Introducing My New Bible Devotional for the Summer

I am excited to announce the upcoming release of my new Bible devotional, designed to help readers deepen their faith and grow closer to God each day. This devotional is crafted for anyone seeking daily inspiration, encouragement, and practical guidance from Scripture.

What Makes This Devotional Unique?

Daily Scripture Readings: Each day features a carefully selected Bible verse to meditate on.

Reflective Insights: Each entry is designed to help the reader connect the Scripture to real-life experiences.

Personal Application: Practical prompts encourage readers to apply God’s Word in daily living.

Life Focus: Every entry concludes with a short challenge or reflection, inviting God’s presence into your day.

My Heart Behind This Devotional:

My prayer is that these daily entries will guide you on a journey of spiritual growth. Whether you read it in the morning to start your day or at night for reflection and rest, I hope these daily entries become a space where you encounter God’s love and truth.

We start this coming Sunday (July 5). I hope you will be a part of reading this each day.

We Are Disciples—Follow Him (21:19–25)

Jesus has just spoken about Peter’s life and ministry. Now He speaks about Peter’s death. This revelation must have been a shock to Peter to have the Lord speak so openly about his death. Doubtless Peter was glad to be restored to fellowship and apostleship. But why mention martyrdom?

When Jesus spoke about His death the first time, Peter had opposed it (Matt. 16:21ff.). Peter had even drawn his sword in the garden, trying unsuccessfully to defend his Lord. But Peter had sworn that he would die for the Lord Jesus but he was terrible at it when it mattered. (You and I probably would have done worse!) Whoever commits himself to serve the Lord must honestly face this question of death.

When a man has made up his mind about death, then he is ready to live and to serve! The death of our Lord is a constant theme in the gospel of John. He knew His “hour” would come, and He was ready to do the will of the Father. If it is the will of God, His followers must give themselves as He gave Himself for us and be “living sacrifices” (Rom. 12:1–2) who are “ready to be offered” (2 Tim. 4:6–8).

That same morning Peter had “girded himself” and run to the shore to meet Jesus (John 21:7). One day someone else would take over Peter and kill him (cf. 2 Peter 1:13–14). Tradition says Peter was crucified upside down, as he was not worthy to die like his Master.

However, Peter's death would not be a tragedy; it would be to the glory of God! The death of Lazarus glorified God (John 11:4, 40) as did the death of Jesus (John 12:23ff.). Paul’s profound concern was that Christ be magnified in him, whether by life or by death (Phil. 1:20–21). This should also be our desire.

Our Lord’s words, “Follow me!” must have given new joy and love to Peter’s heart. Jesus literally told Peter to keep on following Him. At once Peter began to follow Jesus as he had done before his grievous denial. But Peter had looked away from the Lord Jesus for a moment, a mistake he had made at least twice before. After that first remarkable catch of fish, Peter looked away from his Lord and looked at himself. “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5:8). When Peter was walking on the stormy sea with Jesus, he took his eyes off the Lord and looked at the wind and waves, and immediately he began to sink (Matt. 14:30). It is dangerous to look at the circumstances and not look to the Lord.

Why did Peter begin looking back from his Lord? He could hear someone approaching behind him. The apostle John was also a follower of Jesus Christ. Peter acted foolishly and asked Jesus, “What shall this man do?” In other words, “Lord, you just told me what will happen to me; now what about John?”

The Lord rebuked Peter and told him his business was to follow and not to meddle in the affairs of other believers. Be careful when you stop focusing on the Lord and start looking at other Christians! The goal and practice of every believer should be to be "looking unto Jesus” (Heb. 12:1–2). If we become preoccupied with ourselves, our circumstances, or other Christians, we disobey the Lord and may sidetrack ourselves from His will. Keep your eyes of faith on Him and on Him alone.

This does not mean neglecting others, for we have the responsibility to care for one another (Phil. 2:1–4). Rather, it means we must not let our curiosity about others lead us away from following the Lord. God has a plan for us, and He also has plans for our Christian friends and associates. It is His business how He works in their lives. Our work is to follow Him as He leads us (Rom. 14:1–13).

