Many folks believe it is possible the doors were locked since the reason they were shut up was because they feared for their lives. The Greek word used for “closed” here certainly indicates “secured” or “locked.”
Since the Bible points out that they were behind closed doors at that particular time, we can safely assume that was not the usual custom. If it had been, it probably would not have been mentioned.
That is not the custom of the church today in America.
Illus: That is, can you imagine going to a church and having the pastor say, “Is everyone inside?” Then, when an usher says, “Yes, pastor, everyone is inside,” the pastor would then say, “Okay, ushers, please secure the door.”
The Bible does not tell us that was exactly what happened to the disciples. Perhaps it was not in the manner I just described, but It does tell us they were all behind CLOSED DOORS during that time. There is a 99% likelihood they were locked tight.
Since the Bible tells us that was the situation, what we are going to examine in this sermon is, “WHY WERE THEY BEHIND THOSE CLOSED DOORS?”
Before we can understand that, we need to understand that when the disciples came to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior it was different than it is with many people who accept Christ today.
Most of the disciples forsook THEIR FAMILIES and THEIR CAREERS to FOLLOW JESUS. They had paid a tremendous price to be a believer in Christ!
Yet they had had no regrets. They had COMPLETE CONFIDENCE that He was WHO HE SAID HE WAS.
Also, they had come to have COMPLETE CONFIDENCE that He could do ANYTHING. They had seen Him:
-Heal the sick.
-Feed the multitudes.
-Cast out demons.
-Calm the raging sea.
-Even raise the dead.
They had complete confidence that HE WAS WHO HE SAID HE WAS and they had faith HE COULD DO ANYTHING and no one could stop Him.
One of the things they thought Jesus had come to do was set up His kingdom on earth. They were fully persuaded in their own minds that He had come for that purpose.
Illus: That is why the Bible shows us that they argued among themselves about who would sit on His right hand and who would sit on His left hand once He set up His kingdom.
They were thoroughly convinced that Christ had come to set up His kingdom. Then that terrible day came when they were devastated. Evil men came and hauled Jesus off to an illegal trial, less than a common criminal would get. Jesus seemed to be no match for their strength. Don’t you know they were confused as they watched Jesus heal Malchus’ ear, yet He would do nothing to stop those soldiers! From that time on, as far as they were concerned, things went from bad to worse. For example:
-They watched evil men bring Jesus before the judge with trumped-up charges against Him.
-Then they saw their Master taken outside of town, nailed to a cross, and left to hang until dead.
As from a distance they watched Him hang on that cross, I am sure it was in the minds of all of the disciples that at any moment Jesus would just spring off of that cross and prove to everyone that He was WHO HE SAID HE WAS -- THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD!
Then, as Jesus breathed that last breath, all their dreams were shattered.
Can you imagine it! Word began to spread through the crowd, softly at first, “He is dead!” Then it got louder.
• His enemies rejoiced, saying, “He is dead.”
• The demons in hell said, “He is dead.”
• The devil said, “He is dead!”
And they were absolutely right! He was AS DEAD AS ANY MAN HAS EVER BEEN.
Can you imagine how CONFUSED and DISCOURAGED those disciples were who had given up everything to follow Jesus. Now the very One they had forsaken all to follow, and the One they thought could DO ANYTHING, was crucified in shame like an ordinary criminal!
So, after that they were behind CLOSED DOORS, like scarred rabbits.
They were afraid because they knew that crowd was angry enough to KILL THEIR LEADER, so they felt it was safe to assume that they would also want to KILL THEM, HIS FOLLOWERS.
Look at verse 19. We read, “...the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews...”
Yes, when those disciples saw Jesus hanging on that cross, breathing His last breath, they had to be the most CONFUSED and DISCOURAGED men that had ever lived on God’s green earth.
They did not know what we now know. THAT IS, the ministry of Christ is twofold.
• That first time He came was to die for the sins of mankind.
