Responsive Reading from SELECTION 61 p. 1072 in the small print Bible.
Jesus Appears to the Disciples
19 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,[c] 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.”
PRAY
You may be seated.
Paul Raider- "Christians are like a whole lot of people who have colds. They are all sitting around sneezing at each other, but nobody gets sick because everybody's already has it."
And the point is, it's so easy for Christians to revolve in a little Christian cubicle, you know, "Us four, no more, shut the door." And that's how most of us who claim Jesus live and it’s how we do not move out and contact the world as sent ones from Jesus Christ.
We are the continuing ministry of Christ.
He's proven Himself faithful, now He sends the faithful.
19 On the evening of that day,
What day is this?
• The day that that John is speaking of is the day that Jesus rose from the grave.
• If you will recall He encountered Mary Magdalene the woman who had 7 demons at his tomb.
• Later he met 2 disciples walking on their way to Emmaus.
• This is Sunday it is the...
the first day of the week,
I don’t know if you are any good at math or not. If you’re like me, you’re not. However I think that you will likely be able to figure out the following: If Jesus died on Friday and if he rose on Saturday, that is only 2 days… right? You start on Friday then you count Saturday as 1 and then Sunday as 2 right? That is only 2 days.
Scripture tells over and over that it was 3 days. If Christianity is a sham don’t you think that those who made it up would be smart enough to add?
Maybe we need to stop and consider: The Jewish people didn’t count time as we count time. Listen to what CARM states:
The solution is simple when we learn that according to Jewish custom any part of a day, however small, is included as part of a full day.1 "Since the Jews reckoned part of a day as a full day, the 'three days and three nights' could permit a Friday crucifixion."2 This phenomena is exemplified in scripture in the book of Esther.
Let’s listen to what the book of Esther says, "Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way," (Esther 4:16 ). Then, in Esther 5:1 it says, "Now it came about on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace in front of the king’s rooms, and the king was sitting on his royal throne in the throne room, opposite the entrance to the palace." We can see that even though the three days and nights had not been completed, Esther went in to see the King on the third day even though she said to fast for three days and nights. We see that "on the third day" is equivalent to "after three days."
Keep in mind that is only one possibility. There are actually two other possible explanations that I know of. But for time’s sake we will not pursue those two. If you would like to investigate those you can go to CARM and type in “How long was Jesus dead in the tomb?”
Let’s continue… Here is what we know so far, “It was the evening of that day, the first day of the week AND…”
the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews,
1. Why were the doors locked?
a. It clearly states that the disciples were afraid of the Jews.
b. And they clearly had good reason to lock the door wouldn’t you agree?
c. They had just witnessed the slaughtering and murder of Jesus. It wasn’t just a light beating and a simple nail in the hands and feet.
i. Isaiah said, “Just as there were many who were appalled by Him – his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness And that He was despised and rejected by men., a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. He was stricken… smitten… afflicted… pierced… punished.
d. And what did Jesus say would happen to them if they would be His followers before He was crucified?
e. Jesus warns his followers that they will be persecuted because they are not of the world, but have been chosen out of the world, and therefore the world hates them just as it has hated Christ (John 15:18-21). This is precisely why Jesus exhorts his would-be followers to first count the cost. For anyone who is unprepared or unwilling to bear a cross and follow Christ, (whose path to glory went via Calvary) simply cannot be his disciple (Luke 14:25-33).
f. These remembrances of what Jesus had taught them were probably racing into their minds.
g. Why would they think they would be treated differently?
2. I want to ask you something... The text says that the doors were locked where the disciples were… right? So where did Jesus come from?
a. There are some commentators who say Jesus slipped in through a window.
b. Others say that he slipped in at some point when the door was unlocked (unlikely).
c. I ask you, why couldn’t He just appear?
i. He is God isn’t He?
ii. He did just raise Himself from the dead didn’t He?
iii. Why would those commentators have a hard time believing that He just appeared or maybe walked through the door?
d. The description provided by John seems to imply that the resurrected body of the Lord literally passed through the locked doors just as it had passed through the burial wrappings earlier
e. In Acts 12:10 we see where the gate opened for Peter as he was fleeing imprisonment.
f. If you will call from Luke 4, the people in the synagogue were so furious at Jesus that they got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. That’s not that amazing to people until they understand the power of a crowd. Back in my crazier days I was at an outdoor concert, it was in the middle of August. Heat was blazing and I was stuck in the middle of a crowd of tens of thousands of people, close to the front of stage and the crowd started moving. I mean moving. We would rock 5-6 steps this way and then 5-6 steps the other way. It was crazy. It was dangerous. Some girl who was in front of me fell and was being stepped on as the crowd moved this way and then that way. Each time we moved to the right, I just had a brief moment to pick her up. But we were moving so quickly and with such force it was next to impossible to grab her. Again, we would move by her and I would try. After several passes finally I was able to grab her and get her to her feet. It didn’t matter how hard I pressed against that wall of people… there was no stopping it. It was terrifying. It really was.