I remember a critical time in my ministry when I was troubled because other ministers seemed to be getting God's "blessing" in great numbers, while I appeared to be reaping a meager harvest. I can confess to envying them and wishing that God had given their gifts to me. But the Lord gently rebuked me, as if to say, “What is that to you? Come with me." It was the message I needed, and I have tried to listen to it ever since.

Jesus did not say that John would live until His return. That is a faulty interpretation that only causes confusion. Confused saints cause more trouble than lost sinners! When people misunderstand the Word of God, they only breed misunderstanding of God’s people and His plans for them.

What the Lord said about John is kind of cryptic. Jesus never said that John would live until He returned or that John would die before He did. As it was, John lived the longest of all the disciples, and he did see the Lord’s return when he saw the visions that he recorded in the book of Revelations.

Now as John is reaching the end of his book, he reaffirms the credibility of his witness. Recall that witness is a major theme in the Gospel of John. (The word occurs forty-seven times.) John himself saw these things and wrote them for us as he was guided by the Holy Spirit. He might have said a lot more, but he wrote only what the Spirit told him to write.

The book ends with Peter and John following Jesus together, and He led them right into the book of Acts! How glorious it was to receive the power of the Spirit and to bear witness to Jesus Christ! Had they not trusted, been transformed, and followed Him, they would have been successful fishermen on the Sea of Galilee, and the world would never have heard of them.

Jesus Christ is changing lives today. Anywhere He finds a believer who is willing to yield to His will, to listen to His Word and follow His way, He begins to transform that believer and accomplish remarkable things in that life. He starts doing wonderful things through that life as well.

Peter and John have been dead for centuries (apart from their books), but we are still here. We’re replacing him. What a responsibility! Such a privilege!

We can only win as we allow Him to change us.

We Are Shepherds—Love Him (21:9-18)

Jesus met His disciples on the beach where He had already prepared breakfast for them. The whole scene must have awakened Peter’s memory and aroused his conscience. He was remembering that first catch of fish (Luke 5:1-11) and maybe even the feeding of the five thousand with bread and fish (John 6). It was at the end of the latter that Peter had given his plain testimony of his faith in Jesus Christ (John 6:66–71). The fire of coals would surely remind him of the fire at which he had denied the Lord (John 18:18). It is well that we should recall the past; we may have something to confess.

In John’s gospel there are three major “invitations”: “Come and see” (John 1:39), “Come and drink” (John 7:37), and “Come and dine” (John 21:12). How loving of Jesus to feed Peter before He took care of his spiritual needs! He gave Peter an opportunity to dry off, to become warm, to satisfy his hunger, and to enjoy personal fellowship. Let's learn from this excellent example in caring for God's people. The spiritual is certainly more important than the physical, but caring for the physical can lead to spiritual ministry. Our Lord does not so magnify “the soul” as to overlook the body.

Peter had already met privately with his Lord and no doubt had taken care of Peter’s sins (Luke 24:34; 1 Cor. 15:5), but since Peter had denied the Lord publicly, it was important that there be a public restoration. Sin is to be treated only as far as it is known. Private sins should be privately confessed and public sins publicly. Peter had denied his Lord three times, and Jesus then asked him three personal questions. He also encouraged him by giving him a threefold commission, which restored Peter to his ministry.

The problem is Peter's love for the Lord Jesus, and that is a key problem with us today. But what did the Lord mean by "lovest thou me more than these"? Was He saying, “Do you love Me more than you love these other men?' This was never a problem among the disciples. They all loved the Lord Jesus above all things, but they did not always obey Him perfectly. Perhaps Jesus was saying, 'Do you love Me more than these boats and nets and fish?' Again, this scenario is unlikely, since there is no evidence that Peter ever wanted to go back to the fishing business permanently. Fishing didn't seem to have anything to do with the Savior's love.

The question was probably asking, 'Do you love me—as you said—more than these other disciples love me?' Peter had claimed that he loved Christ and had even claimed that he loved Him more than the other men did.
I will give up my life for thee. (John 13:37). "Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended." (Matt. 26:33). There is more than a hint in these boastful utterances of Peter's belief that he loved the Lord more than did the other disciples.

