April 4, 1999

Easter Sunday

Every thinking person sometimes wrestles with doubt. That’s true not only for thinking Christians, but also for atheists and agnostics. They sometimes wonder, “What if I’m wrong and Christianity is true?” And every thinking Christian sometimes wonders, “What if I’m wrong and Christianity is not true?” For some, the bouts with doubt are short and relatively minor. For others, the doubts are deep and disturbing. But wherever you’re at on the spectrum, if you’ve been a Christian for very long, you have gone through times when believing isn’t easy.

The sources of my struggles with doubt vary. Sometimes it stems from wrestling with certain troublesome theological issues. At other times the problem of unanswered prayer has tripped me up. And I’ve had to face doubts related to the age-old problem of suffering, especially when it hits home with people I know and love: Why would a good and all-powerful God allow His servants, who are already too few, to be struck down in the prime of life, while the wicked prosper?

While there are satisfactory biblical answers to all of these sources of doubt, there is one answer that undergirds them all. I usually come back to it when I’m struggling with doubt. The apostle Paul said that the entire Christian faith rests on one foundation, the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Cor. 15:13-19). If that fact of history is true, then our faith has a solid footing in spite of matters of doubt which we cannot, perhaps ever in this life, fully resolve. On the other hand, if Jesus Christ is not risen from the dead, then the strongest faith in the world is useless, because it rests on a faulty object.

The evidence for the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ gives us a solid footing in times of doubt.

If you want to examine a subject, it’s best to go to an expert. The most famous expert on doubt is a fellow whose name is always linked with it: Doubting Thomas. His story is told in John 20:24-29. Thomas was what I would call a sincere doubter. Not all doubters are sincere. Some use their doubts as a smoke screen to hide behind their pride, rebellion, or other sin, which is the real issue. If one area of doubt is cleared up, they will quickly duck behind another, because they don’t want to submit to the Lord. These people do not need more evidence to believe; they need to turn from their sin.

But some doubts are sincere. The sincere doubter is truly a believer in Christ and he doesn’t want to doubt, but he is plagued by honest questions. He is submissive to God and wants to do His will, but he can’t just close his eyes and take a leap of faith. He needs evidence to clear up the doubts. Thomas was that kind of sincere doubter. I maintain that …

1. All thinking people go through times of sincere doubt.

There are many causes of doubt. I am going to limit myself to exploring some of the causes of Thomas’ doubts. I can relate personally to some, but not all, of them. Perhaps you will relate to them also.

Some Reasons For Thomas’ Doubts:

A. Personal failure coupled with Thomas’ personality.

All of the disciples had failed Jesus on the night of His arrest and trial. Most notorious was Peter, who denied the Lord three times. All of the eleven had promised Jesus their loyalty, but they all deserted Him when He was arrested.

Thomas, along with Peter, had been outspoken in his loyalty to Jesus before the crucifixion. In John 11:16, when Jesus wanted to go to Bethany, near Jerusalem, to raise Lazarus from the dead, the disciples objected that it was too dangerous. But Thomas said, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.” He may have been a pessimist, but at least he was loyal to the point of challenging the others to be committed to the point of death. But then he had joined the others in running away when Jesus was arrested. That failure led Thomas into depression and doubt.

It wasn’t just Thomas’ failure, but failure coupled with his personality, that led him into deep doubts. Peter had failed in a big way, too. But Peter was a buoyant, optimistic sort who felt badly about his mistakes, but who could shrug it off and bounce back more quickly. But Thomas was a conscientious, loyal, but gloomy type who did not commit himself to something lightly. To commit himself to Jesus and then go back on his word affected Thomas much more deeply than Peter’s failure affected him.

We’re all wired differently and so it’s important to know yourself so that you can be on guard against your areas of weakness. Usually, by the way, our areas of greatest strength are also our areas of greatest weakness. A man like Thomas, who is loyal and conscientious, who takes commitments seriously, is also more prone to depression and doubt when he fails.

B. A lack of understanding.

Thomas lacked understanding with regard to the Lord’s departure (see John 14:5). On the night before the crucifixion, Jesus told the disciples that He was going to prepare a place for them and that He would come again to take them to be with Him. He told them that they knew the way where He was going. But Thomas wasn’t the type to keep quiet if he didn’t understand. So he blurted out, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?”

I’m glad he asked because Jesus’ reply was, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (14:6). But if you put yourself back into that situation, with all of the confused emotions of that night, and with the disciples’ still limited insight into Jesus’ death and resurrection, you can see how Thomas would still be confused about what Jesus had meant. He lacked understanding, which led to doubt.

Some of my times of doubt have been due to a lack of understanding on doctrinal matters. I’m not going to share specifics, because if it’s not a problem for you, I don’t want to lead you into doubt by bringing it up! But, frankly, there are many hard teachings in Scripture, some of which we won’t resolve until we are with the Lord. We have to trust God, even when we don’t understand.

In John 6:60, many of those who had followed Jesus turned away when He taught some hard things. Jesus even asked the twelve if they would turn away also. Peter gave the great answer, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. And we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69). I have come back to that answer many times when I have struggled with doubt due to a lack of understanding. Where else can I go?

C. Deep disappointment and shock over suffering.

A third factor that caused Thomas such deep doubts was the disappointment and shock he felt as he watched Jesus die. Even though Jesus repeatedly told the disciples in advance that He would be crucified, it didn’t sink in. When Thomas saw the badly mangled body of Jesus on the cross, it sent him into shock. His emphasis on the wounds of Jesus (John 20:25) shows how deeply it affected him. The bloody holes in Jesus’ hands and feet, the gory spear wound in His side, and Jesus’ disfigurement from the scourging and the crown of thorns, haunted Thomas in the week after the crucifixion and fed his doubts.

In the same way, whenever we face deep disappointment and shock because of some tragedy or something that doesn’t go as we had expected, we’re vulnerable to doubts. A few years ago, a pastor friend who was my age was struck down with cancer. As I stood by his bedside the night he died, along with his grieving wife and two sons, I couldn’t help wondering, “Why, Lord? This is one of Your servants. He still has many good years left. His family is young. Why should he die so young, when so many wicked people live long, healthy lives?” Perhaps you’ve lost a loved one or faced a personal tragedy. It’s a short step from there to being right where Thomas was, to doubting the Lord: “If God really exists and is a God of love, then why is this happening?”

D. Isolation from fellow believers.

A fourth reason for Thomas’ doubts was his isolation from other believers. We don’t know for certain why Thomas was absent from the other disciples that first Sunday when Jesus appeared to them. But a likely reason was his morose disposition. The last thing he wanted at a time like that was to be around other people. So he wandered off by himself to brood over the horrible events of the previous few days.

Then to add to his misery, when he finally did see the others, they told him that they had seen the risen Lord! How would you feel if you missed church because you were depressed and doubting and we all told you, “Hey, you really missed a blessing! Jesus appeared to us last Sunday!” Great! That really encourages you, doesn’t it! But even though we often are bugged by other believers, the fact is, we need them. Whenever we separate ourselves from the fellowship, we make ourselves vulnerable to doubt.

I’ve not covered all the causes we have for doubting God or the Bible. Perhaps you have other things that have shaken your faith. But whatever the source of your doubts, the solution is the same: to come back to the basic fact of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. If that is true, then even though you may not understand everything, you still, with Thomas, must bow and acknowledge Jesus to be your Lord and God.

2. The evidence for the bodily resurrection of Jesus is solid.

I can’t give all the evidence for the resurrection in one message. Many books have been written on the subject. But there are five reasons in John 20 alone which prove Christ’s resurrection to be true history, not a myth or wishful thinking:

A. The empty tomb substantiates Jesus’ resurrection.

One incontrovertible fact, with which both the disciples and the Jews agreed, is that the tomb was empty. If not, when the disciples began proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus a few weeks later (which was the central point of their preaching), the Jewish leaders could have simply marched to the tomb, produced the dead body of Jesus, and the disciples would have been laughed out of town. But clearly they couldn’t do it because the tomb was empty.

