Closed Doors – John 20: 19 - 31
Intro: Imagine with me this morning. I want you to imagine that your best friend, whom we shall call Jean, died about a week ago. Yesterday you met another friend of yours who came up to you and said, “You’ll never guess who I saw yesterday at Brookshere Brothers. It was Jean. She looks great! We spoke to each other at length. Heck, to look at her, you’d never guess that she died last week.” What would you think? You might tell yourself, “Surely my friend was mistaken. Maybe it was someone else she had mistaken for Jean.” I think my first concern would be for this person’s emotional well-being. My second thought would be that whoever my friend saw must obviously bear a striking resemblance to my deceased friend.
I VS.19 “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, . . .”
A The word John used for disciples is mathetai / µa??ta? It refers to those gathered together and is never used to identify just the 11 disciples left after the betrayal and subsequent death of Judas. Rather, it represents the faith community in general possibly including the women and others gathered trying to make sense of what had happened.
B The Greek word for locked doors – kleio / ??e?? can mean locked. But, it can also mean to be closed or shut up. Because of the phrase that follows it, most likely it means closed securely since most homes of that time did not have “locks” such as we conceive.
C The followers of Jesus were afraid of the Jewish authorities as well as the Romans because of what had happened to Jesus. – Perhaps you have been in a situation where you were afraid b/c you believed in someone or something that was not popular. If so, you can identify with the fear of the disciples.
II You may have had the experience of being deeply involved in something when suddenly, someone is there without your knowledge and speaks to you and you are startled or shocked.
A That is probably how those gather behind the secured door felt. Imagine how you would react if you suddenly heard the voice of a deceased loved one speak to you.
B Jesus appears and speaks to those gathered, “Shalom Aleckem. Peace be with you.” Which is a normal Hebrew greeting among friends. There are numerous translations: Peace / rest / don’t be troubled / don’t be disturbed / don’t be afraid.
C VS. 20 – “After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.” To reassure those gathered that it really was Jesus, he gives them irrefutable evidence. It was REALLY him!
III VVS 24 – 29 tell the story of the appearance to Thomas b/c he was not there at the first appearance of Jesus to his followers.
A VS. 24 – “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Comparing this verse to verse 19, notice Thomas does not ask for anything the others have not already seen.
B VS. 27 “Then he (Jesus) said to Thomas. ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.’” We are so much like Thomas. We want to see with our eyes and feel with our hands. We live in a show me society.
C VS. 28 – Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” It isn’t touching Jesus that leads Thomas to this confession. It is Jesus giving Thomas what he needed and what we need. Jesus graciously offers himself to Thomas and to us.
Concl: God comes to us where we least expect it. Sometimes God may even come to us in places where we have locked ourselves and our minds behind closed doors. Sometimes God call us in faith to look outside the box, to color outside the lines, so to speak. We may be called to believe and do some things the rest of the world believes to be ridiculous. Faith is that crazy thing that allows us to believe when everything and everyone else says. “that’s impossible.”
We remain solidly in our own skepticism until the Lord breaks through the closed doors. The miraculous news is God searches and finds us even when we don’t want to be found. Even when we lock ourselves away from the world; even when we try to keep out the good news of Christ Jesus, God breaks through that closed door.
