With his approximate one-hundredth use of the verbal and active form of the word “believe,” John has clearly defined faith as the active, ongoing, trust in an obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Many churches celebrate the first Sunday after Easter as “St. Thomas Sunday.” Today we are going to bask in the light that God gave this outstanding disciple named Thomas.

When Christians are asked to quote “The Great Commission,” our minds typically take us to the close of Matthew’s Gospel: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations...

Any gospel that does not include a bedrock belief in the biblical doctrines of Christ, especially His bodily resurrection, is no gospel at all.  

Four Roman soldiers and a centurion carried out the death sentence of Jesus Christ. It was their job to serve as coroners, too, confirming the actual, physical death, so that burial could be arranged. Their method for this, like everything else about crucifixion, was brutal and cruel.

After three years of ministry, a three-part prayer to conclude it, three trials, and three denials by His closest disciple, Jesus died, three times. If this sounds unusual, it is.

If you go to Jerusalem today, you can visit a spot that has been excavated to reveal some old stones that form steps to a courtyard. It is believed this is the spot where the high priest presided over the first trial of Christ, the religious trial.

The Lord Jesus Christ was convicted in His first, religious trial by priests and Pharisees who valued their own religion and positions more than a right relationship with God.

Jesus’ case was passed on to a second trial, the political trial, which is the lynchpin that holds all three trials of Christ together, the religious and the political and the public.

At this point in John’s Gospel we have completed the public teaching and miracle ministry of Jesus and captured his final, private moments with His disciples.