SERIES: The Gospel of John
Grief, Fear, and Doubt: Three Enemies of the Soul
SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus
Introduction: Last Lord’s Day we had three great worship services. The music was marvelous, and our people were able to focus their hearts and minds on the risen Christ in a very special way. In a message on the Not-Quite-Empty Tomb, we noted that the Apostle John came to believe in the Resurrection, not through OT prophecies about it, nor through Jesus’ own predictions concerning it, nor even through the witness of the women who first visited the tomb on Easter morning and were told by the angel that He had risen.
Rather John came to believe in the Resurrection when he saw the graveclothes lying in the tomb, still neatly wrapped but with the body missing. There was no natural explanation as to how the body of Jesus could have exited those wrappings or been removed by a third party; the only explanation was a miracle of resurrection.
One might suppose that with this initial report that Jesus was alive, the spiritual depression that plagued the disciples would vanish and they would immediately begin to evangelize the city of Jerusalem. Not quite. Spiritual growth is rarely that simple or that quick. Chuck Swindoll has written a book entitled Three Steps Forward and Two Steps Back. That’s not a bad description of the average believer’s growth; it certainly describes the apostles’ experience.
The sight of the graveclothes may have convinced the Apostle John, but others needed more time to process the facts. Frankly, I think that’s why Jesus spent 40 days on earth after the Resurrection before He ascended to the Father. During that time He appeared often to His disciples in various contexts. It was only after they became so convinced that He could safely leave them and know that they would remain faithful.
In our Scripture text today, we read about three of Jesus’ many post-resurrection appearances. We could probably preach a message on each of these three, but I want us to look at them briefly, focusing not on the details of each appearance but rather upon the emotions of the disciples and the remedy Jesus offers in each case. In the first scene Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene, who is in the throes of grief. In the second vignette He appears to the Apostles (minus Thomas), who are in the grips of fear. Finally, a week later He appears to Thomas, who is consumed by doubt and skepticism.
These three emotions—grief, fear, and doubt—are very natural and even useful emotions. If we never experienced them, we would be vegetables, not humans. But when these emotions are allowed to control a person, they can so stifle his faith that he no longer sees things in proper perspective. But Jesus offers solutions:
To overcome grief, He offers His presence.
To dispel fear, He offers His peace.
To vanquish doubt, He offers proof.
Let’s begin with Jesus’ first post-resurrection appearanceat to Mary Magdalene in John 20:11-18:
11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
To overcome grief, Jesus offers His presence. (11-18)
The exact order of events on that first Easter morning is a bit difficult to decipher as we compare the four Gospels, but it seems that Mary (who was at the tomb first, and was sent by the angel to tell the others) has returned to the tomb, apparently unconvinced by the earlier word she had received from the angel to the effect that Jesus had risen from the dead. She is standing alone at the tomb, staring into it, and crying. Can you identify with the strain this woman must be under? She has seen the person she loved and respected more than anyone else in all the world taken from her and brutally put to death. He is the one who released her from demon possession; He is the one who gave meaning and purpose to her life.
So consumed is Mary by her sorrow that she seems not even to be startled by the presence of two angels sitting in the tomb. They ask her: “Woman, why are you crying?” Obviously, this is not a request for information—the angels know why she is crying! Rather it is an effort to get her to think through the basis for her grief. But Mary isn’t ready yet for rational analysis, and she answers simply, “Because they have taken my Lord away, and I don’t know where they have put him.”
There is, I am told, something uniquely difficult psychologically about losing a loved one when the body is not recovered. It is very hard for people to come to grips with the reality of death unless they see the body. That is why we have wakes and open caskets at funerals. Perhaps this is, in part, Mary’s problem. If so, she is about to discover what happened to the body of Jesus, for when she turns from the tomb, she sees Jesus standing there, though at first she doesn’t recognize Him, and He asks her the same probing question, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” She thinks it is the gardener speaking to her, and replies very poignantly, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
Why doesn’t Mary recognize Jesus? I think two factors are likely responsible. One is Mary’s condition. She is overwhelmed by grief, she has tears in her eyes, and she is unable to see anything in proper perspective. Excessive grief can do that to us. The other factor is Jesus’ condition. His resurrection body certainly had a different life principle, for He was able to escape the tomb through the walls of solid rock, and often during His post-resurrection ministry He would appear and disappear at will. Perhaps His resurrection body had a different appearance as well. What differences there may have been, I have no idea, but I do know that Mary was not the only person who had trouble recognizing Him after His resurrection.
