John 11:1-44
1 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, 7 and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
8 “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 10 It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”
11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”
12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
14 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
16 Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
John 20:19-31
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.”
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24 Now Thomas (called 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 it.”
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.”
30 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
1 Corinthians 15:1-8
The Resurrection and Jesus
1 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
Thomas wasn't always doubting his belief in Jesus...Jesus was almost stoned in or near Bethany...But He wanted to go back to see His friend Lazarus...In concern for everyone's overall safety, the Disciples said to Jesus, “But Rabbi, a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone You, and yet You are going back?”...The Disciples had a genuine concern for Him, as well as themselves...But Jesus leads them on anyway to Bethany...So the Disciples and Jesus took to the road to go and comfort Mary and Martha and see Lazarus...Thomas makes this comment to the Disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”...
Thomas is sometimes nicknamed the Doubting Thomas...But I thank him for his doubts...I often relate to Thomas...Thomas had seen Jesus alive and was one of his Disciples...And since he was one of the original Twelve Disciples, he saw Jesus a lot...Jesus taught him for three years, along with the other eleven...Thomas saw many miracles done by Jesus...And he was right there when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead...
Thomas was very close to Jesus, as were the other Disciples...The Disciples knew that their Teacher had been crucified and died...Jesus appeared to the Disciples after His death, but Thomas was not with them at the time...Maybe Thomas could not believe the Disciples telling him that Jesus was now living after His death, because of all the wounds He had received in His flogging and tortuous hanging from the cross...Thomas had to believe in the resurrection from the dead...After all he saw Jesus raise Lazarus, and was one of the first Disciples that wanted to go and see Lazarus...He also saw other resurrection miracles that Jesus had done...So Thomas knew without a doubt, that Jesus could raise the dead, even after they had been dead, not for only one or two days, but for four days...Lazarus, was well dead for four days, before Jesus raised him...Doctors sometimes today bring people back from death, immediately after they die, but not four days later...Four days is a long time to be dead, to be brought back from death to life...Lazarus, is the only one I have ever heard about that was dead for four days and came back from the dead...So, Thomas had seen quite a resurrection miracle in Lazarus' return...And he had also seen other resurrection miracles...Yet, for one reason or another Thomas could not believe that Jesus could or would be raised, and doubted the Disciples, that they had seen Him alive and well...Thomas wanted to personally see Him, even though others had seen Him and told him about His Master's resurrection...
I thank Thomas for his doubts and doubting...Thomas and several other people got to see Jesus after His resurrection...Jesus appeared off and on earth after His death...Paul says that He was seen by more than five hundred different people...So, those people who did not Jesus could go talk to one of the five hundred that did see Him after His death...So they could discuss their doubts with someone who did see Him, and exactly what they saw...His resurrection was not done in a hidden manner...And at the time Paul said this, most of the five hundred people who saw Jesus after His death, were still alive, so it wasn't too long after Jesus' first death that he wrote this...
So over five hundred people saw Jesus and the word would spread across the world and globe about His resurrection...And I actually believe that Jesus did not go around hiding what He did in His teachings, and even in His resurrection...He did most things so subtly and so humbly in His life that they often seem to be just somehow overlooked and get glossed over...Jesus did these things so nonchalantly that our mind does not understand the magnitude of what He was doing on earth...So now I am in a similar position as St. Thomas...Others have seen Jesus after His death...There were over five hundred, who saw Him...The four gospel writers tell me about His resurrection...I've read about His many miracles...Many people saw Him after His death...He is alive...And now I should easily believe that Jesus is alive...I often find myself in Thomas' doubting shoes...