“From Fear to Faith”
How the Resurrection Transformed the Twelve”
John 20:19-22 19 So while it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and while the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and *said to them, “[b]Peace be with you.” 20 And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Well, we want to welcome everyone to our service today. We are here today celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the time of year to expect signs of new life. I was looking Friday at the weather forecast for today and it indicated the chance for rain. I was looking at my lawn, and it has regrettably sprung to life again. But this is the time of year for changing weather and scenery. We’re in the transition between winter and summer. We are in the time when life and warmth are budding out of the cold and death. And it is appropriate that it is at this time of year that we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord because by His death and resurrection we who believe have been brought from death to life. We have been brought out of winter’s despair to the warmth of a relationship of love with God.
Imagine winter.
The trees stand bare like skeletons. The grass lies brown and dead. The flowers that once brought color and life to the world have long withered and fallen. The days are shorter, the air is colder, and everything feels like it’s in a deep, quiet sleep — or even death.
But then — spring.
Buds start to bloom. Grass turns green. Flowers push through soil that looked like it had given up. Trees stretch their arms with new life, and warmth returns to the world. Creation, once silent, sings again. Life breaks through where there was none.
That’s resurrection.
What happens every spring is a whisper of the resurrection of Jesus — and of the new life He offers to each of us. Just as the earth emerges from the death of winter, Jesus rose from the tomb, conquering death, and bringing eternal life to all who believe.
Paul even says in Romans 8:22–23 that "the whole creation has been groaning..." — waiting for resurrection.
It is at this time of year that we celebrate the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection. But it is not just His resurrection that we celebrate, it is our own. When a person chooses to put their faith in Christ; resurrection happens.
Ephesians 2:4–5 (ESV) But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.
We were dead, and He brought us to life. We were in darkness and He led us to the light.
1 Peter 2:9 (ESV) But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Our hearts were hard and cold and He
Ezekiel 36:26 (ESV) And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
That’s really the wonder of Easter. Not just that Jesus rose from the grave, but that we can too. We can change. Many of us here have been changed.
Well, that’s what I want us to look at today. Changed lives.
And nowhere is that Spirit empowered change more evident than in the lives of the twelve disciples.
These men—ordinary, flawed, fearful—were transformed into bold witnesses who changed the world. What happened? The resurrection happened. Today, I want us to look closely at who they were before the resurrection, how they encountered the risen Christ, and what became of them after. Because the same power that transformed them is available to us right now.
Before we jump in, let’s go to the Lord in prayer.
Let’s be real—the disciples were not spiritual superheroes when Jesus found them. They were fishermen, tax collectors, political extremists—regular men with real issues. We will not have the time today to consider every one of the disciples, but I just wanted to profile three of them to illustrate where those whom Jesus called came from, and what happened to them after Jesus transformed their lives.
I. Matthew
A. Before Christ
The first of the 12 disciples that I want us to think about today is Matthew. If you want an illustration of a changed life, his is a great one. Before Jesus called him to be one of His disciples, he was a tax collector by profession. And that may not seem like such a negative thing to us, but publicans were hated by the Jewish people. Why did they hate them? But if we look a little closer at what we know of his life, we can begin to understand.
The Jewish people were paying these taxes to the Roman government who were a foreign occupying kingdom. And the taxes were heavy and oppressive. There were all kinds of taxes; tribute, land taxes, poll taxes, customs and tolls collected at ports, roads and city gates. And as irritating and impoverishing as these taxes were, they were made worse by who was collecting them.
Rome commissioned private individuals or companies called publicans from the local population to collect the taxes. And these individuals paid for the privilege to collect taxes, and then they recouped their money by getting it back from the people. And Rome allowed them to make a profit by charging far above what they themselves had paid. So, tax collectors could get rich on the backs of their countrymen. That means that tax collectors in Judea were Jewish men who got rich by extorting money from their own people.
So how would someone like Matthew have worked his craft on a day-to-day basis? How were they able to get the money from the people. Well, Rome allowed them to hire their own “brute squad.” These individuals were their enforcers used to intimidate people into paying. They could legally seize property or livestock if payments weren’t made. They could detain or punish the non-compliant, even beating people in some cases. That was an unofficial but common practice.
