1. John 20 19 That Sunday evening [a] the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. 20 As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord!a

2. John 20 21 Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” 22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

3. John 20 24 One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), [b] was not with the others when Jesus came. 25 They told him, “We have seen the Lord!”b But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”

4. John 20 26 Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”

5. John 20 28 “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed. 29 Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

6. John 20 30 The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe [c] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.c

7. Not in Ice or Fire but Joy and Communion Rick Wright Church of the Nations 2 nd Sunday of Easter (B)

8. Dark energy and the runaway universe Universe is expanding Will it slow down and collapse? (= fire) Will is expand forever and become cold and dark? (= ice)

9. Dark energy and the runaway universe Look backwards in time Very distant galaxies Universe is expanding faster! So probably ice Dark energy might flip sides (= ???) and universe will slow down and collapse So maybe fire?

10. 1 John 1 We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, [a] whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. 2 This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy. [b]ab

11. Tradition 1 John 1:1-4 looks back to John 1 In the beginning was the Word… And the Word became flesh and put up his tent among us. 1 John 1 emphasizes physicality of Jesus Saw… heard… touched… We pass on (= tradition) what we experienced You can trust this and base your life upon it

12. Communion That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and the son Jesus Christ. Greek koinonia -> communion We share in relationship Jesus has with God the Father! Resurrection -> communion (with God… Jesus… each other)

13. Joy And we are writing these things so that our (your) joy will be complete. Communion leads to joy More than and beyond happiness Deep satisfaction of kingdom of God Abiding in Jesus and his (and God’s) love leads to the ultimate eschatological joy that is eternal life. The proper goal and fruition of human existence. (D Moody Smith)

14. Word? Of life? Concerning the word of life – the life that was revealed. The eternal life which was with the Father and was revealed to us. Word of life = Jesus and message about Jesus More than biological life Life of eternal quality <- kingdom of God When God heals and completes broken creation Eschaton / eschatology

15. Wolfhart Pannenberg “Because in the resurrection of Jesus the end of all things (which for us has not yet happened) has already happened it can be said of Jesus that the ultimate is already present in him. Because the end of the world is already present in the resurrection of Jesus… God himself is revealed in him” (Jesus – God and Man) In (resurrection of) Jesus we see the future of the universe

16. How will universe end? In ice or in fire? In joy and communion (resurrection + Pannenberg) Which we experience and participate here and now through Jesus Christ This is the primary focus and purpose of the Christian church!