Three Minute Bible

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

Since I was a child I have known Thomas as “Doubting Thomas.” This always seemed like an easy way to pass off Thomas’ failing as his alone. But is it? Is he the only one that doubts? Didn’t Peter and John both doubt the message that Mary gave them? How is this any different?

The only real difference is that it is Thomas’ fellow disciples who tell him about Jesus. And not just one disciple, but all of them. Yet Thomas is defiant. Why?

Thomas wasn’t there when Jesus appeared to the rest. Is it possible he felt left out? Was he angry at Jesus for not appearing to him, too? How would you feel if you were in his place? Sounding somewhat like a stubborn three-year-old Thomas lists his demands. Not only does he want to see Jesus, but he wants to see the nail marks and the wound in the side. More than that he wants to prove it is Jesus by putting his hand and finger into the places where Jesus was wounded. He is not asking for much! Then he states that unless his demands are met, he will not believe.

Application: Satan tempts us to test God all the time. If God were real, how could he let ______ (Fill in the blank with my favorite aunt, my mom, my dad, my child, my friend, my cat, etc…) die? If God is a loving God he would ______ (Fill in the blank with: not allow people to go to hell, love homosexuals, wouldn’t have had people in the Old Testament killed, etc.). Or, the all-time favorite: If God were a loving God he would ______ (Fill in the blank with: make sure I was never hungry, get me that raise I deserve, provide us with a new car, make sure my stock picks do well, etc.). Our challenge in life is recognizing this tendency in ourselves. When we put conditions on our belief as Thomas did we only hurt ourselves.

Food for Thought: Does Thomas wanting to put his hand into Jesus’ side sound a little weird?

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Continue reading “Poor Thomas – John 20: 24-25”

If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.

As John describes the day of Jesus’ resurrection, we see Mary discover the empty tomb, then Peter and John race out to the tomb to see for themselves. After they leave, Jesus appears to Mary and gives her a message for the disciples. In response to this news, the disciples gather together but behind locked doors. They are afraid.

Jesus appears in this locked room full of fearful people. The first thing he says is, “Peace be with you!” The thing they lacked the most is what he offers them right away. Peace, the antidote to fear. Then he shows them the evidence that it really is him.

Then he says, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” After this he breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

What next? In short order, he has given them peace, proof, a mission, and his Holy Spirit. Isn’t that enough? Apparently not. For then he adds his last words to them that evening, “If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

What does he mean? Is there a secret meaning here? Why does he say this?

Continue reading “Forgive – John 20: 23”

And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

In Luke’s second book called, “Acts of the Apostles” or “Acts” for short, in the second chapter, he describes the Holy Spirit coming on the apostles at Pentecost. Generally, when I think of the apostles receiving the Holy Spirit, it is Luke’s account that I think of. But here it is the same day that Jesus rose from the dead. It is evening, and he says to his disciples, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” These two experiences are related but different.

The story that comes to mind as I read this passage from John is the one that Moses recounts in Genesis where God gives life to the dust he had made into a man.

Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (Genesis 2: 7)

In the first recorded conversation between God and man, in the very first sentence spoken by God to man, God says, “…you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” (Genesis 2: 16-17)

So what do Adam and Eve do? They allow themselves to be guided by lies instead of truth. They eat of the forbidden tree and they die. Not physically, but spiritually. At that moment their relationship with their Creator was severed. They became spiritual outcasts, spiritually dead. Only through the sacrifice of God’s son would mankind, including Adam and Eve, be reconciled with God.

As it turns out the Greek word translated as “breathed on” is the same word used in the Greek Old Testament to describe God breathing life into Adam. Coincidence? I think not. What we have here is the restoration of life to spiritually dead bodies.

Application: It is notable here that this giving of the Holy Spirit is a quiet event. It is not marked by loud noises or tongues of fire. Jesus simply breathes on the disciples. In the same way, when we come to Jesus, he quietly breathes life back into our empty souls.

