Acts 5:29-42; 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 20:19-31

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I don’t think Thomas was wrong. Though he’s the one we always call “doubting”, he was being completely logical about the whole situation. Thomas had just seen his Lord arrested on Friday, put on trial, and condemned to hang on the cross. Jesus had died and was buried. By human experience, there’s no reversing that. Thomas simply accepted what the situation was.

Consider the history written in Acts. There were many others who rose up in Israel, claiming to be the Messiah. They drew many people to their cause, but inevitably it all came to an end. Their plans failed and their deceptions were exposed by their deaths. All of these would be on the minds of every Israelite. So why might Thomas think Jesus was different? He doubted it because his experience had told him that he had been deceived just like many before were.

For this has always been the case in our world, what our experience has shown us. The plans of men will always come to an end. Whether they last for a day or a generation, inevitably, they will fall apart; they will dissolve; they’ll be dispersed.

But the plans of God are different and so was Jesus. Jesus wasn’t just another fake Messiah. He was the real Son of God come down from Heaven. For when God makes a plan, he will surely bring it to its completion. He will see it to the end. For this is what he did. He planned our salvation so that it would be completed. No human folly or deception or resistance would stop God from completing it. Jesus would die for the sins of the whole world according to God’s salvific plan and on the third day, Jesus would rise from the dead! The Apostles were made witnesses to this. They got to see God bring to completion this incredible plan and work in Jesus Christ. 

For so comes their charge before the Pharisees in Acts. “We must obey God rather than men,” Acts 5:29. God has revealed his plan for you and your life in his word. He desires the salvation of all people who obey his Word. For his word to us is forgiveness, life, and righteousness. His plan is eternal life. For how much more should we listen to God than man? When man contradicts the plan of God, it’s not for us to listen and obey man. Rather, we’re to listen to our Savior who will see his plan to its completion. For so let us listen to and obey God and he will bring to completion eternal life in you! 

Pastor Sorenson

Prayer:

Almighty God, grant that we who have celebrated the Lord’s resurrection may by Your grace confess in our life and conversation that Jesus is Lord and God; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.