Jesus answered them, Do you now believe?  

John 16:31  

But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. 

John 20:31 

Why did John write his gospel? The second portion of our text articulates it. John believed. The other disciples believed. He wanted us, his readers to believe. We live by faith. What the world around us calls foolishness, we believe by faith. John wrote of what he saw. Peter, James, John and all the rest of the disciples could not help but speak of what they had seen and heard. They became witnesses of Christ in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. Their intention was to preach Christ to the purpose that people would believe. To that end they lived and for that truth they died. We are the inheritors of their message. Their message has become our message. We have the privilege to proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord. He is the Word; the Lamb of God; the Son of God; the King of Israel; the Way, the Truth and the Life.  He is He who lives and was dead and behold is alive forevermore. He has the keys of hell and of death. He is the Once and Future King. We believe, and proclaim Him that you also might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that believing you might have life through His Name. This is the most worthy use of time we can make. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.  

Our Glorious, Living Christ, 
we rejoice that You have revealed Yourself to us. 
We praise You that we have the privilege to proclaim You, 
that others also may believe. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Jesus answered them, Do you now believe?  

John 16:31 

Then He said to Thomas, Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing. 

John 20:27 

Christ overcomes our unbelief by personal intervention. After He had arisen from the dead, He showed Himself to the disciples who gathered behind locked doors for fear of the religionists. Thomas was not there on this occasion. He was a hard sell. When he heard the others say they had seen Christ alive, he responded, ‘…Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.’ Christ accommodated Thomas in a personal way. On the next Sunday, He appeared again to the gathered disciples, Thomas being there also. He addressed him directly with words of our text. What did Christ want from him? ‘Do not be unbelieving, but believing.’ What does Christ want from us? He wants us to believe in Him. This supersedes every other belief. We may not believe in the organizations, institutions or some of the people who claim to speak for Him. We do believe in Him, and that is above all else what He wants by His Own testimony. Christ is the Person Who has done what is necessary to bring us to God. He has lived the life; died the death; risen from the dead; and proven Himself to us in every way. We believe in Him for all these reasons and more. He graciously restores our faith, when it has failed by giving us a clear sight of Himself.  

Our Gracious Master, and our God, 
we rejoice that You restore our faith. 
We praise You that all You do 
brings us to believe. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Jesus answered them, Do you now believe?  

John 16:31 

Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. 

John 20:8,9 

What restored the faith of the disciples after the death of Christ? The answer is, His resurrection. John identifies himself as ‘the other disciple’ who was with Peter at the tomb. He says, ‘he saw and believed.’ Over the course of that day, Christ appeared to Mary Magdalene, the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and then to the disciples gathered together behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. It would be a week before He appeared to them again to personally address Thomas, in order that he would believe. The fact remains that the resurrection was what brought their belief back to life. ‘Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord.’ What makes our faith live? It is a clear sight of the risen Christ. We have seen His deeds. We have read His words. We have beheld His agony. We have heard His cries. We have seen where they have laid Him. We have witnessed that He has risen from the dead. Above 500 brethren saw Him at one time. The Apostles all bore witness they had seen Him in Person. The resurrection of Christ is one of the most well-attested facts in human history. It has fired the faith of millions and has power today. With all of them we say, ‘The Lord is risen!’  

Our Glorious, Risen Christ, 
we rejoice that You are alive from the dead. 
We praise You that we can have confidence in You, 
our Risen Lord. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you. 

John 20:20, 21 

The mission to proclaim Christ is the extension of Christ’s mission. Christ says as much in our text. The logic is, ‘God the Father has sent me, therefore I am sending you.’ This elevated their lives to have the greatest purpose ever. If Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost and the proclamation of the gospel is of paramount importance in the gathering together of the redeemed, then the purpose to do that is grand indeed. They could not devise a higher purpose for their own lives than this. It would be the means by which Christ would continue His work upon the earth, and advance His kingdom. They would be His witnesses to the end of the earth. We are the spiritual inheritors of that mission. Although we are not Apostles or the inheritors of their office, we have believed in Him and beheld Him with the eyes of faith. We have the privilege to point people to Christ daily by life and lip. This elevates our life far above the mundane pursuits of simply tending to our buildings, our bellies and our backs. He has sent us as well. 

Our Great God and our Savior, 
we rejoice that You give us purpose. 
We praise You that we have the great privilege 
to be witnesses of You, 
wherever we are. 

Where the Bush is Burning
Tomm Tice

When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you. 

John 20:20, 21 

Having purpose in life makes for gladness. Christ gives us purpose. When He died on the cross, the hopes of the disciples died with Him. They had followed Him for three years, were convinced He was the Messiah, and anticipated His triumph. They had a message and a mission. When Christ died, they lost all of that. When Christ arose from the dead, it all returned. Now they could go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, adding to it that they had seen Him alive after His passion on numerous occasions. This message and mission would absorb the rest of their life. Each of them would go forth to preach Christ until their dying breath. We also have a message and a mission. We believe Christ has risen from the dead. We proclaim Him as the High King of heaven. Everywhere we go we declare He is risen from the dead and shall return, according to His word. Their message is our message; their mission is our mission. This gives us purpose and makes us very glad. 

Our Gracious Master and our God, 
we rejoice that You have given to us a message and a mission. 
We praise You that we can go anywhere and everywhere 
making much of You.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning