Divinity of Jesus - Week 8
- Jun 3
- 8 min read
SERIES INTRODUCTION
Over the last eight weeks, we have been walking through the Gospel of John together and looking at the moments where Jesus makes these extraordinary claims about His own identity. John is building a case - week by week, chapter by chapter - that Jesus is not just a great teacher, not just a good man, but the eternal Son of God.
We started in John 1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." We have seen Jesus as I AM. As the bread of life. As the light of the world. As the good shepherd. As the resurrection and the life. As the way, the truth, and the life. And as the true vine.
Today we land on the final scene. And it involves a man most of us have labeled unfairly. Today we are going to deal with Thomas - and we are going to let him off the hook just a little.
Introduction: The Sermon Thomas Forgot
Open your Bibles to John chapter 20, verse 24.
As we wrap up this series, we are meeting someone today. I think a lot of us relate to more than we'd like to admit. Thomas. We've given him the permanent label - "Doubting Thomas" - but he is actually one of the most honest people in the New Testament. He didn't pretend. He was grieving, he was broken, and he refused to fake a faith he didn't feel.
But to truly understand what is happening with Thomas, we have to go back just a few days before the crucifixion.
Before the cross, Jesus gathered these same disciples in the Upper Room and gave them His final "I AM" statement: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener." He laid out a blueprint for how their souls were designed to function. Abide in me. Apart from me you can do nothing.
Thomas was sitting in that room when Jesus said those words. But then Friday happened. The Vine was crucified. The disciples scattered. And what we witness in John 20 is a real-time, living test case of what Jesus warned them about. Thomas is a branch that tried to stand alone.
Everything Jesus said in John 15 is about to play out in front of our eyes. Thomas is not just a sad story about doubt. He is a case study on what happens when we cut ourselves off from the Vine.
1. The Isolated Branch
John 20:24-25
Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe."
The Trauma of the Branch
Let's be fair to Thomas. He watched his Mentor be executed. He watched it. When the other disciples tell him Jesus is alive, he doesn't want secondhand hope - he demands firsthand proof. And I want to say something clearly: questions and grief are not failures of faith. Jesus is not afraid of your questions.
The Danger of Isolation
But notice where Thomas actually went wrong. He didn't just have questions. He isolated himself. He wasn't in the room. The text says the disciples were together - and Thomas was not with them.
You can have every question in the world and still stay in the room. Thomas did both - he doubted AND he walked out. That second part is what cost him eight days.
The John 15 Connection
This is exactly what Jesus warned them about just days earlier.
John 15:5-6
"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned."
How do we practically abide in the Vine? Jesus told them in the same sermon: "Love one another as I have loved you." Abiding in the Vine is linked to abiding with the other branches.
Thomas became a branch lying out on the dirt path by itself. When you isolate from community, the spiritual life stops pumping. The joy drains. The vision blurs.
Your isolation will always accelerate your skepticism. Thomas's declaration - "I will never believe" - is the exact sound of a branch beginning to wither. He didn't lose his faith because he doubted. He lost his way because he stayed away.
2. The Vinedresser's Tenderness
John 20:26-27
Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe."
Staying in the Room
For eight days, Thomas is stuck in doubt. But notice the shift that happens here. He puts himself back in the room with the disciples. He didn't have answers yet. He didn't feel better yet. But he returned to the other branches.
Sometimes staying in the room is the whole act of faith. You don't have to have it figured out. You just have to show up.
The Grace of the Vine
And then Jesus walks through locked doors, bypasses everyone else, and goes straight to Thomas. He quotes Thomas's exact words back to him. Every condition Thomas set - Jesus meets. He doesn't shame him. He offers His wounds for inspection.
That is not the posture of a disappointed God. That is the posture of a shepherd who left the ninety-nine.
The John 15 Connection
In John 15:2, Jesus said the Father prunes branches so they bear more fruit. We think pruning is punishment. But listen - a master gardener prunes out of deep devotion.
Thomas's heart had been violently pruned by the trauma of the cross. He was raw and hurting. And the Vinedresser showed up anyway.
From Servant to Friend
John 15:15
"No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you."
A master doesn't care about a servant's questions. A master just wants the job done. But a friend walks through locked doors to tend to your broken heart. Jesus bends low to this sagging, withered branch, washes off the dirt of isolation, and bridges the gap with His own body.
He didn't wait for Thomas to get himself together before He showed up. He showed up to help Thomas get there. That is the grace of the True Vine.
3. The Fruit of the Vine
John 20:28-31
Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but 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.
The Ultimate Confession
Three words. "My Lord and my God." In the Greek, this is the strongest possible declaration of Jesus's divine identity. Thomas doesn't say Jesus is inspiring. He doesn't say Jesus is a great teacher. He claims Him personally. My Lord. My God.
This is significant - this declaration is not recorded in any of the other gospels. John kept it. Because John knew that this is the moment his entire Gospel had been building toward.
From "I will never believe" to "My Lord and my God" - in the span of one encounter. That is what the presence of Jesus does to a withered branch.
The John 15 Connection
John 15:8
"By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples."
The sap of the True Vine hits the branch, and instantly Thomas bursts into fruit. This massive confession of Christ's absolute divinity is the ultimate fruit of a branch that has been re-grafted and revived. The Father is glorified in it.
A Blessing for Us
Jesus looks past Thomas. He looks right at us - 2,000 years later. "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
That's you. That's this room. You did not get to walk into the Upper Room and touch the nail prints. But if you believe - you are the ones Jesus is calling blessed in this moment.
John wraps his entire Gospel right here. He says: I wrote all of this so that you would believe and have life in His name.
John 15:11
"These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full."
Attachment to the Vine always results in overflowing life and full joy. That is not a motivational poster. That is the promise of Jesus.
Application and Gospel Connection
The Grand Tapestry
Eight weeks ago, we started in John 1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Today, we end with a human being looking at Jesus and saying: "My Lord and my God."
That is the whole journey. The Gospel of John begins with a declaration about who Jesus is and ends with a human being confessing it with his whole heart. That is the journey John is inviting you to take - from knowing about Jesus to knowing Jesus. From declaration to personal confession.
And John says it plainly in verse 31. These things are written so that you may believe and have life in His name. Not just information about eternal life. Actual life. Beginning now. Lasting forever.
Jesus is the eternal Word. He is I AM. He is the bread, the light, the shepherd, the resurrection, the way - and He is the True Vine. He doesn't want you to study Him like an artifact. He wants to live inside you. He chose you. He appointed you to bear fruit. And He calls you His friend. He is standing right in front of you - wounds and all - saying: Do not disbelieve. Abide in My love. Believe.
Check Your Connection
Some of you are running on empty right now. You are coming to church, but you've isolated your heart. You're trying to survive on your own power - your own strength, your own answers - and you feel yourself drying up. That is not a willpower problem. That is a branch-off-the-vine problem.
Stay in the Room
Don't walk away from the vineyard. Keep showing up. Keep asking honest questions - but do it in community, not in isolation. When we stay attached to the other branches, the life of the Vine flows freely.
Thomas came back to the room before he had any answers. He sat down with people who believed something he wasn't sure he could believe yet. And Jesus met him there. He will meet you there too.
Make the Confession
When Jesus meets you in your doubt, don't hold back. Give Him the Thomas confession. My Lord and my God. Not as a performance. Not when you feel worthy. Right now - wounds and questions and all.
GOSPEL CONNECTION
Eight weeks ago we started in John 1. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
Today we end with Thomas saying "My Lord and my God." The Gospel of John begins with a declaration about who Jesus is and ends with a human being confessing it with his whole heart. That is the journey John is inviting you to take. From declaration to personal confession. From knowing about Jesus to knowing Jesus.
And John says it plainly in verse 31 - these things are written so that you may believe and have life in His name. Not just information about eternal life. Actual life. Beginning now. Lasting forever.
Jesus is the eternal Son of God who became flesh, who died for our sin, who rose from the dead, and who is coming back. He is standing in front of you right now. And He is not asking you to have it all figured out. He is asking you to believe.