Perhaps you think that even that question is ridiculous. You’re not sure that Jesus even existed in the first place, and so to even try to prove that he is alive is beyond the bounds of possibility. Or perhaps you reckon that people who think Jesus is alive are like the people who try to claim that Elvis is alive.
There couldn’t possibly be any evidence, any proof. To believe that Jesus is alive, and to believe in Christianity is to take a leap in the dark, to summon up some blind faith in order to believe no matter what the facts might say. As Richard Dawkins once said:
‘Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence.’
Is that true? As we normally gather here in this church building, and as we gather digitally this morning, have we turned our brains off? Are we believing in Jesus no matter what evidence may or may not exist? On first reading, it even appears as if that kind of ‘don’t think about it, just believe’ attitude is being endorsed and encouraged in John 20. Taken by itself, it might sound as if ignorance is bliss: ‘blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’
Out of context, it sounds as if you have to just accept everything, no matter how strange it might appear, no questions asked. You haven’t seen it for yourself, but you’ll be blessed if you just believe it anyway. And maybe you’ve been accused of that kind of faith by a family member or a friend, or maybe someone in work. So they’ll say - you show me God, and I’ll believe. If I just see God, then I’ll believe.
So have we turned our brains off? Are we naive? Gullible? Unthinking? Not at all! Christianity is based on the historical fact that Jesus, who was crucified, has been raised to life again, resurrected. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, ‘If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins... we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead...’ (1 Cor 15:17,19,20)
So how can we be sure that Jesus really is alive? Last week, we looked at the empty tomb. Today, we find even more evidence that Jesus really is alive. We see that evidence in the disciples of Jesus, and in particular one of the disciples, known by the name doubting Thomas. We’ll come to him in a second, but consider first the disciples generally.
Look at how they were personally transformed. As our reading begins in verse 19, they are in lockdown. They’re together in one place, and the doors are locked for fear of the Jews. Perhaps they thought that they would be next, as the leaders moved against the followers of Jesus. And so they are fearful.
By verse 20, they are overjoyed. So what brought about the transformation? It wasn’t that they were having what we would call a wake, and they were just sitting around, telling stories of Jesus, remembering what he was like, and then they had a fuzzy feeling of remembrance, and they felt that he was with them in spirit. No, they were transformed because Jesus himself was standing in the room with them - physically, bodily.
It’s not that Jesus lives on in our memory, or lives on in our hearts. It’s that Jesus is alive, raised body and soul, in the room with them. He speaks the word of peace: ‘Peace be with you’ and shows them the price of that peace - showing them his hands and side - the wounds of love. The fearful disciples are now overjoyed.
They are also now sent. As Jesus was sent by the Father, so he now sends the disciples out into the world with the news of God’s peace, the forgiveness brought about through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
The resurrection changed the disciples from weak, fearful men into world-changers who gladly died for the truth that they staked their lives on - that Jesus was alive. As Charles Colson, who was imprisoned for his part in the Watergate scandal in American politics in 1972, said:
‘I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world - and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. You’re telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.’
Now, think about Thomas. He had missed that original meeting with Jesus. And he wouldn’t believe what the other disciples told him about seeing Jesus alive. He knew them, and yet he wanted proof; solid evidence for himself: ‘Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.’
Can you imagine that whole week? The others trying to convince him: ‘We have seen the Lord!’ But it wasn’t enough for him, doubting Thomas.
One week later, today, in fact, the disciples were together, and Thomas was there too. And once again, despite the locked doors, Jesus showed up. He greets them with the word of peace, but then turns directly to Thomas, and offers to him every one of his criteria for believing that Jesus was alive: ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.’
Now, we’re not told that Thomas did any of those things. He didn’t need to. Now he saw Jesus, face to face, resurrected, alive, and he exclaims. ‘My Lord and my God!’ His standard of evidence had been met, and he was sure, beyond all doubt, that Jesus is alive.
And it’s here that Jesus says those words about seeing and believing. Do you see how they fit in context: ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’
It took Thomas to see and then believe. But there is a blessing for those who haven’t seen and yet have believed. Now Jesus isn’t saying that you’re blessed if you turn off your brain and just accept it unthinkingly. He’s saying that we believe based on the evidence of the eyewitnesses - the testimony of the disciples who have seen and were sent. We can examine the evidence, and think hard about its reliability, and be sure that it is the truth. And as we do so, we are blessed.
And what is the blessing? It’s having life in Jesus’ name. The risen Lord Jesus shares his risen life with us, and assures us of life with him for all eternity.
It’s the reason that John wrote his gospel. He tells us at the end of our reading that he could have written about loads of other things that Jesus did. There was no shortage of source material. But he has written these signs down so that ‘you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.’
The evidence is here, in John’s gospel. if you aren’t a Christian, then why not sit down and read through John’s gospel some time? Maybe you’re feeling bored during the lockdown, looking for something to do. Read through it in a couple of hours. Examine the evidence and see if you could be persuaded to believe in Jesus.
If you are a Christian, then don’t stop thinking! Keep on reading, and examining the evidence, and rejoicing in the good news that Jesus is alive, that he can be trusted, that it is life-transforming. There is joy to be found, and peace, and blessing, as we believe in Jesus. And don’t be shy in sharing that good news with your friends and family.
Let’s pray:
Father we thank you that Jesus is alive,
and brings peace, and joy, and blessing.
Help us to believe in him
as we examine the evidence
and listen to your word. Amen.
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