+ Mystery Doesn’t Bother in the Dining Room
Did you ever raise a radish? You put a small brown seed into the black soil and covering it into darkness. In about a month you return to the garden and find the full grown radish.
> The top is green, the skin a delicate red or pink and the body white almost transparent. What mysterious power reaches out and gathers from the ground the particles which give it form, size and flavor? Whose is the invisible brush that transfers to the root, growing in darkness, the hues of the summer sunset? If we were to refuse to eat anything until we could understand the mystery of its creation we would die of starvation – but mystery, it seems, never bothers us in the dining room; it is only in the church that it causes us to hesitate – Moody Monthly
❶ . When He Came –v.19
1. In Their Unworthiness
• By fleeing & desertion
• After denial & betrayal
2. When They Were Struggling
• Unprepared
• Unbelieving
• Refusing the testimony of others
3. When They Needed Him The Most
• In Fear
• In Hopelessness
• In Uncertainty
• In Despair
❷. What He Said
“Peace Be Unto You” v. 19, 21, 26
1. It Was A Legacy
- Two other times in John
John 14:27 (AV)
27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
John 16:33 (AV)
33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
• An inheritance of property given to another after their death
• He gave them peace
2. It Was A Declaration
- Here was a formal statement given at the end of the conflict with sin
- Think of the Declaration of Independence Revolutionary War 1775-83
John 16:33 (AV)
33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
- Now they were at peace with God
3. It Was A Decree
- He inspired them with peace
- Here is poof I am alive
4. It Was An Absolution
- Relief given
- He blotted out all offences which might have spoiled their peace
❸ What He Did
1. He Banished Their Doubts – v.19
Thomas had the hardest time
• Willing to risk his life – Jn. 11:14-16
• Willing to ask the hard questions – Jn 14:5
• Willing to accept the truth – Jn. 20:28
- Thomas was the first disciple to put into words the truth that Jesus is both Lord and God
- He utters the greatest confession of faith recorded anywhere in the Bible
Jn 20:28
• My GOD – Jesus is Deity
• My LORD – Christ has authority over Him
• MY Lord and MY God – He surrendered to Him
2. He Sealed His Love – v.20
- Their hearts were no longer restless
- He showed unto them his hands and his side
3. He Refreshed Their Memory
Luke 24:44 (AV)
44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the LAW OF MOSES, and in the PROPHETS, and in the PSALMS, concerning me.
LAW OF MOSES
Genesis 3:15 (AV)
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Numbers 21:8 (AV)
8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
Deuteronomy 18:15 (AV)
15 The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
PROPHETS
Isaiah 9:6 (AV)
6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 53
Ezekiel 34:23 (AV)
23 And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
PSALMS
Ps 2, Ps 22
Psalm 16:10 (AV)
10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
- More than 300 prophecies concerning Jesus
4. He Opened Their Understanding Lk 24:45
- It’s amazing when we understand our abilities
- Like skydiving or mountain climbing or bungee jumping
- It’s more amazing when we understand what God can do though us
- How we need out understanding opened
6. He Gave Them Purpose – Lk 24:48
- To be a witness
7. He Filled Them With Joy –v.20
