Bible Study – Believing in Order to See
Share: Your highs (something that made you happy) and lows (something that made you sad) this week with others around you or write them down.
“I have seen the Lord!” exclaimed Mary Magdalene. At first she does not recognize who is standing beside her. When she realizes it is the risen Jesus she wants to grasp him. He holds her off and tells her to go and share what has happened: He has walked through death and has created a path for us to follow, now and on through our own death.
In these 50 days of Easter, celebrating what Jesus has done for us, we are invited to recognize Jesus standing beside us, as he did with Mary. What is he calling us to do? Perhaps we can train our eyes to look in the direction of Jesus, standing beside us is looking. What might he be looking at? Do we dare follow where he is leading? Can we notice and honor the various ways Jesus “appears” to people?
“Are we next?” In fear the disciples huddled behind closed doors. As they pray, Jesus is right there with them, empowering and commissioning them. Jesus honors Thomas’ need for authentication. At the same time, Jesus reaches out to us across the millennia: “Blessed are they who have not seen and yet believe.”
There are many things you know are true, but you cannot explain how they work. For example, how WiFi works, how voices come through your telephone, how oxygen makes its way through our bodies, etc.) Do you know of something that are true, but cannot explain?
Opening Prayer: Thank you, God, for the gift of life and for life that goes on forever. Amen
Please open your Bibles to John 20:19-13 and read or read the scriptures below.
John 20:19-31
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
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 (also known as Didymus[a]), 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.”
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.”
The Purpose of John’s Gospel
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe[b] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Questions: (Answers at the bottom of the page)
- Why do you think the disciples were huddling behind locked doors, “in fear of the Jews?”
- Why do you think Jesus greeted the disciples by saying “Peace be with you?”
- What did Jesus do to let the disciples see for themselves that he was really Jesus? (verse 20)
- Why would they have NOT recognized Jesus?
- Why was breathing on the disciples so important?
- What does Jesus say that receiving the Holy Spirit prepares the disciples to do? (verse 23)
- Looking at the last part of our story, how does Jesus help Thomas to believe? (Verse 27)
- What does Jesus say about us who were not there? (Verse 29b)
- What else does Jesus tell us in verse 31 that he understands about how we believe?
Do you know why we stop church service in the middle and walk around shaking hands. The explanation: The service has just offered people the opportunity bid one another the Peace. It is a time to ask God for forgiveness and at the same time to forgive people who have hurt us. The person we want to forgive, or ask for forgiveness, may not even be in the room, so we stand in for each other, shake each other’s hands, and say, “Peace be with you.” Sit in silence for a minute, remember something we need to ask God to forgive, and then stand and shake hands with each member of your family or friends, saying, “Peace be with you.”
Click here for the young learner’s lesson
Videos (Click on url)
LUMO-Gospel John Chapter 20:19-31 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxmGFQYHilI
Gospel of John Summary: Part 2 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUfh_wOsauk
Activities:
Journal: Write in your Journal about what you learned from the Bible story.
Can You Believe It? You need a small bowl of water; a metal paper clip; a piece of paper towel or tissue.
Have you ever had to see something with your own eyes before you were willing to believe it? Suppose your mom came in and told you there was a puppy waiting for you at home. You might have a hard time believing it was true until you actually got home and saw the puppy with your own eyes, right? The same is true for many of us. We often have to see something to believe it.
If you put a paper clip in the water, do you think it will sink or float? Drop the paperclip in the clear bowl of water. It should sink.
What if you were told that the paperclip could float? Would you believe it? Or do you feel it is impossible and you would have to see in order to believe?
Put a small paper towel about the size of a Post-It Note on the surface of the water and then carefully place the paper clip on the piece of paper towel. When the paper towel becomes saturated, it will sink, leaving the paper clip floating on the surface of the water. The paper clip is floating! I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it with my own two eyes.
Cross Puzzle: Draw a cross on poster board (8 ½ by 11) and write the words I BELIEVE. You can color the cross and words if you would like. Then cut into puzzle pieces and put the puzzle together.
Doubting Thomas – Jumble: https://sermons4kids.com/doubting_thomas_jumble.htm
Doubting Thomas - Crossword Puzzle: https://sermons4kids.com/doubting_thomas_crossword.htm
Doubting Thomas – Word Search: https://sermons4kids.com/doubting_thomas_wordsearch.htm
Prayer: Thank you, God, that you love us and know we need time to grow into our faith. Amen.
Answers to the Questions:
- Why do you think the disciples were huddling behind locked doors, “in fear of the Jews?” (The disciples were also Jewish but the “Jews” they feared were those few leaders who had agreed to the crucifixion of Jesus.)
- Why do you think Jesus greeted the disciples by saying “Peace be with you?” (Perhaps since that was the way he had always greeted them, they would know he was Jesus.)
- What did Jesus do to let the disciples see for themselves that he was really Jesus? (verse 20)
- Why would they have NOT recognized Jesus? (Evidently he looked different. In last week’s lesson, Mary Magdalene did not recognize him at first, in stories to come we will see others who did not recognize him right away.)
- Why was breathing on the disciples so important? (In their language the same word is used for breath and for spirit and even for wind. Look at Genesis 1:2)
- What does Jesus say that receiving the Holy Spirit prepares the disciples to do? (verse 23)
- Looking at the last part of our story, how does Jesus help Thomas to believe? (Verse 27)
- What does Jesus say about us who were not there? (Verse 29b)
What else does Jesus tell us in verse 31 that he understands about how we believe? (We come to believe, which means we have our whole lives to continue grow
