[Propertalk] John 20:19-31 commentaries - Part 2

[Joe Parrish]

In reality, it was the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus that turned skeptics into believers.  Easter Resurrection continued for days and to hundreds of people. There's something about death that is so final.  It's not the story that convinces people in the New Testament, it's the encounter with a living Savior that changes hearts.  
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Jesus was patient with all of them and He shared the same peace with Thomas.  

http://www.predigten.uni-goettingen.de/predigt.php?id=163&kennung=20070415en

James Mueller, 2007
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Jesus came to them, and especially, Thomas, to chase away doubt and to restore faith. 

http://www.predigten.uni-goettingen.de/archiv-8/060423-6-e.html

David Andrus
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Trusting something or someone outside ourselves is not always easy. Physicians tell us that if a child doesn't bond with a parent or guardian in the early months of its life, it will have difficulty trusting others as it develops. And, in fact, if trust is not established early in the development stages, a fracture may occur in the child's spirit and affect its personality for life. 

http://www.csec.org/csec/sermon/bullock_4912.htm

Wyvetta Bullock, 2006 
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Jesus says something even more shocking. He says, "if you forgive people, their sins are forgiven, and if you don't forgive them, their sins are not forgiven." What could it possibly mean to retain-or not to forgive sins! The church, in its need to be control taking, has often messed this all up. The concept of excommunication comes from this statement. If someone sins and does not repent, you can remove them from the Christian community. Historically, both the Eastern Church and the Western Church often held this threat over people's heads, from popes to kings to reformers to lowly rebellious types. However, Jesus, the one who held no grudges and who hired even those who denied him to follow him again, this Jesus seems never to have withheld or retained sins. And why would we, who have been forgiven so generously, even consider such a thing? If we refuse to forgive someone, of course we haven't forgiven them-- but why would we entertain such a thought! 

http://www.predigten.uni-goettingen.de/archiv-7/050515-9-e.html

David Zersen, 2005
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You've probably heard the phrase "Caesar's breath." It is science's way of reminding us that energy never dies or disappears. The molecules of Caesar's breath, 2,000 years ago, are still in our atmosphere today. They have scattered around the globe and we are breathing them with every breath we take. Christ's breath is still alive too. The breath he breathed into the disciples that day in the upper room - the spirit and power of God - is still circulating. And it is far more powerful than Caesar's breath. It's the reminder that God, whose spirit hovered over the face of the deep at creation, was still making the world through Christ and is still working on it today.

http://www.csec.org/csec/sermon/killinger_4803.htm

John Killinger, 2004 
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It was in China that I experienced that trust. On a mission team I shared with members of a congregation in Beijing, an elderly gentleman told his story of faith that included his congregation. When the Red Guard had taken power, the churches were closed and the pastors sent into the countryside to work in factories. The church buildings were used as warehouses. He and other members of their congregation had made an agreement to study the Scriptures in private and tithe during their forced absence from corporate worship. He said sadly, "We did not realize it would be 13 years of exile from worship." He said after those years of Bible study and fear, the churches reopened and on that first Sunday of worship, the people returned to the altar to pray and brought their tithes and offerings-all 13 years' worth. Indeed, blessed are those that have not seen and believed.

http://day1.org/467-can_i_get_a_witness

Jonathan Holston, 2004
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