There are several ways to account for the empty tomb. Jesus’ enemies could have stolen the body. But they had no motive for taking His body. It was to their advantage to leave it right where it was, which is why they had Pilate put the Roman guard and seal on the tomb. If they knew where the body was, they could have produced it and silenced the disciples’ preaching.

Another possibility is that the Roman guards stole the body. But again, they had no motive to do so. They weren’t concerned about this Jewish religious trial. The Jewish leaders, who were scrambling for ways to explain away the resurrection, didn’t accuse the soldiers of taking the body or of allowing it to be stolen.

A third possibility is that the disciples stole the body. This was the theory the Jewish leaders tried to promote by bribing the Roman soldiers (Matt. 28:11-15). But there are many reasons the disciples could not have moved Jesus’ body. The tomb was as secure as the Roman guard could make it. The soldiers wouldn’t have fallen asleep on the watch, because the penalty was death. The stone at the tomb was large and heavy. Even if the soldiers had been sleeping, the noise of a group of men moving the stone would have awakened them. Besides, the disciples were too depressed and confused to try anything like grave robbery in front of a Roman guard. Even if, through bribery, they had managed to remove Jesus’ body, they would not later have risked their lives to preach the resurrection.

Nor would they have suffered beatings and threats if it had been confirmed that someone else had taken Jesus’ body, which was the first thought of the women who visited the tomb early that morning (John 20:2, 15). All we know of the character of the witnesses as well as the fact that they did not yet understand the Scripture that Jesus must rise again from the dead (John 20:9) militates against them knowingly promoting a hoax. The empty tomb is a solid piece of evidence that God raised Jesus bodily from the dead.

B. The grave clothes substantiate Jesus’ resurrection.

Mary Magdalene didn’t look very carefully when she first came to the tomb. She saw the stone removed and assumed that Jesus was gone. So she ran to tell Peter and John, who ran to the tomb. John got there first and stood at the entrance looking in. Peter, in his usual blustery manner, went right in and saw (20:6, Greek = “to gaze upon”) the grave clothes. Then John entered, saw (Greek = “to see with understanding”) and believed.

The presence of the grave clothes proves that the body was not stolen. In their haste, grave robbers would have taken the body, grave clothes and all. If for some reason they had wanted to strip the body, they would have left the clothes strewn all over the tomb. But Peter and John saw them left in an orderly fashion, as if Jesus had passed right through them. Remember, these weren’t men who wished so much for a resurrection that they perhaps saw what they wanted to see. These were men who did not understand or believe at first. The evidence convinced them, even as their testimony of the evidence should convince us.

C. The post-resurrection appearances of Jesus substantiate His resurrection.

John lists four post-resurrection appearances of Jesus: To Mary Magdalene (20:11-18); to the disciples except Thomas (20:19-23); to the disciples, including Thomas (20:24-31); and, to seven of the disciples, by the Sea of Galilee (21:1-25). Paul mentions several other situations, including one appearance to over 500 at one time (1 Cor. 15:6-8). J. N. D. Anderson, formerly Professor of Oriental Laws and Director of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies at the University of London, wrote (Christianity Today [3/29/68], pp. 5, 6.),

The most drastic way of dismissing the evidence would be to say that these stories were mere fabrications, that they were pure lies. But, so far as I know, not a single critic today would take such an attitude. In fact, it would really be an impossible position. Think of the number of witnesses, over 500. Think of the character of the witnesses, men and women who gave the world the highest ethical teaching it has ever known, and who even on the testimony of their enemies lived it out in their lives. Think of the psychological absurdity of picturing a little band of defeated cowards cowering in an upper room one day and a few days later transformed into a company that no persecution could silence—and then attempting to attribute this dramatic change to nothing more convincing than a miserable fabrication they were trying to foist upon the world. That simply wouldn’t make sense.

The varied circumstances of the appearances and the different personalities of the witnesses militate against hallucinations or visions. Whether Thomas actually put his hand in Jesus’ wounds is not stated, but Jesus made the offer and Thomas was convinced (John 20:27). The post-resurrection appearances of Jesus are a strong evidence of His bodily resurrection.

D. The changed lives of the witnesses substantiate Jesus’ resurrection.

As already mentioned, John calls attention to the fact that none of the witnesses was expecting a resurrection. Mary Magdalene thought that someone had taken Jesus’ body (20:2, 15). The disciples were fearful and confused. Thomas was depressed and doubting. But all were transformed into the bold witnesses of the Book of Acts because they became convinced that Jesus rose bodily from the dead. They were so convinced that the resurrection was true that many of them went on to martyrs’ deaths.

E. The unique person of Jesus Christ substantiates His resurrection.

Study the Gospel accounts of who Jesus was, of what He taught, of the miracles He performed, of the prophecies He fulfilled. On more than one occasion He predicted His own death and resurrection (John 2:19-22; Luke 9:22). His encounter with doubting Thomas shows that His purpose was to bring Thomas into a place of full faith in His deity (20:27). When Thomas answered, “My Lord and my God,” Jesus did not rebuke or correct him for overstating things. Rather, Jesus commended Thomas’ correct perception and faith (20:28-29).

A merely good teacher, especially a devout Jewish rabbi, would never accept such worship from a follower. Everything in the Gospel accounts about Jesus’ person and teaching militates against His being a charlatan or lunatic. The only sensible option is that He is who He claimed to be, the Lord God in human flesh, the Christ of Israel, the eternal Son of God. He offered Himself for our sins and God raised Him bodily from the dead.

Conclusion

In Loving God ([Zondervan], pp. 61-70) Charles Colson has an interesting chapter titled, “Watergate and the Resurrection.” He makes the point that with the most powerful office in the world at stake, with all of the privileges of power, with the threat of imprisonment, ten men in the White House could not hold together a conspiracy for more than two weeks. He then applies his experience in the Watergate cover-up to modern criticism of the Gospel accounts of the resurrection—that the disciples were mistaken, that it was only a myth or that Jesus’ followers conceived a plot to cover up His death. He concludes:

Is it really likely, then, that a deliberate cover-up, a plot to perpetuate a lie about the Resurrection, could have survived the violent persecution of the apostles, the scrutiny of early church councils, the horrendous purge of the first-century believers who were cast by the thousands to the lions for refusing to renounce the Lordship of Christ? Is it not probable that at least one of the apostles would have renounced Christ before being beheaded or stoned? Is it not likely that some “smoking gun” document might have been produced exposing the “Passover plot”? Surely one of the conspirators would have made a deal with the authorities (government and Sanhedrin probably would have welcomed such a soul with open arms and pocketbooks!)....

Take it from one who was inside the Watergate web looking out, who saw firsthand how vulnerable a cover-up is: Nothing less than a witness as awesome as the resurrected Christ could have caused those men to maintain to their dying whispers that Jesus is alive and Lord (p. 69).

Does the evidence about Jesus’ resurrection clear up all our doubts about God and the Bible? No, nothing this side of heaven will do that. But it does provide a solid basis for intelligent faith in those times when we struggle with doubt. To whom else will you go? Jesus alone is the risen Savior. His desire for each of us who have not seen Him is that, like Thomas, we would be believing, not unbelieving. He wants each of us to recognize that He, our Lord and God, died in our place, taking the penalty we deserved for our sin. He wants us to join Thomas in believing worship, proclaiming, “My Lord and my God!”

If you wait to trust in Christ until all of your doubts are cleared up, you will go to your death alienated from the Savior. There is more than adequate evidence to support a reasonable faith that Jesus Christ is the risen Savior. The question is, Will you lay aside your doubts, which serve only as excuses, and trust in Jesus as your Savior and Lord?

