PEACE BE WITH YOU!
John 20:19-31 - April 18, 2004
JOHN 20:19-31
19On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." 22And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
24Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!"
But he said to them, "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 it."
26A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
28Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
29Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
30Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
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Dear Fellow-Redeemed and Saints in the Lord:
The Lord simply reassures His frightened disciples with those few words "Peace be with you." We are going to study what that means for us and Christians today everywhere--peace be with you. As we look at the depth of the meaning of that statement of Jesus, we discover that it is divine and powerful, that it is reassuring and comforting. When Jesus washed His disciples’ feet in the Upper Room, He also reminded them that soon He would be betrayed, put to death and rise again. Earlier in this Gospel of John He reminds them of that, and He tells them about this peace He is going to give them.
In the 14th chapter of John those things take place, the washing of the disciples’ feet and Jesus’ words of encouragement. He says to His disciples: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid" (JOHN 14:27). He told that to His disciples before all these things took place--when He stood before Pilate and when He was made fun of, when He hung upon a cross until He was dead. He said, "I give you my peace. Don’t be afraid. Don’t let your hearts be troubled." He wanted them to believe and not doubt. So it is this morning the Lord says to us as Jesus reminds us,
"PEACE BE WITH YOU"
I. that doubt destroys all peace
II. and Jesus destroys all doubt
I. Doubt destroys all peace
As we heard this text twice, we get the picture of the frightening position the disciples were in. They just did not know what was going to happen next. 19On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews. On that first day after the women had run to the tomb and found it empty, an angel said, "He is not here. He is risen." Then the disciples went and when they saw the empty tomb, they still had a hard time believing that Jesus was alive. They still had doubts. They still wondered, that if the people and church rulers did all those things to Jesus who was innocent and had done nothing wrong and put Him to death on the cross, what would happen to them? So the disciples gathered together and locked the door. They were filled with doubt. That doubt was almost completely destroying that Easter peace that the Lord provided with His resurrection.
When the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" That word of peace was going to start to destroy their doubt. They would hear Jesus’ words first, and then they would see Him. 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. That peace was beginning to work. Yet, there was still doubt, wasn’t there? There was doubt that would take time to overcome. Doubt for the Lord to repeat those words again, "Peace be with you!" This is said three times in today’s text.
There is still doubt we are told: 26A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked. They still had some doubts that they were safe. They still had doubts not knowing what the Jews might do to them. They still had some doubts; and of course, we remember Thomas. 24Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. He did not hear those words, "Peace be with you!" 25So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "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 it." Thomas had to see to believe it. Thomas had to see and then He would hear those words "Peace be with you!" It was a week later when the Lord returned and the disciples still had the door locked – doubt destroyed their peace.
Sometimes, (Thomas is a good example here), we remember people for what they didn’t do. Thomas wasn’t quick to believe because he did not see. Today we remember Thomas as a doubting Thomas. If you turn back again in the Gospel of John chapter 11, we find that Jesus was with His disciples. After the raising of Lazarus from the dead, comforting Mary and Martha, He told His disciples that He too was going to Jerusalem to die. Thomas says at the end of that chapter, "Let us go with Him that we may die also." In the church Thomas is know as Thomas the Confessor, not Thomas the doubter. Today’s text does remind us that even Thomas the Confessor had let doubt destroy his peace for a time. This was the peace that the Lord had promised to give, peace that the Lord gives to us.
Ever since Jesus rose from the dead on that first Easter, there has always been doubt--doubt that the world likes to plant in the hearts of as many people as they can. You may remember that their leaders to spread the rumor told the Roman soldiers that Jesus’ disciples stole the body. That doubt was spread even when Paul was around. To this day there are some who say, "Jesus is still in the tomb, because no one can come back to life." Because of that false statement some doubt, and that doubt destroys their peace. The Lord reminds us today, "Peace be with you!" He describes the effects of doubt: "But when he asks, (He is talking about prayer), he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind" (JAMES 1:6). So it is when we doubt, we are tossed around like a wave of the sea in the wind. We know how the wind can blow things from one place to the next and back again. That is what doubt does. It removes from a person, peace, and makes a person wonder.
The Lord says without doubt, with faith, a believer is able to do great things. Without doubt and with faith in those words, "Peace be with you!" doubt is removed completely. In Mark, Jesus tells us the power of faith without doubt: "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ’Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him" (MARK 11:23). Imagine that! Having faith enough to cast a mountain into the sea. Maybe as we were growing up or still at a young age, we might have tried to do that saying we can move this mountain into the sea with our faith or uproot a tree as the Lord gives us another example. It probably did not happen. On this side of heaven we have sin; and as sin clings to us, so does a bit of doubt. It isn’t because we don’t have faith, but we always have a little bit of doubt. The Lord reminds us today to not let doubt overtake our faith, to not let doubt destroy the peace that the Lord Jesus gives to us.
Even though today there are those who call themselves scholars and claim that Jesus did not come back to life, even though there are countless churches today that pass over the resurrection as being myth or a story, it is true. We know it is true not by our own reason or understanding, but because of God’s grace to us and faith in those words, "Peace be with you!" From Luke we read Jesus’ words: "He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have" (LUKE 24:38). Yes, the Lord came back to life, not just as a spirit, but as flesh and blood. He came back to life to destroy the doubts of those who would doubt. He came back to life to say to His disciples and to you and I: "Peace be with you!"
