4/21/2020 10:07:59 AM
April 19, 2020
Second Sunday of Easter
Sermon Text: John 20:19-31
Other Readings: Acts 10:34a,36,39-43 and 1 Peter 1:3-9
- Find references to all three persons of the Holy Trinity.
- Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Why? “Only God can forgive sins.”
- Explain his statement: “Thomas doubted because he was very self-centered.”
- The Bible shows many cases where emotions mislead people, and Lutherans rightly don’t emphasize emotion over faith. But our faith does still affect our emotions. What are some of the emotions the disciples felt after seeing Jesus? What are some of the emotions you feel after reading this account?
- How would you describe the peace which Jesus gives to his believers?
- In what ways can this text (especially verses 30 and 31) help you when you’re talking with someone who is skeptical of whether the Bible is true or not?
- God the Father is mentioned in verse 21. Jesus, God the Son, is all over the place in this text. God the Holy Spirit is mentioned in verse 22.
- We can disagree. Jesus makes it clear, he gives any Christian that authority to forgive other people. God has earned that forgiveness, and now he has given us the right to use it. (Confer Martin Luther’s explanation on The Keys in his Small Catechism.)
- Notice how many first-person pronouns Thomas uses – I… my… my… I. Unbelief always trusts in the person rather than in God or the one testifying about God.
- They felt great joy (v. 20), and Thomas sounds like a man at peace. Hopefully you feel that same joy and peace!
- Answers may vary. Many commentators talk about the Greek word here reflecting a state of complete well-being. Our whole state of being is well because we know our Lord is risen.
- The Bible has many eye-witness accounts spread out over centuries. If you judge these eye-witness accounts by the same standard used to judge other historical writings, you see just how credible the Bible’s writers are. That is to say, these aren’t just made-up myths.