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Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 20:30-31

Written For Your Faith

The apostle John closes his book with a purpose: “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

The resurrection appearances were not random miracles. They were signs. Proof. Testimony. Carefully preserved and proclaimed so that future generations—like us—might have certainty.

Christian faith is not blind optimism. It rests on recorded, eyewitness history. The apostles saw Jesus. They touched him. They ate with him. And then they wrote. Why? So “that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” Notice the present tense: have life. Not only future glory, but also present peace and access to God.

Jesus lives, and therefore you live. His victory becomes your victory. His declaration of sins forgiven becomes your declaration of peace with God. His promise to be with you always becomes your source of calm and courage. His selfless love for you becomes your motivation to selflessly love your neighbor.

This is why we treasure the Bible. It is not merely a collection of inspiring thoughts. It is Spirit-breathed testimony to the living Jesus. Through it, Jesus still comes into locked rooms and hearts. Through it, he still shows his wounds. Through it, he still declares, “Peace be with you.”

When doubts arise, return to what is written. When fear closes in, return to what is written. When guilt accuses, return to what is written.

The resurrection of Jesus on Easter is not only an annual celebration. It is daily proof that your sins are forgiven and your future is secure. He lives to give you proof and peace. He lives—and in him, you have life.

Prayer:

Living Lord Jesus, anchor my faith in your written Word. Through it, grant me unshakable proof and enduring peace. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

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A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though 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; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
John 20:26-29

The Wounded Lord Draws Near

A week after Jesus appeared to his disciples on Easter evening, he appears again. The doors are locked. This time, Thomas is present. Jesus speaks directly to him. “Put your finger here; see my hands… Stop doubting and believe.”

What mercy! Jesus repeats Thomas’s own words back to him—not to mock, but to invite. The Lord had heard his doubt. And now he answers it with the proof of his wounds from the cross. Even in resurrection glory, Jesus keeps the marks of crucifixion as proof of his undeserved love.

Thomas responds with the clearest confession in John’s Gospel: “My Lord and my God!” Thomas declares who Jesus is—God himself—and who Jesus is to him—his Lord. His doubt is transformed into worship.

Jesus then speaks to us: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” This is not second-class faith. It is faith grounded in the testimony of the apostles. The eyewitnesses saw so that we may trust their proclamation.

We do not touch his wounds physically. However, we encounter the same crucified and risen Jesus in his Word and in the Lord’s Supper. In the Lord’s Supper, Jesus provides individual sinners with the ongoing assurance that his body and blood have been given and shed for them.

He lives. And his living presence continues to comfort wounded consciences.

Your wounds, too, are known to him. By his death and resurrection, he transformed your guilt into peace, your temporary pain into enduring hope, and your momentary sorrows into joy that will last forever.

Thomas received what he asked for and more. He received a living Savior. So do you.

Prayer:

My Lord and my God, thank you for meeting my doubts with mercy. Keep my faith anchored in your wounded yet victorious body. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
John 20:24–25

When Doubt Demands Proof

Thomas was not there. We are not told why. But in his absence, he missed out on the peace the risen Jesus brought to his disciples with his appearance. When the others told him, “We have seen the Lord,” Thomas refused to believe without tangible proof. “Unless I see… unless I touch… I will not believe.”

We often judge Thomas rather harshly. Yet his demand is deeply human. Disappointment makes us guarded. Grief makes us cautious. We hesitate to trust again. Thomas was not asking for some mystical feeling; he wanted reality.

But notice this: even in his doubt, Thomas remained among the disciples. He did not abandon the fellowship entirely. And that matters.

There will be seasons when you struggle. You may wrestle with suffering, prayers that seem unanswered, or intellectual questions. Doubt does not shock Jesus. He knows the wounds that cause it.

Yet the answer to doubt is not isolation. When doubt or grief casts a long shadow over your soul, the worst thing you can do is to go off alone with your gloomy thoughts.

The best thing you can do is to go where believers in Jesus gather around the promises of God and encourage one another with those promises. Go and be where Jesus meets with us— “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18:20). Go and be where his sweet “Peace be with you,” is spoken, where praying with others and for others and singing praise to God with many voices can lift you up and outside of yourself. The answer to doubt is not isolation.

Thomas stayed close enough to hear again.

And Jesus did not scold him from a distance. He came near. He lives not to shame doubters, but to give them proof and peace. The risen Jesus is patient with you, too. Even when your grip weakens, his hold remains firm.

