Real Connecting Faith

Our text comes from the Gospel of John. As one of the 12 disciples, John stands out from the others in a few ways: he is the youngest of the group, he appears to have been the one Jesus especially loved, and he is the only one of the disciples who stays to witness Jesus’s crucifixion. John wrote his gospel account for a specific reason, which he tells us about in John 20:30, 31.

“And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”

Over time we have seen a continuing decline in the number of Americans who see a connection between God and their own ideas about morality. Fewer and fewer people seem to have an accurate understanding of who God is, and fewer still make a connection between God as a person or even a concept, and the real material world—what we think of as reality.

What do we see these days in terms of faith? One kind of faith is what we could call “sensational faith.” The Health and Wealth Gospel fits into this category. This movement emphasizes miraculous healings or making sacrificial donations to causes, or preachers, or specific ministries, implying that such giving will be the key to the giver’s personal wealth. There are many reasons to be skeptical of these things.

Then there’s a type of religious faith that fails in any meaningful way to make a connection between God and the reality of the world around us. It strips the gospel of its power, discounting as fictitious the many miraculous events recorded in Scripture. German theologian Albrecht Ritschl said, “there are many superstitions, miracles, miraculous elements in the Christian faith. Modern people can’t believe these things actually happened. So, if we are going to appeal to the modern world, we have to reinterpret them as fiction—a fiction that preserves the essential principles of living the Christian faith.”

The large segment of Christianity today influenced by theologians like Ritschl does take these miraculous events as just fictional stories whose purpose is to teach a moral truth. They make the case that God, Christ, even the resurrection are all nice ideas, but they’re not real. They reject the literal bodily resurrection as an invention of the disciples. They see it as a “spiritual” resurrection and give a symbolic meaning to all the miraculous events surrounding Christ and other biblical figures. Some in this group even argue that Jesus didn’t die from the crucifixion but was taken from the cross alive, laid in a tomb, and there revived.

But that isn’t real faith because it is faith of form, not of substance. Real faith is resurrection faith. It believes in the literal, biblical, bodily resurrection of Jesus. Believing that Christ rose from the grave is essential to real, biblical faith—a faith that saves our soul and that promises us the hope of resurrection one day. This is the kind of faith we see from Scripture: “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you… that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep” (I Corinthians 15:1-6). And, “… But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep…” (I Corinthians 15:12-16, 20-22). The basis for our faith is that Christ died for our sin and rose bodily, and that He was seen by many people. The Scripture provides significant detail in support of that.

Maybe you say, “I need scientific evidence,” or “I need to see it myself.” But, what about, say, the American Revolution? What about World War II? You didn’t witness those; you rely upon the historical record—the testimony of those who were there. There are many things that we accept in that way. The resurrection of Jesus Christ was documented and witnessed by many people who testified of the events. Multiple sources, multiple witnesses.

So, what does real faith look like? This is John’s objective, to show us through the lives of the people presented in our text what kind of faith that is.

I. Real Faith Connects the Bible to Reality. (Jn 20:1-9)

The first person to return to the tomb on the first day of the week is Mary Magdalene. Finding it empty, and without stopping to consider what it really means, she rushes off to tell Peter and John what she has discovered. Peter and John race to the tomb to see for themselves. (20:3-5) John looks in but doesn’t enter. Peter races in and sees the grave clothes lying empty and the napkin that had covered Jesus’ face neatly folded and laid in a place by itself.

Despite the many times Jesus told them what to expect, as He did, for instance, in Matthew 16:21 (“From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”), neither Peter nor Mary on this particular day, has any idea what to make of what they are seeing. John, on the other hand, does make the connection. When John finally enters to see the place where He laid, the Scripture tells us that he believes. He connects what Jesus had told them with the real-life situation in front of them.

If we are going to have real faith, we must make these real connections. But how does it happen? In this way: “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher… So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:14, 15, 17).

Faith comes out of the preaching, teaching, and reading of God’s Word. Still, there are plenty of people that don’t make the connection. 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 explains why: “…if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them… For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Back to Mary Magdalene, who returns to the tomb a second time, still confused and overwhelmed about what has happened and still unable to connect the actual events with the Lord’s words—not even when angels give her the report! “…Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain…” (John 20:11, 12).

Then as she turns around she encounters the Lord Jesus Himself standing in front of her. Not recognizing Him at first, the truth finally and suddenly comes into focus when He speaks her name, “Mary.” And we are reminded of what Jesus said in John 10:27, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me, and I give them eternal life...” It takes a lot for Mary to make the connection, but this lovely, emotionally raw, and very personal encounter between the two of them is exactly what she needs in that moment to reorient her faith and connect it to the real world.