In this Bible passage, many commentators note the use of two different words for “love.” When our Lord asked His questions in John 21:15-16, He used the word "agape," which is the Greek term for the highest kind of love—sacrificial love, divine love. Peter always used "phileo," which refers to the love of a friend for a friend, a fondness for another person. Both Jesus and Peter used the word "phileo" in John 21:17.

But we should not overemphasize this distinction, since the two words are often used interchangeably in the Gospel of John. God's love for man is agape love in John 3:16, but it is phileo love in John 16:27. The Father loves His Son with agape love in John 3:35 and phileo love in John 5:20. Christians should love one another. In John 13:34, this love is agape love, but in John 15:19, it is phileo love. So John would seem to have employed these two words as synonyms, whatever subtle distinctions might have existed between them.

Two other things are worth remembering: we should not be too hard on Peter. In response to the first two questions, Peter affirmed his agape love by saying, “Yes, Lord!” Peter’s use of phileo indicated his full agreement with the Lord’s use of agape. Secondly, Peter and Jesus spoke Aramaic, of course, but the Holy Spirit transcribed the conversation in common Greek. In this case, it is unwise to press the Greek too far.

Peter, with his faults and failings, truly loved the Lord and was not ashamed to say so. The other men were certainly listening to Peter and benefiting from the conversation, for they too had failed the Lord after boasting of their devotion. Peter had already confessed his sin and been forgiven. Now he was being restored to the apostleship and to leadership.

But the image is transformed from that of the fisherman to that of the shepherd. Peter was to be both an evangelist (catching the fish) and pastor (shepherding the flock). Separating these two is a shame because they should go together. Pastors should evangelize (2 Tim. 4:5) and then shepherd the people they have won so that they mature in the Lord.

Jesus gave three admonitions to Peter: “Feed My lambs,” “Shepherd/Tend My sheep,” and “Feed My sheep.” Feeding and leading are the shepherd's jobs for both lambs and mature sheep. What a wonderful responsibility to be a shepherd of God’s flock (1 Peter 5:2)! There are enemies who would destroy the flock, and the shepherd must be alert and courageous. (Acts 20:28-35) Sheep are naturally ignorant and defenseless, and they need the shepherd's protection and guidance.

The Holy Spirit does give men to churches to be pastors and equips them for that role (Eph. 4:11ff.), but it is also true that every Christian must help care for the flock. We all were gifted or given gifts from the Lord, and we should use what He has given us to help protect and perfect the flock. Sheep have a tendency to wander, and we must look after each other and support each other.
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Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd (John 10:11), the Great Shepherd (Heb. 13:20, 21), and the Chief Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:4). Pastors are “under-shepherds” and must obey Him in their care of the flock. The first and most important thing a pastor can do is love Jesus Christ. If the pastor truly loves Jesus Christ, he will love His sheep and will care for them tenderly. The Greek word for “sheep” at the end of John 21:17 is a term of endearment, meaning “dear sheep.” His sheep are precious to our Lord, and He wants His ministers to love them and to attend to them personally and lovingly. (Ezek. 34 shows God’s indictment of unfaithful shepherds, the leaders of Judah.) A pastor who loves the flock will faithfully serve it, regardless of what it may cost.

We Are Fishers of Men—Do What He Says (21:1–8)

The Lord had told His disciples to meet Him in Galilee, and this is the reason they were at the Sea of Galilee, or Sea of Tiberias (Matt. 26:32; 28:7–10; Mark 16:7). John does not tell us why Peter decided to go fishing. Some say he was quite within his rights to do as he did; he had bills to meet, and fishing was the best way of getting the cash. Why just sit around? Get to work!

Some believe that Peter was called out of that kind of life (Luke 5:1-11), and it was wrong for him to go back. Peter said, "I go a-fishing," and they said, "We will go with thee!" If he was mistaken, they were mistaken also, and it is a sad thing when a believer leads others astray.

It is likely that at least seven of the twelve apostles were fishermen. Why did Jesus call so many fishermen to be His disciples? For one thing, fishermen are brave, and Jesus needs people with a brave heart to follow Him. They are also committed to one thing, and it's difficult to keep them off track. Fishermen never surrender! (We are, of course, talking about professional fishermen, not holidaymakers!) They know how to take orders and how to work together.

