Well, if you've ever bought anything from the internet, or updated your computer software as I was doing the other day, you will have seen these but probably ignored them.
If you have ever signed a contract for anything, you will have been shown these, and you may have glanced at them at your bank or wherever, but generally just signed your name and ignored them.
If you've entered into any competition from the back of a cereal packet or wherever, you may have glanced at these, but most probably you ignored them.
What are they?
They are the terms and conditions.
I don't know about you, but I tend to tick that box on my computer without even thinking, yeah, just download the software, Mr. Apple, I need it, just get it down here, get on with it.
I just assume I'm going to agree with them.
Do you, or are you a bit more picky?
And let me ask you this question, who gets to set the terms and conditions?
Who gets to set the terms and conditions?
When I updated my wife's iPad software, it was Apple who set the terms and conditions.
When I just now went to get some photos printed at Boots, Boots set the terms and conditions.
If you go to your bank, you don't like the terms and conditions, they're not going to change them.
They'll say, okay, go find another bank.
So the one in the position of power, the one who is the service provider, if you like, is the one who is able to set the terms and conditions.
And yet, and yet, I think most of us probably have, if not written down, at least mentally in our minds, a series of what we could call terms and conditions by which we expect other people will interact with us.
So, I will lend my neighbour my latter, providing he doesn't keep parking his car in the wrong place, providing he doesn't complain about my garden being too messy.
I will help my colleague at work, providing they leave me in peace the rest of the time, or providing they're being good to me as well.
I will give money to that charity person, providing they promise they will never contact me again.
So we all have these little terms and conditions, don't we?
And as we read John chapter 20, we see Thomas had some terms and conditions.
But actually, so does the Lord Jesus.
And the question for us is, do we have terms and conditions?
But even before we jump into the passage, well, let's look at terms and conditions, verse 24.
Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the twin, was not with them when Jesus came.
So the other disciples told him, we've 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 in his side, I will never believe.
That's Thomas' terms and conditions.
But before we actually look at those in more detail, I want us to notice one thing just in passing.
Why is it Thomas had missed out on meeting the risen Lord Jesus?
How had he missed this?
Earlier in the chapter, we read about Mary running to the tomb that first Easter morning to look for him.
We read about Peter and John running to the tomb to look for Jesus.
We then read about Jesus meeting with all the other disciples that evening.
But Thomas wasn't there.
Thomas wasn't there.
We don't know why Thomas wasn't there.
Maybe he had some other pressing things to do that night, which kept him from being with God's people.
Maybe that was part of his terms and conditions.
And this Jesus seems to have died, I'm going to go away somewhere else and go on my business.
We don't know.
But he missed out because he was not with the rest of the Lord's people on what became the Lord's day, the first day of the week.
Now that's not the main point of this passage, but I want to throw it in because I think John doesn't put this detail in accidentally.
If we are not with the Lord's people, we will miss out.
That was true of Thomas.
It can be true of us.
People often say, I'm struggling with my faith.
I think one man who came to me once saying, I'm really struggling with these doubts.
And as we got into the conversation, I realised why.
Yes, it was partly colleagues at work who believed different things.
But it was mainly, he was not regularly at church.
He was not regularly with the Lord's people.
So that was Thomas' problem, if you like.
But look at Thomas' terms and conditions.
Well, do you see his attitude?
It might sound, to some people it might sound reasonable.
I want to see proof.
I want to see evidence that Jesus has really been raised from the dead.
But actually, is it really reasonable of Thomas?
Is it really reasonable?
Who sets the terms and conditions?
The service provider, the one in power.
Apple, or Microsoft, or your bank, or whoever it is.
So what's Thomas doing setting terms and conditions?
He's saying, actually, Jesus needs to serve me.
Jesus needs to fit in with my agenda.
Jesus needs to do what I want.
I have a neighbour of mine, a couple of doors down,
who I was reading the Bible with for a while.
And this guy, Paul, had this, to me, very odd idea of God.
He kept on talking about God needing to prove himself.
He kept on talking as if God was a politician trying to secure your vote.