II. REAL FAITH MAKES THE SPIRITUAL PERSONAL. John 20:11-18.

As Jesus, sends her on her way, He entrusts Mary with an errand: “Go and tell these my brethren...” what she has seen and knows. “My brethren,” He says. Stop and consider that, if you will. Jesus, the Creator, the eternal God incarnate, instructs her to tell “My brethren.” Previously He had called them “servants,” later He calls them “friends.” But now, He calls them “brethren.” Because of His death and resurrection there is now a personal, familial relationship between Himself and His disciples that was not previously there. That is what real faith does. If you know Christ as your Savior, you have a personal relationship of this nature with Him.

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together” (Rom 8:14-17).

And, “For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying: ‘I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You’” (Heb 2:11, 12).

The Old Testament story of Ruth also comes to mind in this context. When Ruth comes to faith in Naomi’s God she says to her mother-in-law, “Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God” (Ruth 1:16b). There is always a personal relationship that exists where there is real faith.

John’s gospel talks a lot about belief, both genuine belief and what we can easily call superficial, self-interested belief. In John 2:23, he reports, “… many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.” And in John 6:26, “Jesus answered them and said, "… you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.” He saw they were just taking advantage of Him—using Him. If that describes how you approach God, you need to understand: that is not a personal relationship. It’s a “what can I get out of this” mentality, whether money, healing, personal advantage, etc. Real faith is based on a personal relationship.

As an aside, it is worth noticing who Jesus appears to first—to Mary. A woman. And there were other women, other Marys, that saw Him and that had been a part of His ministry, too. This, as much as anything else, validates the account as real. Why? Because of the low place women occupied in this culture and timeframe. No one in that day (or for many centuries to come) who might try to create a credible fictitious account to fool people would have placed a woman in that key role and expected people find it convincing.

III. REAL FAITH CONNECTS THE SPIRITUAL TO THE PHYSICAL. (John 20:19-21)

Mary Magdalene’s faith became anchored to the real world during her face-to-face encounter with Jesus. His appearance to the disciples accomplished the same with them. “Peace be with you,” He says as He materializes in a closed room. John’s account then reports that Jesus shows them His hands and his side and tells them “As the Father has sent me, so I also send you.” Luke’s telling of the event is notably more vivid than John’s, and more detailed: “Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, ‘Peace to you.’ But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He said to them, ‘Why are you troubled?... Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have’” (Luke 24:36-39).

In light of all this, it’s little wonder that His first words to them would need to be words of peace. After all, how would they not experience some level of panic? Showing them His hands and His side, allowing them to touch Him—that gesture doesn’t just calm their fears, it helps His disciples understand and believe in His bodily resurrection. It allows them to make that essential connection between their faith and reality—the real-world physical evidence in front of them.

Thomas was the only disciple missing that day, so he had to hear about it second-hand. Stubbornly disbelieving of the other disciples’ testimony, he brashly asserts, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe" (John 20:25). And that is exactly what Jesus allowed Thomas to do the very next week. “He said to Thomas, ‘Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing’” (John 20:27, 28).

Like Mary Magdalene, it takes a lot for Thomas to make the connection, but when he does, his response is without reservation. He knows in an instant, as clearly as one might know, who Jesus truly is, and he bows in humility before his risen Savior. “My Lord and my God!” he says to Jesus, who replies, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 28, 29). True faith makes these connections. Peter must have been remembering this moment as he penned these lines to the Jewish Dispersion in his first Epistle: “…that the genuineness of your faith… may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith — the salvation of your souls” (I Peter 1:7-9).

So, when Jesus said to Thomas “blessed are those who believe without seeing.” He surely must have been thinking about us. Thomas was an eyewitness. We are not, nor can we be, but to us He has given the entire Word of God so that we can read it, learn from it, be persuaded by it, and be changed through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The entire Word of God testifies to the truth of who Jesus really is and what He did. So, exposing ourselves to the Scriptures is what helps us makes the connection today.

IV. do you have real saving faith?

Are you focused on the sensational? On gaining wealth, health, success? Or do you say Jesus is a nice idea, the reason for His death and resurrection—they’re all nice ideas. But it’s not real. The only way that faith becomes real is in believing in and making the connections that the Bible makes. These are the connections you need to make:

1. God is holy. He cannot look on sin.

2. We are sinful. We don’t even need to see it said in the Bible, but the Bible does spell it out for us in Exodus 34:7, “God will by no means clear the guilty.” He cannot overlook your sin because by His very nature God is just, and sin must be punished, which means that forgiveness is not about “looking the other way.” That would not be just, nor would it be in God’s character to do so, but He has made it possible for us to have that connection to Him, and He did it without violating His own justice. He placed the guilt on His beloved, sinless, perfect Son, who paid our sin debt for us on the cross. It was God’s way of being both just as well as making a way to bring us into fellowship with Him. So, it’s not about my works, it’s about His works, as it says in John 1:12, “…as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.”

Sermon Summary written by Claudia Anderson

Taken from the message preached at Bethel Baptist Church on April, 30 2023.

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