Food for Thought: What makes the experience of the apostles in Luke 2 different than what they received this first day of the resurrection?

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Continue reading “Breath of God – John 20: 22”

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

“Peace be with you!”

John’s gospel does not mention the word “peace” very often. The first time is in chapter 14 when Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” Later, in chapter 16 Jesus says, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” In both cases, Jesus contrasts the peace he gives with the world.

We know what the world has to offer. On the whole, it is not a friendly place. The world is full of people who are looking out for “Number One,” themselves. Only Jesus comes to look out for you and me. Only Jesus is willing to die to save you and me.

“As the Father has sent me…”

The Father sent Jesus into the world, knowing that the world is not a nice place. Time and time again Jesus reveals that he is fully aware of what the world is planning on doing to him. He is even aware of the worldly fears of his disciples. He is not surprised when he is betrayed, abandoned, and denied.

“… I am sending you.”

Application: Jesus sends us out into the world. He says, “…I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.” (John 12: 47b) In the same way, we are not sent into the world to judge the world, but to continue Jesus’ work of saving it.

Food for Thought: Given the condition of the world, how is it possible not to judge the world?

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Continue reading “Sent – John 20: 21”

Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

At the beginning of John’s gospel, we see John the Baptist enter the scene and proclaim the coming of the Lamb of God (John 1: 29). He comes before Jesus to herald the coming of the King. Similarly, Mary serves as a herald in this passage. She brings word that she has seen the Lord.

The same day that Mary brings the news of seeing the Lord Jesus, Jesus appears to the disciples himself.

The disciples are afraid. They have locked themselves away from the world. They are in hiding. It doesn’t matter that they are hiding, or that the room is locked. Jesus walks in among them.

Does he say, “Why are you hiding?” or, “Where is your faith?” No. He simply says, “Peace be with you!” Into their time of loss, fear, and fright, Jesus brings peace.

Application: Even when we think no one knows where we are, Jesus knows. Even when it feels like no one can find us, Jesus can. And when he does, he brings peace.

Food for Thought: What is the value of Jesus’ words, ”Peace be with you?”

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Continue reading “Peace – John 20: 18-20”

Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘’I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”

A few minutes before meeting Jesus, Mary was wondering where he had gone. Now he is back, and he is telling Mary that he wants her to do something. Something important.

Go to the brothers with a message.

The message is that Jesus is going to his Father.

Oh, and by the way, he is your Father, too.

Jesus is going to his God which happens to be your God, too.

Jesus is going away, but not far.

Application: Like Mary, we have a job to do. While we are on earth, we have to carry a message to the world.

Food for Thought: Why did Jesus make such a point of saying his Father and God are the same as our Father and God?

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Continue reading “Message – John 20: 17b”

Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.”

When people tell what they saw at the movies or an accident scene, each person remembers something different. That is how we are. We each have an eye for different details. In Matthew’s gospel account we read, “Suddenly Jesus met them. ‘Greetings,’ he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him.”* John adds, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.”

The risen Jesus is in a very unusual situation. He appears in his heavenly body to people who knew his earthly form. To Mary, it seems that Jesus is back, and he is. Yet he is no longer of this world. He has conquered death and his body is no longer subject to sin’s temptations. He cannot stay in our world physically because he is no longer physical.

Mary, in her relief at seeing Jesus alive, falls at his feet and holds on to them worshipping Jesus. Jesus allows himself to be touched. This is important: Jesus allows himself to be touched. He has the power to do that. Yet he tells her not to. His reason? He has not yet ascended to the Father.

Ironically, once he has ascended, all people have the opportunity to cling to Jesus.

Application: Jesus appears to Mary first, to let her know that he is alive. That he does this speaks volumes about how much he cares for her and her devotion to him. Yet, Jesus is between crucifixion and resurrection, between two worlds; the physical and the spiritual. He is leaving to go to his Father. He goes ahead of us to the place we all want to be. He goes to prepare a place for us. Like a man standing on a train station platform, he says, ”Do not hold on to me.” Mary has to let him go a second time, but this time he goes with a promise that we will see him soon.

Food for Thought: How does Mary feel about obeying Jesus in this situation?

*Matthew 28: 9

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Continue reading “Touched – John 20: 17a”

Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

If this were a scene in a movie the camera would fill in many of the blanks that John leaves us with. We would be able to see the garden in the early morning light. John and Peter have just left the garden. They had been running when they arrived, but now they were walking. Their shoulders drooping in puzzlement.

Mary arrives as they are leaving. She barely sees them. She stumbles a bit as she makes her way through the garden to the tomb. She looks defeated. Three days of crying have left marks on her face. The trails of her tears make her look older than she is. Slowly, almost blindly, she finds her way to the open tomb. The camera backs away as she walks to the opening. She looks in. We see her reach out with her hand to steady herself. Her fingers gently touching the stone over the mouth of the tomb.

The scene shifts. Now the camera is next to her head. We can see over her shoulder into the darkened tomb. Two angels sit on a stone ledge next to the abandoned grave clothes. A soft light surrounds the two beings and fills the cave. The angels speak in unison, in perfect harmony, “Woman, why are you crying?”

Continue reading “Reunion Movie – John 20: 16”

He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

A man approaches a woman in a garden by a tomb. The woman is crying. She has been crying for three days. Her eyes are swollen and bleary from the tears. Her face a mask of loss and anguish.

As the man gets closer he asks her, “… why are you crying?”

Then, he reveals himself a little. He already knows why she is crying. He knows that she is upset because Jesus’ body is missing. He knows she is looking to find Him. He asks, “Who is it you are looking for?”

Mary, in turn, tells us a little about her thinking. John tells us that she thought she was talking to the person who owned or cared for the garden. Perhaps she was worried that someone had objected to Jesus’ body being put in the new tomb. Maybe instead of a nefarious scheme to hide the body, it was only a misunderstanding. They had put Jesus’ body somewhere else because it wasn’t supposed to be in that new tomb.

“Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

Mary’s devotion is on full display. Jesus is dead. His body has been shuffled aside. She is ready to do whatever is needed for Jesus.

”… tell me where you have put him…”

Application: Wrapping our heads around the idea that the God of the universe could become a man is difficult for us. We have no reference point to use in gauging our expectations. We do not understand. If we are to fully relate to our God we have to resort to wonder and awe. There is nothing we can do to comprehend our Creator.

Food for Thought: How does the way Jesus approaches Mary help her to adjust to the fact that he is no longer dead?

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Continue reading “Devotion – John 20: 15”

At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

Have you ever looked at someone and thought, “Do I know you?” It is an odd feeling! The human ability to recognize another person is remarkable. So remarkable that we tend to take it for granted. When the gears don’t mesh, we can look right at someone and not “see” them.

Mary did not expect to run into Jesus that Sunday morning. After all, he was dead. She had seen him killed. She watched in horror as the soldier thrust a spear into his side. She may have watched Joseph and Nicodemus take the body down, prepare it for burial, and put it in the tomb. Jesus was dead.

Not so long ago she had watched as Jesus called her brother Lazarus out of another tomb. Lazarus had been dead four days. So long, that Martha was worried about the smell! Yet at the word of Jesus, Lazarus walked out of the tomb under his own power. He returned to the land of the living and full health because of Jesus.

That was then. Who was left to call Jesus out of the tomb? The man who gave life was himself dead.

Application: Expectations play a lead role in how we experience life. If our expectations are too high, we suffer disappointment. If our expectations are too low, we might not make the effort to participate. Sometimes, when we least expect it, we are surprised by God.

Food for Thought: What happens when our expectations of God do not align with the reality of who God is?

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Continue reading “Expectations – John 20: 14”