Last week we met two of Jesus’ followers on their way from the city of Jerusalem to a village named Emmaus which was about a 7 mile roundtrip. If you missed that message, you can go back and listen to it. It was Easter afternoon when those two disciples decided to leave Jerusalem. There were various reports swirling around about Jesus whether he was dead or alive, where his body was or was not and why. And where do we find those disciples who decided to stay in Jerusalem? We find them in the same place you probably would have found any one of us. We’re told, “The disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders” (John 20:19). Can you blame them? They were afraid and rightfully so. They saw what had happened to Jesus just three days earlier. If the Jewish leaders did that to Jesus, what was to stop them from doing it to his disciples?
You might remember last week that the account of those two disciples on the road to Emmaus ended as Jesus revealed his identity during dinner and then disappeared. What did those two disciples then do? They returned to Jerusalem as quickly as they could to tell Jesus’s other disciples what had just happened to them. As they were telling their truly amazing story, that’s when it happened. “Jesus came and stood among them” (John 20:19). No longer did the disciples need to rely on other people’s accounts about Jesus being alive. Jesus was standing there right in front of them. You don’t have to imagine their reaction because the gospel of Luke tells us, “They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost” (Luke 24:40). Startled seems like a bit of an understatement when a formerly dead person is standing in front of you alive. They had a hard time believing what they were seeing. Was this some sort of hallucination of hope – a figment of their imagination? No. The gospel of Luke tells us that Jesus proved that he was really alive by eating food that stayed inside of his resurrected boy. Jesus was definitely alive, standing in front of them, and that had to bring a whole lot of questions. At that top of the list, what was Jesus going to say to them or do to them?
Do you remember when the last time was that most of these disciples had seen Jesus? They were falling asleep as Jesus asked them to pray with him. They ran away when Jesus was arrested. Peter had three times denied even knowing who Jesus was. There was only one of the disciples who showed up at Jesus’ crucifixion and none of them were brave enough to ask for Jesus’ body for burial. Great disciples! There were a whole number of reasons for Jesus to be angry with them, to fire them, to find more faithful replacements. Now was the moment of truth. Jesus was standing there alive. What would he say to them? The first words out of Jesus’ mouth are what? “Peace be with you!” (John 20:19). He points them to the price of that peace as he shows them his nail-pierced hands and feet, and then says it again, “Peace be with you!” (John 20:26).
You know that feeling, don’t you? We’ve all been there, standing before Jesus and thinking, “Jesus, you have every right to be angry with me.” It’s the guilt we feel when we remember the poisonous words that so freely flew off our fingertips in a text or post before we even thought about how they were going to destroy someone’s reputation. Or maybe even worse, we knew exactly how they were going to destroy someone’s reputation. We look at the way we’ve treated the people in our lives, the lack of appreciation for a parent’s hard work, the complaints about those in our government, the loss of temper with a child or spouse that is taking too long to get ready, the jealousy of a friend who still has their job when you’ve lost yours. We might attempt to excuse, “Well, no one’s perfect.” But that’s not really an excuse. It’s an explanation. It’s the fact that reminds us that none of us can stand at peace before God on our own. Attempting to stand on our own merits, what we have or have not done is a scary predicament. The writer to the Hebrew Christians had it right when he wrote, “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).
Yet, those are the very hands that reached out towards the disciples on Easter evening – not to punish them or to push them away, but instead to announce peace. Those are the hands of the living Jesus who were nailed to a cross to bring you peace with God. Jesus took the eternal and just wrath of God for our sin, so that you and I would never need to experience that anger from God. As the words of Isaiah 53 so powerfully picture, “But he [Jesus] was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). Like those disciples, our fear is replaced with joy as we fall into the living hands of Jesus, pierced for our sins so that we can stand at peace with God, forgiven and healed.
That is a peace that is both personal and purposeful. I’d like you to think about that because sometimes it feels that Christians are more mindful of the personal than the purposeful. What I mean is that we understand that Jesus has died at the cross to take the punishment of our sin so that we are forgiven and at peace with God. We get that. But that peace of God is not intended to stop there with you. That peace with God gives us purpose. Listen again to Jesus’ words, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21). We who have personally experienced that peace with God, we now share God’s desire for every person to stand at peace with God, and there is only one way for that to happen. Jesus says, “If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven” (John 20:23). The only way for a person to stand at peace with God is through the forgiveness of their sins received through faith in Jesus. Jesus wants you and me to be his voice, to tell people that their sins are either forgiven or not forgiven, that the door of heaven has either been opened or closed to them. That is a serious responsibility and a great privilege. Considering that it has eternal ramifications, it is something that we want to be sure to get right.
Jesus helps us out when the gospel of Luke provides these additional words of Jesus from this account, “Repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations” (Luke 24:47). There is the key. It’s “Repentance.” Jesus connects forgiveness of sins with repentance. Who does Jesus want to tell that they are forgiven of their sins? To those who are repentant. What is repentance? Repentance is literally a turning. It begins by recognizing that you have sinned, doing what is contrary to God’s will for you. It is recognizing that sin deserves God’s punishment. It is turning to the Lord for forgiveness and trusting God has forgiven your sin because of Jesus. Finally, repentance is the desire to turn away from sin trusting God’s will for you. How often do we need repentance? Constantly! You know as well as I do, Christians are not perfect. Instead, Christians are repentant, turning to the Lord for forgiveness and turning away from sin.
However, you also see that Jesus says that there will be times when we will need to tell someone that their sins are NOT forgiven. Why would you ever want to do that? I don’t think that “want” is the right word to use. I think the better word to use is “need” to do that. When would you need to tell someone that their sins are not forgiven? It is certainly not because we are perfect or better than someone else. No, we are all equally in need of God’s forgiveness. Instead, this is something that needs to be said when a person refuses to repent of their sin. It is something that needs to be said to the person who recognizes their sin and continues down that path without the desire to change it. In Hebrews 10:26 we have this warning, “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left” (Hebrews 10:26). Instead of turning to the Lord with repentant heart and turning away from sin, this person has decided to turn away from the Lord, pushing away his forgiveness and turn to the way of sin. That is scary to watch, like watching someone driving down a dark, curvy, country road without their headlights on. In love for that person who refuses to repent of their sin, the truth must be spoken, your sins are not forgiven. Why? Remember the purpose that God’s peace in Jesus gives to us. Our purpose is to turn people to the Lord, that with repentant hearts we may stand together at peace with God and forgiven of sins. That is the peace of God that is both personal and purposeful.
Did you notice that Jesus didn’t use the door when he appeared to those disciples on Easter evening? A locked door was not going to keep Jesus out. I think that Jesus’ has been much of the same thing over the last month or so. Jesus has been appearing in some very surprising places – in people’s living rooms and kitchens, bedrooms and basements, lunchrooms and cafeterias through TV’s, computers, phones and tablets. He stands in front of people who are sitting on couches and in cars, wearing pajamas and sweat pants and says, “Take another look at me and see what I have done for you.” He comes to reveal our insecurities, our sins, our need for what he alone can provide. He shows us the hands and feet that were pierced for us, that fully paid the price for our sins so that we could today and always stand at peace with God. This peace is personal and purposeful. It is a peace that you have experienced and is yours to extend to the people in your life. Show them a Jesus who still comes today and says, “Peace be with you!” Amen.
