The Lord of the Scars

It's time now to turn to John chapter 20, the account of Jesus' resurrection, but more specifically his revelation of himself to a man by the name of Thomas, who really struggled to believe in the resurrection. John chapter 20 and we're gonna read from verse 24. Now Thomas, one of the 12 called the twin, was not with them, the rest of the disciples, when Jesus came. 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.

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. 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. Thomas answered him, my Lord and my God.

Jesus said to him, have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. So far, our reading. Well, it's always an interesting thing for me at Easter time to look and read in the newspapers all the sorts of top church leaders in the country that they interview to have a bit of their perspective on the message of Easter at Easter time. And particularly in this time of the coronavirus, I found it very interesting to hear what they have to say.

And you sort of go around the theological landscape, and you hear all the sorts of different reasons and interpretations of why Easter is a good and joyful time. Some have reflected on the bushfires, some have reflected on the drought, on the floods we've had, and obviously, many of us have reflected on the coronavirus at the time. And yet, at the same time, I was profoundly left empty in reading many of the reasons for why we should be happy at Easter time. A lot of these church leaders spoke about how we should be thankful that there is something of life that can come after death. They spoke about renewed and reinvigorated hope in how to be better humans, how to love one another better because in Easter, we see the love of God.

And those things are perhaps true, but they don't get to the core of why Easter is just that good. Easter is not less than loving your neighbour, or treating them better, or being thankful for the things that we have. It is not less than that, but Easter is way, way more than that as well. And so this morning, as we look at the story, and I just love this story, I keep coming back to it, the story of Thomas and the interaction he has with the resurrected Christ. In this picture, we find what Easter means and why it is just so good.

And so I wanna start this morning by asking the question, why is the resurrection of Jesus such good news to believers? Why would it cause such a lasting impact on those disciples of Jesus who saw it and believed it? Well, there are at least three reasons. The first is that life after death will be recognisable. Life after death will be recognisable.

You see, things haven't changed too much even in February. In the times of Jesus, in the era that John the Apostle was writing this account of the resurrection, there were philosophies, there were views, there were beliefs very similar to ours. At exactly this time when the message of Christ's resurrection was being proclaimed in all the Roman Empire, there were some major philosophical positions that would have caused people to have been very sceptical about the implications of this news. They were, for example, the Greek Epicureans, a philosophical movement that believed that life was only ever about physical existence. Even back then, they pushed back the idea of a spiritual world.

In other words, they said, we believe in the life as it is now, and when we die, that's it. And so what the Epicurean philosophy then became, what it boiled down to, was a life very focused on the here and the now. Their famous catch cry was actually quoted by Jesus at one point in his ministry, where he said, eat, drink, for tomorrow we die. This meant that the Epicureans holding to this philosophy were famously sensual and over indulged in food, sex, alcohol, the works. You can understand why.

That's why someone that really loves food is called an Epicurean. They love the sense of this food. But if you understand the philosophy, why not? There is no point in moderation then. If this is all we have, why not make the most of it?

And again, if we think about some of those thoughts, those views, it doesn't seem too unfamiliar, does it? I have many atheist friends who hold to very similar views. But then on the almost the other end of the spectrum were the Stoics, who were famously concerned with what we do here and now as reflected in the future that is also to come. They believe that when you die, you do continue to exist, but not as a personal self. You become part of a greater existence.

You become part of the substance of the world, of the universe. So you get to this higher level of existence through disciplining yourself and living according to a strict teaching that caused you to be in harmony with what they called the divine reason, the divine logos even. That reason, that divine mind is the magical force that governs all nature. And again, if you compare those thoughts to some of the Eastern philosophies of today, Eastern religion, you will find very similar thoughts. Classical Buddhism believes in enlightenment.

There is no physical state of paradise. There is no place that exists for all joy and perfect love and all those sorts of things. Perfection, according to Buddhism, is to stop existing. Existing is suffering. Reaching nirvana, reaching enlightenment means you stop existing as an individual and you become absorbed into the universe.