Discussion Questions

1. How can a person know whether his doubts are sincere or whether they are just an excuse? Are sincere doubts sin?
2. Is biblical faith a “blind leap”? If not, how does it differ?
3. Is it possible to live without faith in something? Are materialistic humanists purely rational? How can we witness to them?
4. Why is it crucial to base our faith in the fact of Christ’s resurrection rather than on our personal religious experience?

Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 1999, All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation

April 20, 2003

Special Easter Message

The recent dramatic rescue of our soldiers who had been taken captive in Iraq brought great joy and relief to all Americans. It’s tragic when people are held captive by an evil enemy that finds pleasure in torturing and destroying them. Our joy overflows when the captives are set free.

The Bible declares that “the whole world lies in the power of” a wicked tyrant called “the evil one” (1 John 5:19). He is a murderer by nature (John 8:44), intent on destroying those whom he holds captive (John 10:10; 2 Tim. 2:26). Jesus Christ, “the Son of God, appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). He does that by rescuing people from Satan’s domain of darkness and transferring them to His kingdom, where they have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Col. 1:13-14). God uses us, His people, as His commandos, to go into enemy territory with the powerful weapon of the gospel to liberate those who are being held captive by the evil enemy.

The apostle Paul made one such commando raid into the city of Thessalonica. He came under enemy attack, but was able to rescue some. His daring mission set the city into an uproar. They accused him and his co-workers as being men who had turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). He was forced to leave town after just a few weeks, leaving these newly liberated people to face the angry opposition of those who were content with the evil regime.

A short time later, he wrote them a letter, which we know as 1 Thessalonians. He begins by thanking God for what He had done in the hearts of these people and by commending them for the example of their transformed lives, which was being spoken of everywhere in that region. Before Paul could say a word, people would tell him how the Thessalonians had “turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come” (1 Thess. 1:9-10). We learn that…

The risen Jesus rescues from the coming wrath all who believe in Him and turn to God.

These verses contain three vital lessons:

1. There is certainly a wrath to come.

I will admit that the idea of God’s wrath and judgment is not popular in our day, even among evangelical Christians. We would rather tell people that God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their lives. We downplay the notion that God is angry with them because of their sin and that they face horrible eternal punishment in hell if they die without being reconciled to God. If we were honest, most of us would admit that the notion of God’s wrath and eternal punishment is a bit embarrassing. So we dodge it and promote the gospel as a great way to have a happier life.

But in so doing, we misconstrue the biblical gospel and we water down the biblical picture of salvation as God’s rescuing us from certain destruction. It becomes more like starting a new diet or exercise program, guaranteed to make you feel better right away. But our text shows that…

A. The certainty of God’s wrath to come rests on the very character of God.

Paul declares that God is “the living and true God,” and that Jesus “rescues us from the wrath to come.” He further describes this coming wrath in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9, where he says that “the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, ...”

During His earthly ministry, Jesus Christ spoke more about the awfulness of God’s judgment than any other person in the Bible. He described it as a place of outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 25:30). He calls it a place “where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48). He said that it would be better to cut off one’s hand or foot, or even to die by having a millstone hung around one’s neck and being cast into the sea, than to go into hell (Mark 9:42-45). We may not like these words, but if we deny or dodge them, we are not following Jesus, who repeatedly taught this awful truth.

Of course, God’s wrath is not like human wrath. Human wrath is usually an outburst against something or someone that frustrates us. Occasionally, human wrath may be “righteous indignation,” but even then it is tinged with our fallible propensity toward selfishness and misunderstanding. God’s wrath is His holy, settled, active opposition toward all evil, in line with His absolute knowledge of all motives and circumstances. If we do away with the concept of God’s wrath, we also then do away with His holiness and justice.

If someone broke into your house and raped and murdered your wife or daughter, and the judge said, “You shouldn’t have done that; try not to do it again,” we would rightly be outraged. That judge would be neither righteous nor just. In the same way, if God who is infinitely holy does not judge all sin with infinite punishment, He is neither righteous nor just. Most of us can agree mentally with this concept, and it even gives us a sense of relief to know that the evil terrorists of the world will meet with God’s perfect justice.

But at this point, many err by thinking that they will escape God’s judgment because they are not like these terrible murderers. They think, “I’m a decent, church-going American. I pay my taxes and obey the law. I don’t beat my wife and children. Sure, I’ve got my faults and I’m not perfect, but I’m not an evil person. I don’t need to fear God’s judgment.”

But our text indicates that there are only two kinds of people: those who have been rescued by Jesus from God’s wrath to come; and, those who have not. And, …

B. All who have not been rescued by the risen Jesus are in imminent danger of the wrath to come.

By nature, we all tend to look at our own works or at what we consider to be our good intentions, and we think that we’re good enough for heaven. But the Bible is clear that no one gets into heaven by his own efforts, good works, or good intentions. Our problem is that we compare ourselves to the wrong standard. If we compare ourselves to other people, we may come out on the right side of the curve. But God’s standard is His absolute holiness, beginning on the thought level. As Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, if you’ve ever been angry with someone, you are guilty of murder in God’s sight. If you’ve ever lusted after a woman, you are guilty of adultery (Matt. 5:21-22, 27-28). Both sins make you “guilty enough to go into the fiery hell” (Matt. 5:22, 29-30).

Let’s assume that you are an unusually good person. You’ve only chalked up, on the average, one sin of thought, word, or deed per month since the time you were five years old. If you sassed your mother once that month, the rest of the month you had nothing but sweet, loving thoughts toward her. If you selfishly demanded your way, you only did it once that month, and did not at any other time think in a selfish manner.

At this record-breaking rate of righteous living, you will have chalked up 840 sins by the time you are 75. Can you imagine going into any court of law and pleading, “Judge, I admit that I’ve broken the law 840 times, but I’m far better than most people, so you should let me off”! How much less does anyone, even the best of us, stand a chance of acquittal based on our good deeds when we stand before the holy God whose standard is perfection?

The Bible declares that we are all by nature children of wrath because of our sins (Eph. 2:1-3). It warns that the wrath of God abides on all who do not obey the Son of God (John 3:36). Jesus did not come to earth and die on the cross just to help you live a bit more comfortable and happy life. He came to rescue you from the wrath to come! If He has not rescued you, then you are in imminent danger of that wrath! It is imperative that you understand how you can be rescued while there is still time.

2. To be rescued by Jesus from the coming wrath, we must hear the gospel, believe it, and turn to God from our idols.

A. To be rescued by Jesus from the coming wrath, we must hear the gospel.

Paul mentions the kind of reception [literally, “entrance”] that he had with the Thessalonians (1:9). We read about it in Acts 17:2-4, where it says that Paul went into the synagogue there on three successive Sabbaths and reasoned with them from the Scriptures, “explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.’” Some believed that message, but the majority opposed it and formed a mob to set the city against Paul.

The gospel (or “good news”) that Paul proclaimed may be summarized as follows: All of us have sinned against the holy God, thus incurring His wrath. God could justly condemn us all to hell. But being a God of great love and mercy, He sent His own eternal Son Jesus into this world to bear the penalty that we rightly deserve. He had to suffer death, which is the penalty that God imposed for our sin (Rom. 6:23). God accepted Jesus’ sacrifice, as evidenced by the fact that He raised Him from the dead. God’s justice was satisfied, in that Jesus paid in full the penalty for our sins. He can now be both “just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26). You cannot be saved apart from hearing and understanding that message.

B. To be rescued by Jesus from the coming wrath, we must believe the gospel.

Hearing the gospel must be accompanied by faith (Gal. 3:5). The Thessalonians had “received the word” (1:6) with “faith toward God” (1:8). Paul says (2:13), “we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.”

