“Leave It There!”

Scripture: John 20:24-29; Colossians 2:13-15

As we continue in our discovery of some symbols of Easter, we are also getting closer to the specifics of Holy Week itself. Last week, we considered the significance of the palms of Palm Sunday. Today, we look at the next symbol of that week – the nails. There is an old saying that it wasn’t the nails that held Jesus to the cross, it was by the love he has for you and me. There wasn’t a single moment that Jesus couldn’t have stepped down from that Cross, sparing himself of all the pain and humiliation and the trauma of death that was slowly taking control of his life and body. But his love, and passion, and commitment to this sinful and corrupt human race would never allow him to deviate from the path that had been laid out for him.

Jesus’ mission to the people of earth was focused on two tasks – first, to bring the truth of God to our lives, that the fallacy and futility of the law might be set in its proper place, and second, to create an achievable way for us to gain eternal life in him. His years of ministry had corrected the false impression that adherence to the law was all that we had, and the sacrifice of his humanity on Calvary’s tree, with the shedding his blood, and the surrender of his life, would open heaven’s door for all who would simply believe.

The nails were an important part of his executioners’ work, but for God and all who believe in Christ, they are simply a sign that, by the Lord’s own choice, he would never cheat Calvary and deny the world their only opportunity to live with him forever.

Today’s sign of Easter are the Three Nails of Calvary.


Read John 20:24-29

Thomas had always been a slow, but deliberate learner, but when truth would finally enter his heart, it was there for good. He would be led to India to minster to the people in that part of the world, and eventually would die a martyr.

He had been a disciple of Jesus for quite some time, and it took the entire time for him to finally understand just who and why Jesus had come to be with him. In John 14:1-7, Jesus tells his followers that he will be leaving them soon to prepare a place for them (meaning an eternal home!), but that he will be back to take them with him. He then says that they (the disciples) know the way to where he will be.
Thomas, in his wanting to know where that place is and how he will know the way there, reveals the truth of his lack of understanding when he replies “We don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus then becomes very pointed, and informs them all that not only is he the way, but that he is also the truth and the life that they have been seeking.

Thomas was one of those folks who just had to be 100% certain – he needed overwhelming evidence before he could trust that what he was being asked to believe was, indeed, the truth for his life.

And in our passage, we realize that the Risen Jesus has appeared to a number of his faithful, but Thomas had missed it all, and when he was told about the truth of their Lord, he replies that until he can put his finger the holes in his hands and can put his hand in the spear wound in the side, he will never be able to believe this incredible story.
Just then, Jesus appears, and since the others had already seen the Living Lord, we can assume that this appearing is specifically for Thomas. And before anyone can utter a word, Jesus offers his peace to those who are gathered, then tells Thomas to do just as he had desired – to put his finger in the nail holes, and his hand into the wound in his side. And then, to top it off, he tells the disciple to stop doubting and believe.

And that was just what Thomas needed. There is nothing to indicate that the man ever took Jesus up on the offer, but in that same moment, Thomas makes his confession of faith – “My Lord and my God!”

Were those nails, and the holes that they made, just for Thomas – that he would finally understand and believe? Perhaps, but more likely, they are there for all who would doubt and hesitate in believing that Jesus is truly the Risen and Living Lord of all. Faith and trust didn’t come easily for Thomas, but in this story, we discover that Jesus is patient and, when necessary, intentional and direct with anyone who is unsure, anyone who is overly cautious, anyone who tends toward doubt and hesitation.

And when we finally set the limitations of earth aside, there is no limit to what God can do with, for, and through us.

Read Colossians 2:13-15

In these 3 verses, Paul presents four truths for our lives.

First, even while we were still immersed in our sinful lives, we had been brought to new life through the perfect life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That’s right – we don’t have to become worthy of Christ before we come to his way. Worthiness was won for us while we were still dead in our sin! In Paul’s letter to the Romans (Romans 5:8), he expressed this same promise with these familiar words – “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

His worthiness was sacrificed for our worthlessness, so that we could become worthy of a life in him.

Second, Christ has cancelled all of the charges, all of the debt that we have incurred against our lives. Those debts, the sins, those acts that we have committed in opposition to the Lord’s ways, have been wiped from all Godly memory. We deserve the condemnation that sins brings, but the Lord has given us another option. In Zechariah 3:1-10, God demonstrates the authority and completeness of his forgiveness. Satan is present to proclaim all that the man has done to defy and deny God, but the Lord rebukes him, and the charges aren’t even mentioned. Clean robes and a royal headdress are brought out to cloth the man, and God proclaims that his Branch, which is Jesus, is coming soon to wipe out all sin in a single day.

When God eradicates all record of our sin, it is as complete and permanent as though a damp rag has cleaned the chalk from the blackboard of our existence.

Third, our sin, the charges that stand against us, our condemnation, has been nailed to the Cross of Christ, the place of righteousness, with the same nails that pierced Jesus to the point of death. Our sin has suffered the same penalty that Jesus was subjected to – death. The only difference is that there is no hope of resurrection for our sin! It is gone!

And fourth, the “powers and authorities” of earth, or rather the law and its demands that earth has imposed upon us, has been “disarmed”. The authority that the law once held over the people of earth no longer has any power, can no longer condemn, will no longer hold any threat of death and punishment for our less than perfect lives. It has been rendered impotent through the life, the love, the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The nails that Christ accepted at Calvary, the nails that changed Thomas’ doubt and hesitation into faith and absolute trust, the nails that have nailed our sin to the Cross that held Jesus, are the same nails that now hold our sins in condemnation - all through the freedom that Jesus brings to those who believe and trust in Jesus and his life.

The nails of Good Friday, the nails of condemnation and death, have become the nails of hope and life and forgiveness through faith in our Lord, Christ Jesus.

Praise the Lord! Amen.