g. We see that here with Jesus… Except these weren’t people caught in a human wave machine. These people were grabbing Jesus, manhandling Him. Their intent was to do Jesus harm. They weren’t going to let Him go… not if they could help it. Their intent was to kill Jesus.
h. But what happened? 30But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.
i. The text doesn’t say exactly what happened to allow Jesus to walk away. I think we can safely assume that it was supernatural though.
j. A man doesn’t just walk through a raging crowd who has already manhandled Him to the edge of a cliff with the intent to kill him.
k. When we look at Luke 24, just a short time before Jesus entered the room… we see where Jesus literally disappeared before the very eyes of the two men who had been on their way to Emmaus as they sat and ate with Jesus.
We shouldn’t have a hard time believing this. I hope that you don’t.
[c] Jesus came and stood among them
1. At the end of vs. 19 it tells us that Jesus came and stood among them.
a. Isn’t that amazing?
b. These people who are in this room ran from Him and hid when he was being beaten and nailed to the cross, they didn’t stand up for him… now they have Jesus standing among them… standing with them.
c. Think about it: Peter departed from the Lord… denied him 3x. All the apostles forsook Him and fled. They were discouraged because of Christ. Two of them said on the Emmaus road, "We thought that it should have been who should have redeemed Israel. But now it appears that he is not what we thought him be."
d. Of course in response to their faithlessness… to their forsaking Him… he could have thumped them into the far reaches of the solar system had He wanted to. But He didn’t.
e. What did He do?
f. He did the opposite. He died in their place and rose again. Now instead of calling down from heaven, or standing outside the door hollering in to them or even entering into the room but standing on the edge of them… Jesus stands among them. Right smack dab in the middle of the very ones who forsook Him.
g. They are terrified of the Jewish people and they are ashamed of their actions.
h. The two whom Jesus had walked with on the road to Emmaus had just informed them that Jesus was very much alive just as Mary Magdalene had.
i. And now here He is standing among them.
2. So, Jesus is saying, “I come to my own when they are afraid. I don’t wait for them to get their act together. I don’t wait for them to have enough faith to overcome fear. I come to help them have enough faith to overcome fear.”
a. And what is He doing?
b. He’s proclaiming peace.
and (Jesus) said to them, “Peace be with you.”
1. Isaiah 53:5 – He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us - peace was upon… Him, and by His wounds we are healed.
a. The reason Jesus was able to say “Peace be with you” was because the peace that He was giving them was the peace that he had just purchased for them through the punishment that he bore on the cross.
b. It was what took place at the cross that enabled Jesus to say “Peace be with you”.
Pink writes-Very touching and humbling was the Lord’s gracious salutation. Peter had denied Him, and the others had forsaken Him. How, then, does He approach them? Does He demand an explanation of their conduct? Does He tell them that all is now over, that henceforth He will have no more to do with such unfaithful followers? No, indeed. Well might He have said, "Shame upon you!" But, instead He says, "Peace be unto you." He would remove from their hearts all fear which His sudden and unannounced appearance might have occasioned. He would quiet each uneasy conscience. Having put away their sins He could now remove their fears. Be not afraid: I come not as judge, to reckon with your untrustworthiness and unbelief; nor do I enter as One who has been injured by you, to utter reproaches. No; I bring from My tomb something very different than scolding:
This is what I bring Peace . "Peace be with you" was the blessed greeting of the Prince of peace. This is the same greeting you and I will receive when we stand before Him face to face… if we are His obedient children.—we, with all our miserable failures, both individual and corporate; we with all our sins of omission and commission; we, with all our bitter controversies, and divisions.
It will not be "Shame! shame!" but "Peace! peace!" will be His greeting.
So “Peace be with you” (v. 21), serves to calm the fears they surely had both in reference to the Jewish authorities and those related to their “desertion of him prior to the crucifixion”
20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
1. Why do you think that Jesus showed them his hand and his side? Luke even states that Jesus had shown them his feet as well. Why do you think?
a. Luke tells us in his account that they were scared because they thought that had seen a ghost.
b. One reason might be was that he wanted them to rest assured that it was Jesus in the flesh and that He really was there and not as just a spirit.
i. Luke quotes Jesus, “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them His hands and feet… shortly after He ate a fish to solidify the fact that he was really there in flesh and blood.
ii. He wanted to show them that it was their Savior who stood before them.
iii. Why His side? Why do you think that Jesus showed them His side?
iv. John 19:34 says, But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.
1. It was through His pierced side that a way was opened to His heart, which in the Hebrew mind, was the seat of the affections!
2. Here in John we see Jesus as the Son of God, and God is love.
2. In saying "Peace be unto you" He announced that hatred had been removed, God appeased, reconciliation effected; in pointing to his hands and feet and side… the signs of His crucifixion, He showed what had accomplished these.
Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
1. Why do you think they were glad?
2. They realized that Jesus was truly their Savior.
3. They realized that though they deserved to be rejected by Him because of their rejection of Him… they didn’t receive that. Instead they receive exactly what they do not deserve… Peace.
4. And they rejoice in the knowledge that God is a peace giving God.
5. They rejoice knowing that Jesus was still with them.
6. If you will recall, in John 16, Jesus told His disciples, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy… and… So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”
7. They rejoice because they know that their joy will never be taken from them again.
21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
Apparent chaos to perfect peace.
Their world had just been rocked. The hopes and dreams that they had had been dashed… crushed… done away with. Thankfully, as great as their hopes and aspirations for Jesus were, they were nothing compared to what actually was.
1. Why do you think that Jesus repeats himself here?
Luke tells us somewhere at about this point that Jesus, “opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses to these things.
They finally got it.
Jesus opened their minds so that they could understand. Whereas earlier in the day the two men on their way to Emmaus thought that Jesus would rule in power in a much different way. Now they understood that He was the RULER of EVERYTHING.
They understood that:
“He [Jesus] himself is our peace, who has made us both one [Jew and Gentile] . . . and reconciled us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility (Ephesians 2:14–18).
The peace that Jesus offers the disciples is peace that he accomplished when he died for them on the cross.
He said, “I am the one who died. I am the one you abandoned. And I am the one who was “pierced for your transgressions” (Isaiah 53:5).And the reason I can offer you peace is because by my blood I have covered all your sins.”
“If you trust me they won’t be held against you. The wrath of God is turned away. “
“Here, look at my side and my hands. I made peace with these. Justice was satisfied with these. Peace between you and God (and me) was established with these.”
And they were about to find out that King Jesus was about to commission them to the greatest assignment ever given. We will save that one for next time.
How well do we understand that we can have peace with God despite the horrible things we may have done in our lives?
I don’t think any of us have 7 demons in us like Mary Magdalene had do we? Although you have never seen my wife mad.
Yet, Jesus still removed those demons, He still cared for Mary, He still died for Mary… offering her peace.
What did Mary do to earn Jesus’ favor? – Nothing. Jesus gave it to her.
And even though we don’t think we would deny Jesus 3x as Peter did, we do every day. Yet, He still offers us peace. Peace that was accomplished by His obedient work on the cross and his rising back to life 3 days later.
You see:
“For a child (was) be born to us, a son (was) given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name (is) called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)
If you do not have peace true peace… Jesus peace and you would like to discuss how you can have this peace… as Mary plays… let me encourage you to come and let me share with you more about the Prince of Peace.
Or if you know the Prince of Peace yet your world is still rocking and swaying out of control, much like that crowd was that I told you about, let me encourage you to tighten your moorings to Jesus who is the Rock of your salvation.
Remember:
1. God is great – so you don’t have to be in control
2. God is glorious – so you don’t have to fear others
3. God is good – so you don’t have to look elsewhere
4. God is gracious – so you don’t have to prove yourselves
As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
Track season is just around the corner.
The mission He announced there was not just for those whom He was addressing: it defined the mission of all His people in that world which has rejected Him.
You and I are included in that commission.
And what a marvelous mission it is—to represent our Lord here below, as He represented the Father. What a wondrous dignity to show in our life and by our words how He would speak and walk. This is the standard of practical holiness—nothing lower, "He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked" (1 John 2:6). But how unspeakably blessed to observe that the Lord first said "Peace be unto you" before "I send you."
Christ was sent to manifest the Father, and with a message of grace to this sinful world; we are sent to manifest the Son, and with a similar message.
In many ways, then, the disciples were not to begin a new mission, but were to continue the very ministry inaugurated by Jesus.
John 3:1717 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.).
All three persons of the Godhead are involved in this commissioning: as the Father sent Jesus, so Jesus sends his disciples (20:21), equipping them with the Holy Spirit (v. 22).
I return to that initial quote. Let me read it again. Just listen to how unbiblical these people are living.
"Christians are like a whole lot of people with colds all sitting around sneezing at each other, but nobody gets it because everybody's got it." And the point is, it's so easy for Christians to revolve in a little Christian cubicle, you know, "Us four, no more, shut the door." And that's how we live and not move out and contact the world as sent ones from Jesus Christ. We are the continuing ministry of Christ. He's proven Himself faithful, now He sends the faithful.- Paul Raider
“Fear not I am with, be not dismayed, I am your God, I will help you” (Isaiah 41:10). He will do this for you too, if you receive him into your life for who he really is.
All authority… and I will be with you…
This is the key statement that I want us to understand.
You are being called to the same mission. The Father sent the Son so that the world could know and experience who God is and what He is like. And now Jesus sends you to do the same.
We are to be a people who love like Family, We are to be a people who Serve to show the Kingdom, and then We are to be a people who Tell people in the power of the Spirit about their King.
What's your strategy? What's your strategy to carry the gospel? What's your plan of attack?