Contrary to popular opinion, biblical faith is not a blind leap in the dark. It does not mean setting your brain on the shelf and believing a bunch of old Jewish legends. Rather, biblical faith is based on the testimony of eyewitnesses to Jesus’ life, teaching, death, bodily resurrection and ascension into heaven. Granted, we cannot “prove” these truths in the same sense that we can prove that 2+2=4, and so there is the need for faith. But it is not an unreasonable or blind faith, in that the evidence is trustworthy. We believe the testimony of men all the time, but the testimony of God concerning His Son is greater (1 John 5:9).

When Paul first preached in Thessalonica, he pointed to the evidence of the Scriptures concerning Christ’s death and resurrection (Acts 17:2-3). No doubt he took them to Psalm 22, which describes in detail a death by crucifixion centuries before that mode of execution was known on earth. He also took them to Isaiah 53, which predicts with great detail the suffering and death of God’s Messiah, “when He will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities” (Isa. 53:11). Both of those texts also imply the resurrection of the crucified Messiah, when God “will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the booty with the strong; because He poured out Himself to death and was numbered with the transgressors” (Isa. 53:12). Paul probably also pointed to Psalm 16:10, which predicted that God would not “allow [His] Holy One to undergo decay” (see Acts 13:34-35).

Beyond the evidence of Scripture, there was the further evidence of all of the eyewitnesses who saw Jesus after the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:5-6). There is also the evidence of the dramatically changed lives of the witnesses, including the apostle Paul. He was militantly against the Christian message until the day that he saw the risen Jesus on the Damascus Road.

Believing this message is not just assenting to the facts as presented in Scripture and by the eyewitnesses. Biblical faith involves an active commitment in which we renounce all trust in our own good works to save us from God’s judgment and a total entrusting of ourselves to Jesus as the only Savior from God’s wrath. Genuine saving faith is inseparable from repentance, which means turning to God from our sins.

C. To be rescued by Jesus from the coming wrath, we must turn to God from our idols.

Before, these people had hoped that their idols would placate God’s wrath. But once they heard the gospel, they threw away their idols, turned to God alone and trusted in Jesus’ death on the cross to rescue them from their sins. The word “turned” occurs often in the Book of Acts to describe the proper response to the gospel. Paul described God’s commission to him as opening the Gentiles’ eyes “so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins …” (Acts 26:18). He sums up his preaching as telling people “that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance” (Acts 26:20; see also Acts 9:35; 11:21; 14:15; 15:19).

Maybe you are thinking, “This is all very interesting, but I am not an idolater. I don’t bow down or pray to any statues. So this doesn’t apply to me.”

But the only choices are, you either serve God or you serve idols. An idol may be a literal statue. Even here in Flagstaff, we have a store that specializes in selling idols! But an idol is anything that usurps the rightful place of the living and true God in your life. At the root of all idolatry is the god of self. Many people leave this god on the throne and try to “use” Jesus to get what self wants, such as happiness, health, wealth, love, or many other things. But to leave self enthroned and to use Jesus as an Aladdin’s genie is not to turn to God from our idols. The Thessalonians did not just add Jesus to their existing pantheon of idols. They trashed their idols and turned to the living and true God alone.

For Jesus to rescue you from God’s wrath to come, you must agree with God’s judgment, that you have sinned against Him and that you deserve His wrath. You must understand and believe that God’s Son Jesus came to earth and paid the penalty on the cross that you rightfully deserved. Genuine faith is not just agreeing mentally with these facts, but also turning from all of your false gods to the only true God. If you have done that, your life will be demonstrably different. Everyone could see the dramatic change in the Thessalonians. Paul mentions two things that stood out after they turned to God from their idols:

3. Those who have been rescued by Jesus submit their lives to God and wait expectantly for Jesus’ return.

The word translated “serve” comes from a word meaning to serve as a bondslave. A bondslave was not free to do whatever he pleased. If the bondslave wanted to go to the beach, he couldn’t tell his master, “I’m taking the day off. See you tomorrow!” He belonged to his master and lived to do his master’s will.

In our case, our Master gave His life to rescue us from certain doom. Thus we do not serve Him out of bare duty or obligation, but out of gratitude and love. And, thankfully, He is a loving and gracious Master, who has our best interests at heart. Serving Him is not drudgery, but a delight.

Also, we eagerly long for His return from heaven, when He will crush all of His enemies and set up His righteous kingdom on earth. Just as a young bride whose husband has gone off to the war longs for his safe return, so we who have been rescued from God’s judgment by Jesus long to see His face. As Paul later tells the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 4:16-18),

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Those whom Jesus has rescued from the wrath to come submit to Him as Master and eagerly look forward to the day of His coming. Those whom He has not rescued live for themselves and don’t give much thought to the day of His coming, which for them will be a day of wrath and judgment, unless they repent.

Conclusion

Picture a bunch of people on a luxury cruise ship, sailing in calm Caribbean seas. They’re lounging on deck, eating great food, and having an enjoyable time. Along comes a man selling sun visors. “Would you folks like to buy a sun visor? It will make your cruise much more enjoyable. They don’t cost very much.” So lots of folks try out the sun visors.

But lets suppose that before the cruise began, terrorists had planted a powerful time bomb on board that will blow the ship to shreds. You had just learned that it was certain that the bomb would go off and that everyone who didn’t escape while there was still time would be hopelessly doomed. Would you be on deck selling sun visors to make the trip more comfortable, or would you be warning the people to get into the lifeboats as quickly as possible before they were blown to bits?

God is not a terrorist, of course! But He is a holy God who must judge all sin. He has given due warning that He is going to judge this cruise ship called “The World.” But He has not left us without a means of escape. His Son Jesus is not a sun visor to make your cruise more comfortable. He is the lifeboat! But you must abandon ship to get into the lifeboat while there is still time.

The point of getting into the lifeboat is not that it will make you happier and more comfortable than you are on board the ship. You may look over the side and yell, “Ahoy, down there! Do you serve gourmet meals on the lifeboat?” “No, we have C-rations on board. But please jump off that ship before it’s too late!” “Do you have queen size beds on the life raft?” “No, we are somewhat crowded and uncomfortable here, but if you will get on the raft, you will be saved. If you stay in your stateroom on board, you will perish.” “I really enjoy the shuffleboard here on the ship. Do you offer shuffleboard on your life raft?” “No, but your ship is doomed. Flee to this raft while you can!”

Believing in Jesus doesn’t mean sitting on deck in your lounge chair, sipping a cool drink, and thinking, “I’m sure glad that I’ve got this Jesus visor to make my trip more comfortable!” No, believing in Jesus means that you take seriously His warnings about the coming judgment on this wicked world, so that you jump ship and trust totally in Jesus as your life raft.

Like the Thessalonians, today you have heard that God has pronounced wrath to come on this world. You have heard that He sent His Son Jesus to die for your sins and that God raised Jesus from the dead. He is coming again, either as your Savior or your Judge. Believing that message, you abandon ship and place your eternal destiny totally upon the risen Jesus. If you will do that, Jesus will rescue you from the wrath to come!

Discussion Questions

1. Are we presenting the true gospel if we say that Jesus is the way to a happier life, without mentioning sin and judgment?
2. Theologian Clark Pinnock complains, “Everlasting torment is intolerable from a moral point of view because it makes God into a bloodthirsty monster who maintains an everlasting Auschwitz for victims whom he does not even allow to die.” How would you refute him?
3. Since even the most sincere believers struggle against idolatry, how can we know when our faith is genuine?

Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2003, All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation

April 16, 2006

Easter Sunday

In our study of First John last Sunday we looked at the subject of assurance of salvation. The enemy of assurance is doubt, and so I thought it would be helpful on this Resurrection Sunday to take a look at the problem of doubt and how to overcome it.

Every thinking person sometimes wrestles with doubt. That is true not only for thinking Christians, but also for atheists and agnostics. Sometimes they wonder, “What if I’m wrong? What if there really is a God? What if there is life after death and I have to stand before God?” And, every thinking Christian sometimes wonders, “What if Christianity is not true?” For some, the doubts are relatively minor and fleeting. For others, the doubts are deep and disturbing. But wherever you’re at on the spectrum, if you’ve been a Christian for very long, you have gone through times when you struggled with doubt.

