John 20:19-20 – Behind Closed Doors
Today we are continuing in our series on Jesus’ resurrection called He is Risen indeed. What did the resurrection mean to the original band of followers, and what does the resurrection mean for us nearly 2000 years later? The truth is, the resurrection has the power to change our lives.
I say that but I’m also well aware that people often like what they are familiar with. Like the fellow who took down the plaque that his wife hung on the wall that said, “Prayer changes things.” He took it down and his wife asked, “What’s the matter? Don’t you believe that prayer changes things?” He said, “Oh, I sure do believe that prayer changes things. I just don’t like change.”
Well, even though the resurrection has the power to change things, sometimes people don’t like change. They like things the way they are. Or at least, they prefer the scary things they are familiar with to the scary things they aren’t familiar with. As they say in politics, sometimes people vote for the devil they know instead of the devil they don’t.
Today’s message is like that. I’m going to look at 2 passages about the same story. The first is from John 20:19-20, and the second is from Luke 24:36-43. Now remember, this is the same story, but it’s told by 2 different people. Like 2 different people seeing the same car accident from different sides of the street. They saw the same thing but from different angles. Well, that’s John and Luke. Let’s read.
Now, the wording for this tells us that Jesus appeared behind closed doors. Exactly what Jesus’ body was like after He rose from the grave is something of a mystery. He was no longer limited by the same things as before. For example, the angel rolled the stone away from the tomb, but it was probably not for Jesus’ sake. He could have gotten out without the stone rolled away, but people would not have been able to look in. The stone was for our sake, not Jesus’.
The way Jesus appeared and disappeared was nothing normal. Yet He was not a ghost either. Jesus showed that to the disciples when He ate food. Ghosts wouldn’t eat food. Most times He allowed people to touch Him, which ghosts couldn’t do either. At one point He even made a fire with bread and fish cooking on it. Obviously His body had substance. All this shows that He works in mysterious ways. What’s more, it shows that a person cannot put God in a box or limit what He can and cannot do. We try to figure Him out, to make sense of Him, to assume that He would never do such and such. Yet time and again, He goes way beyond what we figure He can do, or even what we figure He should do.
So here He was, suddenly appearing behind closed, locked doors. John tells us why they were locked. The disciples were afraid of the Jews. Not all Jews of course; they were Jews, and so was Jesus. But the ruling Jews, the leading Jews, the ones who had Jesus executed for going against their laws and their egos – those were the ones to be feared. The disciples were perhaps afraid that they would be taken too. After all, they were Jesus’ followers – guilty by association. And the body was gone. The Jewish leaders could probably charge them with desecration of a human body, or label them unclean, or excommunicate them from worship, thus ceremonially condemning them to hell, or something along those lines. The disciples had earned their fears.
Then Jesus appeared. Despite their best attempts to keep out the enemy, Jesus appeared. Despite their best efforts to stay as safe as they possible could, Jesus appeared. Notice that even thought they did all they could not to be afraid, Jesus showed up, and what was their response? Luke says they were startled and frightened. Well, how would you feel if you thought you were staring at a ghost? Especially if you didn’t believe in them?
The disciples felt they had a new thing to be afraid of. Instead of fearing religious leaders, they were now afraid of Jesus’ ghost, or so they thought. They had gone from fearing one thing to fearing another.
You know, a lot of people live in fear. They fear dying. They fear losing their jobs. They fear flying or sailing. They fear thunder and lightning. They fear snakes or spiders. They fear big animals or they fear little animals. They fear getting lost or running out of gas. They fear closed spaces or big crowds or tall ladders. They fear people or conversations or loneliness or silence.
But some fears are bigger than others. Some are more crippling than others. The fear of heights doesn’t really bother a person until something tall comes around. But other fears drive a person’s life. I think a big fear is others’ opinions. They fear what people will say about them or think about them. They fear losing someone’s good opinion. They fear doing something wrong in someone else’s eyes. They fear a negative judgement by people whose opinions, quite frankly, don’t matter much.
I think another big fear is the fear of failure. Some people are so afraid of doing the wrong thing that they do nothing. Part of it goes back to fearing what others will say – “oh, look how they failed, look at how bad they did.” But part of it comes from other fears, too. A father who was unpleasable, no matter how hard someone tried. A spouse who complains about everything and is never happy. A friend whose friendship you always felt you had to earn.