But eventually recognition comes when Jesus calls her name. When she hears “Mary,” spoken perhaps in a tender way that could only come from Jesus, the spiritual scales are divinely lifted from her eyes. Could there be here an application of Jesus’ own words in John 10 to the effect that when the Good Shepherd calls His sheep by name, they know His voice? While Jesus’ resurrection body may have been somewhat different, it was also sufficiently similar that, with the addition of His familiar voice, Mary immediately knows who He is.
Apparently in addition to recognizing Jesus and calling Him, “Teacher,” Mary also throws her arms around Jesus. There’s not one of us who would respond differently if a loved one we thought was dead was suddenly discovered to be fully alive. We, too, would have hugged Him and said, “I thought I had lost you! Don’t ever leave me again! I just want to hold you!” But to that Jesus responds with a gentle prohibition: “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father.”
Jesus’ point is not, “Do not touch Me,” as some of the older versions read (as though a resurrection body were untouchable), for on several occasions the disciples touch the risen Christ without rebuke, and later in this very chapter He invites Thomas to not only touch Him but actually thrust his hand into the wound in His side. It seems, instead, that Jesus’ gentle prohibition is a way of telling Mary that He is not returning to the old life and the relationship He used to have with His disciples. He will be ascending to His Father shortly, and the sooner she comes to grips with that fact the easier it will be for her.
Jesus then gives Mary a task—to go and report His imminent ascension to the other disciples. Tell them, “I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” That’s an incredible statement, isn’t it? God is just as much our Father as He is Jesus’ father. Mary goes at once and announces to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” She then gives them the message Jesus gave her.
Can you see what the answer to overwhelming grief is? It’s the presence of Christ. The presence of the two angels was no comfort to Mary. Nor was the presence of the one she considered to be the gardener. But when she recognized Jesus, her grief vanished.
The presence of Christ can still dispel grief today. I have seen it time and again at Christian funerals. The radical difference between a Christian and a non-Christian funeral is testimony to the fact that where the presence of Christ is recognized and experienced, grief loses its overwhelming power. It is still there, but it is not a hopeless grief.
The second post-Resurrection appearance mentioned in John 20 is before the disciples. Whereas in the first appearance we saw that to overcome grief Jesus offers His presence, now to dispel fear, He offers His peace. Let’s read verses 19-23:
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
To dispel fear, Jesus offers His peace. (19-23)
In verse 19 it is still Easter Sunday, only later in the evening, and somewhere in the city of Jerusalem we find a pitiful conclave. I say it is pitiful because it is made up of the disciples of Jesus, cowering behind locked doors (not just closed, as our English Bibles read) for fear of the Jews. Now by this time presumably all the disciples have received the report that Jesus has risen from the dead. Several have been to the tomb and at least one of them, John, has come to believe in the Resurrection. Yet we find them here consumed by fear, having lost all spiritual perspective. We’ve been there, haven’t we? Even those of us who have been Christians for decades and have taught others, go through periods of fear and intimidation during which we wonder if we’ll ever survive.
Well, twice Jesus speaks to them and says, “Peace be with you!” We might have expected, “Shame on you!” but no, Jesus says, “Shalom alechem.” This is a far more meaningful greeting than our, “Hello, how’re you doin’?” It was never used in a flippant manner and was always related in some measure to the thought of peace being God’s gift.
But let’s ask, what is peace? People, especially politicians, talk a lot about it, but we see very little of it. A few weeks ago a reporter asked Andy Van Slyke what he thought Michael Jordan’s chances were in baseball, and he responded, “There’ll be peace in the Middle East before he makes the Big Leagues.” We’ll have to wait to see what kind of a prophet Andy is, but obviously he was using “peace” in the international sense of “the absence of hostilities.” One can also speak of peace on the personal level as “harmony in relationships.” But such definitions do not do justice to the Biblical concept of peace.