While there are many different sources of doubt (we’ll look at some in a moment), there is one answer that undergirds them all. I have often come back to it when I am working through my doubts. The apostle Paul said that the entire Christian faith rests on this single foundation, the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Cor. 15:13-19). If that fact of history is true, then our faith has a solid footing in spite of difficult matters that we may never understand fully in this life. But, if Jesus Christ is not risen from the dead, then the strongest faith in the world is useless, because it rests on a faulty foundation. In Paul’s words (1 Cor. 15:17), “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.”

If you want to examine a subject, it’s best to go to an expert. The most famous expert on doubt is the man whose name is always linked with it, Doubting Thomas. Perhaps it’s unfair that he has to wear that label, since all the apostles doubted the resurrection of Jesus at first (Mark 16:11; Luke 24:10-11). But, Thomas was the last holdout, so he gets the title. His story shows us that…

To overcome our doubts, we must rest upon the reality of the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

Thomas was what I would call a sincere doubter. Not all doubters are sincere. Some use their doubts as a smoke screen to hide behind their sin, which is the real issue. If one area of doubt is cleared up, they will quickly duck behind another, because they don’t want to submit to the Lord. These people do not need more evidence to believe. They need to turn from their sin.

But some doubters are sincere. They truly believe in Christ, but they are plagued by honest questions. They are submissive to God and want to do His will, but they can’t just close their eyes and take a leap of faith. They need evidence to clear up the doubts. Thomas was that kind of sincere doubter. His story reveals that…

1. Sincere doubt can arise from multiple causes.

There are many causes of doubt. I am going to limit myself to exploring some of the causes of Thomas’ doubts. Perhaps you can relate to these sources of doubt as well.

Some Reasons For Thomas’ Doubts:

A. Personal failure coupled with our personality may lead to doubt.

All of the disciples had failed Jesus on the night of His arrest and trial. Most notorious was Peter, who denied the Lord three times. All of the eleven had promised Jesus their loyalty, but they all deserted Him when He was arrested.

Thomas, along with Peter, had been outspoken in his loyalty to Jesus before the crucifixion. In John 11:16, when Jesus wanted to go to Bethany, near Jerusalem, to raise Lazarus from the dead, the disciples objected that it was too dangerous. But Thomas said, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.” He was a pessimist, but at least he was loyal to the point of challenging the others to be committed to the point of death. But then he had joined the others in running away when Jesus was arrested. That failure led Thomas into depression and doubt.

It wasn’t just Thomas’ failure, but failure coupled with his personality, that led him into deep doubts. Peter had failed in a big way, too. But Peter was a buoyant, optimistic sort who felt badly about his mistakes, but who could bounce back more quickly. But Thomas was a conscientious, loyal, but gloomy type who did not commit himself to something lightly. To commit himself to Jesus and then go back on his word affected Thomas deeply.

We’re all wired differently and so it’s important to know yourself so that you can be on guard against your areas of weakness. Usually, by the way, our areas of greatest strength are also our areas of greatest weakness. A man such as Thomas, who is loyal and conscientious, who takes commitments seriously, is also more prone to depression and doubt when he fails.

B. Disappointed expectations may lead to doubt.

A second factor that caused Thomas such deep doubts was the disappointment and shock he felt as he watched Jesus die. Even though Jesus repeatedly told the disciples in advance that He would be crucified, it didn’t sink in. When Thomas saw the badly mangled body of Jesus on the cross, it sent him into shock. His emphasis on the wounds of Jesus (John 20:25) shows how deeply it affected him. The bloody holes in Jesus’ hands and feet, the gory spear wound in His side, and Jesus’ disfigurement from the scourg­ing and the crown of thorns, haunted Thomas in the week after the crucifixion and fed his doubts.

In the same way, whenever we face deep disappointment and shock because of some tragedy or unanswered prayer or something that doesn’t go as we had expected, we’re vulnerable to doubts. You begin to think, “If God is a God of love, then why did this happen? Why didn’t He answer my prayers?” Before long, you’ve joined Thomas in doubting the Lord.

C. When God works in ways that we do not understand, it can lead to doubt.

Thomas lacked understanding with regard to the Lord’s departure (see John 14:5). On the night before the crucifixion, Jesus told the disciples that He was going to prepare a place for them and that He would come again to take them to be with Him. He told them that they knew the way where He was going. But Thomas wasn’t the type to keep quiet if he didn’t understand. So he blurted out, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?”

I’m glad he asked because Jesus’ reply was, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (14:6). But if you put yourself back into that situation, with all of the confused emotions of that night, and with the disciples’ still limited insight into Jesus’ death and resurrection, you can see how Thomas would still be confused about what Jesus had meant. He lacked understanding, which led to doubt.

John 20:9 states, “For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.” In fact, none of them understood why Jesus had to die, let alone rise from the dead. Jesus rebuked the men on the Emmaus Road (Luke 24:25-27), “And He said to them, ‘O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.”

Many of our doubts stem from the same cause: we do not understand the Scriptures. Frankly, there are many hard teachings in the Bible, some of which we won’t resolve until we are with the Lord. We have to trust God, even when we don’t understand. In John 6:60, many of those who had followed Jesus turned away when He taught some hard things. Jesus even asked the twelve if they would go away also. Peter gave the great answer (John 6:68-69), “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. And we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” I have come back to that answer many times when I have struggled with doubt due to a lack of understanding. If Jesus is who He claimed to be, where else can I go?

D. Separating ourselves from fellow believers, especially when we are depressed, can deepen our doubts.

Thomas was not with the other disciples when Jesus first appeared to them. We don’t know for certain why he was gone, but a likely reason was his depression. The last thing he wanted at a time like that was to be around other people. So he wandered off by himself to brood over the horrible events of the previous few days.

Then to add to his misery, when he finally did see the others, they told him that they had seen the risen Lord! How would you feel if you missed church because you were depressed and doubting and we all told you, “Hey, you really missed a blessing! It was the greatest church service in the history of FCF!” Great! That really encourages you, doesn’t it! But even though other believers may irritate us, the fact is, we need them. Whenever we separate ourselves from the fellowship, we make ourselves vulnerable to doubt.

I’ve not covered all the causes that cause us to doubt. But whatever the source of your doubts, the solution is the same: to come back to the basic fact of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. If that is true, then even though you may not understand everything, with Thomas you still must bow and acknowledge Jesus to be your Lord and God.

2. To overcome our doubts, we must rest upon the reality of the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

A. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is a reality.

Many books have been written to substantiate the historic validity of Jesus’ resurrection. But let me briefly mention four reasons in John 20 that prove Jesus’ resurrection to be true history, not a myth or wishful thinking.

(1) The empty tomb substantiates Jesus’ resurrection.

One incontrovertible fact, with which both the disciples and the Jews agreed, is that the tomb was empty. If not, when the disciples began proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus a few weeks later (which was the central point of their preaching), the Jewish leaders could have simply marched to the tomb, produced Jesus’ dead body, and the disciples would have been laughed out of town. But clearly they couldn’t do it because the tomb was empty.

There are several ways to account for the empty tomb. Jesus’ enemies could have stolen the body. But they had no motive for this. It was to their advantage to leave it right where it was, which is why they had Pilate put the Roman guard and seal on the tomb. If they knew where the body was, they could have produced it and silenced the disciples’ preaching.

Another possibility is that the Roman guards stole the body. But again, they had no motive to do so. They weren’t concerned about this Jewish religious trial. The Jewish leaders, who were scrambling for ways to explain away the resurrection, didn’t accuse the soldiers of taking the body or of allowing it to be stolen.

