At the beginning of his book, John describes
who Jesus is; Jesus is the Word who was with God, he
was God, true light, and he lived with us, became flesh. John reveals to
us who the child is that will be called Mighty God, who is Mighty God, and it’s
Jesus. John doesn’t hide who Jesus is, he gets right to the point: Jesus is
God. But it took John a while to understand this, to see this in Jesus. It can
be hard to see the special and the unique in the people closest to you. You see
them all the time, they’re just who they are. They may have some special gifts,
may be extra good, and yet still not be extra special to you because you see
them when others don’t.
Isaiah is speaking to a people who have gotten
used to being God’s people, so used to it that they didn’t really pay a whole
lot of attention to him anymore, at least not until God allows Babylon to
conquer them. Now they’re looking for a Messiah so Isaiah points them to a
child who will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. Yet how many people can
actually see this kind of potential in any child, especially a child growing up who you see all the time? Isaiah is pointing ahead to the child Jesus, born to poor
parents and laid in a manger. We’re so used to the story, we don’t really
understand anymore how hard this can be to believe; a child is Mighty God?
Who would have thought that Mighty
God would
come to earth like this? Who would have thought that God would stay poor, no
rags to riches story here, that he would reject the power of the throne, allow
himself to be arrested, beaten, tried for treason and crucified like a common
rebel? We know, looking back, that because of our sin and because we’re unable
to make ourselves acceptable to God because of our sin, no matter how hard we
work at it, that Jesus came to earth as fully God and fully human to take the
punishment for our sin as our substitute on the cross. Jesus dies on the cross,
is buried and he rises from the grave on the third day and then appears to his
disciples. Because Jesus did all this for us, sin and death have been overcome
and we’re made right with God! How is this possible? Only God can do that! Jesus
does it because he loves you, he loves you so much he went to the cross for
you.
But put yourself in someone’s shoes who hasn’t heard
about Jesus, try to hear the story of Jesus through ears that haven’t heard
about the cross and the grave before. When Jesus appears to his disciples after his
resurrection, Thomas isn’t there. Thomas has just spent the past three years
with Jesus, watching him do some pretty amazing things, teaching beautiful
truths about God, but he also watched Jesus weep, get tired, hungry, afraid,
frustrated and angry, and so Thomas has a hard time believing Jesus has really
risen from the dead. He’s special, but also very human. Thomas watched as Jesus
allowed himself to be arrested without defending himself, watched Jesus beaten,
unjustly judged, and then nailed to a cross.
For those just getting to know Jesus, for those
exploring the Christian faith, God becoming human, Jesus rising from the dead
is hard to swallow, wouldn’t you have questions too? Death is kind of final,
though doctors will occasionally bring someone back from death, but we’re
unable to bring ourselves back from the dead as Jesus did. So, is it any wonder
that Thomas doubts?
The disciples are all together in a locked house and suddenly Jesus
is standing right there in the middle of them. The disciples are definitely
surprised, and likely a little afraid at Jesus suddenly appearing like that. This
is way beyond normal. There’s certainly more to who Jesus is than they had
thought before his death and resurrection. Is this true of many of us as well? Who
is Jesus to you? Is he mostly a teacher, moral leader, wise man to you? When we
see Jesus only this way, it’s much easier to not listen and follow everything
he teaches and says, especially the hard stuff meant to change us.
We call Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God,
but is this what we really believe? Can we ever really understand just how
mighty a God he really is? Is it really important and necessary that you
understand, after-all in your closest relationships, can you ever say that you
truly understand the other person, no matter how long you’ve been together as
friends or spouses or family? Isn’t that what makes a relationship ever more
special, knowing that there are depths and mysteries in the other person that
can still surprise us? It’s better to focus on how accepting Jesus as your
Messiah, our saviour, as the Son of God shapes your life, your habits, your
thoughts and what you believe. When we’re in a relationship, the other person
changes us because of who they are, because we want to please them, make them
happy. My relationship with Joyce has caused me to become more organized, my
relationship with our children has made me more compassionate and vocal about
my love, good friends have helped me learn to see the needs around me better
and how to respond wisely to the needs. It’s good to reflect on how believing
in Jesus changes you.
Jesus reassures the disciples by saying, “Peace be with you!” This is a blessing, a word to
calm their rapidly beating hearts. Jesus turns to Thomas, and using Thomas’ own
standards to prove his resurrection from the grave, tells Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and
put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Can you see this in
your mind, Thomas standing there before Jesus, Jesus with his hands out to him
with the holes from the nails see raw, and Thomas seeing them up close,
shrinking back. Jesus comes close to Thomas in his doubts, coming to reassure
him, not to blame or shame him.
As Mighty God, Jesus doesn’t come in power and force us to believe, after-all he came as a child born in a manger. Jesus meets us where
we’re at, even in our doubts when we don’t know if we can believe, if we can be certain that Jesus is who he claims to be, but as we see with Thomas,
Jesus doesn’t leave us in that place. “Stop doubting
and believe,” Jesus tells Thomas. There comes a point where Jesus calls
us to make a decision for him, to put our doubts aside and embrace him through
faith. Jesus keeps coming, he never abandons you, or leaves you, he wants a
relationship with you. He’s comes to you with deep unending love and calls you
respond back in love in faith and trust.
Thomas finds he doesn’t need to touch Jesus’ hands or
side, he simply responds, “My Lord and my God!” Thomas believes who Jesus is, he believes
Jesus truly is Lord and God, his Lord and his God. Jesus coming close changes
Thomas from a doubter to a believer! This is a personal thing, a personal
relationship that we have with Jesus, each of our responses to Jesus is
different, comes from different places and experiences, but Jesus is the same,
he’s Mighty God who has defeated death, and he’s
our Lord and our God. This is our confession,
there can no place in your life for any other Lord or God.
Jesus calls each of you to believe, to trust him as
your Lord and your God, no matter what may be going on in your life right now,
no matter what may have gone on in your life in the past, no matter how
confusing or difficult the future may look, Jesus calls you to stop doubting and believe in him, to trust that he is
with you always and that he can and will work out all things for your good,
even if you’re unable to see how that may ever be possible because he is your
Lord and God. Life can be messy and broken, hurt can ripple into all kinds of
places and in all kinds of unexpected ways, but mighty God is with you always.
In a world filled with sin and darkness, in a world where
many don’t believe in Jesus as Mighty God, it’s
not always going to be easy to believe. The power and wonder of Jesus being Mighty God is for those times when life isn’t easy and
doubt creeps in, because it’s at those times when Jesus’ power shines and his
presence becomes real. Jesus always comes to us when it’s hard to believe in
order to help us believe and trust in him as Mighty God
to find the strength and wisdom to continue on and move forward with
strength and confidence.
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