Getting Real with God

Read John 20:19-21:25

"These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."  John 20:31

Jesus Restores Fearful, Doubting, and Broken People

On the evening of the resurrection, the disciples are hiding behind locked doors. Fear shapes their world. Into that fear, Jesus comes and stands among them with a simple word: “Peace be with you” (Jn 20:22).  He does not rebuke their weakness or shame their failure. Instead, He shows them His wounds – the very proof that death has been defeated – and their fear turns to joy. The risen Jesus brings peace not by denying suffering, but by showing that He has overcome it.

Then Jesus does something remarkable. He sends them: “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (Jn 20:21).  The same disciples who ran away are now commissioned to testify to the truth of Jesus.  Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit on them, showing that their mission will not depend on their strength, but on God’s presence within them.

Thomas reminds us that doubt is not the opposite of faith; it is often the pathway to it. Jesus does not reject Thomas for his questions. Instead, He meets him personally, inviting him to come and see and believe.  Thomas’ confession – My Lord and my God!” (Jn 20:28) – is one of the clearest declarations of who Jesus is. Thomas’ confession is the confession that’s to be on all the lips of all of Jesus’ followers – Jesus is my Lord and my God! Everybody who confess Jesus is my Lord and God will be saved. Jesus then blesses those who will believe He’s Lord and God without seeing, thereby drawing us into the story.

By the Sea of Galilee, Jesus meets weary disciples who have worked all night and caught nothing. Again, He provides abundantly. More than that, He restores Peter – the one who denied Him – through a gentle but searching question: “Do you love me?” (Jn 21:16). Grace does not erase Peter’s failure; it transforms it into a calling to love Jesus and live for Jesus our Lord, our God and our Saviour.

These scenes show us the merciful, gracious and loving heart of the risen Christ. He comes to fearful hearts, doubting minds, and broken lives.  He brings peace, calls us to believe, restores us by grace, and invites us to follow Him and fellowship with Him.  This is why John writes: that we may believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God – and by believing, have life in His name.  Do you believe?  Are you following?

Ian