A third possibility is that the disciples stole the body. The Jewish leaders tried to promote this theory by bribing the Roman soldiers (Matt. 28:11-15). But there are many reasons the disciples could not have moved Jesus’ body. The tomb was secured by the Roman guards. The soldiers wouldn’t have fallen asleep on watch, because the penalty was death. The stone at the tomb was large and heavy. Even if the soldiers had been sleeping, the noise of a group of men moving the stone would have awakened them. Besides, the disciples were too depressed and confused to try anything like grave robbery in front of a Roman guard. Even if, through bribery, they had managed to remove Jesus’ body, they would not later have risked their lives to preach the resurrection.

Nor would they have suffered beatings and threats if it had been confirmed that someone else had taken Jesus’ body, which was the first thought of the women who visited the tomb early that morning (John 20:2, 15). All we know of the character of the witnesses as well as the fact that they did not yet understand the Scripture that Jesus must rise again from the dead (John 20:9) militates against them knowingly promoting a hoax. The empty tomb is a solid piece of evidence that God raised Jesus bodily from the dead.

(2) The grave clothes substantiate Jesus’ resurrection.

Mary Magdalene didn’t look very carefully when she first came to the tomb. She saw the stone removed and assumed that Jesus was gone. So she ran to tell Peter and John, who ran to the tomb. John got there first and stood at the entrance looking in. Peter, in his usual blustery manner, went right in and saw (20:6, Greek = “to gaze upon”) the grave clothes. Then John entered, saw (Greek = “to see with understanding”) and believed.

The presence of the grave clothes proves that the body was not stolen. In their haste, grave robbers would have taken the body, grave clothes and all. If for some reason they had wanted to strip the body, the clothes would have been strewn all over the tomb. But Peter and John saw them left in an orderly fashion, as if Jesus had passed right through them. Remember, these were not men wishing so fervently for a resurrection that they perhaps saw what they wanted to see. These were men who did not understand or believe at first. The evidence convinced them, even as their testimony of the evidence should convince us.

(3) The post-resurrection appearances of Jesus substantiate His resurrection.

John lists four appearances of Jesus after His resurrection: To Mary Magdalene (20:11-18); to the disciples except Thomas (20:19-23); to the disciples, including Thomas (20:24-31); and, to seven of the disciples, by the Sea of Galilee (21:1-25). Paul mentions several other appearances, including one to over 500 at one time (1 Cor. 15:6-8). J. N. D. Anderson, formerly Professor of Oriental Laws and Director of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies at the University of London, wrote (Christianity Today [3/29/68], pp. 5, 6.),

The most drastic way of dismissing the evidence would be to say that these stories were mere fabrications, that they were pure lies. But, so far as I know, not a single critic today would take such an attitude. In fact, it would really be an impossible position. Think of the number of witnesses, over 500. Think of the character of the witnesses, men and women who gave the world the highest ethical teaching it has ever known, and who even on the testimony of their enemies lived it out in their lives. Think of the psychological absurdity of picturing a little band of defeated cowards cowering in an upper room one day and a few days later transformed into a company that no persecution could silence—and then attempting to attribute this dramatic change to nothing more convincing than a miserable fabrication they were trying to foist upon the world. That simply wouldn’t make sense.

The varied circumstances of the appearances and the different personalities of the witnesses militate against hallucinations or visions. Whether Thomas actually put his hand in Jesus’ wounds is not stated, but Jesus made the offer and Thomas was convinced (John 20:27). The post-resurrection appearances of Jesus are a strong evidence of His bodily resurrection.

(4) The changed lives of the witnesses substantiate Jesus’ resurrection.

As already mentioned, John calls attention to the fact that none of the witnesses was expecting a resurrection. Mary Magdalene thought that someone had taken Jesus’ body (20:2, 15). The disciples were fearful and confused. Thomas was depressed and doubting. But all were transformed into the bold witnesses of the Book of Acts because they became convinced that Jesus rose bodily from the dead. They were so convinced that the resurrection was true that many of them went on to martyrs’ deaths.

So there are solid reasons to believe that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a real, historical event.

B. The risen Lord works with us to bring us from doubt to faith in Himself as Lord and God.

I’m so glad that Jesus didn’t remove Thomas from being an apostle because of his doubts! It’s helpful to see how the risen Lord brought Thomas from doubt to faith.

First, it is instructive that the Lord picked a time to appear to the other disciples when Thomas was not there. He could have waited until they were all together. Perhaps He wanted to let Thomas hit the bottom before He revealed Himself, so that Thomas would come to a deeper appreciation of his need for Christ. Sometimes He allows us to go through a time of struggle to show us our own weakness and our need to depend totally on Him.

Second, Jesus came to Thomas when he was back together with the other disciples. He was teaching Thomas his need for the body. He did not intend for us to separate ourselves from one another. He wants us to learn and grow together.

Third, Jesus confronted Thomas’ unbelief and challenged him to believe. Jesus’ words (20:27) reveal that He knew everything that Thomas had said when he was alone with the other disciples; “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.” He wants us to know that we’re really never apart from His presence, even if we are not aware of it. He confronts us for not believing in such a Person who knows our secret thoughts.

Fourth, Jesus pointed Thomas to Himself as the object of faith. He did not exhort Thomas to believe in the unseen God, but in the visible, risen, touchable Lord Jesus. If you are struggling with doubts, read the gospels and ask the crucial question: “Who is Jesus Christ?” Read about His miraculous birth, His penetrating teaching, His amazing, but documented miracles, and how He fulfilled many Old Testament prophecies. When Thomas exclaimed, “My Lord and my God,” Jesus did not rebuke or correct him for overstating things. Rather, He commended Thomas’ correct perception and faith (20:28-29). No devout Jew could have done that unless, as Thomas proclaimed, Jesus truly is Lord and God.

Jesus also gave further confirmation of His resurrection to Thomas and some other disciples by the Sea of Galilee (21:1-23). After that event, John wrote (21:24), “This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true.” There is adequate evidence to believe.

Fifth, note that Jesus promised blessing to all who did not see Him, and yet believe (20:29). That applies to every one of us. John goes on to say (20:30-31), “Therefore 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 believing you may have life in His name.” If you will believe in the risen Lord Jesus Christ, you will have eternal life in His name.

Conclusion

Does the evidence about Jesus’ resurrection clear up all our doubts about God and the Bible? No, nothing this side of heaven will do that. But it does provide a solid basis for intelligent faith in those times when we struggle with doubt. Jesus alone is the risen Savior. He wants each of us who have not seen Him to be believing, not unbelieving. He wants each of us to recognize that He, our Lord and God, died in our place, taking the penalty we deserved for our sin. He wants us to join Thomas in believing worship, proclaiming, “My Lord and my God!”

If you wait to trust in Christ until all of your doubts are cleared up, you will go to your death alienated from the Savior. There is more than adequate evidence to support a reasonable faith that Jesus Christ is the risen Savior. The question is, Will you focus on who Jesus is and trust in Him as your Savior and Lord?

Application Questions

1. How can a person know whether his doubts are sincere or whether they are just an excuse? Are sincere doubts sin?
2. Is biblical faith a “blind leap”? If not, how does it differ?
3. Is it possible to live without faith in something? Are materialistic humanists purely rational? How can we witness to them?
4. Why is it crucial to base our faith in the fact of Christ’s resurrection rather than on our personal religious experience?

Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2006, All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation

March 23, 2008

Resurrection Sunday

A Vietnamese pastor was thrown into prison, leaving his wife and children to fend for themselves. The family’s home was taken, so that the destitute wife and children were forced to live on an open balcony, exposed to the drenching rain. And yet, she was full of joy in the Lord for His comfort and care. She wrote,

When we experience misfortune, adversity, distress and hardship, only then do we see the real blessing of the Lord poured down on us in such a way that we cannot contain it….