Or if God is a salesman, he's got a sales target,
and is desperate for believers, desperate for people to buy in,
so that he can reach his end-of-month target.
It's like he pictured God as being like Zach Goldsmith or Sadiq Khan,
trying desperately to win our votes for the mayoral election.
And at this point, I should refer you to the website,
so you can see all the other candidates whose names I haven't mentioned,
in the interest of neutrality.
But God is not like that.
And earlier on in this Gospel, Jesus has criticised that kind of idea.
So John chapter 4, verse 48, speaking to an official in Capernaum,
Jesus said to him,
Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe.
In other words, you want me to perform,
you want me to meet your terms and conditions.
I wonder how many times, even those who profess to be Christians,
actually set terms and conditions for God.
I'm sure we don't write them down,
I'm sure we don't even necessarily consciously think about it.
But perhaps in our own hearts, we think,
well, okay, I will get more committed to a local church when it's easier,
when the kids are older.
Or I'll get more committed to serving in the church
when work isn't quite so frantic.
Or I'll give more money when I've got enough myself,
when I get a pay rise.
And if you're working in the public sector,
that's probably about 20 years' time.
Sadly.
You see, we can set these terms and conditions for God, can't we?
And people who are not believers do it as well.
So Bertrand Russell,
the very famous British historian and philosopher,
was asked once what he would say
if he found himself standing before God
on judgment day.
And God said,
why didn't you believe in me?
Russell replied,
I would say,
not enough evidence, God.
Not enough evidence.
And in fact,
John says earlier on in this gospel,
the reason people don't come to the light,
the reason people don't believe,
is not because of lack of evidence.
It's because they prefer the darkness.
They prefer to live lives their own way.
There's no intellectual reason
not to believe in God.
There are only moral reasons.
But you see the problem here,
the problem for Thomas,
the problem for Bertrand Russell,
the problem for many of us possibly,
is trying to assert terms and conditions on God.
Well, that's Thomas' problem.
Let's look,
as the story unfolds,
at Jesus' powerful presence.
Verse 26,
eight days later,
the doors are locked.
Presumably the disciples
are still afraid of the Jews.
This time Thomas is there.
Jesus came and stood among them
and said,
peace be with you.
So we're back on a Sunday again,
the way the Jews count days.
Sunday, the Lord's Day.
Thomas this time is with the Lord's people.
And even locked doors
cannot keep the physical body
of the Lord Jesus away.
There are no barriers
he cannot cross.
And Jesus,
he knows exactly what Thomas had said.
He knows exactly
what Thomas' terms and conditions are.
Look at verse 27.
Jesus said to Thomas,
put your finger in here.
See my hands.
Put out your hand
and place it in my side.
Thomas,
I know what you said in private.
I know what your terms and conditions are.
Well,
try me.
See if I meet them.
I don't know if you've ever had that feeling,
that experience,
of somebody,
you saying something about somebody,
that you suddenly realise
they've heard you say it.
I had this terrible moment at school once
where I'd just been letting off
to friends around the lunch table
about my terrible teacher
and how all the work
he was forcing me to do.
At which point I heard,
felt a hand rest on my shoulder.
I said,
Stuart,
you don't know,
you always call me Cashman.
So he's very poised.
He says,
Stuart,
you don't have to do that.
It's your choice.
It's there to help you.
I felt about this small.
How do you think Thomas feels at this point?
As he stands in front of the man
he thought was dead
and Jesus says,
come on,
put your fingers here.
Put your hand in this wound.
It's actually humbling,
isn't it?
But I wonder if you notice something else
about Jesus' powerful presence.
He does not come to lecture Thomas.
He does not say,
Thomas,
you've had your chance.
You were with me for three years.
I explained everything to you.
These guys have told you
I'm alive
and you didn't believe
tough luck,
game over.
He doesn't say that,
does he?
Rather,
he is gracious
and still comes
and says,
peace be with you,
even you who doubt it.
Thomas,
you didn't believe?
Come on,
believe.
Have this peace
that only I can offer.