And so Stoics, Greek Stoics, would discipline themselves not to care about pleasure, and also not to care about pain, because these things were passing. These things were hindrances, and they hindered your progress towards enlightenment and divine knowledge. And so the state of being that was ideal was an existence away from any sort of feelings or passions. Completely the opposite to the Epicureans. Now remember, all these different views, and there were many in between them, existed in Jesus' time.

And so you can see that most of these also exist in our time today. There's nothing truly new under the sun. But then, here comes this message out of the backwater of the Roman Empire, a place called Judea, with a really noisy, raucous people called the Judeans or the Jews. And they start proclaiming this event, the resurrection of a man called Jesus back from the dead. So I wanna ask you, how does the resurrection flip the table?

How does it change lives? Well, the resurrection of Jesus, what we see in that moment points us that there is a future beyond this life. And unlike the Stoic understanding that we all somehow get absorbed into the universe, or the Epicurean view that we all die and become worm food and that's it. The resurrection says, you yourself, you personally continue on. Why does this matter?

Why is the resurrection good news? It's because we are creatures of love. We love life. And we love the good things that life offers us. And perhaps one of the most fundamental good things in our life is family, is a wife or a husband, is friends.

Those people who we love are some of the best things in this life. Life is worth living because we get to love and we get to be loved. But on the other hand, the single hardest thing about life is losing loved ones. And we know the separation of death. When we lose loved ones, there is just something in us that screams, this is not right.

This is unfair. And we have to ask ourselves, why do we then love life and hate death? It's because the one thing we do not want is to lose love. The great tragedy of modern thinking, modern atheism or agnosticism which claims we definitely know there is no God or we can't claim to really know if God exists. The great tragedy for me about these worldviews is that they have no answer for death.

But we all know, don't we, that death is the ultimate enemy of love. When Jesus Christ shows Himself physically to Thomas and says, Thomas, it's me. It is me. Look at me. Examine me.

See. What happens? Thomas recognises Him. Jesus has an eternal body, a body that can somehow just appear in the midst of people. John says, behind locked doors.

He makes that specific mention. A body that at times is unrecognised by Mary at the tomb when she goes and she thinks He's the gardener. But then, all of a sudden, they do recognise Him. And they recognise Him as their master and their friend. And so this is the great news of Easter Sunday.

Somehow, life after death is personally recognisable. The ones we love may not be lost to death. Something about us personally continues on after death. And so the resurrection says, for all those who place their trust in the work of Jesus Christ, what He did for us on the cross and in the tomb, that is where salvation happens. But it's not just a salvation from the wrath of God, it is a salvation from death.

And this life instead of death is deeply personal. Something remains of us beyond this life. Something of our believing loved ones continues on even in death. The second thing that makes the resurrection so good is that we find in it a hope that is concrete. What good is it to be told that there is a future for us, love without parting, love without death, if you can't be certain that it's for you?

Does it give us peace to have some vague prospect that you may someday be raised to life? And this is one of the things that I read in some of those statements from this weekend. A vague hope that somehow, life is better because of Easter. You might say, well, I guess a hope of heaven is better than nothing. I'm not entirely sure whether there is such a thing as the afterlife, but boy, I hope it's real.

You may say, I believe that there is an afterlife, but I'm not sure if I will receive it. And to those people, I have to say, I pity you. That sounds very harsh, but the thing is, the Bible is telling us that there is so much to be certain for. The hope for eternal life is concrete. The hope of eternal life is as certain as Jesus standing before Thomas.

In the resurrection, we see what lies ahead for all those who will receive the benefits of the cross through faith in Jesus. Our hope is as concrete as the physical body that Thomas could touch. Why? Because Jesus turns up and He shows His love. Jesus says, because I live, you will also live.

The apostle Paul calls Jesus the first fruit of the new creation. The first fruit of the new creation. In Corinthians 15, he likens Jesus as being that first apple on the apple tree, that first mango on the mango tree. And we are the fruit then that comes after Him. This is what he says in one Corinthians 15.