I do not know what words to use in order to describe the love that the Lord has shown our family. I only can bow my knee and my heart and offer to the Lord words of deepest thanks and praise. Although we have lost our house and our possessions, we have not lost the Lord, and He is enough. With the Lord I have everything. The only thing I would fear losing is His blessing!

She concluded, “As far as my husband is concerned, I was able to visit him this past summer. We had a 20-minute conversation that brought us great joy….” (Cited by Richard Swenson, Margin [NavPress], pp. 188-190.)

That dear woman has the kind of hope in the midst of overwhelming trials that we all need, although few of us experience it. I confess that often in my minor trials, I’m prone to complaining. So I need—we all need—joyous hope in the Lord to sustain us through our trials. We need hope that is rooted in reality, not in wishful thinking or positive thinking. We need hope that will sustain us in the most difficult times.

The news of Jesus’ resurrection brought hope to people who were overwhelmed by despair and grief. You see the deep disappointment in the words of the men on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:21). Concerning the crucified Jesus, they said, “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.” “We were hoping….” But their hopes had been dashed.

The disciples were engulfed by gloom. They had left everything to follow Jesus, pinning all of their hopes on Him as the Messiah. But now, He was dead. On top of the shock of watching Jesus’ grisly death on the cross, Peter was wrestling with his own failure in denying the Lord. All of the disciples were guilty of abandoning Him and fleeing in fear.

We also see grief and despair in the tears of Mary Magdalene. The Greek word used to describe her weeping means loud, uncontrollable wailing. She was despondent that not only had Jesus died, but now they had taken away His body so that she could not give Him a proper burial.

It was to people overwhelmed by such a dark cloud of grief that the fact of Jesus’ bodily resurrection broke in with life-changing hope. The fact that Jesus is risen and ascended into heaven, soon to return for His own, can break into your life with genuine hope in the midst of your worst trials, if you will learn the lessons from this story.

It is significant that Mary Magdalene was the first person to whom Jesus revealed Himself after His resurrection (Mark 16:9). She was not an especially important person, and she was a woman. In that culture, women were not considered reliable witnesses in court. You would think that the Lord would have picked some men as the first witnesses of His resurrection. I probably would have picked Peter, or maybe John. If you wanted to pick a woman, most would have picked Mary, the mother of the Lord, or perhaps Mary of Bethany, who anointed Him just before His death. But Mary Magdalene was first.

That fact is even more arresting when you recall that Mary had a rather seamy past. Jesus had cast seven demons out of her (Luke 8:2). Seven is the biblical number of perfection, so perhaps we are to understand that Mary was under the total domination of satanic power. While there is no biblical evidence for the commonly held belief that she had been a prostitute, we can surmise that a woman under demonic power did not have a puritanical past. Jesus had rescued her from a horrible life of sin.

The fact that the Lord revealed Himself first to Mary Magdalene shines a ray of hope for every person struggling with sin and guilt. If the Savior rescued this insignificant, demon-possessed woman from her life of sin and chose her to be the first witness of His resurrection, then He can save you from your sin and use you to bear witness of Him to others! This story teaches us that…

Sorrows are turned to hope when we seek the risen Savior.

The background of the story is in verses 1-10. Mary had been to the tomb and discovered that the stone was taken away. She ran to Peter and John and excitedly reported (20:2), “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” Peter and John immediately ran to the tomb. John got there first, but just looked in. In his usual blustery fashion, Peter entered the tomb and discovered the grave clothes without Jesus’ body. Probably at this point, John believed that Jesus was risen (20:8), but Peter was still wondering about what had happened (Luke 24:12). But neither man understood yet from the Scriptures that Jesus must rise from the dead (John 20:9). After viewing the empty tomb, both men returned home.

Meanwhile, Mary Magdalene had arrived and she remained by the tomb, weeping. She wanted to find Jesus, although at this point all she expected to find was His corpse. In her thinking, someone had added insult to injury by robbing the grave.

In this state of confusion, she stooped and looked into the tomb, where she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet of where Jesus’ body had been lying. They ask Mary (20:13), “Woman, why are you weeping?” Jesus will repeat the same question and add another (20:15), “Whom do you seek?” Neither Jesus nor the angels were asking those questions to gain information for themselves! Rather, they wanted Mary (and us) to think about the implications of those questions, because in doing so we will learn how seeking the risen Savior will turn our sorrows into hope. So let’s explore these questions:

“Why are you weeping?”

1. We weep because of sorrow, but we need to process these sorrows in light of Jesus’ resurrection.

The point of this repeated question was to get Mary to process her sorrow in light of the fact that Jesus was now risen. Yes, watching the crucifixion had been indescribably traumatic. You have to work through the emotional shock of such an event. But, Mary was now weeping from sorrow because the tomb was empty, whereas that fact should have caused her to weep for joy! Mary’s experience reveals three reasons why we often go through sorrow, which we need to process in light of Jesus’ resurrection.

A. Disappointments cause sorrow, but we must process them in light of Jesus’ resurrection.

Mary was deeply disappointed, first by the shock of the crucifixion, but now by the fact that she wanted to finish embalming Jesus’ body. She was thinking, “If only God would let me know where they laid Him, I could finish embalming His body!”

So often, we’re just like Mary. We’re disappointed because we don’t know what we think we need to know to do what we think we need to do. We’re disappointed because God isn’t working as we think He needs to work. It seems that His promises aren’t true! But from God’s perspective, we’re asking the wrong questions and trying to accomplish the wrong tasks! We need to process our disappointments in light of the risen Savior’s love and care for us. We often don’t understand His sovereign perspective.

B. The evil deeds of evil men cause sorrow, but we must process these deeds in light of Jesus’ resurrection.

Mary thought that evil men had triumphed over God’s sovereign purposes. They had killed Jesus and now they had stolen His body. Twice she laments (20:2, 13), “they have taken away my Lord….” It’s an ironic complaint. If He is the Lord, no one could take Him anywhere without His consent! If God gives His angels charge concerning Messiah to guard Him in all His ways (Ps. 91:11-12; Luke 4:10-11), then surely God would not permit the crucifixion and then allow the body to be stolen against His sovereign will.

We often suffer needless sorrow because we forget that God is sovereign and that evil men can’t do anything to thwart His eternal purpose. Years ago, I heard a tragic story of a 28-year-old woman in California, who went to the mall one evening to buy a wedding present for a friend. She and her family were committed Christians, heavily involved in the cause of world missions. That night the mall was almost empty. Two evil men abducted this godly young woman and raped and murdered her. It was a senseless, brutal crime that snuffed out a life that had great potential for God’s kingdom.

While that woman’s husband and parents will wrestle all of their lives with unanswered questions of why God allowed this, I contend that there is no comfort apart from the facts of God’s sovereignty and Jesus’ resurrection. If those facts are true, then someday God will work it all together for good (Rom. 8:28). Although evil men crucified Jesus, they were only inadvertently fulfilling God’s sovereign purposes (Acts 4:27-28).

C. The death of a loved one causes sorrow, but we must process it in light of Jesus’ resurrection.

Of course we grieve when we lose a loved one. In many cases, we will feel the loss every day for the rest of our lives. It’s not wrong to weep over such losses (John 16:20). But the Bible says that although we grieve, we do not grieve as those who have no hope (1 Thess. 4:13). The hope that Jesus is risen and that He is coming again to take us to be with Him and with our loved ones who have died in Him, sustains us through our tears. While we may never understand why God allowed a loved one to die, we can know, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones” (Ps. 116:15). Whatever our loss, we must process our sorrow in light of the sure fact that Jesus is risen. Because He is risen, His promises are true! Those promises give us hope in our sorrow.

Perhaps the risen Lord is asking you the same question that He asked Mary: “Why are you weeping?” Maybe, like Mary, you’re inclined to think, “That’s a dumb question! Lord, don’t You see what they have done? I’m weeping because they….” The Lord gently says, “Wait a minute! The tomb is empty because I have risen. Now, why are you weeping?”