• The second time He will come, He will come to rule and reign over the nations.
The disciples did not catch this. Jesus was telling them, but they could not comprehend it.. Also, they did not have the advantage we have of the full revelation of His Word. When they saw Him hanging on that cross, they heard Him cry out, “IT IS FINISHED!” To them it looked as if Jesus was throwing in the towel and saying to everyone, “I AM DEFEATED."
The disciples did not understand that when Jesus said, “It is finished,” He was saying to EVERY MAN
• WHO WAS LIVING,
• WHO HAD EVER LIVED,
• AND WHO WOULD EVER LIVE,
“I HAVE PAID THE PRICE FOR THE SINS OF MANKIND. “IT IS FINISHED.”
But notice, behind those closed doors, Jesus presented Himself. It is important that we notice the Bible tells us that HE CAME. It is equally important WE CONSIDER...
I. WHEN THE RISEN LORD CAME.
Can you imagine what it would be like, living here when Christ was alive, and being able to be one of His disciples?
Every time the Lord approached the disciples a smile came on their faces. For example,
Illus: In Matthew 14:23-27, we find the disciples were on a boat at night when a storm arose. Things were looking bad. They were having to fight the WIND and the HEAVY SEA. Just when things looked like they could not get any worse, THEY DID! About four o’clock in the morning someone looked across the rough sea and saw someone walking across the water toward them. Then they all looked. They thought they were seeing a ghost. They then had double cause to be afraid. All of a sudden that person who was walking on the water spoke to them and told them not to be afraid. They recognized the voice of Jesus! Can you imagine how thrilled they were to see Jesus after all they had been through that night?
But listen, at NO TIME were they any more glad to see Jesus than when they were behind those locked doors, afraid they were about to be killed, and the Bible tells us, “...then...came Jesus...”
The Bible tells us HE CAME; BUT NOTICE SOMETHING HERE THAT IS ESSENTIAL. HE DID NOT COME UNTIL SIN HAD BEEN ATONED FOR! The disciples needed comforting, but they needed something far more. They needed a Savior Who would come and die for their sins. It was not the spikes in Jesus’ hands that held Him on that cross. It was HIS LOVE FOR US!
Illus: The song writer had it write when he penned the words, “He could have called ten thousand angels,” to come down and rescue Him.
Jesus stayed on that cross because the ransom for our sins had to be paid and HE KNEW ALL WOULD PERISH IF HE WAS NOT WILLING TO PERISH FOR US!
Again, notice that the Bible said, “...then...came Jesus...” But, HE DID NOT COME UNTIL SIN HAD BEEN ATONED FOR.
Now we have seen WHEN THE RISEN LORD CAME. Now let us look at...
II. HOW THE RISEN LORD CAME.
Let us go behind those closed doors again. What we find is a group of the Lord’s disciples who were DISCOURAGED and CONFUSED. The Bible says, “...then...came Jesus...”
We know, HE DID NOT COME UNTIL SIN HAD BEEN ATONED FOR, but we cannot help asking, “HOW DID THE RISEN LORD GET INTO THAT ROOM?” Since the disciples feared for their lives, we can safely assume those doors were locked. So, HOW DID JESUS GET IN?
I want to tell you up front, NO ONE KNOWS HOW HE GOT IN THAT ROOM. We can speculate, BUT WE DO KNOW ONE THING FOR SURE -- NO ONE CAN CLOSE JESUS OUT OF THEIR LIVES.
Many lost people are desperately trying to lock the Lord out of their lives, but they cannot.
• Did you know that you can get into your car and drive across America, and when you get to the other side, God will be there waiting for you?
• Did you know that you can get into the fastest jet and go to the land that is farthest away and God will be there waiting for you?
• Did you know you could get into a space shuttle that is so powerful it would cause the earth to tremble as it launches you to the moon, and God will be there waiting for you.
Man has tried so hard to close God out of his life, but that is impossible.