For as in Adam all die. So Adam, our forefather, as the first man. As in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order, Christ the first fruits, then at His coming, those who belong to Christ. Think about it. If Jesus Himself, as the risen saviour that He was, if He came and died on the cross but didn't show Himself as that risen saviour, would the fact change?

Would the victory be any different? No, it wouldn't. He died for sin. He was vindicated by His resurrection. But He comes and He shows Himself to the disciples before He ascends to the throne.

Why does Jesus do it? Because it is important for Thomas to see Jesus standing in front of him to show that it wasn't simply that Jesus was back from the dead. What is so incredibly reassuring is that Jesus is back in the flesh. In those scars that Thomas sees, the hands and the feet and the side, he sees that His body is real, that it is concrete, it is something that can be touched and hugged and heard. There was a heart in Jesus that was really beating.

There was a voice that was really speaking. Here, Thomas sees Jesus alive and concrete, and that is a good hope to believe. But now, lastly, our third point. The resurrection of Jesus offers us the restoration of joy. Study any kind of world religion today and they will teach you some kind of hopeful future.

They will speak any world religion speaks of a nirvana, or a Valhalla, or a Shangri La, or a paradise. But there is a significant difference when it comes to the Christian faith. Those other views promise a consolation for what's been lost. It says, you may have experienced tremendous tragedy, you may have given up so much in this life, but now enjoy 72 virgins. You've experienced great pain, you've endured great suffering, but now nirvana offers you absolutely no more pain, but also no more emotions or desires.

Most of the world's religions and philosophies do hold out some sort of hope after death. But the resurrection of Christ doesn't simply promise consolation, it promises a return of the things that have been lost. In the resurrection, the Bible says we received physical bodies. We will receive physical bodies that are perfectly healthy. And so for those of us who wrestle with the effects of chronic pain, for those who are in this very moment wrestling with terminal illness, for those who have a permanent disability, the resurrection says there is concrete hope that you will be restored to something that perhaps for your whole life you've been missing.

The resurrection is not simply a consolation that things will somehow get better. It is the promise of the restoration of all things that exists in a state of brokenness, in a state that we long to get out of. And so that goes for our physical bodies, but the resurrection also promises amazingly the restoration of our very nature, of our character, of our personality. It says, if you have become aware of all that is sin in your life, the sin that stains your heart, the things that you grieve over, the decisions that you have made that have just had such repercussions over your life. If you are painfully aware of those things, your hope in Christ doesn't simply give you a consolation that somehow you'll escape those things, or that somehow you'll just be reincarnated to have another go at this life.

The resurrection promises that you will be virtuous in every way because of the work of Christ. Colossians 1:22 says this, but now God has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation. The resurrection promises a restored character, a goodness in your personality that you have always longed for. If you are aware of failings, if you are aware of weakness, the future for those who place their trust in Jesus holds out hope for a kinder, more compassionate, more holy you. Jesus comes to Thomas and all the disciples sitting in that little room and says to them these words, peace be with you.

Now, if you know a little bit about the Jewish language, you know that peace is the common greeting. Just like in Islam, when you greet someone to say Salaam, the Jewish people would say Shalom, peace, when they greeted one another. But John is actually making a significant point here because he never records that Shalom greeting anywhere in his gospel account except for finding it on the lips of the resurrected Christ. And so only in this chapter, chapter 20 in John, in verse 19, verse 21, and here in our passage verse 26, do we find Jesus saying peace. Why does Jesus say this?

Because seeing, trusting, believing in the resurrected Christ brings peace. Let me ask you, do you want peace? Do you want to do away with what is stressful and worrisome in your life? If you struggle with some aspects of the Christian faith, even today as you're listening, even if you think this cannot be real, perhaps you find it difficult to grasp the concept of God, or that a man, a flesh and blood man named Jesus could rise from the dead. I don't know where you're at with all of that, but I know one thing, you care about peace.

