John 20:19-23

¹⁹ That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. ²⁰ As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord!²¹ Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” ²² Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Examining the proof should lead to:

4. Exclaim His Plan

Jesus not only provides us with His presence, His peace and with proof but fourth He calls us to pursue His plan. Christ doesn’t just comfort us, He commissions us. Sadly, today may Christians want the comfort of Christ but not the commission of the Christ. We want Jesus to remove the fear, but we don’t want to walk by faith. Recognizing that His followers are still fearful, Jesus once again declares in verse 21: “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” His peace is given so that we will be about His purpose. We are saved in order to be sent out. It’s here that Jesus dispatches His disciples, His plan is not for you to live in a locked room fretting over the future. We have a mission and a message that cannot be kept locked up. Its time to stop cowering and start caring, people are going to hell and we are hiding. Christianity doesn’t put out a sign and say ‘come’ Christianity puts on its shoes and goes. The first use of the word “peace” in verse 19 was given in order to quiet their hearts, the second “peace” was given to prepare them to pursue God’s plan. Fear distracted the disciples from the mission. And it can cause us to hold up and hide the hope of God. Worry is a tool of the devil to derail you from God’s plan and get you to waste your life instead of using it to witness. Christ didn’t conquer the cross, so the church could cower behind closed doors but so that the church could courageous confront a lost culture with the hope and healing of the Lord Jesus Christ. Like the disciples who were living behind locked doors many of us are living with locked lips. Instead of being a witness to the finished work of the cross we are a witness to worry. When the church stops living in the hope it starts hiding. If we are going to exclaim His plan, then we need to:

5. Engage His Power

Jesus not only calls and commissions, but He provides the power of Holy Spirit as a companion. When it comes to the great commission this passage reminds us of the:

Method – Today we tend to focus on the method and while it matters we can’t forget that it should always revolve around people. If we are not careful we will make it about our programs instead of people. While programs can be powerful they have to be about reaching and teaching people.

Message – While the method may change the message does not. It’s the Good News of God’s grace, the forgiveness of sins. Sadly, because talking about sin and the only solution Jesus Christ our Savior has become such an unpopular message in our culture many churches are shying away from sharing the truth. They are cowering to the culture instead of courageously sharing Christ. While times change the truth does not.

Motive for ministry – LOVE, “as the Father sent me so I send you”We may be motivated by the desire for reward, recognition, financial gain, promotion or even pride. On the other hand, our motivation may be fear of punishment, failure, rejection or getting caught. Those are the lowest forms of motivation, but Jesus set a higher standard, His motivation was love. We may have various motives for serving him, but the only one that will prevail against all discouragement and setbacks is the love of God.

Means – God never sends us to do a work for which he does not equip and enable us. As Hebrews 13:20-21 says “Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, 21equip you with every good thing to do His will. And may He accomplish in us what is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”Living in the reality of the resurrection means rely on His resources. And what is that provision not just power but the person of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus didn’t just bless them He breathed on them. This is the only time that the word “breathe” Is used in the New Testament but it appears at least four times in the Old Testament, where the word “breath” also means “Spirit.”

Genesis 2:7: “The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”

Job 33:4: “The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”

Psalm 33:6: “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.”

Ezekiel 37:5: “This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.”

Just as God’s breath made the first creation, so likewise the breath of Jesus makes the new creation. We don’t have to be filled with fear because we are filled with His Holy Spirit. The question is, are we relying on the Spirit or on self? Whose strength are you serving in the Saviors or self?  The resurrection gives us hope, it’s the harbor that anchors our hearts in the hard times of life. As believers we don’t have to live lives of fear we can live lives of faith. While the world relies on its locks we rest on the Lord. Are you going to be a fearful follower or a faithful one?

John 20:19-23

¹⁹ That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. ²⁰ As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord!²¹ Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” ²² Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

 As we continue in John 20 we see that not only should we expect His presence but second we should:

2. Embrace His Peace

I wonder if the disciples’ first reaction to his presence was one of guilt and shame because they thought Jesus was going to rebuke them. But instead of blasting them, Jesus blesses them saying, “Peace be with you!”I’m sure this startled them because it wasn’t what they were expecting at all. Many of us have a perverted view of God, seeing Him as a punisher instead a provider of peace. We don’t embrace His peace because we expect punishment. This greeting of peace in the Jewish culture is the word shalom, a state of wholeness and harmony that is intended to resonate in all relationships. When used as a greeting, shalom was a wish for outward freedom from disturbance as well as an inward sense of well-being. To a people constantly harassed by enemies, peace was the premiere blessing. In Numbers 6:24-26, God gave Moses these words to use when blessing His people: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.” The New Testament describes at least three spheres of peace:

Peace with God– This is the vertical dimension that Romans 5:1 describes: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”Our sin separates us from God, but the Saviors sacrifice puts us at peace with God. This is what I call a Saving peace

Peace of God– This takes place internally as Philippians 4:6-7 reveals: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”This is a what I call a Securing peace

Peace with others– When we have peace with God and we experience the peace of God, we can then extend peace horizontally as Matthew 5:9 talks about: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God.” Jesus didn’t call us to be “peacekeepers,” but “peacemakers.” Fear tends to bring friction and factions, but peace provides a platform to confront conflict, and to compliment instead of competing with others. We are called to be peace workers not war workers. This is what I call a Serving peace

Do you want to live in His peace or in the panic? Jesus offers you peace today but it’s different than the peace the world offers. Our culture communicates that peace is the absence of something. That’s probably what the disciples were thinking as they tried to lock out their worries and concerns. But peace is not the absence of problems it’s the presence of Jesus Christ. Because of Jesus we can have peace with our past. Because of His forgiveness we don’t have to live in the failure and the fear of our past. Because of His peace we can also have peace with our present. What are you worried about right now? Your marriage? Your finances? A health issue? Jesus came to “bind up our brokenness” (Isaiah 61:1). But His peace doesn’t just impact our past and our present but also our future. Some of you are fretting about the future because you have forgotten about His faithfulness. Do you want this peace or are you content to cower in the corner? Stop locking yourself behind thick walls and embrace His perfect peace. Contrary to our culture peace doesn’t come from popping pills it only comes from Christ. I know what you’re thinking it’s just not that easy. You are going through the same struggle that the disciples had, how do I trust in the trying times? But the reason you have not embraced His peace is because third you have never:

3. Examine His Proof

Jesus offered evidence to His doubting disciples,showing them His hands and His side. If you want to forsake your fears, then you need to pay attention to the proof. Christianity is not just a system of rules and regulations, it’s a relationship with the living Lord. Mary missed Jesus because she mistook God for a gardener, here Luke 24:37 reveals that the disciples miss Him because they mistook God for a ghost! “And just as they were telling about it, Jesus himself was suddenly standing there among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. ³⁷ But the whole group was startled and frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost!”Fear creates a false perception, it perverts your perspective causing you to miss the Messiah. Many of us are living in the panic instead of the promises because we haven’t taken time to examine the proof. We are living in the fear instead of the finished work. Phobia comes from the Greek word for fear, but it refers to a panic that is completely out of proportion to the perceived threat behind it. They were afraid of people because they had forgotten about God’s power. I think today we need to come back to the cross, to ponder the proof so that we can live in the power. If Christ has conquered the cross, and defeated sin and death then what do we have to fear? Are you living in the reality of the resurrection or the ruin of religion? If you believe the proof, then it should change your practice. Instead of being consumed with panic we should be concerned with proclaiming.