NAILPRINTS DON’T LIE!
John 20:1-8, 24-31
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: Gentle Persuasion
1. Ms. Smith was assigned to be a monitor on the playground and caught little Johnny making ugly faces and scaring other kids.
2. Smiling sweetly, she said, “Johnny, when I was a child I was told that if I made ugly faces, it would freeze and I would stay like that.”
3. Johnny looked up and replied, “Well, Ms. Smith, you can’t say you weren’t warned!”
B. TEXT
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter…“They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” 6 Then Simon Peter… went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally [John] went inside. He saw and believed. 24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 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.” 26 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!” 27 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.” 28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John 20:1-8, 24-31.
C. THESIS
1. The Resurrection of Jesus is one of the most powerful events in history. But its power doesn’t depend on an event, but on the Person who transcends space and time.
2. If you encounter the Person of the Resurrection, you, like Thomas will be transformed for the rest of your life. The title of this message is, “Nailprints Don’t Lie!”
I. THOMAS’ CHIEF CHARACTER TRAIT
A. JESUS CHOSE A SKEPTIC
1. When Jesus chose the 12, He chose different sorts of men. Some were like Peter – who had great faith. Others were like Andrew, who was socially attuned.
2. But Jesus also chose men with defects – imperfect men. He did this to show:
a. His love for imperfect people.
b. His ability to transform them into greatness.
3. One such man He chose was Thomas. He was an excellent example of a skeptic; a skeptic is…
a. A person who lives by the scientific method. Who says…
b. “If I can’t feel it, see it, hear it, taste it, or smell it – I won’t believe it!”
c. He probably responded to the first testimonies of Jesus’ resurrection with explanations such as, “Maybe they hallucinated;” or “Maybe they saw someone who looked like Jesus.”
4. He is often remembered as “Doubting Thomas,” but his doubts had a purpose – he wanted to know the Truth. He gladly believed when he was given concrete reasons for doing so.
B. THE PATIENCE OF JESUS
1. What do we know of Thomas?
a. He was a DEVOTED FOLLOWER of Jesus. In John 11:16, when Thomas learned that Jesus was going to Jerusalem and into danger, Thomas said, “Let us also go that we may die with Him.”
b. Thomas was also SLOW to understand spiritual truths, as showed when he said, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” John 14:5.
c. But Thomas’ question led to one of the most important sayings of Jesus; “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but by Me” (Jn. 14:6)!
2. Christ was very patient with his slowness. Thomas should have known that Jesus would rise from the dead.
a. Numerous prophecies of the O.T. said Jesus would rise from the dead.
b. Jesus frequently told them He would be killed and rise on the third day.
c. The women & apostles testified of an empty tomb.
d. Hadn’t he heard the angel’s statement (thru the women) that Jesus had risen?
e. All 10 other apostles had seen Jesus alive and declared it as a certainty to Thomas.
3. Jesus was kind and patient with Thomas, with his slow, reluctant faith. Thank God He is, because that means He’ll be patient with our slow faith too!
II. THOMAS’ DEMANDS OF PROOF
A. THE GALL OF THOMAS
1. How dare he dictate the terms on which he is going to believe! And to choose the terms most offensive to Christ!
2. Who was Thomas that he should put his hands into those wounds so recently healed? Would he reopen the wound to Christ’s heart? [He had seen Jesus’ torn & obliterated body when they took Him down from the cross.]
3. Was there no other way of believing but to poke his Lord’s wounds? He asks way-too-much; God doesn’t owe him anything!
B. A POLICE DETECTIVE’S TESTIMONY
I interviewed a senior Police Detective about Thomas. He said;
1. Detective Hyvl said, “Thomas would have made a good detective; he wouldn’t decide without the facts.”
2. “Fingerprints are better than an eye-witness. An eye-witness can get excited (& wrong). A criminal may have a twin brother, but no one else has your fingerprints.”
3. “Before fingerprinting, people used old scars, wounds, tattoos or birthmarks to identify people. Thomas’ technique for identifying Christ would have been normal for his time.”
4. Another Police Detective told me that small variations in the witness accounts actually verify the truthfulness of the accounts. He said, “If everyone’s story lines up exactly, then you know they got together and agreed on it. But if the witnesses remember different aspects the others don’t recall – like the disciples of Jesus – this actually shows their genuineness!”
