On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and
said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23
If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin,[d] was
not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into
his side, I will never believe.”26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28
Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Let’s talk about Thomas for a moment. It seems to me that Thomas gets
a bad rap. We all know how Thomas is remembered: Doubting Thomas. But I would suggest to you that Thomas’ problem was not his doubt, sinful as it was. The other disciples were no different, they doubted and they feared as well, after all, they were
locked away in a room shaking in their sandals. They were not beaming with confidence and great faith, any more or any less, than Thomas.
Thomas’ problem was that he was not with the gathered saints of God to meet the risen Christ. He was not where he should have been and he missed it…and his life,
his lack of faith, evidenced the fact that he had not been where the others had been, in the presence of the living Christ. His doubt was not squelched. His doubt was not put to death. His faith was not encouraged. His fear was not put to rest. And why?
Because he was not in the presence of the risen Savior that he might be assured and given courage and faith, to bask in the victory and glory of God. He had to wait
one week, didn’t he? He had to wait until the next Sabbath, the next time the Risen Christ meets with his church.
Do you see, brothers and sisters, why the Lord Jesus has ordained the day of light, the Christian Sabbath and why there is nothing you do more important or more necessary
to your living than this? Do you see how important our worship is? Now, I am not saying that a person cannot have a relationship with the Lord outside of this, that is absurd. But John is seeking to communicate to us the same thing that the Bible has sought
to communicate throughout redemptive history; That there is something about the called meeting of the church on the Sabbath where the presence of God is made known in a way that it never is anywhere else.
Before the Word of Christ at Calvary when Israel lived by symbol, picture and type, waiting for the Messiah, it was this way as well. David was in the wilderness running
from Absalom, he knew God was with him in the wilderness, he knew he could pray and worship God there, and yet he yearned and longed for the courts of the Lord. He yearned to go up with the people of God to the place of corporate worship because he knew there
was something there that could not be had anywhere else. And because he could not go there, he was deeply grieved.
The Psalmist says it very bluntly, the Lord loves the gates of Zion, the corporate gathering of God’s people) more than all the dwellings of Jacob, the individual
gathering of God’s people. He loves when we worship Him in our quiet time, but he loves the church’s gathering and this…more!
If the Christian view of worship and the called Sabbath Day of God is shallow, trite, flippant, irrelevant or a heaven burden then so will be the life toward God of
that same Christian.
If meeting with the risen Jesus, as appointed by the Risen Jesus is not important, if it is not of ultimate importance, then neither is living for Christ. This is
the testimony of God; there is such a connection made between Christ and the Sabbath day, that our neglect of it, our carelessness about it, is a neglect and a carelessness about Jesus himself.
Remember how we saw that peace and Jesus are the same, to have Jesus means we have peace, well so uniquely bound is Christ to the assembly of those he loves on the
Christian Sabbath that our failure or refusal to love it, to anticipate it, to make it our chief joy, is a failure and refusal to so love, anticipate and make Christ our chief joy. This union, or the expression of the bride being uniquely bound to the bridegroom
is solemnized week by week, Sabbath by Sabbath, it is our identity, it is what defines us and sets us apart from the world.
What would or could be greater for us as Xns than to gather together and meet with Jesus, to be instructed about the joy of belonging to the Father and the calls we
have to live the kingdom in this world? This is the divinely appointed interaction between heaven and earth!
This brings us to 20:21 and Jesus’ saying “As the Father has sent me, so I also send you.”
Some have understood these words very narrowly to be a reference to those who are missionaries. Kind of like John’s version of the great commission, namely: that certain,
select few people are to leave their homes and travel to a different place, preferable over a large body of water, because it is easier to raise money if you are going somewhere really intriguing.
But I would suggest to you that this perspective betrays a lack of understanding of both the kingdom and the call of the Christian life, not to a few, but to every
one of us who bear the name of Jesus and who count it our joy not only to meet with Him but to live for Him.
In other words, Jesus’ interest here is not that SOME leave home while others do not. Jesus is not saying that some, a select few, a small, small number of the church
are supposed to leave home but the vast majority of us are not.
Rather, His point is that everyone who belongs to Him, every Christian has upon His or Her life the mark of Jesus that calls us to align ourselves with His purpose
in the world…in other words, we all leave home, every one of us.
Look at his words again: AS the Father sent me so I send you…
How did the Father send the Son? If we understand that, we will understand what Jesus means, because we are going to be sent in the same way He was sent.
Jesus was sent from heaven, to the earth, to do the will of the Father, for the glory of God’s great name, to be consumed with the purpose of God from eternity past.
So if we are sent AS Jesus was sent we have to ask: How is that we are sent from heaven to the earth? When are we in heaven? You know the answer don’t you? We are in heaven, by faith, every Lord’s Day when we are summoned by the resurrected Jesus to meet with
Him around the throne.
We are in heaven, we worship, we are taught, we express our love, God blesses us, setting His name on us as belonging to Him, He then sends us out, just as the Father
sent Jesus, now He sends us from heaven to this world to live the kingdom.
The church follows the Son, but this does not mean that Jesus is only an example for us, much more, the Son’s journey into this world is the reality into which the
church enters, it is not something we only look upon, it is that which we participate in.
But, and here is the key for us: Never does He intend to send us without first meeting with us. Never does he send you without confidence. Never does He send you without
first equipping you, nourishing you, speaking with you. And every Sabbath day, you go, not to church, but to heaven so that you might meet with the Risen Savior, to be fed at the table, to hear Him speak and then to go…As the Father sent Him.
Brothers and sisters, from THIS meeting, from THIS fellowship before the throne and in the presence of the resurrected Xp, you are sent into the world. You are sent
on mission…Christ’s mission. And if you have believed him, you are ready, ready to be victorious in every aspect of kingdom work that you put your hand to.
You are ready with the message, the message of the cross, the message of death that there might be life. A message that you speak, that you live all the while anticipating
again…the week’s end and your scheduled visit…back home again in the presence of the resurrected Savior!
Prayer: Father, there are so many worries and anxieties that possess me and all of them can be laid to rest by simply being where I am called to be: in the presence
of the Savior. Help me to sanctify my Sabbath days so that my life would be an offering, a sweet aroma to You. Set aside my doubts, my worries and my fears that I may be faithful as You send me from Your presence into this world where I might serve you with
everything I am. Through Jesus Christ, my risen Savior, Amen.
Hymn: The Sands of Time are Sinking