We have no way to prove whether Peter and his friends were right or wrong, but they were mistaken. However, we do know this: their efforts were wasted. Had they forgotten the words of the Lord, "For without Me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5)? They worked all night and caught nothing. Peter must have remembered what happened two years earlier when Jesus called him to full-time discipleship (Luke 5:1–11). That night Peter had fished all night and caught nothing, but Jesus had taken his failure and turned it into success.

Perhaps Peter’s impetuousness and self-assurance were showing again. He was honest; he did his best, but it was all in vain. What a likeness they bear to some of the Lord's servants! They really think they are doing the will of God, but their works are vain. They are without the guidance of the Lord, so they cannot expect to receive blessings from Him.

Our Lord was sometimes unrecognized after His resurrection (Luke 24:16; John 20:14), so His disciples did not recognize Him when He appeared on the shore at dawn. His question anticipated a negative answer. You haven't caught anything to eat, have you? The answer they gave was short and perhaps a bit sheepish: “No.”

It was time for Jesus to take over the situation as He did when He called Peter into discipleship. He told them where to cast the net. They obeyed, and they caught 153 fish! The difference between success and failure was the width of the ship! When we let Jesus give the orders, we are never far from success, and we are usually closer to it than we think.

John was the first to recognize the stranger on the shore as their own Lord and Master. It was John who had leaned back at the table on the breast of the Lord (John 13:23) and who had stood by the cross as his Lord suffered and died (John 19:26). Love is that which recognizes the Lord and bears the joyful news to others: “It is the Lord!”

Peter, in a typical impulsive move, quickly put on his outer garment ("naked" simply means "stripped for work") and dove into the water! He wanted to reach Jesus! This behavior runs counter to Luke 5:8, where Peter tells the Lord to leave him alone. The other six men came in the boat with the net full of fish. In the experience recorded in Luke 5, the nets began to break. But in this experience, the net did not break.

Maybe these two ‘fishing miracles’ can be viewed as showing how the Lord helps His people fish for lost souls. Without His guidance and blessing, our labor is wasted. In these days, we do not know how many fish we have caught, and it often seems that our nets are breaking. But at the end of the age, when we see the Lord, not a fish will be lost, and we shall know how many there are.

Jesus told the disciples, and us, that we are to be “fishers of men.” This phrase wasn’t new with Jesus; it was used by Greek and Roman teachers for years. To be a “fisher of men” in that day was to seek to persuade men and “catch” them with the truth. A fisherman catches living acquatic fish, but when he receives them, they die. Christian witness is trying to catch "dead fish" (dead in their sins), and when he or she "catches" them, they are made alive in Christ!
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Now we can see why Jesus had so many fishermen in the disciples' band. Fishermen know how to work. They have the courage and faith to go out “into the deep.” They are very patient and persistent and won’t give up. They know how to work together, and they know how to use the equipment and the boat. What examples can we follow in our quest to “catch fish” for Jesus Christ?

We are “fishers of men” and there are “fish” all around us. We will catch the fish if we obey His directions.

CONVERTED TO SERVE (John 21)

The average reader would expect that John concluded his book with the dramatic testimony of Thomas (John 20:28-31) and wonder why John added another chapter. The main reason is the apostle Peter, who was a close associate of John in ministry (Acts 3:1). John did not desire to close his Gospel without telling his readers that Peter was restored to his apostleship. In addition to the information in this chapter, we ask why Peter was so prominent in the first twelve chapters of Acts.

John had another purpose: to correct the false rumor among believers that he would live until the Lord's return (John 21:23). John stressed that the words of our Lord had been misunderstood.

I think John had something else in mind; he wanted to teach us how to relate to the risen Christ. During the forty days between His resurrection and ascension, our Lord appeared and disappeared at will, visiting with the disciples and preparing them for the coming of the Spirit and their future ministries (Acts 1:1–9). They never knew when He would come, so they had to stay alert! (The fact that He could come for His people today should keep us on our toes!) The time was important for the disciples; they would take His place in the world and start to carry the message to others.
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In this chapter (John 21) I see three pictures of the believer, and with each picture there is a responsibility.