If you want a more modern comparison, imagine the Italian mob in its heyday sending out their thugs to collect “protection” money from businesses and individuals. And the police looking the other way because they are on the payroll as well.
These publicans operated like private tax cartels, with wide latitude — as long as Rome got its cut.
And Matthew was a tax collector—a Jewish traitor in the eyes of his people. And they were rated as the worst of sinners. They were deemed to be among prostitutes, thieves, and the violent.
B. Meeting Christ
But one day, Jesus came by and called on Matthew to follow Him as a disciple. Now, we are not given any information as to whether Matthew had encountered or followed Jesus’ ministry before this. You have to imagine that he was aware of Jesus. Maybe he had heard him preach or teach. Matthews base of operations was in Capernaum, the same area where Jesus multiplied the catch of fish when He called Peter, Andrew, James and John.
Maybe Matthew had been convicted about his life. John the Baptist and Jesus’ ministry had begun with a baptism of repentance. In Luke 3 we read this,
10 And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “Then what should we do?” 11 And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two [e]tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.” 12 And tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?” 13 And he said to them, “[f]Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.”
Whatever the reason was, I think Matthew’s story probably mirrored that of another tax collector who ended up believing in Jesus. Remember the story of Zacchaeus.
Zacchaeus was a publican in the region of Jericho. And he heard that Jesus was coming to his town. But he was a man short of stature. And knowing that he wouldn’t be able to see or hear Jesus through the crowd, climbed a tree and stationed himself along the pathway where Jesus was coming. But when Jesus came to that tree, just like with Matthew, He singled out Zacchaeus. He said,
Luke 19: 5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”
And Zaccheus did come down, and like Matthew, brought Jesus to his house. But we know that Matthew invited all his sinner friends to come as well.
And both came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
8 But Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I [d]will give to the poor, and if I have extorted anyone of anything, I [e]will give back four times as much.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”
Matthew became one of the 12 closest disciples of Jesus.
C. After the resurrection
We don’t have a Scriptural record of anything that Matthew said or specifically did during the 3 years of Jesus’ ministry. When Jesus was arrested, just like the other disciples he would have fled, for fear of his own arrest.
But the last time his name ever appears in Scripture was as a witness to Jesus’ resurrection, and among the twelve when at Pentecost, God gave them the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit. And from that moment, just like the others, he was a changed man. He wasn’t the greedy, heartless and fearful man who had occupied the tax booth. He became the bold witness to the Lord Jesus.
Matthew became the author of one of the four accounts of Jesus’ life, the gospel of Matthew. Interestingly enough, his gospel is considered to be the gospel directed to the Jews and presents Jesus as their promised King. Matthew had rejected his Judaism and had vowed allegiance to the Roman King when he was a tax gatherer. Now he returns to the people of God, and their eternal Ruler. What a change!
We don’t know anything more about Matthew from Scripture. Tradition tells us that he returned to Jerusalem for a time and then went out as a missionary, taking the gospel to Ethiopia, Persia, Syria, and Parthia. Tradition holds that he died as a martyr for his testimony.
But ask yourself this. Can God take a greedy, thieving, thug and turn him into a thoughtful, courageous and gentile witness of Jesus? Yes He can, and He did. That is the power of the resurrection of Jesus.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
II. Thomas
The second of the disciples that I want to consider today is Thomas. He is a wonderful illustration of how Jesus’ resurrection brought life out of death.
A. Before Christ
Scripture gives us less about Thomas, before he met Christ, than it does about Matthew. He is Galilean. We don’t have a story about Jesus calling him as a disciple. It is interesting that when listing the disciples, Thomas is always listed in the middle of the pack. Twice he is paired with Matthew. He is not one of the more prominent disciples like Peter, James, or John. Nor is he as obscure as James the son of Alphaeus, or Judas the [e]son of James.
He is in the invisible middle of the pack. That may give us insight into his personality, along with his name. He is called Thomas, and Didymus. Thomas is the Aramaic word for twin. Didymus is the Greek word for twin. I’d like to know how you get that name. I mean it would seem obvious that he was born a twin. But why would you name him “twin?” How does that work? Was he the second born, and maybe the first is twin one, and he is twin two? Or worse, did they give the first a name, “your name shall be Rodrick,” then they look at Thomas, and they say, “we’ll just call you twin?” He seems to just be this non-descript individual.