You care about peace. And I'm privileged to tell you this morning, Jesus Christ offers you peace. Put your trust in Him. Accept as true His death that was on behalf of your sin. Accept the resurrection for your hope and your peace.

So the third point this morning is that the resurrection of Jesus offers us a restoration of joy. And so, wrapping up this morning, I want you to just imagine that moment between Thomas and Jesus. Imagine in your mind's eye the scars that Thomas was looking at, that he was allowed to touch and see were real. That those scars meant something to Thomas. But they mean something to us too.

In the closing months of World War One, many soldiers on the front line were growing tired and disillusioned with the war. Many took to writing newspaper articles, letters, or poems to express their critique of what many were starting to call the bloodiest and the stupidest of wars. One such poet was an English soldier by the name of Edward Scalito, who wrote a poem entitled Jesus of the Scars. In the last verse, he expresses something of the connection between the scars that Jesus carries with Him and our hope. This is what he writes.

The other gods were strong, but Thou wast weak. They rode, but Thou didst stumble to Thy throne. And to our wounds, only God's wounds can speak. And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone. What these words are saying is that while many philosophies and many so called gods, the views that we have, many of these philosophies, in fact, I would say all of them, call us to believe in them.

But there is not a single one of them with a God who has wounds. These scars on His hands are not some surface level difference between one religion over another. It's not some surface level difference between one philosophy over another. This is what those scars are saying. It is only because God has wounds that we could ever hope to heal our own.

It's only because Jesus has wounds now healed, now not wounded anymore, wounds that could have ever given us the hope to deal with the wounds of our sin. The wounds of brokenness that touches our lives so visibly. The difference is that all the philosophies and all the gods of this world, they tell us to be strong, to ride with them to victory. The Bible says on Good Friday, see a king limping to His throne. But on Easter Sunday, we hear that this king was crowned His majesty, the King of life.

Why are the scars of Jesus not healed in the resurrection? Because it points to His love. Something of Jesus' past echoes into eternity. It shows us that we will continue somehow. Those scars we will one day see ourselves means that we will recognise Him as well.

Those scars will be the cause of ten thousand songs we sing praising Him for what He has done. And so, friend, I wanna tell you that there is a saviour, a saviour who loves you, a saviour who died for sin, bearing God's punishment in our place, His perfect life to fulfill the perfect law that we could not keep. Blood must atone for blood, life must be paid for life. But today, we hear this saviour who can really be a saviour because His sacrifice was accepted. Because Jesus is no longer dead, we know that His holiness was greater than our sinfulness, His perfection greater than our imperfection, that His love swallows everything up.

May Easter 2020 be a time of celebration. Let it be joyful. Let it be good news because Jesus Christ is the risen Lord, the Lord of the scars. And by those wounds, we have been healed. Let's pray.

Lord Jesus, we bring our hearts to you on Easter Sunday, and we receive the story once again. The eyewitness accounts that even in that day was so hard to believe. But Lord, we thank you for the Spirit, Your Spirit that is at work in our lives right now, telling us and confirming us that our hope and our desire for these things reflect something true. Father, we pray that the hope, the comfort, the concreteness of the resurrected Christ stays with us, that it infiltrates every part of our heart so that the way we look at this world, the way we look at our life, the way we look at our situations, even situations that may be hard, Lord, oh Lord, just permeated with hope. It's just saturated with peace because we know that since Jesus lives, we too will live.

Help us, Lord, to not hold on to this life more than it deserves. But also, Lord, let us celebrate and enjoy life because there is good and there is beauty and there is happiness in it even today that goes on beyond this life. Lord, help us to believe in Jesus Christ. And for those that this morning are listening who have not received Him as their king, as their saviour. Lord, may they receive You, may they give their lives to You, may they be found by You in that humble approach to Your throne.

We lift everyone up in our church. We pray, Lord, that You will keep everyone safe this weekend. And, Lord, that You'll keep everyone safe from the things that are worrisome and stressful. Thank you for your word to us this morning. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.