Death to Life (20:29-31)

John could not end his book without bringing the resurrection miracle to his readers. We should not envy Thomas and the other disciples, because we can experience the power of Christ’s resurrection in our lives today. That was why John wrote this gospel—so that people in every age could know that Jesus is God and that faith in Him brings everlasting life.

It is not necessary to “see” Jesus Christ to believe. Yes, it was a blessing for the early Christians to see their Lord and know He was alive, but that did not save them. They were saved, not by sight, but through faith. The emphasis throughout the gospel of John is on believing. In this gospel, we are called upon nearly a hundred times to believe in Jesus Christ.

Today we cannot see Christ or the miracles (signs) that John wrote about in this book. However, the record is there, and that is all that we need. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17; and note 1 John 5:9–13). As you read John’s record, you come face to face with Jesus Christ, how He lived, what He said, and what He did. All the evidence leads to the conclusion that He is God in the flesh, the Savior of the world.

The signs that John selected and described in this book are proof of the deity of Christ. They are important. Sinners are not saved by believing on miracles; they are saved by believing on Jesus Christ. Many of the Jews in Jerusalem believed on Jesus because of His miracles, but He did not believe in them (John 2:23–25)! Miracles brought great crowds after Him (John 6:2), but in the end most of those people left Him for good (John 6:66). Even the religious leaders who plotted His death believed He did miracles, but this “faith” did not save them (John 11:47ff.).

Faith in His miracles should lead to faith in His Word and to personal faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord. Jesus Himself said that faith in His works (miracles) was only the first step in the direction of faith in the Word of God (John 5:36-40). The sinner must “hear” the Word if he is to be saved (John 5:24).

There was no need for John to describe every miracle that our Lord performed; in fact, he supposed that a complete record could never be written (John 21:25). The life and ministry of Jesus Christ were simply too rich and full for any writer, even an inspired one, to provide a complete record. But you don’t need a full record. All of the basic facts are here for us to read and consider. There is sufficient truth for any sinner to believe and be saved!

The theme of John’s gospel is that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God." He offered a threefold proof of this thesis: our Lord’s works, our Lord’s walk, and our Lord’s words. In this gospel you see Jesus doing miracles; you see Him living a perfect life among His enemies; and you hear Him saying things that nobody else could say.

Jesus was either crazy, deceived, or exactly who He claimed to be. Some of His enemies did say He was deranged and deluded. But most of the people who watched Him and listened to Him concluded He was unique, different from anyone they had ever known. How could a madman, or a deluded man, do what Jesus did? When people believed Him, He changed their lives! That doesn't happen when you trust a madman or a deceiver.

He said He was God in human flesh, the Son of God, the Savior of the world. That is what He is!

John was not content to explain a subject. He was an evangelist with a mission to complete. He wanted his readers to believe in Jesus Christ and be saved! He was not writing a biography to entertain or a history to enlighten. He was writing an evangel to change men’s lives.

“Life” is one of John’s key words; he uses it at least thirty-six times. Jesus gives sinners abundant and eternal life. The only way they can have it is by personal faith in Him.

If sinners need life, then the implication is that they are dead. "And you hath He quickened [made alive, resurrected] who were dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1). Salvation is not resuscitation; it is resurrection (John 5:24). The lost sinner is not sick or feeble; he is dead.

This life comes “through His name.” What is His name? In John’s gospel, the emphasis is on His name, “I am.” Jesus makes seven profound “I am” statements in this gospel, giving the lost sinner all he needs.

Eternal life is not "endless time," for even the lost will live forever in hell. “Eternal life” means the life of God Himself, experienced today. It is not a quantity of time, but a quality of life. It is the mystical experience of “heaven on earth” now. The Christian does not have to die to have this eternal life; he possesses it in Christ today.

The ten disciples were changed from fear to courage, and Thomas was changed from unbelief to confidence. Now John asks you to trust Jesus Christ and to be changed from death to eternal life.