Prayer:

Lord, when I struggle with doubt, keep me near your Word and your people. Strengthen my faith with the certainty of your resurrection. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
John 20:21–23

Sent with the Spirit’s Power

Twice, Jesus said, “Peace be with you.” Then he added, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

The peace Jesus gives is not stagnant. It inspires people who have found peace to now offer it to others in Jesus’ name.

Notice what empowered Jesus’ disciples: “He breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” The same Lord who breathed life into Adam now breathes new life into fearful disciples. Resurrection life becomes missionary life.

And what is the core of their mission? Forgiveness. “If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” This is astonishing authority. Christians do not invent forgiveness; they deliver what Jesus purchased. The peace Jesus spoke in that locked room now travels through the mouths of believers into the ears of sinners. When a believer in Jesus declares, “I forgive you in Jesus’ name,” it is not wishful thinking. It is the living Jesus applying the forgiveness he purchased and won.

Receive from the risen Jesus the power of forgiveness.

Receive from the risen Jesus the power to forgive.

You are sent to bring peace to people in this world—not necessarily across oceans, but across rooms, across tables, across ordinary conversations. You carry the message that death has been defeated and sins are forgiven.

“Peace be with you!”

Prayer:

Jesus, breathe your Spirit into me. Fill me with your peace and send me to share the forgiveness you have won. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

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On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
John 20:19-20

Behind Locked Doors

The doors were locked. The disciples were scared. The next knock on the door might be Roman soldiers sent by Jesus’ enemies to finish the job and make sure every last disciple of Jesus was silenced for good. But then—without knocking—Jesus came and stood among them.

“Peace be with you.”

This peace knows everything is the way it should be. Hiding behind locked doors was not going to manufacture calm and peace in the disciples. So, Jesus came to them. The living, breathing, crucified-and-risen Jesus stood in the middle of their anxiety and declared peace—everything is as it should be. I’m alive. You’re forgiven. Peace be with you.

Not only did he declare peace to them, but he also gave them the proof they needed. He showed them his hands and side. The proof of his love remained visible. His wounds had not vanished. The proof of his presence was no longer in doubt.

You may feel isolated in your doubts, guilt, or fear of the future. Yet the risen Jesus does not wait for you to manufacture peace on your own. Through his Word, he stands among his people today.

And he still says, “Peace be with you.”

When we are afraid, Jesus doesn’t say, “Calm yourselves.” He says, “Look at me. See the wounds that won your freedom.” The same body that hung on the cross now stands alive. The penalty of sin was paid. Death was undone. Peace with God has been won.

The peace Jesus gives is not based on our feelings, but on Jesus’ promised presence, power, and love for us. Jesus proved his love for us when he died on the cross for us. He proved his power when he conquered death. Jesus lives, so our souls trust that Jesus makes everything the way it should be.

“Peace be with you!”

Prayer:

Jesus, fix my eyes on your wounds, that I may have peace in the certainty of your victory. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

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On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side.
John 20:19-20

Then Jesus Stepped Into the Room

How secure are you? Is your job safe, or is there a lay-off coming? How about your health? Or what if you had a serious car accident, or your home caught on fire, or what if …?

These are important questions, but in reality, almost laughingly insignificant in comparison to, “What is my relationship to God?” Or to put it a different way, “When I die, where will I go—to heaven or hell?” Now these questions simply have to be answered, or there will be a nagging sense of worry, emptiness, and insecurity.

The problem is, as we look into our heart and mind, we’re not helped. Have we been perfectly patient with those around us, shown perfect love to them, always been an example of Christ-like love? Or do we see in ourselves a rash of impatience, unkindness, selfishness? Ouch, more insecurity.

Jesus’ disciples understood insecurity. There they were, locked in the room, with no idea what was going to happen next, with no idea where their life was going to go. And then? Then Jesus stepped into the room.

And what did he do? He showed them his hands and side. There, on his nail-pierced hands, was proof that the disciples were forgiven, that Jesus had fully paid for all their sins, and that they stood at one with God. It wasn’t, “Don’t worry, be happy, the sun will come out tomorrow.” No, it was far deeper. It was, “See here—in my hands and side—the proof that I love you! The proof that your sins are forgiven and you’re on the way to heaven!”

Jesus’ hands and side say the same thing to you and me: “You are forgiven. You are loved. You are on the way to heaven!”

Prayer:

Jesus, my risen Savior, often I’m nervous and afraid. Forgive me. Focus my attention on your nail-scarred, risen hands, that I might see clearly that my sins are forgiven, and that I’m at peace with you. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him.”
John 20:1-2

We Know Where Our Savior Is!

