00:31:14 --> 00:31:15 too might
00:31:15 --> 00:31:16 believe in
00:31:16 --> 00:31:17 Jesus and
00:31:17 --> 00:31:18 have certain
00:31:18 --> 00:31:18 hope,
00:31:19 --> 00:31:20 life forever
00:31:20 --> 00:31:21 with joy as
00:31:21 --> 00:31:22 Jesus himself
00:31:22 --> 00:31:24 is alive
00:31:24 --> 00:31:25 forever in
00:31:25 --> 00:31:27 the joy of
00:31:27 --> 00:31:27 his presence
00:31:27 --> 00:31:28 of his
00:31:28 --> 00:31:28 father.
00:31:29 --> 00:31:29 Friends,
00:31:29 --> 00:31:30 I would
00:31:30 --> 00:31:30 encourage you
00:31:30 --> 00:31:31 if you are
00:31:31 --> 00:31:32 someone who
00:31:32 --> 00:31:33 is unsure
00:31:33 --> 00:31:34 or you're
00:31:34 --> 00:31:34 that person
00:31:34 --> 00:31:35 needs a
00:31:35 --> 00:31:35 little bit
00:31:35 --> 00:31:35 more
00:31:35 --> 00:31:36 evidence,
00:31:36 --> 00:31:37 I've got
00:31:37 --> 00:31:37 a couple
00:31:37 --> 00:31:37 of books
00:31:37 --> 00:31:38 called
00:31:38 --> 00:31:39 Is Easter
00:31:39 --> 00:31:39 Unbelievable?
00:31:40 --> 00:31:40 It's really
00:31:40 --> 00:31:41 short,
00:31:41 --> 00:31:41 really simple
00:31:41 --> 00:31:42 to read.
00:31:42 --> 00:31:43 I've got
00:31:43 --> 00:31:43 three of
00:31:43 --> 00:31:43 these,
00:31:43 --> 00:31:44 if you like
00:31:44 --> 00:31:44 one of
00:31:44 --> 00:31:44 these,
00:31:44 --> 00:31:45 if you're
00:31:45 --> 00:31:45 online,
00:31:46 --> 00:31:46 send us a
00:31:46 --> 00:31:47 message and
00:31:47 --> 00:31:47 we can post
00:31:47 --> 00:31:48 one to you
00:31:48 --> 00:31:48 as well.
00:31:48 --> 00:31:49 Sample
00:31:49 --> 00:31:50 the
00:32:03 --> 00:32:03 Let's
00:32:03 --> 00:32:03 see
00:32:03 --> 00:32:04 the