Grace Lutheran
Sunday 2025 Setting 4 PB April 27
      • Bible Trivia
        Loading...

      • 2 Corinthians 5:7ESV

      • Acts 5:12–20ESV

      • Revelation 1:4–18ESV

      • John 20:19–31ESV

  • How Majestic Is Your Name
  • We Bow Down

      • John 20:1–18ESV

      • Psalm 148ESV

      • John 20:1–18ESV

      • Acts 5:12–20ESV

      • John 20:1–18ESV

      • Revelation 1:4–18ESV

      • John 20:1–18ESV

      • John 20:19–31ESV

  • Text: John 20:19-31 Theme Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:7 – "For we walk by faith, not by sight."

    Introduction: Trusting a Voice in the Dark (Emotional/Vivid Version)

    Picture a little boy standing at the edge of a treehouse, high above the ground, as night settles in. The light has almost disappeared. Shapes around him are fuzzy, uncertain. The familiar world — the grass, the trees, the porch light — is swallowed up by growing shadows.
    Below him stands his father, arms outstretched, calling into the darkness:
    "Jump! I’m right here. Trust me! I’ll catch you!"
    The boy freezes. Every instinct inside him says, "Don’t move. Stay where it feels safe." But is it really safe to cling to a platform made of old boards? The only thing he can truly count on is the voice of the one who loves him.
    He can't see his father’s face. He can’t see the strength in those arms. He can’t measure the distance or the risk. All he has...is a voice.
    And with his heart pounding, his stomach twisting, he makes the choice: He closes his eyes. He lets go. He jumps.
    And in an instant — before fear can win — strong, loving arms wrap around him. He is safe. He is held. He is home.
    In John 20, Jesus invites us to a faith like that. Not a faith that demands to see every detail first. Not a faith that waits for perfect circumstances. But a faith that dares to trust His voice — His promises — even when our eyes see only shadows.
    Because as Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 5:7: "We walk by faith, not by sight."
    And the arms of Jesus never miss.

    I. Jesus Comes to His Fearful Disciples (John 20:19-23)

    It’s the evening of Easter Sunday. The tomb is empty. Mary Magdalene has already seen the Lord alive and has told the disciples. But where are they?
    Locked behind closed doors — afraid.
    Afraid that what happened to Jesus — betrayal, arrest, beating, crucifixion — would happen to them too. Afraid that maybe the message Mary brought was just a story born of grief. Afraid that if Jesus really was alive, they had failed Him too deeply to ever face Him again.
    Fear had locked them in.
    But right into their fear and their locked doors, Jesus comes.
    He doesn't knock. He doesn't wait for them to muster up enough courage or find the right words. He simply appears — standing among them — and speaks:
    "Peace be with you."
    Notice:
    Not, "Where were you?"
    Not, "How could you abandon me?"
    Not, "You should have done better."
    But Peace.
    In the Old Testament, "peace" — shalom — meant far more than the absence of trouble. It meant wholeness, healing, restoration between God and man. This is the peace Jesus had come to bring — not just after death, but after failure.
    And to prove that it’s really Him, He shows them His hands and His side — the marks of the cross, the evidence of His victory.
    This echoes Isaiah’s prophecy (Isaiah 53:5): "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him."
    And then something even more remarkable: He breathes on them — a deliberate echo of Genesis 2, when God breathed life into Adam — and says: "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven."
    The Risen Christ doesn't just comfort them — He commissions them. He sends them out with the very peace He brings.
    Gospel truth: Jesus comes not to shame the fearful, but to forgive them, restore them, and send them in His name.

