I did not finish discussing the whole Text, not in class today! So we shall continue next Session …
(I record and post every other day now.)
“24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall 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. 26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. 27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. 29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”
In Isaiah 53:1 God askes … “Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?”
Well, the Disciple Thomas did not believe, not at first for sure!
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Ten good men, the Disciples of our Lord, assured Thomas that Jesus was alive, had been raised from the dear!
But he believed not a one of them!
Thomas needed to learn this principle from Proverbs …
Proverbs 11:14 … “Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.”
Proverbs 13:20 … “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.”
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In every New Testament Gospel there is introduced an element of doubt about the Resurrection of Jesus! Such a miracle, almost incredible to many! Here’s what I mean …
Matthew 28:16-17 … “Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.”
Mark 16:14 … “Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.”
Luke 24:10-11 … “It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles. And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.”
Luke 24:25-26 … “Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?”
Luke 24:37-41 … “But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?”
Then of course, Thomas’ doubt here in John chapter 20.
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Thomas, here is My Body …
(But note there is no BLOOD discussion here!)
Luke 24:39 …Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
Jesus’ Blood was, I believe, already in Heaven!
Hebrews 9:12 … “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”
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God’s Grace will bring a person …
From worst to first!
The repentant thief, Nicodemus and Joseph, Mary Magdalene, unfaithful Peter, skeptical Thomas! Not counting Saul of Tarsus!
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Glory to God!
If you’d like to see the “half-class” …
— Dr. Mike Bagwell
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