There are two kinds of peace mentioned in the NT. There is “peace with God” and there is the “peace of God.” One must have the former before he can have the latter. Peace with God is described in Rom. 5:1: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” You see, mankind is naturally at war with God. But God unilaterally signed a peace treaty with His enemies at the Cross. Peace, however, must be on His terms. There is no room for negotiating. If you want peace, you must put your faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, because He died to make peace.
But there is the other kind of peace as well—the peace of God. Whereas peace with God is a positional truth dealing with our relationship with God, the peace of God is a practical truth that relates to our inner attitudes and frame of mind. The NT speaks of this second kind of peace in Phil. 4:6,7:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Do you need this kind of peace today? I see so many Christians who seem to be constantly agitated and troubled, dour and discouraged. If they can’t worry about something real, they dwell on things imaginary. If it’s not something in the present, then they dig up something in the past. Or if nothing in those categories comes to mind, they worry about the future. Fear controls their lives.
Jesus says to His disciples, “Peace be with you,” and He still says the same thing today. He offers peace with God through His own death on the cross and the peace of God in a person’s heart. That is the alternative to fear.
And once the disciples grasp what Jesus is offering them, a remarkable change takes place in their hearts. It says, “The disciples were overjoyed.” It isn’t just the words, “Peace be with you,” that changes their fear to joy. A stranger could have spoken these words and the disciples would probably have answered, “Who are you? That may be easy for you to say, but you don’t know what I’m going through.” But, according to verse 20, “The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.” It is the fact that these words of peace are coming from the risen Christ that produces the change.
Peace, however, is not an end in itself. God doesn’t provide it so that we can live a quiet and uneventful life. His peace is not the peace of a stagnant pool. Rather He offers us peace so that we can live a productive life. This is seen as Jesus gives His disciples a commission. He says to them, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you.” This is John’s version of the Great Commission. Its most familiar form is found in the last verses of Matthew. But it is found at the end of each of the four Gospels, as well as in the first chapter of Acts. In each of these places Jesus tells the disciples that He wants them to be His ambassadors. They are not at liberty to keep the good news to themselves. Good news is for sharing.
Fortunately, Jesus doesn’t leave His disciples without adequate equipment when He assigns them this Great Commission. He gives them power and He gives them authority. Verse 22 reads, “And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.'” The reason they need the Spirit is that without Him they will be powerless to perform their Commission. But they are also equipped with special authority. Verse 23 reads, “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” A great deal of misunderstanding has resulted from this verse. Does it really teach that the clergy has the power of absolution? I think not. The clear teaching of Scripture is that no man can forgive any other man’s sins. But it is the privilege of the Church to convey the message of God’s forgiveness to men.
You see, the Greek tenses in this verse are very instructive. It should probably be translated, “If you forgive anyone his sins, they shall have been forgiven.” If a Spirit-filled person knows that an individual is truly repentant, he can with certainty proclaim to him the forgiveness of Christ. But, on the other hand, if he knows there is no true repentance, but merely a hypocritical acknowledgement of God, he can also tell him that until his heart is altered, there is no forgiveness for him.
What a tremendous privilege and responsibility is this discernment Christ gives to His formerly fear-ridden disciples once His peace turns their fears to joy. And the same peace is available to us!
Jesus has so far offered His presence to deal with Mary’s grief and His peace to deal with the disciples’ fear. Now thirdly to vanquish doubt, He offers proof. Let’s read verses 24-29 of chapter 20:
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “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.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
To vanquish doubt, Jesus offers proof. (24-29)
The story now centers upon Thomas. For a reason not stated, Thomas was not present when Jesus first met with the disciples. When he finally joins them, they lose no time telling him they have seen the Lord. But Thomas responds with unmitigated skepticism. Traditionally we have referred to him as “Doubting Thomas.” But that’s not quite accurate. He was not really in doubt about the Resurrection; he was certain it had not occurred. He speaks in verse 25: “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.” And in the original Greek he comes across even more dogmatically. “I will not ever believe it.”
