Come Follow Me with BOMBites | John 20 | Jesus is Resurrected

Hello, friends. Derek from BOM Socks with more BOM Bites, where we feast upon the words of Christ, one bite at a time. So today I want to take you over to John 20. I love this chapter. There are so many wonderful things in this chapter, and it starts right out the gate in verse number one, the first day of the week. So this is Sunday morning, cometh Mary Magdalene early when it was yet dark. So this is early, early in the morning unto the sepulcher, and seeeth the stone taken away from the sepulcher. Comeeth to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved. That is John, of course, and sayeth unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher, and we know not where they have laid him. Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulcher. Verse 4 is just funny in my mind. So they ran together and the other disciple did outrun Peter and came first to the sepulcher. And it may be a little friendly competition between Apostles. Verse 5, And he stooping down and looked in and saw the linen clothes lying.

Yet went he not in? Maybe there’s a reverent feeling there. Then come the Simon Peter, following him, went into the sepulcher, seeth the linen clothes lie, and the napkin, which was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulcher, and he saw and believed. I love that phrase. He saw and believed. I want to come back to that a little bit later on. Then you’ve got this wonderful interchange with Jesus and Mary. Verse 11, Mary stood without the sepulcher weeping, and as she whipped, she stooped down and looked into the sepulcher and saw two angels in white, the one at the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had laid. And they said unto her, woman, why weepest thou? She said unto them, because they have taken away my Lord, I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back and saw Jesus standing and knew not that it was Jesus. Again, that idea like we talked about yesterday, he’s not where he’s supposed to be.

So when you see him there, you’re not going to recognize him necessarily. Jesus sayeth unto her the same thing that the angel said, woman, why weepest thou whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, said unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou has laid him, and I will take him away. And then Jesus sayeth unto her, Mary. And she turned herself and sayeth unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, Master. Jesus sayeth unto her, touch me not. I imagine she just wanted to run up and hug him. You think about this. This is someone who you have just grown to love and admire. I have not yet ascended to my father, but go to my brethren and say unto them, I ask sin to my father and to your father, to my God and to your God. And then Mary goes and runs and tells them. Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for the fear of the Jews. Again, this is a hostile time period. They had just killed Jesus.

And so I imagine all of these disciples are just huddling, hiding and worrying about what’s going to happen to them as well. Then came Jesus and stood in the midst and sayeth unto them, Peace be unto you. Now, when he has so said, he shooed them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. And then said Jesus, again, peace be unto you. As my father has sent me, even so, send I you. I’m about to send you guys out into the world, right? You go down to verse number 24. You’ve got one of my favorite people in the scriptures. Thomas, one of the 12, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We’ve seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

I feel for Thomas. He’s known as Doubting Thomas.

And I’ve said this before, I don’t want to necessarily classify someone and label, for lack of a better term, someone, by one thing that they struggle with, like the woman taken in adultery.

Let’s find a better name for her. Maybe a better name for Thomas is Faithful Linear Thinking Thomas. I don’t know what to call him. This man is faithful enough to be a disciple. Doubting Derek seems a little bit more… It flows a little bit better. I don’t want to be known as that. I’ve had my doubts. You who are watching this, I’m sure you’ve had your doubts as well. So I still want to give Thomas every benefit of the doubt. He’s like, Look, I’m having a hard time reconciling this. And maybe he, like I said, he’s just more of a linear thinker with that. And so what happens, verse 26, eight days later, and that’s significant. Here’s Thomas waiting eight days. The disciples again were within. Thomas was with them. And then came Jesus. The doors being shut and stood in the midst of them. And what does he say? Peace be unto you. I love that phrase. And then said he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, behold my hands, and reach hither my hand, and thrust it into my side. Be not faithless, but believing. That is not a dig on Thomas. That is something just for all of us.

Be less doubting and be a little bit more faithful. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. I love at that moment how just eight days earlier, Thomas is like, If I could just touch the nail, printed his hands and his side, then I will believe. What does Jesus do? The very first thing he speaks to what Thomas is desiring. I think that’s so cool. And then verse 29 is a powerful, powerful verse. Jesus sayeth unto him, Thomas, because thou has seen me, thou has believed. Now, I want to refer back to earlier on in the chapter where John himself said he saw and believed, which I think is so cool. Here’s, blessed are they that have seen and have yet believed. Now, one of the verses that I have linked to this verse right here is over in the Book of Mormon in Jacob 4. This verse is so cool where Jacob says, for this intent have we written these things that they may know that we knew of Christ, and we had a hope of his glory many hundred years before his coming. They had never seen him, but said they knew of him.

And not only we ourselves had a hope of his glory, but also all of the holy Prophets which were before us. Thomas has a moment of doubt and what happens is he needs to see and he needs a little bit more of that evidence. I get that. I understand that some people are that way and there’s nothing wrong with that. But I love how Jesus is saying, look, you’ve seen me and you believe. That’s awesome. Boy, faith is such a powerful thing here. When I see this, I go back to that off quoted statement from Dieder F. Uchdorfer where he says, doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith. And at that moment, Thomas probably just had a couple of doubts. Like I said, I don’t want to just label this man for that particular moment because there’s probably a lot of times where Thomas was ridiculously faithful. In the Come Follow Me, it says some people feel like Thomas, who said, Except I see, I will not believe. In your opinion, why can believing without seeing be a blessing? That’s a great question. Ponder how you have been blessed for believing in things you could not see.

What helps you have faith in the Savior, even when you cannot see Him? How can you continue to strengthen your faith in things which are not seen, which are true? Right there from Alma 32 and from Ether 12. Consider recording in your journal experiences that have helped you believe in Jesus Christ or share them with someone that you know. I love that. In those moments where we do have our doubts, let’s always go back to our faith and don’t give the energy to the doubts. Doubt in and of itself really has no lasting value. It should take you to questioning and questioning should lead you to those answers. But you look at them with an eye of faith and you act in faith when you do that. I think there’s a powerful lesson in this story, and it’s not just Thomas as a doubter. Thomas is like a lot of us who struggle with that at times, but he also is a very faithful man and leans to his faith and recognizes Jesus Christ as his Lord and his God. I love this story and I’m grateful for it. Thanks for watching. Thanks for subscribing.

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