And you see what the
effect
of Jesus' presence
on Thomas is?
Verse 28.
Thomas answered him,
my Lord
and my God.
See the change there
from being pretty grumpy,
from being pessimistic.
If you read through
the rest of John's Gospel,
Thomas isn't just a doubter.
In chapter 11,
as Jesus is going to Jerusalem,
Thomas says,
okay,
let's go,
we'll go with him and die.
Cheery bloke,
Thomas,
isn't he?
Chapter 14,
when Jesus says,
you know where I'm going,
Thomas says,
no,
I don't know where you're going,
what's going on?
Kind of grumpy,
pessimistic,
possibly scared man.
Yet now he falls
at the feet
of the Lord Jesus.
Humbled,
confronted by the truth,
and above all,
liberated.
Peace be with you,
my Lord
and my God.
See here,
Thomas finally confesses
what John has been making clear
all through this
account of Jesus' life.
Jesus is
100% God.
He is fully divine.
He's not so 50% God
and 50% man.
He's not some creation
of gods.
He is 100% God.
Right at the start,
chapter 1,
verse 1,
John had nailed that.
In the beginning
was the Word
and the Word
was God
and the Word
is with God.
This Jesus
is God.
And Thomas now
sees this for himself.
Death could not hold it.
And do you notice
Jesus' response
to Thomas at this point.
He doesn't say,
no,
get off your feet,
man,
I'm just a man like you.
Every other time
in the Bible
where someone bows down
to worship as God,
either a human being,
Acts 14,
or an angel,
Revelation 1,
the human or the angel
says,
no, no,
don't worship me,
I'm just a creature.
Worship the Creator.
Jesus does not do that.
He is Lord.
He is God.
So he accepts that
from Thomas
as the right response
to the risen Christ.
But also when you see
this is personal.
My Lord,
Thomas says,
my Lord,
I was setting
the terms and conditions.
I was saying
you have to do this for me.
Now I surrender.
You are God.
You are my Lord.
You set the terms
and conditions of my life.
I will not do it any longer.
I wonder,
can you say that?
Can you say that Jesus
is your Lord
and your God?
The one who you'll
surrender to.
No matter what comes.
No matter what life
throws at you.
Whatever the distresses
and sadnesses.
Would you trust
the Saviour
who has been to the cross
who will forever
bear the marks
of that suffering.
Will you trust him
as the Lord and God?
Thomas did.
Faced with that reality.
And Jesus gave him mercy.
C.S. Lewis,
many of you will know
the author of
the Narnia Chronicles
and a great scholar
at Oxford
and eventually
a professor at Cambridge,
wrote about his own experience
of reaching the conclusion
that Jesus is Lord and God.
He writes this,
you can picture me alone
in that room
in Magdalene College
night after night
feeling whenever my mind
lifted even for a second
from my work
the steady
unrelenting approach
of him
whom I so earnestly
desired not to meet.
That which I greatly feared
had at last come upon me.
In the Trinity term,
that's the summer term
of 1929,
I gave in
and admitted
that God
was God
and knelt
and prayed
perhaps that night
the most dejected
and reluctant
convert in all England.
I did not then see
what is now
the most shining
and obvious thing
the divine humility
which will accept
a convert
on such terms.
We see that humility
in Jesus,
don't we?
Accepting Thomas
in some senses
on his terms.
And in his grace
he will break through
some of our resistance
to bring that peace
he promised.
But look at the promise
Jesus makes here as well,
verse 29.
Because you and I
are not like Thomas,
we haven't seen Jesus.
What's the promise?
Verse 29.
Jesus said to him,
if you believe
because you see me,
blessed are those
who have not seen
and yet have believed.
If you're a Christian
here today,
you are blessed,
you're approved by God,
you're delighted in by God,
you are loved
because you've believed
in his son.
You are objectively
in God's family,
objectively on God's side,
blessed
because you have believed
without seeing.
We see Thomas' problem.
We see Jesus'
powerful presence.
Finally,
let's look at John's purpose,
verses 30 and 31.
Now Jesus did many other signs
of the presence of his 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.