If you have already made this life-changing decision, express your thanks to God for the precious gift of eternal life.

​If you have not decided to do this, do it now.

“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36).

From Unbelief to Faith ​(20:26-28)

Why was Thomas absent when the disciples met on the evening of the resurrection day? Was he so disappointed that he didn't want to be with his friends? Usually, when we are discouraged and beaten down, we need our friends even more! Solitude feeds discouragement and lets it grow into self-pity, which is worse.

Maybe Thomas was afraid. But John 11:16 appears to make him out as a brave man, ready to go to Judea and die with the Lord! Thomas was a spiritual man who wanted to know the truth and was not ashamed to ask questions, as we see in John 14:5. Thomas appears to have had a "pessimistic" perspective. We sometimes call him “Doubting Thomas,” but Jesus did not reprimand him for his doubts. He upbraided him for unbelief, saying, "Be not faithless, but believing.” Doubt is often an intellectual problem: we want to believe, but our faith is flooded with problems and questions. Unbelief is a moral problem; we refuse to believe.

What would Thomas doubt? After all, the other Christians reported that Jesus Christ was alive. In John 20:25, the verb "said" is in the active voice, thus implying that they were saying to him that they had seen the Lord Jesus Christ alive. The women and the Emmaus pilgrims certainly added their witness to this testimony. We admire Thomas’s desire for personal experience but must fault him for laying down conditions for the Lord to meet.

He had two names like most people in those days: Both “Didymus” and “Thomas” mean "twin" in Greek and Aramaic, respectively. Who was Thomas’ twin? We don't know—but occasionally you and I feel as if we were his twins. How often have we refused to believe and required God to give us proof of Himself!

Thomas is a powerful warning to us all not to miss meeting with God’s people on the Lord’s Day (Heb. 10:22–25). Because Thomas was not there, he lost the opportunity of seeing Jesus Christ, of hearing His words of peace, of receiving His commission and gift of spiritual life. He had to go through a week of fear and unbelief when he could have had joy and peace! When you are tempted to miss church, think of Thomas. You never know what special blessing you might be missing!

However, he deserves credit for showing up the next week. The other ten men had told Thomas they had seen the Lord’s hands and side (John 20:20), so Thomas used that as his test. Thomas had seen Jesus raise Lazarus, so why doubt the resurrection of our Lord himself? But he still wanted proof; "seeing is believing."

Thomas’s words help us see the difference between doubt and unbelief. Doubt says, 'I can't believe it!' There are too many problems!” Unbelief says, “I will not believe unless you provide me the evidence I ask for!” In fact, the Greek text uses a double negative: 'I will positively not believe!'

Jesus had heard the words of Thomas. No one had to tell Him. So, on the next Lord’s Day, the Lord came into the room (again, the doors were locked) and addressed Thomas and his unbelief. He still said, “Shalom—peace!” to them. Even Thomas’ unbelief could not take away the peace and joy of the other disciples in the Lord.

How gracious our Lord is to come down to our plane of experience to lift us up to where we ought to be. The Lord gave Gideon the “tests of faith” he asked for (Judges 6:36-40), and He gave Thomas what he asked for too. There is no record that Thomas ever accepted the Lord’s invitation. When the time came to prove his faith, Thomas needed no further proof.

Our Lord told Thomas to stop becoming faithless but become a believer. Jesus saw a dangerous process underway in Thomas’s heart, and He wanted to stop it. The best commentary on this is Hebrews 3, where God warns of "an evil heart of unbelief” (Heb. 3:12).

The psychology of doubt and unbelief is difficult to understand. Maybe it's something to do with personality traits; some people are more trusting than others. Maybe Thomas was so downhearted that he was ready to give up, so he “threw out a challenge” and didn’t really think Jesus would take him up on it. But in any case Thomas was faced with his own words and had to make a decision.

John 20:29 shows that Thomas’ testimony was based not on touching Jesus but on seeing Him. My Lord and my God! This statement is the last of the testimonies to the deity of Jesus Christ that John records. The others are John the Baptist (John 1:34), Nathanael (John 1:49), Jesus Himself (John 5:25; 10:36), Peter (John 6:69), the healed blind man (John 9:35), Martha (John 11:27), and of course, John himself (John 20:30-31).

