John 20:24

John 20:24 says, But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.  We are not told where he was, but he did not see the risen Jesus. The other disciples were gathered together, but Thomas was absent.  Though we cannot always be together with all Christians, we may miss a real blessing when we fail to gather with others.  Verse twenty-five adds, The other disciples said therefore unto him, "We have seen the Lord."  But he said unto them, "Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my fingers into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe."  Thomas was a skeptical man.  He evidently had not listened when Jesus had said He would rise again on the third day, or didn't fully believe Him.  There are people today who hear the gospel, some who have grown up in Christian families and studying the Bible who are skeptical of the truth that Jesus died for our sins and was resurrected the third day, if at all.  They look for physical proof, but it comes only by faith to believe the gospel.  He did not believe his fellow disciples report.  When people today doubt the truth of the Bible, they are going to be inclined to not believe the testimony of Christians.  Again, until someone comes to a personal knowledge of Christ as Savior, they are not going to accept someone else's word for it.  Thomas said he needed physical proof he could verify for himself.  If we demand physical proof of the truth of salvation, we are going to miss that truth.  We can only come by faith.  Thomas was one of the twelve closest to Jesus, and he did not yet understand Who Jesus really was.  Being close to those who are closest to God today doesn't mean we understand Who Jesus is.  People can be like the other disciples were with Thomas and tell us that they have seen the truth of the gospel, but we may still demand physical proof. Yet ultimately, we must simply accept by faith.

John 20:22

John 20:22 says, And when He had said this, He breathed on them and saith unto them, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost."  The disciples had just been told they were being sent by Jesus as the Father had sent Him.  Jesus had come to redeem the world, and the disciples were now to be His representatives in this task.  We as followers of Christ have the same task today.  They were not being sent under their own power though, but under the power of the Holy Ghost.  We today go under that same power.  Once more, when we see the corruption and evil in the world, we do not need to fear, because God is with us since the Holy Spirit indwells us.  Wherever we go or whatever we do, the Holy Spirit goes with us.  The Holy Spirit does not just come to us in times of trouble and then leave but is with us always to help us carry out our commission.  Verse twenty-three adds, "Whose so ever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them, and whose so ever sins ye retain, they are retained."  This was Jesus talking, so we need to understand what He was really saying.  We do not have the power to forgive sins.  Only Jesus has this power.  What we have the power to do is present the gospel under the power of the Holy Spirit, and those who accept the gospel have their sins forgiven.  Those who do not don't have their sins forgiven.  As disciples of Christ, we are called on to present the gospel.  Those who receive it are forgiven.  No one can change the gospel and be redeemed.  Everyone who would come to God must come through Christ, and the first thing they must do is ask for God's forgiveness.  We cannot just learn from our mistakes and be a better person.  This would mean we redeem ourselves, and we can never do this.  Those who accept the message of Christ when we present it are forgiven.  The message cannot be altered or watered down.  Through Christ alone is forgiveness and restoration made possible.

John 20:19

John 20:19 says, Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were gathered for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, "Peace be unto you."  Mary had shared with the disciples that she had seen Jesus alive, and they locked themselves in a room.  Peter and John had gone to see the empty tomb, but they did not go back to look for the living Savior.  They were still afraid of the Jews.  Sometimes, our fear can lock us away from going out into the world with the gospel.  Other times, fear may keep us from seeking God's plan for our lives.  We need not worry.  If we are truly followers of Christ, He will come into our midst.  We cannot lock Him out, and He will come to bring us peace.  When we look at the world and see nothing but turmoil, we need to rest in the peace of Jesus.  Verse twenty adds, And when He had so said, He showed unto them His hands and His side.  Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.  We hear the expression today that we were having a worship service and God really showed up.  The disciples were having a fearful gathering and Jesus showed up.  There is no barrier that can keep God out, except our own self will.  When Jesus was there in their midst, He left no doubt that it was Him.  He showed them the marks of the crucifixion.  When Christ comes to us today, He will leave no doubt that it is Him.  The only way to redemption is through the crucifixion of Christ.  We shouldn't need signs to prove Who Jesus is, but our faith should make His will known to us, then we need to throw open the doors and go into the world witnessing for Him. Verse twenty-one continues, Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.  Jesus once again asked that His peace could be with the disciples and that as the heavenly Father had sent Him, he was likewise sending them to witness to the world. He is still sending us today.

John 20:17

John 20:17 says, Jesus saith unto her, "Touch met not, for I am not yet ascended to My Father: but go to My brethren, and say unto them, I ascend to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God."  Mary was seeking Jesus, and she wasn't going to be satisfied until she knew where He had been taken.  When we truly seek God through Christ, we need to understand that no one else will do.  We go to God through Christ alone.  If anyone else would tell us we must come through them, then we need to stay away from them and go to Jesus through the Holy Spirit.  She did not recognize Jesus, but He made Himself known to her.  God will never leave us wondering about Who He is if we are His followers.  Now that she recognized Him, Jesus told her not to touch Him.  She may have thought that Jesus was risen like Lazarus, and that wasn't the case.  He was no longer going to continue in His earthly role but was going to ascend to the Father.  We do not need to look for the earthly Jesus.  He is not here, but He has arisen to His Father.  Notice that Jesus gave Mary a task.  When we find Jesus and accept Him as our Lord, we will be called to service.  Notice also that Jesus promoted Mary to the status of sister.  God was Jesus's Father and Mary's, because He was Jesus's God and her God.  When we accept Christ as our Savior, we become not only brothers and sisters to each other, but to Christ as well.  We become children of God, because we accept Him as our God.  There are no grandchildren of God or cousins of Christ.  We are either brothers and sisters of Christ and children of the heavenly Father or we are not a part of the family of God.  It did not matter who Mary once was, nor does it matter who we once were.  Through Christ, we are fully restored to the Father.  Verse eighteen adds, Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things unto her.  Jesus told her to go, and she went.  When He tells us to go, we must go and do what He tells us to do.  We never go on our own power, but in His strength.

John 20:13

John 20:13 says, And they said unto her, "Woman, why weepest thou."  She saith unto them, " Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him."  They were the two angels in the sepulcher.  Mary wasn't afraid of them, nor did she question how they got there evidently.  Peter and John hadn't seen them, and there was no mention of them walking past Mary into the sepulcher, but they were there.  I believe we can conclude they were sent to Mary.  She was very devoted to Jesus, even after His death on the cross.  She didn't know where His body had been taken, and she told the angels her concern.  Verse fourteen adds, And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing there, but knew not that it was Jesus.  She was looking for Jesus in the wrong place.  He was no longer in the tomb but was victorious even over death.  Mary did not recognize Him.  She was looking for a defeated Jesus not a victorious Christ.  We may be guilty of looking for God so strongly where we are sure He is that when He appears to us where He is at that we fail to recognize Him.  We may be looking at the world as if it is defeating God instead of looking to the victorious Jesus.  Verse fifteen continues, Jesus saith unto her, "Woman, why weepest thou?  Whom seekest thou?"  She, supposing Him to be the gardener, saith unto Him, "Sir, if thou hath borne Him hence, tell me where thou hath laid Him, and I will take Him away."  Though she was respectful to the man she thought was the gardener, she was still looking for the body of Jesus.  She was still willing to take responsibility for it.  We need to be careful that we don't get so devoted to doing what we know God wants us to do that we fail to recognize Him when He asks us what we are doing.  Had Mary fully understood Who Jesus was, she would not have been weeping tears of sorrow.  Verse sixteen concludes, Jesus saith unto her, "Mary." She turned herself unto Him and said, "Rabboni;" which is to say Master. Jesus called Mary by her name, and she acknowledged Him for Who He is.  We may sometimes be lost in grief or doubt, but God will not leave us there if we only listen for Him.  When God calls us by name, we cannot doubt that it is Him.  We, like Mary, must acknowledge Him for Who He is.

John 20:11

John 20:11 says, But Mary stood without the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepulchre.  The disciples came, looked and left.  Mary Magdalene remained outside weeping.  She had been given hope through Jesus, and she was not given up easily.  She wept for Jesus's death and His body not being there, but also because of her love and devotion to Him.  We today, if we find ourselves somehow out of the knowledge of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, should weep bitter tears until we know we are once again filled with His presence.  We do not really have to seek the Holy Spirit, but we have to acknowledge His leadership.  Mary was seeking answers, and we see God provided them.  Verse twelve adds, And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head and the other at the feet, of where the body of Jesus had lain.  Peter and John had looked in and saw only the grave clothes, but Mary saw two angels.  We might wonder why she saw them when they didn't but must acknowledge that angels appear where God sends them.  There was not a multitude of angels, but two.  Two witnesses were required to prove the truth of testimony, and they were there to attest to the truth of the resurrection.  They were dressed in white, to attest to the purity of Jesus.  He was not decaying in the tomb but was resurrected in victory.  Jesus had fulfilled His mission, and the angels were again serving Him.  The had proclaimed His coming and now they were honoring His resurrection. At any point in time between those two events, Jesus could have called on all the angels and have claimed a military victory, but He chose a victory based on humiliation and defeat.  We today need to realize that just because we have the power to do something doesn't mean that it is right to do it.  We must reach the world with a Christ like love, not and not a Pilate like power.  We must also realize that angels are but servants of God and never to be worshipped. They appear where and when God sends them.

Since Christmas is now past, I thought I would share a few more thoughts about Christmas.  Many of the gifts that were received have already started to lose their appeal and have already started to wear out.  The gift that Jesus gave the world is just as new and powerful as it ever was.  Time does not wear His gift out, and if we are His followers it should never lose its appeal to us.  Many times, people, especially children, don't want to share the gifts that they received for Christmas.  We as Christians , God's children, should feel an urgency to share the gospel, the gift Jesus gave us, with the world.  Santa Claus has gone to the North Pole until next year.  Even those who weren't the real Santa will soon disappear.  Jesus does not disappear the day after Christmas.  He came to save all people for all time.  There are no stand ins for Christ.  If we accept Him as our Savior, we must go to Him and Him alone.  Then, He will not go away for a year or a day or even a second, but will indwell His followers always.  Santa has to go rest up and start getting things ready for the next year.  Jesus never runs out of strength.  He, through the Holy Spirit, is with us always to empower us.  We have received the best gift if we accept His gift of salvation, and no Dirty Santa can take it from us.  We don't need to try and hang on to salvation, but we need instead to willing share it.  Finally, Santa Claus is a mythical figure that has changed over the years and is not seen the same everywhere.  Jesus is a real person, the Savior of the world, Who is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow and is the same everywhere.   We, as His followers, need to be sharing His message and His love with the world, not just Christmas day, but everyday.