It was Sunday evening on that first day of the week when the tomb was found empty and Jesus had already appeared to Mary Magdalene. Jesus now came and stood among the disciples and was speaking peace over them. These are miracles, signs, and wonders! Jesus had died a horrific death of crucifixion on a cross on a hill for all to see and was now standing amongst His disciples alive and talking. He rose from the dead! And, He wasn’t just standing with them, He entered in behind locked, closed doors and showed His holey hands and battered side that were pierced on the cross, days earlier. He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22, NIV). Another sign and miracle—the gift of the Holy Spirit that is ours because of His death on the cross.
Thomas, one of the disciples of Jesus, was not there with the others at that time when Jesus revealed Himself after His death, though his fellow disciples told him all about it as soon as they saw him. They said, “We have seen the Lord!” (John 20:25, NIV).
Thomas basically tells them that’s hogwash. That’s the Melissa interpretation. He explains, “Unless I see the marks from the nails and put my finger in where those nails were and my hand in his side, I will not believe a word you are saying” (John 20:25, NIV).
I wonder if I too would have reacted like Thomas? Would you have believed in that moment that the Jesus you walked and talked and ate meals together with, that you watched die on a cross a painful and anguishing death was now walking the earth again three days later?
The story does not end there, one week later the disciples were in the same house again but this time also with Thomas. Again, the doors were locked, and Jesus shows up with them. John 20:26-29 says, “…Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ 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.’ Thomas said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’” (NIV).
If you keep reading in John chapter 21, Jesus appeared to His disciples a third time after He was raised from the dead. It was by the Sea of Galilee. The men had gone out fishing at night with high hopes and big dreams for fish, but instead they caught nothing. They pulled in an empty, wet net with nothing more than maybe a little algae. Here is where Jesus enters the scene. Though they didn’t recognize Him, Jesus was standing on the shore the next morning and called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” (John 21:5) He then proceeds to tell them where to throw the net—on the right side—to find the fish.
I just love that Jesus calls His disciples friends! Listen for a moment! Do you hear Jesus calling to you, friend?
The disciples experience a miracle before their very eyes, and a catch of 153 large fish. One yells, ‘It’s the Lord,’ and jumps in the water to swim to shore as fast as he can while the rest row the boat and tow the fish. They land on shore and find a fire of burning coals with fish on it and some bread! Jesus had already prepared breakfast for them and invited them to come and eat! The Bible says, in John 21:12, “None of the disciples dared ask Him, ‘Who are you?’ They knew it was the Lord” (NIV).
Jesus showed up and signs, wonders, miracles happened. The Son of God was at work, and it was undeniable to the disciples that it was their Lord. He was showing Himself faithful. Though so many signs were uncatalogued, undocumented, unrecorded—it was undeniably King Jesus. His disciples, His friends, who had spent precious time with Him knew Him! They didn’t need recorded stories; they were in the middle of living them!
John 21:25 says, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (NIV).
The Holy Spirit is still showing Himself faithful today! He is the same God yesterday, today, and forever. As you reflect on Jesus Christ this Easter Season and all the recorded signs, do you have personal stories that are not recorded and are undocumented? Take a moment and grab your Bible and notebook and journal a few of the ways God has shown up in your life. Write down your God-stories and be ready to share them with someone! Record what is unrecorded in your life! He is Risen!
How can you make Monumental Moments and live to multiply His movement today?