The only time one could get completely away from God would be when that person would go to hell. The thing that makes hell to be hell is the fact that God is not there! Many are running from God today.
Illus: One of the reasons so many lost people are always busy,
• Doing something,
• Listening to something,
• Watching something,
is because they cannot stand to be alone with themselves. Why? Because when they are alone they can hear Jesus speaking to them and they cannot stand it.
Illus: Do you know why many lost people go out all night? It is because they know what it is to lay in bed at night when ALL IS STILL and hear that still, small voice of the Lord begin to speak to them, telling them they need to repent of their sins.
Illus: Lost people like lots of noise. They want OUTWARD NOISE to drown out the INWARD voice of God that is always speaking to them.
Listen, lost man, you can RUN, BUT YOU CAN NOT GET AWAY FROM GOD!
Again, we do not know specifically HOW THE RISEN SAVIOR GOT INSIDE OF THAT ROOM, BUT WE DO KNOW ONE THING. NO MAN CAN LOCK GOD OUT, NO MATTER HOW HARD HE TRIES. We can lock people out, but we can not lock God out.
We have looked at:
• When the risen Lord came.
• How the risen Lord came.
Now we need to see one more thing about this text...
III. WHY THE RISEN LORD CAME.
Why did Jesus come to the CONFUSED and FRIGHTENED disciples?
A. He came to give them His pardon.
Remember, all of the disciples forsook the Lord when He needed them the most. Now if we had been Jesus and they had done that to us, probably our first words to them would have been, “You bunch of double-crossing, two-timing rascals. I am glad I caught up with you. I am going to break every bone in your body. Then I am going to heal your broken bones and do it all over again!”
NOT JESUS! He came TO PARDON THEM.
Illus: A little boy asked what the word forgiveness meant. The teacher said, “Forgiveness is like the odor that a flower gives out when it is trampled upon.”
This is why Jesus is so precious. He was “trampled upon” by everyone, even His own disciples. Yet He CAME TO PARDON US OF OUR SINS.
B. He came to give them His peace.
In Isaiah 48:22, we read, “There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.” Do you have peace?
We live in a world where very few people have peace.
Illus: We are told that in only 8% of history has the world been entirely at peace. We live in a world where mankind desperately seek peace, but there is none.
We all have seen the pictures of the war-torn streets, and the eyes of people begging for someone to bring peace to their land on the evening news.
Illus: In January 1973, Patrice Tamao of the Dominican Republic, allowed himself to be nailed to a cross as a sacrifice for world peace. His goal was to stay on the cross for 48 hours. Thousands of people watched on television as six-inch stainless steal nails were driven through his hands and feet. However, after two hours he had to be taken off of the cross because of an infection in his right foot. The newspaper article was headed, “Crucifixion-for-peace falls short.”
But listen, when Christ was hung on that cross, He was not taken off until He breathed that last breath. Because of that all the world can have peace if they will look to Him.
Again, I would remind you; He appeared to those disciples who had betrayed Him and the very first words He said to them was, “...Peace be unto you.”
There are some people who feel they do not deserve peace from God. They feel they have been too wicked and they must make their own life as miserable as they can because they do not deserve peace.
Let me ask you something. DO YOU THINK THOSE DISCIPLES DESERVED PEACE? When the Lord needed them the most they ran like cowards. But, to believers like them, He appeared and said, “...Peace be unto you.”
To a group of disciples who had not had any peace recently, that was exactly what they wanted to hear.
Conclusion: “...then...Jesus came.” Lost person, the Lord wants to come into your life today if you will just invite Him in.
I. WHEN THE RISEN LORD CAME.
II. HOW THE RISEN LORD CAME.
III. WHY THE RISEN LORD CAME.
A. He came to give them his pardon.
B. He came to give them his peace.
C. He came to give them His power.
Note: You can hear Dr. Odell Belger preach on Youtube. Go to Youtube and type in the word Lykesland
