Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

                                             Jesus Appears to the Disciples
John 20:19-31  On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 
20  When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
21  Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 
22  And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 
23  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” 

24  Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.
25  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.”
26  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.”
27  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.” 
28  Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
29  Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
 30  Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
31  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. 

Because of Him -- we live

                         For God So Loved the World
John 3:16-21  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 
17  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 
18  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 
19  And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 
20  For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 
21  But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” 

Believe or Not Believe -- Our Choice

                       The Ministry of Reconciliation

2 Corinthians 5:14-21  For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 
15  and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 
16  From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 
17  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 
18  All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 
19  that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 
20  Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 

21  For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 

He will be riding on a donkey

                                    The Triumphal Entry

John 12:12-16  The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 
13  So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 
14  And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 
15  “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt!” 
16  His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. 

By His Blood

                Redemption Through the Blood of Christ

Hebrews 9:11-15  But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 
12  he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 
13  For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 
14  how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. 
15  Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. 

Give us Lord our daily bread

                        Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

John 6:1-15  After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 
2  And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 
3  Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 
4  Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 
5  Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 
6  He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 
7  Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” 
8  One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, 
9  “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” 
10  Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 
11     Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. 
12  And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 
13  So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. 
14  When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” 
15  Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.