Panic, confusion, and emptiness filled Mary Magdalene. Already her heart was heavy with grief as she prepared for one last act of love for the one she had followed as the promised Messiah. She would help anoint his body for burial and then leave the tomb without hope and without help. But now this was too much to bear. Not only was her friend dead, but his body was also missing.

First, panic set in. “What could have happened?” Mary must have thought. Then confusion followed. “How could just a few days change my life so much? Just days ago, I thought I had found the Messiah. How I loved listening to him! His words freed me from my burdens. I really thought Jesus was the one. But now he’s gone. What am I to do?” And now her life felt empty. No Jesus. No hope. No help.

And that’s how our lives would also be, if Jesus had never been found, or if his dead body would have been discovered in the tomb or elsewhere. Without a risen Savior, we could have no hope, no help, no forgiveness, no life. Then we would have every reason to panic. Then confusion and emptiness would be our lot in life, and we would be pitiable and hopeless indeed.

Thankfully, the apostle Paul assures us in the book of 1 Corinthians, “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20).

Thank the Lord, we know where our risen Savior is! He’s not in the grave, for he is alive, and we have the certain hope that we live eternally. Now our life remains full, today and forever!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, today I rejoice in the reality of your resurrection and the hope and help it provides. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Now the LORD provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Jonah 1:17

The Lord Provides a Savior

It seemed like the end. Jonah had run from the Lord. He boarded a ship going in the opposite direction. When the storm came and the truth was revealed, he was thrown into the sea. The water closed over him. There was no escape. No strength left. No hope of saving himself.

But the Lord provided. God appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah. What looked like judgment became rescue. What seemed like certain death became the means of preserving his life. Jonah could not save himself, but the Lord saved him.

This account points us to someone greater than Jonah, that is, Jesus Christ.

Jesus would not spend portions of three days in a fish, but in the grave. He would sink into death itself, not because he ran from God, but because we have. He took our place. He carried our sin. He faced the punishment we deserved.

When Jesus died on the cross and was laid in the tomb, it seemed like hope was lost. But on the third day, Jesus rose from the dead. What looked like defeat was victory. What looked like judgment became salvation.

This means your salvation does not depend on your ability to rescue yourself. Like Jonah, you cannot escape sin or overcome death by your own strength. But the Lord has provided.

He provided his Son. Jesus entered death and came out alive. His resurrection proves that sin is forgiven. His victory means death is defeated.

When you feel overwhelmed by guilt, remember that Jesus has already paid for it. When you feel helpless against death, remember that Jesus has already conquered it. When you feel lost, remember that the Lord has already provided your rescue.

Your salvation rests not in what you have done, but in what Jesus has done for you. The Lord provided a fish for Jonah. The Lord provided a Savior for you.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank you for entering death to rescue me from sin and judgment. Strengthen my faith in your victory and help me trust in your saving love. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
John 20:18

Mary Saw the Lord

Grief had brought her to the tomb. Mary Magdalene stood outside weeping. The one who had changed her life was gone. Jesus Christ, who had freed her from darkness and given her hope, had been crucified. Now, even his body seemed to be missing. It felt like one more loss, one more sorrow, one more reason to despair.

Then Jesus spoke her name. “Mary.”

In that moment, everything changed. The one she thought was dead was alive. The one she thought was lost was standing right in front of her. Death had not won. The grave had not kept him. Jesus lived. Her sorrow turned to joy. Her despair turned to hope. And she went to tell the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!”

This is the heart of the Christian faith. Not a philosophy. Not wishful thinking. A living Savior.

Mary was not sharing a rumor. She was announcing a reality. Jesus had risen from the dead, just as he promised. His sacrifice for sin had been accepted. His victory over death was complete.

This means everything for you. It means your sins are forgiven. Jesus did not remain in the grave because his work was finished. The payment was complete. God accepted his sacrifice in full.

It means death is not the end. Because Jesus lives, those who trust in him will live also. The grave is no longer a place of defeat, but a doorway to eternal life.

It means Jesus knows you personally. Just as he called Mary by name, he knows you. He sees your struggles, fears, and sorrows. And he comes to you through his Word with comfort and peace.

Mary’s message is still the message the world needs to hear: “I have seen the Lord.”

In the words of the Bible, you see him too. You see his love, his victory, and his promises. And because he lives, you have forgiveness, hope, and life, now and forever.

Prayer:

Risen Lord, thank you for revealing yourself as the living Savior. Strengthen my faith through your Word and remind me that you know me and love me. Help me live each day in the joy and confidence of your resurrection. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.