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We ended
last week with the resurrected Messiah’s appearance
to Mary Magdalene. Toward the end of that same
day, Yeshua makes His first appearance to His
disciples. They are in hiding, afraid that the
Jewish leaders will not be satisfied with just
killing Yeshua, but arresting and executing them
as well. Let’s begin with verse 19:
So
when it was evening on that day, the first day
of the week, and when the doors were shut where
the disciples were, for fear of the Jews -
meaning the Jewish authorities, Yeshua came
and stood in their midst - I love that. It’s
so simple. It’s so clear. The disciples were somewhere
by themselves, behind closed doors, and suddenly
Yeshua came and stood in their midst! Mary Magdalene’s
report was true. Yeshua was alive and risen from
the dead!
And
He said to them, "Shalom alechem - peace be with
you." It’s a good thing for the disciples
that I am not the Lord. My first words to them
would have been something like, “I am so disappointed
in you! I warned you over and over again that
I was going to be betrayed, arrested and executed,
but you didn’t believe me. In my time of need
you didn’t stand by me. You abandoned me, and
denied me. What good are you? Get lost boys. It’s
time I find some more reliable disciples.”
But I
am not the Lord. And, I love Yeshua’s first gracious
words to the disciples. The risen Messiah reassures
them that He doesn't hate them. He is not angry
with them. He doesn’t want to destroy them or
replace them for abandoning and denying Him. He
greets them with the traditional “shalom alechem”
- expressing that He wants them to experience
the wholeness, completeness and the well-being
that God wants them to have.
Then,
the very next thing that the Son of Man and the
Son of God does is give His disciples physical
evidence of His physical, bodily resurrection.
And when He had said this, He showed them both
His hands and His side. It’s the same Yeshua,
who was with them, who taught them, who did miracles,
who was arrested, tried, beaten, nailed to a cross
and pierced by a sword. It’s the same Yeshua who
really suffered. It’s the same Yeshua who really
died. It’s the same Yeshua who is now alive, in
a glorified, resurrected, immortal body. But a
body that forever will bear the marks of His suffering.
Throughout
eternity the redeemed ones - Jews and Gentiles,
you and I, will have perfect, glorified, immortal
bodies (I'm certainly looking forward to mine
- more and more each year!). Everyone will have
a perfect body - except Messiah Yeshua, who will
forever bear the marks of His earthly suffering,
an eternal reminding us what it cost the Son of
God to enable us to have our perfect bodies.
So, the
disciples knew that it really was the Adon, the
Lord Yeshua. The disciples then rejoiced when
they saw the Lord. They rejoiced. Even though
their circumstances hadn’t changed - their lives
were still at risk; they were still in hiding;
their lives were still uncertain, but now they
rejoiced. They had joy. They were happy. What
made the difference? Now they knew that Yeshua
was really alive, victorious, and they would be
victorious, and forever alive too! Do you have
that same knowledge? Do you have that same happiness,
no matter what your circumstances are?
Yeshua
speaks to them a second time: So Yeshua said
to them again, "Peace be with you;”
For the
second time, Yeshua reassures them that they are
at peace with Him and God the Father. For the
second time, Yeshua blesses them with the traditional
“shalom alechem” - He really wants them to experience
the wholeness, completeness and the well-being
that God intends them to have. Especially, since
He is about to entrust them with a great task:
As
the Father has sent Me, I also send you." God
the Father sent God the Son into the world to
reveal the true God to the world, and to redeem
humanity - to save those human beings who were
chosen before the world was created. Just as the
Father sent the Son into the world, so Messiah
in turn sends us out into the world, and with
the same mission: to tell them about the only
true God, and about the Messiah, the Savior; like
Yeshua, to tell them the good news about salvation;
like Yeshua, to warn people about Heaven and Hell,
sin and death; like Yeshua, to call men and women
everywhere to turn to God, to turn away from their
sins, to change their minds about the Lord; like
Yeshua, to seek and save those who are lost, doing
works of mercy and kindness, which reveals God’s
good name to them.