But, if the stories about him that occurred during Jesus’ ministry indicate anything, he seems to have also been the pessimist of the twelve.
The first time we hear anything out of his mouth is late in Jesus’ ministry. There are threats against Jesus’ life both from Roman and Jewish authorities. And Jesus and his disciples get word that Lazarus is sick, and he shortly dies. John 11 describes it
7 Then after this He *said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8 The disciples *said to Him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?” 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11 He said these things, and after that He *said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him.”
The disciples are concerned about going back to where His life was being threatened. But leave it to Thomas to bring an encouraging word.
16 Therefore Thomas, who is called [d]Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.”
Thomas was the Eeyore of the bunch. “Well, we’re all going to die someday, we may as well all go and die together.” It’s kind of weirdly a mix of bold faith, and fatalistic pessimism.
Later, on another occasion, in John 14, Jesus is encouraging the disciples in light of His imminent departure.
“Do not let your heart be troubled; [a]believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And you know the way where I am going.”
And Thomas speaks up,
5 Thomas *said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going. How do we know the way?”
I love Thomas here. Again, he seems pessimistic. But he is willing to say out loud what everyone else is probably thinking. I have kids in class like that. I’m explaining some new math concept. Most of the class is sitting quietly. But one kid in the back blurts out, “Mr. Hays, I don’t know what you are saying. I’m lost. Please rewind.”
That was Thomas.
B. At resurrection
And probably the most famous of the stories of Thomas came after Jesus rose from the grave. Jesus had made several appearances to his disciples. He appeared to several women. He appeared to two on the Road to Emmaus. He appeared alone to Peter. And He appeared to ten of the disciples in a closed and locked room. But Thomas wasn’t there at any of those appearances.
And despite the number of people who were telling him that Jesus was alive, he wasn’t having it. We can relate. He, and all the disciples had been emotionally crushed when Jesus was arrested, beaten, tortured and killed. He couldn’t bring himself to risk more hurt. This is what he said in John 20,
24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called [d]Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
But, you know, it’s good that there was a doubter among the disciples. Because we need someone to relate to. We all have had our doubts. But Jesus took His dead faith, and resurrected it.
26 And [e]after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus *came, the doors having been [f]shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then He *said to Thomas, “Bring your finger here, and see My hands; and bring your hand here and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus *said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are those who did not see, and yet believed.”
C. After the resurrection
Like Matthew, the only Biblical account we have of Thomas, after the resurrection, was his presence when God gave the indwelling Holy Spirit. But tradition tells us that he to, went on to take the gospel out to the world. He is said to have gone to India, founded seven churches, was instrumental in the conversion of members of the royal family, and was killed with a spear for his preaching.
But let me ask you this. Can God resurrect an powerless, obscure, pessimist, and change them to a bold and powerful witness to the resurrection of Christ? Yes He can! And He did.
Philippians 1:6 (ESV) “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
III. Peter
The last of the disciples we want to consider today as illustrations of Jesus’ resurrection power is Peter. Of all the disciples, we probably know the most about Peter. He is always listed first as a disciple, and he becomes the leader among the disciples after the resurrection.
A. Before Christ
We’re told that before coming to Christ, Peter worked as a fisherman. He along with his brother Andrew, and James and John fished the waters of the Sea of Galilee to make a living.
And contrary to our expectations, the day of a fisherman, started at night or sundown. Fish came closer to the surface in the cooler temperatures and were less able to see nets in the darkness. So, a pair or group of fishermen would go out on the water in a 20 to 30 foot boat and throw a drag net over the side hoping to ensnare some fish. It was an exhausting, wet, and cold labor. Especially on those nights when you caught little to nothing. They continued at this repetitive labor until dawn, when they returned to the shore, and separated the fish that were worth selling at market. Fish had to be sold quickly because of the lack of refrigeration.
After the catch up to midday:
After that exhausting ritual, they would return home, try to get some rest, before repeating the process again at dusk.
So, what do we know about Peter? He was a working man. But we may be able to gather something from what happens to his brother. You see, his brother Andrew, was not only a fisherman like his older brother Peter, he also became a disciple of John the Baptist. So he was there when John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and called Him the Lamb of God. Andrew, along with another of John’s disciples, followed Jesus and inquired of Him that morning. Then Andrew went at about 10 a.m. and found Simon his brother to tell him about Jesus.
