Teaching Pastor, Michael Sabo, delivers an Easter sermon and teaches about the disciple Thomas and his pessimistic attitude. He ends with an admonition to remember Jesus' words to not be faithless any longer. Believe!

3. Thomas

4. John 20:1-18 - Early on Sunday
morning, while it was still dark,
Mary Magdalene came to the
tomb and found that the stone
had been rolled away from the
entrance. 2She ran and found
Simon Peter and the other disciple,

5. the one whom Jesus loved. She
said, “They have taken the
Lord’s body out of the tomb, and
we don’t know where they have
put him!” 3Peter and the other
disciple started out for the tomb.

6. 4They were both running, but
the other disciple outran Peter
and reached the tomb first.
5He stooped and looked in and
saw the linen wrappings lying
there, but he didn’t go in.

7. 6Then Simon Peter arrived and
went inside. He also noticed the
linen wrappings lying there,
7while the cloth that had covered
Jesus’head was folded up and
lying apart from the other
wrappings.

8. 8Then the disciple who had
reached the tomb first also went
in, and he saw and believed—
9for until then they still hadn’t
understood the Scriptures that
said Jesus must rise from the
dead.

9. 10Then they went home. 11Mary
was standing outside the tomb
crying, and as she wept, she
stooped and looked in. 12She
saw two white-robed angels,
one sitting at the head and the
other at the foot of the place

10. where the body of Jesus had
been lying. 13“Dear woman, why
are you crying?” the angels
asked her. “Because they have
taken away my Lord,” she
replied, “and I don’t know where
they have put him.”

11. 14She turned to leave and saw
someone standing there. It was
Jesus, but she didn’t recognize
him. 15“Dear woman, why are
you crying?” Jesus asked her.
“Who are you looking for?”

12. She thought he was the
gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you
have taken him away, tell me
where you have put him, and I
will go and get him.” 16“Mary!”
Jesus said. She turned to him
and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which
is Hebrew for “Teacher”).

13. 17“Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said,
“for I haven’t yet ascended to the
Father. But go find my brothers
and tell them,‘I am ascending to
my Father and your Father, to my
God and your God.’ ”

14. 18Mary Magdalene found the
disciples and told them, “I have
seen the Lord!” Then she gave
them his message. NLT

15. Missing
Disciple

16. Pessimistic
Disciple

17. First Encounter
When Jesus raised Lazarus
from the dead (John 11)

18. John 11:16 – Thomas,
nicknamed the Twin, said to
his fellow disciples, “Let’s go,
too—and die with Jesus.” NLT

19. Romans 5:8 – But God
showed his great love for us
by sending Christ to die for us
while we were still sinners. NLT

20. Second Encounter
In the upper room where the
Last Supper took place. This
was the night before Jesus
would be crucified on the
cross (John 14).

21. John 14:5 – “No, we don’t
know, Lord,” Thomas said.
“We have no idea where you
are going, so how can we
know the way?” NLT

22. John 14:6 – Jesus told him, “I
am the way, the truth, and the
life. No one can come to the
Father except through me. NLT

23. Thomas
contrasted with
Judas Iscariot

24. Romans 10:9 – If you confess
with your mouth that Jesus is
Lord and believe in your heart
that God raised him from the
dead, you will be saved. NLT

25. Third
Pessimistic Encounter

26. “My Lord and my God!”

27. How Do You Respond?

28. 2 Corinthians 5:6-7 - So we
are always confident, even
though we know that as long
as we live in these bodies we
are not at home with the Lord.
7For we live by believing and
not by seeing. NLT

29. 1 Peter 1:8-9 - You love him
even though you have never
seen him. Though you do not
see him now, you trust him;
and you rejoice with a glorious,
inexpressible joy. 9The reward
for trusting him will be the
salvation of your souls. NLT

30. Three Fold Biblical Belief
1. Understand the Content
2. Agree with the Content
3. Trust Jesus by following Him
Mental Component
Truth Component
Surrender Component

31. Romans 10:17 - So faith comes
from hearing, that is, hearing the
Good News about Christ. NLT

32. John 20:30-31 - Now Jesus did
many other signs in the presence
of the disciples, which are not
written in this book;

33. 31but these are written so that
you may believe that Jesus is
the Christ, the Son of God, and
that by believing you may have
life in his name. ESV

34. Don’t be faithless any longer.
Believe!”
Meditation & Application