As
the Father has sent Me, I also send you." We
have the same task that God gave to Yeshua. Is
that your mission in life? Is this what is really
important to you? If you get that better job,
is it so that you can reach those people in that
new place that you will be working with? If you
are paid more, do you see it as God’s provision
so that you can give more to help reach the world?
To help
us, equip us, and empower us to fulfill this great
task, we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
And when He had said this, He breathed on them
and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
Just as
in the beginning, the Lord God breathed on man
the breath of life, and man became a living being,
so Yeshua breathing on His disciples is a new
Genesis, a fresh beginning in life for humanity.
Thank God for this great new beginning, this fantastic
fresh start, made possible by His Son! And, thanks
be to God and His Son for the many new beginning
in our own individuals lives. Just as mankind
sinned, and needed a fresh start, so too we all
sin, and desperately need a new beginning, and
sometimes another new beginning, and another,
and another. Though a righteous man falls seven
times, the Almighty is there each time to help
Him with a new beginning.
Notice
that it is the risen Messiah who breathed on them
and gave them His Holy Spirit. You can’t give
someone the holy Spirit of God. I can’t. No religious
leader can. Angels and archangels can’t. Only
God can give the Spirit. So, if Yeshua gives the
Holy Spirit, He can only be God, fully divine,
filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit, able
to give the blessed Holy Spirit of God to all
who believe in Him, and come to Him.
A new
mission; a greater indwelling of the Holy Spirit;
and now, a new measure authority: If you forgive
the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven
them; if you retain the sins of any, they have
been retained.
Only God
can forgive sins - not us - no religious leader.
But, the resurrected Messiah gives the true leaders
of His Holy Community of Jews and Gentiles authority
to represent Him with forgiveness or lack of forgiveness.
Just like Yeshua is forgiving them, but not Judas,
Yeshua gives them His authority to welcome someone
into Messiah’s Holy Community, or to keep them
out of the Community, if the leaders, operating
in the power of the Holy Spirit, deem him to be
a danger to the Community.
John tells
us that only ten of the disciples were there that
first day - one was missing. But Thomas, one
of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them
when Yeshua came. So the other disciples were
saying to him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he
said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the imprint
of the nails, and put my finger into the place
of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I
will not believe."
Thomas
is what we might call a realist, or an objectivist.
The testimony of his ten friends is not enough.
He only wants to believe in facts, in evidence
he can see or touch. If he can’t see Yeshua, or
touch Yeshua, he won’t believe that Messiah has
come back to life. Can Thomas become a believer
in Yeshua? Can a man like this ever become convinced
that Yeshua of Nazareth overcame death, is alive
now and forever?
Yeshua’s
third appearance comes eight days later. After
eight days His disciples were again inside, and
Thomas with them. Yeshua came, the doors having
been shut, and stood in their midst and said,
"Peace be with you." King Messiah again, for
the third time, reassures them of peace, that
all is well between Him and them. For those of
you who like patterns, and numbers, let me point
out that there are three denials of Peter, three
declarations of innocence by Pilate, three resurrection
appearances to His disciples, three shalom alechems,
and three declarations of Peter's love.
Thomas
is there, and sees Yeshua for the first time.
Then Yeshua said to Thomas, "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." Thomas answered
and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"
Thomas
sees Yeshua, beyond the reach of death, alive,
glorious, and he comes to the right conclusion:
that Yeshua is Lord and God! Just an expression?
No. Blasphemy? Certainly not! It is the inspired
truth, that the Spirit of God is trying to bring
to every Jew, every Gentile, every man, and every
woman for the past 2,000 years.
This is
the high point of the path to faith in this book.
Ironically, the greatest declaration of faith
comes from "Doubting Thomas.” Let me add that
tradition says that this same Thomas was the one
of the apostles who took the Good News the furthest,
taking the Message of the Message farther than
any of the other Emissaries. Tradition tells us
that Thomas went to Assyria, and their King Abgar
repented for his people and in the First Century
Assyria became one of the very first, if not the
first nation, to turn to the Messiah. Then Thomas
went even further east, and began Messiah’s Holy
Community in India. To this day many Christians
from India have Thomas as their first or last
name in honor of this great apostle!
