April 28, 2019

Breaking Open the Scripture Scriptures for April 28th: Acts 5:27-32; Psalm 150; Revelation 1:4-8; John 20:19-31 Theme: Doubting Thomas John : The story of Jesus coming to the disciples in the upper room is always the story on the Sunday After Easter. The disciples have no idea of what to make of Jesus’ body not being in the tomb. They do not have faith in the resurrection on the Sunday when he rose. It is not until Jesus appears to them after the event, that they finally start to understand what is going on. We typically hear of this story as doubting Thomas. But the story is not about doubt, it about how Thomas responds to realizing that the man before his really is his Lord and Savior. He asks for a sign and he gets it. Thomas needed that assurance in order to go forward in his faith. Jesus gives it to him, but he gives it to many others. Even now, Jesus still shows his presence in this day and age. Acts: This is a powerful faith statement by Peter. Now that the disciples have come to understand what the resurrection means, they want to tell the world. They are all out in the streets full force preaching the gospel. Finally, they are turned into the authorities, who question them and tell them to stop preaching. But Peter realizes that it is far more important to listen to God, than to man. He knows now what he must do. Peter gives the faith statement that Jesus has been raised from the dead. And that the disciples are witnesses to this miracle and they have a responsibility to tell the whole world. That is the faith statement that motivates them to go to all different kinds of people and to experience all kinds of abuse all for the sake of spreading the good news of Jesus’ resurrection. Questions: What assurance are you looking for to have faith in Christ? When you get it, how will you respond? What actions are you compelled to take because of your faith? How do you respond to rejection of the message of God’s love?