It is comforting to know that the Lord had a personal interest and concern for “Doubting Thomas.” He wanted to strengthen his faith and to share in the blessings that awaited His followers. Thomas reminds us that unbelief deprives us of blessings and opportunities. It may sound sophisticated and intellectual to ask what Jesus did, but usually such questions are evidence of unyielding hearts, not of searching minds. Thomas represents the "scientific method" of living, and it didn't work! When a skeptic says, “I won’t believe unless—,” he’s already admitting that he does believe! He believes in the validity of the test or experiment he has invented! If he can believe in his own “scientific approach,” why not believe in what God has revealed?

We have to remember that everyone lives by faith. The only thing different is what that faith is in. Christians believe in God and in His Word; unsaved people believe in themselves.

​THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION.

As the news of Jesus’ life began to circulate among his followers, at first hesitantly, then with enthusiasm. His disciples didn’t even believe the first reports, and Thomas wanted proof. But wherever people confronted the reality of His resurrection, they experienced a change in their lives. In fact, you can experience that same transformation today. As you see in John 20:19-31, the changes that took place in the lives of people, ask yourself, “Have I met the risen Christ? Has He altered my life?”

From Fear to Courage (20:19-25)

Our Lord was laid in the tomb on the Sabbath and rose again from the dead on the first day of the week. Sunday is called by many the “Christian Sabbath,” but Sunday is not the Sabbath day. The seventh day of the week, the Sabbath, commemorates God’s finished work of creation (Gen. 2:1–3). The Lord’s Day commemorates the completed work of redemption of Christ, the “new creation.” God the Father labored six days and then rested. God the Son suffered six hours on the cross and then rested.

God gave Israel the Sabbath as a special “sign” that they belonged to Him (Ex. 20:8–11; 31:13–17; Neh. 9:14). The nation was to have that day for physical rest and refreshment for man and beast, but for Israel, it was not commanded as a special day of assembly and worship. But the scribes and the Pharisees put all kinds of restrictions on the Sabbath observance until it became a day of bondage rather than a day of blessing. Jesus observed the Sabbath day but intentionally violated its traditions.

On that first day of the week, there were at least five resurrection appearances of our Lord: to Mary Magdalene (John 20:11–18), to the other women (Matt. 28:9–10), to Peter (1 Cor. 15:5; Luke 24:34), to the two Emmaus disciples (Luke 24:13–32), and to the disciples without Thomas (John 20:19–25). The next Sunday the disciples met again, and Thomas was there (John 20:26–31). It appears that the believers met together on Sunday evening, the day that came to be called “the Lord’s day” (Revelation 1:10). The early church met on the first day of the week to worship the Lord and remember His death and resurrection (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:1–2).

Jesus rose from the dead after the Sabbath was over (Mark 16:1). On the first day of the week, He rose (Matt. 28:1; Luke 24:1; John 20:1). The change from the seventh to the first day was not due to a church decree but to the faith and witness of the first believers. For centuries, the Jewish Sabbath linked itself with law: six days of work, then you rest. But the Lord's Day, the first day of the week, is the day of grace. First there is faith in the living Christ, and then there will be works.

The Scriptures provide us no evidence that God ever gave the original Sabbath command to the Gentiles or that it was repeated for the church to keep. The church epistles repeat nine of the Ten Commandments, but the Sabbath commandment is not repeated. Paul is clear that believers should not use “special days” to test fellowship or spirituality (Rom. 14:5ff.; Col. 2:16–23).

How did our Lord turn the fear of His disciples into courage? For He had come unto them. We do not know where these ten frightened men met behind locked doors. Jesus came to them and reassured them. He could come into the room without opening the doors in His resurrection body! It was a physical body, for He asked them to touch Him—and He even ate some fish (Luke 24:41–43). But it was another sort of body, one not subject to what we call 'the laws of nature.'