Really, if a person feels that everything he or she does will not succeed, they will stop trying. If a person is likely to be criticized for whatever they do, they will likely do as few things as possible to get criticized for. If a person cannot see the outcome, many times, that person will not do anything. Fear is crippling, but it is very real.
So it’s no wonder that the disciples were afraid. And when Jesus showed up, they were still afraid. That’s why Jesus said, “Peace, be still.” Here’s a truth about following Jesus that you need to know. It can sometimes be scary, but Jesus can give you peace anyway. Doing what God wants can actually be scarier than not, sometimes, but it is better because God’s presence can bring a sense of calmness anyway, no matter what’s going on.
But still, there is the issue that Jesus showing up can sometimes be scary. You think that’s not true? You think that Jesus isn’t scary from time to time? Well, what if God spoke to you very clearly one night as you were going to bed: “I want you to become a missionary to Afghanistan.” Or how about this? Over breakfast one morning, as you are enjoying your orange juice, Jesus showed up at your table and said: “I want you to quit your job, get rid of all your other plans, sell your house, move to Sussex and go to Bethany Bible College, and become a pastor.” Even this – as you sit there, God silently nudges you to ask me if you can preach next Sunday morning. Now you tell me – is that thought not scary?
There is no doubt that Jesus can be scary. After all, He asks us to be nice to people who will mock us in return. He asks us to give 10% of what we earn, and when we are barely getting by, that’s awful scary. He asks us to forgive, which is one of the scariest and hardest things a person can possibly do. I say “possibly” because I think it is possible, but it’s very scary to say the words, “I forgive so-and-so for all the pain he or she caused me.”
There are things that Jesus wants to do in your life. But he’s been limited. By your fears. Your fears have kept your heart locked tight, like the disciples locked their doors because of their fears. There are quiet longings that you have kept hidden, or have not pursued during your entire lifetime, because you have been too afraid of something.
Again I say, the fear of failure has kept you from doing something brave, like preaching or giving financially or going on a missions trip or forgiving your enemy or giving your whole heart to Jesus. You
have run and kept silent and hidden and stashed away and nursed your bitterness and remained living to please yourself, because you were afraid you weren’t going to make it. You were afraid of failing.
And the fear of others’ opinions have stifled you, too. Afraid that they’ll think you’ve gone crazy. Afraid they’ll think you’ve backslidden and fallen away from the Lord. Afraid they’ll think you’ve gone “liberal”. Afraid that they’ll think less of you for doing what you’re doing. Afraid they’ll overlook you for things you deserve. You’ve been afraid of making too many people, or at least the wrong people, unhappy or dissatisfied with your performance.
This fear trickles into our walk with God. If we’ve had an unpleasable father, chances are we’ll think God is unpleasable too. No matter what we do, it’ll never be good enough for God. Listen: I’m not saying that we should never be concerned about displeasing God. I’m saying that fear should not be why we do what we do for God. Fear comes from judgement, but what we should be basing our relationship with God on is love. We do what we do because we love Him, and He loves us.
God has pursued you your whole life. He has tried so hard for you to fall in love with Him. From natural beauty like sunsets, calm rivers, crashing waves, and twinkling stars, to deep longings that we all have like men’s desire to be brave and heroic, or a woman’s desire to be beautiful and wanted. These have been intended to take us past the natural world, past things that can be explained by biology and physics and chemistry and math, to things that penetrate more deeply, like love and passion and courage and appreciation of nature. All these things, God created, and He did them so that you would fall in love with Him.
But our past has blinded us. We’ve been hurt before, so we’re afraid to love again. We’ve had unanswered prayers before, so we’re afraid to trust again. We’ve failed before, and we’re afraid to reach out again. But the words of Jesus come ringing loud and clear again: “Peace, be still.” The fears that come from following Jesus are just as real as those fears that keep us from following Jesus, but when we follow Him, He gives us a calmness and assurance that He’s going to be with us anyway.
So what hinders you today? What keeps you from doing something brave for Him? You probably know what you’d like to do, but are too afraid to do. I say, don’t keep those doors locked. Don’t let those fears haunt you. You see, the locked doors didn’t keep Jesus out; they kept the disciples in. Your fears will keep you stuck and trapped, unless you decide to follow Jesus wherever He leads. I know your hurts and pains and fears are real; I’m not saying they’re not. I’m saying, you will not be able to follow Jesus unless you overcome them. It’s not waiting till they’re gone; it’s going out anyway.
What would God have you to do? Do it, out of love for Him.