C. JESUS’ LOVING ACCOMMODATION
1. Acts 1:3 says that Jesus “showed Himself alive by many infallible proofs.”
2. Jesus gave each person what they needed to convince them.
a. For some, a head-wrapping, still intact.
b. For others, the message thru an Angel.
c. For others, His eating fish & honeycomb.
d. For Thomas, the chance to touch His wounds. Thomas & Jesus knew that NAILPRINTS DON’T LIE!
III. THOMAS’ TRANSFORMATION
A. A REVOLUTION OCCURRED IN THOMAS
Imagine the shock when Jesus appeared and commanded Thomas to inspect His wounds! Every doubt was answered with in-your-face reality! In Thomas’ statement “My Lord & My God” we see:
1. An INCREDIBLY STRONG FAITH. Because he’d had more doubts than most, now he had more faith than most. Now Thomas expressed his strong confidence in Christ’s deity.
2. A NEW HUMILITY. In his expression we sense:
a. “How could I ever have doubted You?”
b. “What have I been thinking of?”
c. “How could I have been so arrogant?”
d. “I wandered so far…further than all! My Lord & my God!”
3. A SURPRISE OF COMPLETE JOY!
a. Intense pleasure; holy wonder.
b. Like he’d found one he’d loved intensely, but lost until now.
4. A RENEWAL OF ALLEGIANCE TO CHRIST; “My Lord & my God!” Consecration to his service.
B. IMPACT ON HIS LIFE
1. He became one of the most courageous of the apostles.
2. Tradition says he labored in Parthia, Persia, and India – suffering martyrdom near Madras, at Mount St. Thomas.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Each year the University of Chicago Divinity school has a day where it invites great thinkers to lecture there. One year they invited Dr. Paul Tillich, an atheist theologian. Dr. Tillich spoke for 2 1/2 hours proving that the resurrection of Jesus Christ never happened.
2. He quoted scholar after scholar and book after book. He concluded that since there was no such thing as historical resurrection, the religious tradition of the Church was groundless, emotional mumbo-jumbo.
3. At the conclusion of his lecture he asked if there were any questions. After 30 seconds of silence an old preacher with a head of white hair stood up in the back of the auditorium.
4. "Dr. Tillich, I have one question.” Every eye in the place turned toward him. He reached into his sack lunch and pulled out of an apple and began eating it.
5. "Dr. Tillich, my question is a simple one. Now I've never read any of those books you just cited. I can't recite the Scriptures from the original Greek. I don't know anything about Niebuhr or Heidegger..."
6. He finished the Apple. "All I want to know is: this Apple I just ate; was it sour or sweet?” Dr. Tillich paused and finally said, "I can't possibly answer that question, for I haven't tasted your Apple."
7. The white-haired preacher dropped the core of his Apple into the crumpled paper bag and said calmly, "Neither have you tasted my Jesus."
8. The 1000+ in attendance couldn't contain themselves and erupted into applause and cheers. Dr. Tillich thanked his audience and promptly left the platform. [Source unknown.]
B. THE CALL
1. In World Vision, writer Tony Campolo tells of taking an airplane from California to Philadelphia one stormy night. When the man in the next seat learned that Campolo was a Christian, he wanted to talk.
2. “I believe that going to heaven is a lot like going to Philadelphia,” the man said. “You can go there by airplane, by train, by bus, or by car. There are many ways to get to Philadelphia.”
3. Their plane was circling Philadelphia, which was fogged in. The wind was blowing, the rain was beating on the plane, and everyone on the flight was nervous and tense.
4. Campolo responded, “I’m certainly glad the pilot doesn’t agree with you.” The man said, “What do you mean?” “The people in the control tower are giving instructions to the pilot: ‘Coming north by northwest, three degrees, you’re on beam, you’re on beam, don’t deviate from beam.’”
5. Campolo continued, “I’m glad the pilot’s not saying, ‘There are many ways into the airport. There are many approaches we can take.’ I’m glad he’s saying, ‘There’s only one way we can land this plane and I’m going to stay with it!’”
6. Likewise, there’s only one Savior who died for the sins of the entire world. There’s only one sacrifice that God found acceptable to atone for sin – and that one is Jesus Christ. He’s the “way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father accept through Him.”
7. Will you accept Jesus as your sacrifice for sins today? Will you trust Him as your Savior? Will you surrender your life to Him and let Him wash you from your sins? Let’s prayer and trust Him right now. PRAYER.