Now let me ask you, “If you were Jesus how would you have dealt with Thomas?” I suppose many of us would have responded, “Well, if that’s the way he feels, he can just remain in his ignorant skepticism. I’ll spend my time with those who show more promise of faith.” But, as always, Jesus doesn’t respond like an ordinary person. Instead, He turns to Thomas and offers an incredible challenge: “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
Isn’t it interesting that Jesus does not just offer rebuke to Thomas for his doubt and skepticism—He also offers proof? How gracious God is! We have no right to demand anything from Him. Yet He who created us and died to redeem us stoops to provide what we need. Do we need evidence? If we do, and if we come honestly seeking it, He will give it to us. No person need ever fear expressing honest doubts to God. Tennyson wrote, “There lives more faith in honest doubt, believe me, than in half the creeds.” [i] If you have intellectual questions about Christianity, God will provide intellectual answers for them. He gave you a mind as well as a heart. “Come now and let us reason together, said the Lord.” (Isaiah 1:18). He will provide what you need.
Thomas receives what he needs, and he responds with complete surrender: “My Lord and my God!” No longer is he desirous of lording it over the Lord by laying down conditions for his faith. He will has now been conquered.
Thomas’ testimony proclaiming Jesus as “my Lord and My God,” is unique. No one had previously addressed Jesus as God (though He had claimed it several times), yet Jesus accepts the appellation without protest. Not only is He “God” to Thomas; He is also “Lord” or “sovereign.” And Thomas also adds the personal pronoun, saying, “My Lord and my God.” It is not enough that He be God and sovereign; He must be that for us individually and personally.
In many ways verse 28 is the climax of the entire Gospel of John. Here we see how one who began as a great doubter comes by God’s grace to that confession with which the Gospel began: “The Word was with God and the Word was God.”
James Boice has written the following application to Thomas’ experience:
“No case is hopeless. Your case is not hopeless. God took Abraham, the pagan, and made him into a pillar of faith and the father of his people. He took Moses, the stammerer, and made him into the greatest vehicle for the communication of the word of God until Paul. He made the shepherd boy David into a king, Peter the weak into Peter the rock; John the Son of Thunder into the apostle of love; Paul, the persecutor of Christians, into a faithful ambassador and martyr. He can do that for you. Allow Him to do it. Believe on Christ. Rather than being faithless, may you be one who, like Thomas was found ‘faith-full.’” [ii]
This third post-Resurrection appearance ends with a special blessing. Isn’t it a beautiful fact that the Bible is filled with so many more blessings than curses. Someone has counted the blessings in the Bible and has found 375 in the OT and 108 in the NT. One of those is found here in John 20:29: “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
What does Jesus mean? Does He mean that a subjective faith is better than an objective faith, or that a religious leap in the dark is better than a faith based on evidence? I think not. John is praising a faith that is satisfied with what God provides and is therefore not always yearning for visions or miracles, a faith that is not always laying down conditions for God to meet.
Someone has well observed that if we are always looking for miracles, we will gradually become insensitive to the weight of evidence of God’s mercy which we receive constantly. Spurgeon had some brilliant insight here:
“You escape in a railway accident and say that is a providence (a miracle). Yes, but it is just as much a providence that you go to town six days a week, and there is no accident. You are supplied with bread when you are out of work, and in need; that is a providence. Yes, but it is just as much a providence when you do not get out of work, and do not fall into need. I do not say that you are not to pray for providence to help you, but I do urge you not to be continually pining after those singularities of providence which are picked out of some men’s biographies, of which more than is right may be made. Do not say, ‘I expect God to do for me some wonderful, strange thing, or else I cannot trust him.’ No; ‘Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed;’ they who, through the whole of their lives, know that the right hand of God has been leading them steadily on.” [iii]
Conclusion: We have seen three enemies of the soul today—grief, fear and doubt. Each had taken its toll on Jesus’ disciples. They have taken their toll on many of us as well. The reason? We have failed to appropriate the strong power of Jesus Christ on a daily basis.
The next time you find yourself grieving, remember that Jesus is alive and will someday raise us up as well, to join our loved ones who died in Christ. The next time you are afraid, remember the peace that passes all understanding, available because Jesus made peace with God. The next time you doubt, take your doubts to Jesus; He will answer them through His Word.
I close with a short prayer from Martin Luther:
Dear Lord,
Although I am sure of my position,
I am unable to sustain it without Thee,
Help thou me, or I am lost. Amen.
DATE: April 10, 1994
Tags:
Grief
Fear
Doubt
Peace
[i] Alfred Lord Tennyson, https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/alfred_lord_tennyson_161107.
[ii] James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John, Vol. 5, 324.
[iii] IBID, Cited by Boice, 327-8.