Hear what John's saying?
I could have written
lots and lots and lots more.
In fact,
you're in my office,
you see the piles of notes
I'd taken of the stuff
that wasn't going to make
the final cut.
But this is in the final cut
and it's here for a reason.
I'm writing with an agenda
and I'm actually
absolutely clear about it.
My agenda is
that you may believe
that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God.
So for that reason,
Mark,
John has recorded
seven signs,
signs,
miracles which are
signposts to Jesus'
true identity.
Turning water into wine
in Canaan,
raising the official son
in chapter 4,
healing the lame man
by the pool
in chapter 5,
feeding the 5,000
in chapter 6,
walking on the water
in chapter 6,
healing the man
born blind
in chapter 9,
raising Lazarus
in chapter 11.
All these are written
so we can see
who Jesus truly is.
They're all signs
that he is the Christ,
that is God's
long-promised king,
the one who God
promised to come
and put the world
right again
and establish
his right rule
over a world
that was in rebellion
and following
the devil's ways.
But not only is he
God's promised king,
he is the Son of God,
the one who came
from the Father,
the one who fully
reveals God to us,
the one who shows us
what God is like,
there's nothing
un-Christ-like
about God.
Jesus shows us
fully.
Not only was he
with the Father
in the beginning,
not only did he
come from the Father,
but with the Father
he sends the Spirit
as well.
He says,
the God of the Bible
is a trinity,
three persons in one.
That is why Jesus
can be God
and the Son of God.
God is three in one,
Father, Son and Spirit.
This is the God
of the Bible,
this is the God
John wants us
to believe in.
And do you see
what the terms
and conditions are here?
If you believe,
if you submit
to Jesus
as God's forever king,
what do we get?
Life in his name.
Real life.
What is life
actually about?
Some people think
it's about experiences,
don't they?
Some people travel
the world
searching for something.
I think of my wife's
cousin,
she's constantly
travelling everywhere.
like she's in search
of something.
Some people think
life is all about
having possessions,
having the right lifestyle,
having the right education.
Jesus says life
is worth much more
than that.
Life,
as we look through
John's Gospel,
life is about
forgiveness of sins
rather than condemnation,
about being loved
by the living God,
the God who made us.
Life is about
having light
instead of darkness.
The light of knowing
the truth
that comes from God
instead of the darkness
of stumbling around
with our own ideas,
with our own morality
and where it leads to.
Ultimately,
life,
Jesus says,
John chapter 17,
verse 3,
this is eternal life,
the Emmanuel God
and Jesus Christ
whom he sent.
This is what we are wired for,
this is what we are created for.
This is life.
And there is only one way
to get it.
There is only one way
to get it.
That is by believing
in his name,
believing in this Jesus
who came to die.
And you see,
he is the provider,
isn't he?
He is the one
who provides life.
So he can set
the terms and conditions.
He can say,
you must tick this box,
believe in me,
submit to me
as your Lord
and your God
as Thomas has done.
That is the way
to have life.
It is not good enough
to believe generally
there is a God
out there.
That is insufficient.
James later on
in the New Testament
tells us
even the demons
believe that
and shudder.
It is not enough
to believe that Jesus
was just a prophet
sent from God.
Islam teaches that.
It is not enough
to believe that Jesus
was just a manifestation
of God.
Many Hindus
or Sikhs
will take that idea.
it is not enough
to believe that Jesus
was just the Son of God
but not actually God.
Because that is not
his name.
That is not what
John is telling us
we need to believe in.
Rather we must
fall down with Thomas
and say,
my Lord
and my God.
You see,
to cite what
Burkham and Russell
said,
there is plenty
of evidence.
It is not lack
of evidence
that keeps anyone
away.
so that we prefer
the darkness
to the light.
We want to trust
in ourselves
or something else
and not in the Jesus
who has stepped
into history
to reveal God
to us
and to rescue us
for God.
So the question
as we close
really is
do we trust?
Do we believe
in his name?
Or do we still
have terms and conditions
that we want
Jesus to meet?
May we pray for us.