Expositions by H. A. Wilson
Taken from Grace and Truth Magazine 1923
Memory Verse — John 20:31
John 20:30-31 says: "Many other
signs truly did Jesus in the presence
of the disciples which are not written in
this book, but these are written that ye
might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God, and that believing ye might have
life through His Name." These words
bring before us again the primary
purpose of the Book of John which is to
convince men of the deity of Jesus. Without
question these words are a summary of the
whole argument of the book, but it is
just as certain that they also refer in a
particular way to the events which are
recorded immediately before. The
post-resurrection actions and words of Jesus in
His contact with the disciples breathed the
atmosphere of deity, and they breathed it
so strongly that the disciples found great
joy in believing in Him. Even doubting Thomas
was convinced and his doubt vanished
in a great flood of faith which swept
over his soul.
I THE DISCIPLES' JOY IN THE PRESENCE OF THE RISEN LORD
John 20:19-24
The joy of the disciples
was
like the sunshine after a storm. Their
hearts had been weighed down with sorrow,
but now their Lord was risen from the
dead and was proved to be the Son of God
and the Saviour of men. This joy was
intensified by the disciples' consciousness
of His deity. He had not failed and He would
not fail. Every contact which Jesus had
with them deepened their confidence in Him
and increased their understanding of
His power and love, for in all He gave
fresh evidence of His deity.
Jesus' power over closed doors
showed His deity because it revealed
that He had risen above mere natural laws.
As the disciples were gathered in
secret behind closed doors, suddenly Jesus
stood in the midst with them. The door did
not open, and no man saw Him enter, but
His voice was heard and turning they saw
that Jesus was with them. This power is not
the power of men. It is the power of
God. It speaks of Him who ordained
the natural laws and Who alone has
power to rise above them. Gen.
1:1; Jno. 1:1-3.
A wonderful spiritual
application of this manifestation of power may be
made. Jesus has power over the closed
doors of our lives. We need not think we
can shut Him out of the secret
places. We may shut the doors against men
and effectually keep them out, but we
cannot keep out the Son of God. He can
enter even through closed doors into
the very secrets of men's hearts. I Sam.
16:7; Jno. 2:24-2 5; Heb. 4:13.
Still another way in which
Jesus manifested His deity was by giving
the disciples peace in the midst of
tribulation. They were gathered in secret and
had barred the doors because of fear
of the Jews. They had markedly shown
their enmity to the Lord Jesus and to
His followers in crucifying Him, so the
disciples might naturally fear that they
were seeking them to do them harm. Now as
Jesus stood in the midst with them He
spoke words of power and comfort.
"Peace be unto you." What a strange thing
to say when every reason existed why
they should not be in peace. But ah! the Son
of God has power to give peace even
when all about is troubled and disturbed,
and when every circumstance is calculated
to alarm. His words were no mere formal
greeting or vain wish. They were words of
power and blessing. Their effect is
evident in the days which followed when,
though the disciples were in prison and
before magistrates — when they were
being persecuted and even martyred for
their faith — yet they were kept in peace. So
too as we become conscious of Jesus'
presence in our lives and as we learn to trust
Him more confidently we may learn the
same secret of peace. We may be kept in
peace, even though severely assailed by the griefs, and sorrows, and fears, and petty
annoyances of life. Phil. 4:6-7; Isa. 26:3.
The hands and feet of Jesus
spoke eloquently of His deity as He
showed them to His disciples. They told of the
death which He had suffered and were a
constant reminder of the wonder of
His resurrection. Jesus had burst the
bonds of death and had come forth from
the grave victorious. What a marvelous
manifestation of power! He had power over
life and death, and though He did lay
down His life for us, yet He had
power to take it again. His pierced hands and
the wound in His side testified that
He had done this. Only God has power
over life and death, so the wounds of
Jesus testified with convincing power that He
was the Son of God. The force of this
testimony will be recognized in the day of
His coming again. They who pierced Him
will look upon Him, and seeing the
wounds will realize that they have
slain the Son of God. Israel, who has rejected
Him will then recognize Him and see
her mistake, and will bow before Him in
humility, confessing Him as her Lord and
her God. John 5:26; Rom. 1:4; Rev. 1:7,
18; Zech. 13:6; Acts 2:24; Isa. 53.
"Then
were the disciples glad
when they saw the Lord."