    II. Thomas' Struggle and Jesus' Grace (John 20:24-29)

    But not everyone was there that night.
    Thomas — often unfairly labeled "Doubting Thomas" — was missing.
    And when the others tell him, "We have seen the Lord!" Thomas responds with brutal honesty:
    "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe."
    Thomas gets a bad reputation, but is he really so different from the rest? The others didn’t believe the women’s report until they saw Jesus too. Even Peter and John ran to the tomb to see with their own eyes.
    Thomas’ struggle is the human struggle.
    Like Gideon who asked God for a sign (Judges 6:36-40), like Moses who doubted he could lead (Exodus 3-4), like Elijah who, even after great miracles, ran and hid in fear (1 Kings 19) — Thomas wrestles between hope and skepticism.
    Have you ever been there?
    "Lord, if only you would show me... If only you would answer this prayer... If only you would give me a sign..."
    But notice Jesus' mercy.
    Eight days later, Jesus again appears — this time with Thomas present.
    And He doesn’t scold Thomas. He doesn’t say, "You should have believed already!" He invites him:
    "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
    And Thomas doesn’t even need to touch. Seeing Jesus — alive, full of mercy — is enough.
    Thomas falls to his knees and makes one of the greatest confessions of faith in all Scripture:
    "My Lord and my God!"
    Thomas moves from doubt to worship.

    III. Believing Without Seeing (John 20:29-31)

    And then Jesus says something stunning — words meant not just for Thomas, but for us:
    "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
    That’s Jesus talking about you.
    And about me.
    We have not seen Him with our physical eyes. We have not touched His nail-scarred hands. And yet — by the power of His Word and Spirit — we believe.
    John even tells us why he wrote his Gospel:
    "These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."
    Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 5:7: "We walk by faith, not by sight."
    Faith doesn't come by seeing miracles. Faith comes by hearing the Word of Christ (Romans 10:17).
    And through that faith, we receive life — real, abundant, everlasting life.

    IV. Application: Walking by Faith Today

    Friends, walking by faith isn’t always easy.
    There will be days when:
    Fear locks the doors of your heart again.
    Doubts creep in through the cracks.
    You can't see how God is working.
    But the same Risen Jesus who spoke peace to His disciples and showed His wounds to Thomas and promised blessing to those who believe without seeing — that same Jesus speaks to you today.
    When we feel alone — Jesus says: "I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:20)
    When we feel guilty — Jesus says: "It is finished." (John 19:30)
    When we feel afraid — Jesus says: "Peace be with you."
    When we feel like our faith is weak — Jesus says: "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
    We don't walk by what we see. We walk by His promises.
    Because His Word is more certain than what our eyes perceive. His promises are more sure than what our circumstances suggest.
    2 Corinthians 5:7: "We walk by faith, not by sight."
    And the arms of Jesus — stretched out for us on the cross and stretched out in welcome today — never fail to catch those who trust in Him.

    Trusting the Voice That Catches Us

    The Law: Fear, doubt, and unbelief expose the sinful weakness of our hearts. Left to ourselves, we lock ourselves behind closed doors of fear and guilt. We cannot muster faith by sheer effort. We cannot earn peace with God by our performance. We are just like the disciples — afraid, doubting, failing.
    But the Gospel: Jesus comes to us not with condemnation, but with peace. He brings the marks of His sacrifice — proof that our sins are paid for. He speaks words of forgiveness — and breathes His Spirit upon us. He turns doubters into confessors. He turns the fearful into witnesses.
    The good news is this: You are not saved by the strength of your faith — you are saved by the strength of your Savior.
    Jesus meets you right where you are — in your fears, your struggles, your doubts — and speaks the same word He spoke that Easter evening:
    "Peace be with you."
    And His Word creates what it speaks.
    So today, even if you feel weak, even if your faith feels small, even if the door seems locked tight — Christ comes to you.
    He comes through His Word. He comes through His promises. He comes to say:
    "Peace be with you. Stop doubting and believe."
    And in Him — in His wounds, in His resurrection, in His Word — you have life.
    Amen.
  • Untitled Hymn (Come To Jesus)
  • Come And See
  • Revelation Song
  • We Will Glorify
  • I Will Rise
Grace Lutheran
3 members • 2 followers