John 20 is our Scripture for the miracles of Jesus Summer Series this week, and I am so excited because it is about the ultimate miracle. When the tomb they laid my Savior in was found empty because He rose just as He said.
In the beginning of this beautiful, beautiful chapter, we find that Mary Magdalene goes to Jesus' tomb on the third day, and she sees something pretty startling. The stone is rolled away. Her initial reaction is to run to Peter and John and tell of what she saw. These two have a similar reaction to this news as Mary's; they run straight to the grave (with John citing that he beat Peter there, I might add).
This tells me that when we hear the good news of the Gospel, we should run too. When you hear that the God of this universe loves you and wants to give you eternal life, you run, no you sprint, to Him.
At the news of the stone being rolled away, Peter and John's response was to run to the scene, to check it out for themselves. An interesting point is that Peter and John could have heard that Jesus' body was indeed not in the grave from Mary and left it at that, but they would not have gotten their such personal revelations of that fact. It took their own experiences to really understand and believe that when it came to the grave, Jesus was not there. Mary's encounter was not Peter and John's encounter.
God intended it to be that way, and He also intended Mary, the disciples, and Thomas to see the risen Christ at different times. With Mary, it took hearing her own name spoken in Jesus' voice for her to recognize her Master, and when we first come to salvation, it is the same for us. In order to be saved, the Holy Spirit must first call you by name and reveal to you your need for a Savior. The disciples knew it was Him when He spoke peace over them and showed them His scars. We can rest assured that when we feel true, genuine peace that is of the Lord, and I would argue that this peace often if not always comes directly from looking at Jesus' scars and seeing the price He paid for you.
Thomas is the unique perspective in that he seemingly did not want to believe, but I am not sure if it was exactly that. He is known as "doubting Thomas" for obvious reasons, but was it that he did not want to believe or that he was afraid to? Did he wonder how could it be that God would go to these lengths for him? Some of us are like Thomas in that we know God but we have difficulty believing that He really could love us because after all, we know what we have done. Others are like Thomas in that they do not have a relationship with God and are scared to step into that belief because they do not know what comes next or wonder if God really does want them. Thomas refused to believe unless He saw Jesus' scars from the cross, which Jesus allowed him to do. But He added in a golden word afterwards, "Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed" (v.29). If you have asked God for a sign (just like Thomas did) that He is real and wants to save you, this is it.
We can take this idea of different experiences a step further and see how it correlates with our world now. When I think about that, it makes me think about how often people base their view of God off of other people around them's experiences. They may think that because their family or friends are saved and have a relationship with Jesus, that means they automatically do too. Mary's encounter with the Lord was not the disciples', the disciples' encounter was not Thomas', and Thomas' was not Mary's. They each had to have that time with the Lord themselves.
That is the idea I feel that the Holy Spirit is laying on my heart tonight. Maybe you are reading this and have never actually made Jesus the Lord and Savior of your life. I ask that you please make that decision, and if you would like to and have questions, please email me or contact me on Twitter or Instagram. This is the most important choice you will ever make, and it has to be yours. Not your parents. Not your friends. Yours.
To give your life to Christ, you must simply admit you are a sinner, believe in your heart Jesus is who He says He is and did what He said He did, and confess Him as the Lord and Savior of your life. It is so easy, and it is the best thing that will ever happen to you. Don't be like Thomas initially was and refuse to believe. Be like Peter and John and run. Run straight to God, and I promise you will have a true encounter that will change your life forever in the best way possible. I can even promise that He will be running to meet you too.