What a joy was
theirs! And what joy is ours under the
same circumstances! We do not see Him
with the physical sight, but in faith we
look upon His pierced hands and feet and
upon His wounded side. In faith we say:
"He was wounded for our transgressions.
He was bruised for our iniquities. The
chastisement of our peace was upon Him,
and with His stripes we are healed."
What a flood of joy flows over the soul
which meditates upon the love which
God has for us and of which those wounds
are clear evidence. So, too, when we step
aside from the hurry and rush of life
— away from business cares and social
activities — and consciously enter into the
presence of our Lord we can hear Him
saying: "Peace be unto you." Then our
hearts are filled with an unspeakable joy.
The Scriptures which we read, the Bible
studies which we hear or which we read,
the testimonies to which we listen,
the answers to prayer which we receive— all
the things which give us a closer
acquaintance with our Lord bring joy to our souls.
We, too, are glad when we see the Lord,
for real joy is found only in close
communion with Him. Acts 2:25-26; Psa. 16:11; I
Pet. 1:8. Then too Jesus' renewed
commission to the disciples speaks of His
deity. "As my Father hath sent me, even so
send I you." Surely those words fell with
especial force upon the ears of the disciples
as they heard them in the light of events
which had just preceded. They must have
realized in a real way that they were called
to suffer in His service. Perhaps, too,
the glory of the resurrection of Jesus
touched the prospect of suffering with radiant
light, for it gave a foretaste of the
reward which would be theirs for faithful
service when they too should share His
resurrection life. What a fellowship those words
must have implied to their minds! Jesus
had passed through the valley of the shadow
of death, and had come forth in the
resurrection. He had been separated from them
once, but now in deathless life He could
be with them forever. He had given them
a commission before His death, but
had been separated from them. Now, however,
He renews the commission, and with it
gives a new assurance and promise of
fellowship. The authority which Jesus
manifested shows us that He is God. Matt.
28:19-20; Col. 3:24.
And what power He gave them
for the task which He had set before
them! He breathed on them and said
"receive ye the Holy Spirit." Yes He had
promised the Holy Spirit, and now here was
the fulfilment of His promise. They
were to be indwelt by the personal
representative of their Lord, Who was to lead them
and to empower them as they sought to
do His will. Jesus' gift of the Holy
Spirit also testifies to His deity, for the
Holy Spirit is God and is subject only to
the will of God. John 14:26; John 16:7-13. Still another thing may be noted
which speaks of Jesus' deity, and that
is His power to forgive sin. "Whose
soever sins ye remit they are remitted, and
whose soever sins ye retain they are
retained." This does not mean, as some have
imagined, that men have power to forgive
sins, but rather they are to follow the
will and leading of God in this matter. Jesus
was really saying to them, "Whose soever
sins ye remit shall have been remitted,
and whose soever sins ye retain shall have
been retained." In other words they
were to tell men their sins were
forgiven or not forgiven only in accordance with
what God had already decided in
heaven. If a man believed in Jesus they had
God's Word for it that that man's sins
were forgiven, and they could say to him
with assurance: "Your sins are
forgiven." But if a man would not believe, the
Word was just as clear, and they must say
to him: "Your sins still remain." Only
God has power to forgive sins, and
consequently this bold statement of Jesus was
proof of His deity. Psa. 103:3; Dan. 9:9;
Mr. 2:7-12.
II DOUBTING THOMAS CONVINCED BY THE RISEN LORD
John 20:25-31
Thomas faced these facts and
was changed from doubting Thomas to
witnessing Thomas. He asked for
only one sign, and that was that he might
see and touch the wounds of Jesus and
then he would believe. This was granted
to him. He did see and that was enough.
He did not need to touch the wounds,
but only to hear the voice of Jesus and
to see the wounds was enough for him.
Seeing and hearing he cried out in a great
burst of faith: "My Lord and my God."
Thomas is an example of the power of
the facts which we have faced. And he
affords us a good lesson for our guidance
in service. Let us simply hold up the Son of
God before the eyes of men and point
them to His wounds, telling them of His
death and resurrection for them. Then they,
too, will be constrained to cry with
Thomas, "My Lord and my God." The Gospel of
Jesus Christ is the power of God unto
salvation, therefore let us preach it
faithfully. Rom. 1:16-17; I Cor. 1:17.
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