And this
should be encouraging to each one of us who know
a Doubting Thomas. If Yeshua could convince the
first Doubting Thomas, and use him so greatly,
He can convince the Doubting Thomases that you
know! I don’t know what it will take, but I do
know that He is capable of doing it!
I would
have liked to have been there with Thomas, and
seen Yeshua with my own eyes. Wouldn’t you? But
not all will be blessed with the sight of the
Messiah in this life. A few may - Yeshua later
appeared to 500 others, and to James, and to Paul.
And, I’ve heard some stories over the years from
a few in our day who claim to have seen Yeshua.
But, for the vast majority, He won’t appear to
them, and it’s not necessary.
Yeshua
said to him, "Because you have seen Me, have you
believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and
yet believed."
It's blessed,
full of wonder and resulting is many good things,
to see the risen Yeshua and then believe in Him.
It's even more blessed, even more full of grace
and wonder and glory, resulting in many many good
things, to believe in Him without seeing Him with
your physical eyes. Do you?
In this
great, great Book, John has recorded several miracles
that Yeshua did:
Yeshua
sees Nathan’el before He comes into His presence
demonstrating His foreknowledge, and His power
over distance.
Yeshua
knows the Samaritan woman's history, showing His
supernatural knowledge, and that He is able to
know our minds.
Yeshua
turns water to wine, and walks on water, proving
His power over nature, and that He is the Lord
of Creation who is the Source of our joy.
Yeshua
heal the official's son, showing that Yeshua is
our healer, and that He is not limited by distance.
Yeshua
heals the paralyzed man, demonstrating once again
that He can restore us from the ruin sin has brought
to us.
Yeshua
feeds the multitude with five loaves of bread,
and two fish, proving that He is our provider.
Yeshua
gives sight to the blind man, communicating that
He is the One who can help us see God, see truth
and spiritual realities.
Yeshua
raises Lazarus from the dead, which tells us that
this One is the Lord of life and death.
Yeshua's
resurrection is the greatest sign, communicating
to the whole world that He is the Messiah, the
Son of God, who is faithful and truth, righteous
and innocent and just, the One whom God loves
and approves of, victorious over sin and death,
the Lord of all.
But John
also want us to know that these miracles were
only the tip of the iceberg: Therefore many
other signs Yeshua also performed in the presence
of the disciples, which are not written in this
book; but these are enough. They accomplish
God’s purposes. They have been written so that
you may believe that Yeshua is the Messiah
- that great human being sent by God, that Son
of King David destined to restore humanity; to
bring us back to the true knowledge of God; to
save us body, soul and spirit; to rule over Israel
and the nations, to bring peace to the entire
world; the Son of God - God’s Son, who
is fully God, who shares God’s name and nature,
deity and essence;
And
that believing - that decision to learn about
God and Messiah, and then put our faith, our trust,
our confidence, our knowledge, our understanding,
in God the Father, and in Yeshua. It is not enough
to just believe in God. We must equally believe
in Yeshua, that He died, and is alive, and is
fully Man, and fully God, and the only Savior.
And if
you do, you may have life - not the tepid
kind, weakly, sickly kind of half-life people
in this world have, a shadowy life, a life filled
with sin and rebellion, a messed up life, a life
that is displeasing to God, a temporary life,
a life unconnected to God - Ha Makor, the Source
our true life, eternal life, a life of eternal
joy and bliss.
But true
life, a life connected to God, a life that lasts
forever, a life full of peace and joy and never-ending
bliss, only comes about in His name - in the name
of Yeshua, which means being connected to Yeshua,
coming under His power and authority, acknowledging
who He really is.
Life doesn’t
come in the name of Judaism, or Buddha, or Krishna,
or Mohammed, or in any other name, but only in
the name of Yeshua. Do you believe in that name?
Are you connected to that name?
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