What Jesus Did

Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. "Peace be with you," he said. Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don't be faithless any longer. Believe!" "My Lord and my God!" Thomas exclaimed.

—John 20:26-28 NLT

Key Thought


What is our reaction to the resurrected Lord? Who are...

 

Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. This is how it happened.

—John 21:1 NLT

Key Thought


Jesus appeared to his disciples again, this time in a very familiar place — the Sea of Galilee. For several of the apostles, this was the place where they had fished, lived, collected taxes, and built their lives. This was also the place Jesus had found them and captured their hearts. In many ways, at this familiar place, Jesus would rekindle their...

 

The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.

—John 20:30-31 NLT

Key Thought


Clearly, a complete biography of Jesus would be much more inclusive. John, however, guided by the Spirit, wrote to produce faith and chose his material carefully. His...

 

Then Jesus told [Thomas], "You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me."

—John 20:29 NLT

Key Thought


One of the things I love about the Gospel of John is that we get to see Jesus specifically thinking about us, those who come after the generation of the apostles. We believe, but without having seen. We have to trust the testimony of those who did see. We have to take their changed lives based on their conviction of Jesus'...

 

One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he replied, "I won't believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side."

—John 20:24-25 NLT

Key Thought


Some churches don't want you to ask honest questions. That's sad, I think. For most us, after we are Christians awhile, we kind of get trained to know...

 

Then [Jesus] breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

—John 20:22-23 NLT

Key Thought


In the Lord's Prayer and immediately following it, Jesus showed that our own forgiveness depends on our forgiving others (Matthew 6:12, 14-15). In today's verses, he reminds us that the Holy Spirit is crucial in giving the gift of forgiveness to God's community. Clearly...

 

Again [Jesus] said, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you."

—John 20:21 NLT

Key Thought


So often in our world, peace is a selfish retreat from the world. For Jesus, peace was something he received from his times of rest with his Father so he could go back and minister to the world. Jesus calls us to find our peace in him — a peace rooted in his defeat of death, his presence in us through his Holy Spirit, and his assurance of our future...

 

That Sunday evening [of the resurrection day] the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! "Peace be with you," he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord!

—John 20:19-20 NLT

Key Thought


What a roller-coaster weekend it had been for Jesus' disciples. He was arrested, tried, and executed...

 

"Don't cling to me," Jesus said, "for I haven't yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, "I have seen the Lord!" Then she gave them his message.

—John 20:17-18 NLT

Key Thought


One of the biggest tasks we have as Jesus' disciples is not to cling to Jesus — not to cocoon ourselves in church where we feel the presence of the...

 

[Mary] turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn't recognize him. "Dear woman, why are you crying?" Jesus asked her. "Who are you looking for?" She thought he was the gardener. "Sir," she said, "if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him." "Mary!" Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, "Rabboni!" (which is Hebrew for "Teacher").

—John 20:14-16 NLT

Key Thought


Jesus had said that his...