What is interesting about this is that Andrew, despite being a working man, like his brother, was making time for his faith. He followed John the Baptist, he followed Jesus. Where was Peter? Working or maybe resting.
If we want to know who Peter was before he met Christ, we don’t have to go far for a description.
Luke 5 Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing at the edge of the lake of Gennesaret; 2 and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake, and the fishermen, having gotten out of them, were washing their nets. 3 And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the crowds from the boat. 4 And when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered and said, “Master, we labored all night and caught nothing, but at Your word, I will let down the nets.”
Simon is a laborer. We’ve been laboring Lord. And we have little to show for it. But, I’ll do what you ask.
6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish. And their nets began to break; 7 so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”
We don’t know what Simon meant when he said he was a sinful man. We can only guess based on the account of his life in the gospels. What we get from that account is a man who is bold in his declarations of faith, but a failure because he is swayed by the worries and fears of the world.
He was quick to step out of the boat to walk on water to Jesus but began to sink when he was distracted by the wind and waves.
He was quick to offer to build shelters for Jesus, Moses and Elijah, at Jesus’ transfiguration, but misunderstood the path to Jesus’ glorification.
He was quick to confess that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” But immediately after had to be rebuked by Jesus for being the mouthpiece of Satan concerning Jesus’ crucifixion.
He was quick to say that he would die with Jesus before ever denying Him. But he ended up denying Christ three times that very night.
There is so much more that could be said about Peter. But tell me this. Can God take a vacillating, pig-headed, man’s man, and make him the humble leader of the disciples who would go to his death proclaiming Christ? Yes, He can. And He did.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR US
The resurrection wasn’t just an event that happened over 2000 years ago. It’s power reaches into the lives of people every day, around the globe. The resurrection doesn’t just change circumstances—it changes people.
This isn’t just a historical truth—it’s a present invitation.
Galatians 2:20 (ESV) “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me…”
Conclusion:
The resurrection of Jesus turned a group of fearful, flawed men into courageous, faithful witnesses. And He can do the same for you.
Good. You’re exactly the kind of person Jesus chooses. The question isn’t whether you’re flawed. The question is whether you’ve encountered the risen Christ.
🎼 “O Love That Will Not Let Me Go” – The Story Behind the Hymn
George Matheson was born in 1842 in Glasgow, Scotland. As a boy, he was incredibly intelligent and spiritually sensitive. By age 20, he had already earned accolades as a brilliant scholar and was on track to become a prominent theologian and preacher.
But George carried a hidden burden — a rare, incurable eye disease. And by the time he was in his early twenties, he was completely blind.
Despite this devastating loss, George persevered. He memorized entire sections of the Bible and theology books. He continued his studies and eventually became a pastor, helped along the way by his devoted sister, who learned Greek, Latin, and Hebrew just to assist him in his ministry.
But the hardest blow came not from blindness — but from love.
While George was engaged to be married, he shared the news of his impending blindness with his fiancée. Her response crushed him. She told him, “I cannot go through life with a blind man,” and she left him.
It was a grief deeper than he could express.
He never married.
📅 Fast forward years later…
George was now a respected pastor in Edinburgh, leading a growing congregation. But the ache of his lost love still lingered.
Then came the day in 1882, when his sister — his closest companion and helper — got married. She, too, was leaving.
On the evening of her wedding, as the house was quiet and George sat alone — likely reliving the pain of his own shattered engagement — a flood of emotion overwhelmed him.
He later described it as "the most severe mental suffering I ever had in my life."
But in that moment of deep sorrow, something unexpected happened.
A hymn poured out of his soul — quickly, powerfully, and without revision. He later wrote:
"I had the impression of having it dictated to me by some inward voice… I am quite sure that the whole work was completed in five minutes."
✍️ The Hymn He Wrote:
"O
Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be."
He followed it with stanzas about light, joy, and the cross — each verse a progression of surrender to the unchanging, relentless love of God.
This wasn’t just poetry — it was a declaration of faith in the darkness. It was the cry of a man who had been abandoned, blinded, and broken… yet held fast by a love that would not let go.
Prayer “Lord, thank You for transforming fearful men into faithful witnesses. Thank You that Your resurrection power is alive in us. Today, breathe on us like You did the disciples. Fill us with Your Spirit. Use our lives for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
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