It is an amazing thing that these men were really scared. The women had told them Jesus was alive, and the two Emmaus disciples had added their personal witness (Luke 24:33-35). Jesus probably appeared to Peter personally sometime that afternoon (Mark 16:7; Luke 24:34; 1 Cor. 15:5), although Peter’s public restoration would not occur until later (John 21). No wonder Jesus reproached them then “for their unbelief and hardness of heart” (Mark 16:14).

His first word to them was the traditional salutation, “Shalom"—peace! He might have rebuked them for their faithlessness and cowardice on the preceding Sabbath, but he did not. He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us after our iniquities. (Ps. 103:10). The work of the cross is peace (Rom. 5:1; Eph. 2:14-17), and the message they would carry would be the gospel of peace (Rom. 10:15). Man had waged war against God (Ps. 2; Acts 4:23–30), but God would declare “Peace!” to those who would believe.

Not only did Jesus come to them, but He also reassured them. He showed them His wounded hands and side, giving them the opportunity to see that it was their Master and not a phantom. The Gospels do not record wounds in His feet, but Psalm 22:16 shows that His feet were nailed to the cross as well.

However, the wounds were more than identification; they were evidence that the price for salvation had been paid and man indeed could have “peace with God.” It is in the person and work of Jesus Christ that we have the ground of all our peace. He died for us; He defeated death and rose from the dead, and now He lives for us. He cannot be shut out from us in our fears! He comes to us in grace and comforts us with His word. 

Shining Faith (20:11-18) - Part 2 of 2
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Some students feel that Jesus did return to the Father that morning, and that was the ascension He was referring to. No other passage in the New Testament supports this interpretation. I think it stretches the type too far to say He was fulfilling the symbolism of the Day of Atonement and presenting the blood to the Father. (Lev. 16). He had no blood to show; He had presented it on the cross when He became sin for us. In His resurrection glory, Jesus was “flesh and bones” (Luke 24:39), not “flesh and blood." The resurrection itself was proof that the work of redemption had been accomplished (raised because of our justification—Rom. 4:24-25). What more could He have done? Absolutely nothing, praise His holy name.

Our Lord never spoke of “our Father" or “our God." He rightly made a distinction between His relationship with the Father and that of the disciples. We say “our Father” and “our God” because all believers are part of one family and stand equally before God. He told Mary and the other followers that God was their Father and that He would be with the Father in Heaven after His ascension. In His Upper Room message, He had told them that He was going back to the Father and that the Spirit would come to them.

It was the same Jesus, only with a glorified body, but it wasn’t quite the same relationship. We must be careful not to relate to Christ “after the flesh” (1 Cor. 5:16), i.e., relate to Him as if He were still in His state of humiliation. He is now the glorious Son of God, and we must worship Him as such. When John was with Jesus at the table, he leant against His bosom (John 13:23), but when John saw Jesus on the Isle of Patmos, he fell at His feet as dead (Rev. 1:17)!

If Mary had kept Jesus to herself and had been selfish and disobedient, she would have lost Him. She stood up and ran to the disciples and told them the wonderful news that she had seen the Lord alive. “I have seen Him!” (see John 20:14, 18, 20, 25, 29). Mark tells us that these believers were mourning and weeping—and they would not believe her (Mark 16:9-11)! Mary had been crying too, and Jesus had turned her sorrow into joy. Their grief would have been turned to joy too, if they had believed. Unbelief is terribly deadening to a person. No wonder God warns us against "an evil heart of unbelief" (Heb. 3:12).

Mary told of His resurrection and that she had seen Him personally, but she also spoke of the words that He had spoken to her. We see once again the importance of the Word of God. Mary could not transfer her experience over to them, but she could share the Word, and it is the Word that produces faith (Rom. 10:17). The living Christ gave us His living Word (1 Peter 1:23-25).

Faith based on solid evidence is a valuable thing, but the evidence should lead us to the Word, and the Word should lead us to the Savior. It is one thing to accept a doctrine and defend it; it is quite another to have a personal relationship to the living Lord. Peter and John were convinced Jesus was alive, but it wasn’t until that evening that they met the risen Christ in person with the other disciples. Jesus appeared to Peter sometime that afternoon (Luke 24:34; 1 Cor. 15:5). Proof that does not issue in experience is only dead dogma. The key is believing God’s Word.