As we hear those words, "Peace be with you," all doubts start to disappear, don’t they? We begin to understand even more the importance of the power of Christ’s resurrection, not just for the world, but for us. He says, "Peace be with you" and destroys all of our doubt.
II. Jesus destroys all doubt
As we go back to the upper room, we are reminded on that first Sunday even though the women and the disciples heard the angels, they were still filled with doubt and fear. They were in the upper room locked away so that no one could get to them, especially the enemies of Jesus. Who comes? It is Jesus who says, "Peace be with you!" They are overjoyed. Yet, how overjoyed and happy are they? The next week the door is still locked. What about that first Sunday, that first celebration of the resurrection? They were overjoyed and happy, and yet Jesus says to them again, "Peace be with you!" There is the power and importance of Jesus’ words this morning.
He comes to them and the first thing He says is "Peace be with you!" They see Him and realize that He is alive and standing before them and He says, "Peace be with you!" Jesus wants them to be encouraged, because He had a great task for them. 21Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." The Father sent Jesus to redeem mankind. The Father sent Him to preach the gospel. Now Jesus says "I am going to send you." Then we are told: 22And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." As Jesus came to shed His blood for the sins of the world, so He came to tell His disciples, "Peace be with you! Now you get to go and proclaim that message of forgiveness, the power of the blood of Jesus to cleanse sins from people." Jesus said "Peace be with you!"
The next week Jesus comes back and they are behind locked doors. What were His first words again? He said, "Peace be with you!" Jesus came back for a number of reasons on that second Sunday to reassure them with those words of peace, and also to remind Thomas that He was alive and well. 27Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." That is all that Jesus says to him. We aren’t told that Thomas does that. Instead, we are told his confession: 28Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" He did not have to walk over to Jesus and touch Him. He saw and believed. He didn’t have to put his hand into His side or his finger into His nail prints, because Thomas heard Jesus say, "Peace be with you!" That melted the doubt away from the heart of Thomas, and he heard that this was the Savior. He saw this was Jesus come back to life.
John concludes this chapter: 30Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. John says in another chapter just about the same words, but he adds to it that there is not enough books in the whole world to contain all the things that Jesus did. We have many things that Jesus and taught written down for us, but John says there were many, many more that could not be recorded; because there were so many. They were all done for one purpose: 31But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. That is what the Lord says to us this morning when He says, "Peace be with you!"
We are much like doubting Thomas in the sense that we were not there physically on that first Easter Sunday when Jesus came to His disciples and said, "Peace be with you!" We were not even there on that second Sunday when Jesus came and said, "Peace be with you!" Yet, by faith we were there and are there today as we hear God’s Word. We are able to see God’s plan of salvation unfold before our very eyes. Even though we did not put our finger in the nail prints or our hand into His side, yet the Lord causes us to believe. He says, "Peace be with you!" Peter tells us: "Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy." (1 PETER 1:8). We celebrate Easter every year. We celebrate Easter every Sunday, and we celebrate Easter every day of our life and we are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. Hopefully and prayerfully in your life, you feel like that each day. At the end of each day, we can say, "What a blessed day I have had once again. What a joyful day the Lord has given us. We are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, because the Lord has said to us, ’Peace be with you!’"
We can say this even in the midst of this world in which we live, even in the midst of heartache and trouble and tribulation, in the midst of weather that we think is not what we want to see--wind and drought and everything else. The Lord still says, "Peace be with you," because He gives to us peace which the world cannot give us. Jesus says to us who are sinners and deserve eternal punishment to share heaven with Him. As Paul describes it in Ephesians, he tells us why: "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding" (EPHESIANS 1:7,8).
When the Lord gives us His gifts, He doesn’t just dole out piecemeal, bit by bit, He lavishes them upon us. He forgives all of our sins, not just a sin here and there. That is the richness of His grace. That is the meaning of His "Peace be with you!" In Colossians he emphasizes that: "For God was pleased through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross" (COLOSSIANS 1:20).
Yes, the disciples were there. They saw Jesus pour out His blood on the cross on that Good Friday, and what effect did it have? It had an effect that they would hide themselves on Easter Sunday locked away in a room. Jesus had to come and say, "Peace be with you!" Jesus had to say the same thing the next week. He came through locked doors and said, "Peace be with you!"
Sometimes the Lord has to come to us again and again and week after week and say, "Peace be with you!" Jesus says to each one of us, "Sinner, you are forgiven." In Romans, the book that talks about justification and salvation and God’s gift of redemption, in chapter five it says: "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God" (ROMANS 5:1,2). Yes, at times there are doubts in this life. The world is a world of doubt and fear. Instead of letting doubt destroy our peace, we have Jesus on our side who is able to destroy all doubt. As doubt is destroyed, peace is restored; and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. We do not stand before God as trembling, shaking sinners; but we stand there as His beloved children, forgiven by God’s gift of peace. Jesus destroys all doubts so that we can have peace of mind here on earth and finally in heaven; because Jesus says, "Peace be with you!" Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