But, there is a second important question that the risen Lord asks Mary (20:15): “Whom are you seeking?”  He asks it even before she has a chance to answer the first question, because the answer to why she is weeping is found in the answer of whom she is seeking.

2. If we will seek the crucified, risen, and ascended Savior, He turns our sorrows into hope.

Clearly, Mary was seeking a dead Lord (20:13, 15). Her devotion to Jesus is commendable, but really, what good would it have done for Mary to haul off the body of a dead Jesus and add a few more embalming spices? A dead religion that dresses up the corpse of a dead prophet does no good! Only a living Savior who has triumphed over the grave offers hope for our sorrows.

A. We seek the crucified Savior.

Mary knew that, of course. But she had forgotten that Messiah’s death was prophesied in the Scripture hundreds of years before He came. We don’t have time to read the entire chapter, but Isaiah 53 predicted Jesus’ death in miraculous detail. It says (53:5-6), “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.”

David is equally explicit in Psalm 22, which begins with the haunting words that Jesus cried from the cross, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” It goes on to describe in detail a death by crucifixion, hundreds of years before that was a known means of execution.

Jesus Himself said that He came to this world to lay down His life for His sheep (John 10:11-18). If you do not know Jesus Christ, crucified for your sins, you do not know Him at all. You must come to God as a guilty sinner and trust in Jesus as the only perfect sacrifice. If you trust in His shed blood, God will forgive your sins because of what Jesus did on the cross.

B. We seek the risen Savior.

Just as the Scriptures predicted that Jesus would die, so they predicted His resurrection. In Isaiah 53, the prophet goes on to tell of how the One who was pierced through for our transgressions would also divide the booty with the strong. A dead Messiah who stayed in the grave could not do that! Only a risen Savior could.

In Psalm 22:22, after describing death by crucifixion and talking of God’s deliverance, Messiah proclaims, “I will tell of Your name to my brethren” Only a risen Savior could do that! Note Jesus’ words (John 20:17), “go to My brethren….” It is significant that this is the first time Jesus refers to the disciples as His brethren. Why did He do that? Clearly, He said this to fulfill Psalm 22! He is telling Mary to proclaim to His brethren that God has not left Him in the tomb. He is risen and He will ascend to His Father!

C. We seek the ascended Savior.

Jesus told Mary (20:17), “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” This verse raises questions that I can only touch on here: Why does Jesus ask Mary to stop clinging to Him, when He accepted the touch of the other women on resurrection morning (Matt. 28:9) and He invited Thomas to touch Him a week later (John 20:27)? Why does He mention His ascension?

Merrill Tenney explains (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, ed. by Frank Gaebelein [Zondervan], 9:191), “He was not refusing to be touched but was making clear that she did not need to detain him, for he had not yet ascended to the Father. He planned to remain with the disciples for a little while; she need not fear that he would vanish immediately. Ultimately he would return to God, and he urged her to tell the disciples that he would do so.” Also, the fact that Mary was clinging to Jesus shows that He was not a phantom. He was raised bodily from the dead and He ascended bodily into heaven, and He will return bodily in power and glory.

Note also that Jesus both links and yet distinguishes His relationship with the Father and theirs. Christ by nature is eternally the Son of God, whereas we are only sons of God by adoption. He by the incarnation as the Son of Man could call the Father, “My God.” We can only do so by grace through faith in Christ as our Mediator. But, in our deepest sorrows, it is a great comfort that we have access to the Father through our risen Lord Jesus Christ!

These two questions, “Why are you weeping?” and “Whom are you seeking?” raise two further questions. First, “What results from seeking the risen Savior?” The answer to this question is stated in my second main heading, and so I include it here:

D. When we seek the risen Savior, He turns our sorrows into hope.

Mary’s gloom was turned to joy when the Lord spoke one word: “Mary!” Her eyes may not yet have recognized Jesus, but her ears knew that voice! Jesus said that He is the good Shepherd, who calls His sheep by name. He knows each one and they know Him (John 10:3-5, 14, 27). He still seeks individuals. He still calls His sheep by name. You can take your sorrows to Him and have a private audience with the good Shepherd who knows your name.

And, He calls us His brethren! As I said, this is the first time Jesus has called the disciples His brethren (fulfilling Ps. 22:22). But it is instructive to note that when He sent this word to them, they were still reeling from their failure and guilt. Although Peter had failed most prominently, all the disciples had abandoned Jesus and fled in fear. Although Thomas is the most well-known for his doubting, all the disciples ridiculed the early reports from the women about the resurrection (Luke 24:11).

Yet it was these men that had failed and sinned that Jesus calls brethren. When they heard that word from Mary, I can imagine them asking, “What did He call us?” When she affirmed it, their sorrow would have been turned to hope.

Perhaps in your sorrow, you have doubted the Lord or even denied Him. If you will seek Him as Mary did, you will hear Him call your name and your sorrow will turn to hope.

Finally, “How shall we seek the risen Savior?”

3. Seek the risen Savior honestly, diligently, personally, and obediently.

*Seek the risen Savior honestly. Don’t try to cover your tears or get yourself together first. Mary didn’t. Jesus knows your every struggle. Come to Him just as you are, tears and all.

*Seek the risen Savior diligently. Mary was the first at the tomb and she stayed after everyone else had gone home. The Savior rewarded her desire to find Him. Later, Thomas was not with the other disciples when Jesus appeared, so he had to wait a week. Probably, he was too depressed to be around others, but he missed the Savior. Maybe you’re depressed, but don’t let that keep you from showing up where you might find the Savior. Seek Him diligently and you will find Him.

*Seek the risen Savior personally. Note verse 13, “my Lord.” The closeness of Mary’s fellowship with Jesus comes through in the way she recognized Him the instant He spoke her name. The only way you will ever find hope in your sorrows is to seek Jesus personally. There is no group plan. Your mate’s seeking Him won’t do for you. You must seek Him yourself. You don’t have to be anyone special—maybe just a demon-possessed girl from an insignificant town—for Him to save you and turn your sorrow into hope.

*Seek the risen Savior obediently. He isn’t an Aladdin’s genie, to meet your every wish. He won’t necessarily solve all your problems the way that you think He should. He is the Lord. He commands and His servants must obey. When Jesus told Mary to stop clinging to Him and go to His brethren, I’m sure that she would rather have stayed right there with Jesus. We don’t know whether He vanished before she left, but if He didn’t, it would have been difficult to obey His command. Leave this encounter with the risen Savior to go to a bunch of depressed men who wouldn’t believer her anyway? But, Mary obeyed.

Often, when you seek the Lord, He will not grant your request directly. Instead, He will command you to do something you may not want to do at first. But as you obey Him, He will turn your sorrow into hope.

Conclusion

During World War II, a secret message got through to some American prisoners in a German concentration camp that the war was over. But it would be yet three days before that word got to their German captors. During those three days, nothing changed in terms of their hardships in the prison. But their attitude changed from despair to hope. They knew that they would be released because the Allies had won the war.

Whatever your sorrows or trials today, you can have hope because Jesus won the victory over death. He has risen and He asks you the same questions that He asked Mary: “Why are you weeping?” “Whom are you seeking?” If through your tears, you will seek the risen Savior, He will turn your sorrows into hope. But you must seek Him honestly, diligently, personally, and obediently.

Application Questions

1. How can we know whether our grieving is proper or excessive? Where are the limits (biblically)?
2. Some, in an attempt to comfort the grieving, say that God was not sovereign over the tragedy. Why does this false teaching rob us of comfort, rather than give us comfort?
3. Why does everything in the Christian faith rest on the bodily resurrection of Jesus (1 Cor. 15:12-19)?
4. When we have failed the Lord badly, how can we be assured of His forgiveness and restoration?

Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2008, All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation