Hanningfield Green
Lawshall
Bury St Edmunds
Suffolk
IP29 4QD
John 20: 19-29
Matthew 20:17-19 / 1 Corinthians 15: 1 - 28
The physical bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead is so critical to the Christian gospel that all four gospel writers give us accounts of the resurrection and provides for us multiple evidences of its reality. The resurrection is a historical fact, as the Lord Jesus was a historical person, who died an historical death, and rose from the dead at a real historical time and in a glorified physical form. This is so critical to Christianity that the evidences are piled up by the gospel writers and further enhanced by Jesus in Matthew 20 and Paul in 1 Corinthians 15.
As you come to the book of Acts which describes the apostles proclaiming the gospel, you find that they preached the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection is absolutely critical to Christianity because it means that God was satisfied with the sacrifice for sin that Christ offered. It means that He conquered death, not only for Himself, but for all of us who put our faith in Him. In His cross is our forgiveness and in His resurrection is our resurrection, because through His death we have life!
In Matthew 20 Jesus specifically stated that he would be handed over to the gentiles to be mocked, scourged and crucified. This was the third time in fact that Jesus said that He would die and He would rise again on the third day, but in spite of this His followers did not believe. In fact, they were stubbornly resistant to this and furthermore believed that He would set up an earthly kingdom where they would rule with Him.
But Jesus was handed over to the gentiles, and was mocked, scourged and crucified and I would like to continue that thread of disbelief and understanding as we acknowledge that before they saw the risen Christ the disciples were trapped in fear and doubt. We find them in the text that we come to this morning locked in a room with the door barred for fear that they were going to be arrested as followers of Jesus and face the same execution. They are fearful, they are frightened, terrified of the consequences that could fall on them. The last thing they expect is a resurrection and furthermore they don’t even believe the testimony of eyewitnesses who were credible and known to them.
Why is it then, that they preached the risen Christ against hatred, opposition, and eventually gave their lives as martyrs for the gospel of the resurrection? What transformed them from frightened, cowardly, disappointed disciples into bold, relentless, fearless preachers of Jesus Christ. This is the event that transformed them and which they proclaimed through their preaching of the resurrection.
But at the time we meet them in our text this morning in John 20:19 they are still devastated. This is the first appearance of the Lord to the ten disciples as Thomas is not there and Judas has gone. What had happened already on the day of resurrection? Let us go back to Luke 24 just so that we get the full picture.
The women arrive at the tomb and find the tomb is empty, the stone is rolled away, the grave clothes are lying there and Verse 4 “Two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing. And as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the angel said to them, ‘Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen.” The angels are messengers from heaven who give this testimony. This is God’s word on what happened to the Lord Jesus, and the women although perplexed, believe. So, they rush to tell the apostles. But to the apostles, verse 11 “These words appeared as nonsense, and they would not believe them.” So reluctant were they to the idea of a resurrection that they wouldn’t believe the most credible people in their circle. In the meantime, of course, we know the Lord appeared personally to Mary Magdalene.
“Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down he saw the linen wrappings lying by themselves; and he departed, marvelling to himself at what had happened.” Obviously perplexed but with no signs of assurance of believing, but we do know, however, from 1 Corinthians 15: 5 that the Lord made a personal appearance to Peter.
A little later that day we pick up the story in verse 13. Two followers of Jesus were on their way seven miles to the town of Emmaus. They were just walking and talking to each other of the things that have happened, until in, verse 15, “Jesus Himself approached them” – this is the risen Christ, but their eyes were prevented from recognising Him. “They urged Him” in verse 29 – ‘Stay with us, it’s getting toward evening; the day is now nearly over.’ So, He went in to stay with them. When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight.”
So, the women have seen and heard from the angels and Mary Magdalene has met with Christ. Peter has seen Him. And now these two on the road to Emmaus have seen Him as they returned to Jerusalem, and they related their experiences and how the scriptures were opened up, and how Jesus was recognised by them in the breaking of the bread.
Luke 24:36 tells us, “While they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be to you.’ But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit or a ghost. And He said to them, ‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. While they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement, He said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave Him a piece of broiled fish. He took it and ate it before them.”
Now let’s go back to John 20 and pick up the same exact scene. He has appeared to Mary, the angels have declared His resurrection to the other women, He has appeared to Simon, He has appeared to the disciples on the road; now it is time to appear to the eleven, verse 19: “When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week,” – resurrection day – “and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews.”
When it says the door is shut, I’m told that the Greek word is actually barred or locked. They were afraid because they knew that since their Master had been executed as a criminal they could be next because of their association with Him. In that situation the text simply says, “Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’”
He didn’t say, “Why are you doubting.” He said, “Peace be with you.” If those on the road to Emmaus were traumatized by His presence, imagine how much more these disciples were traumatized, when Jesus stood in the midst of a room that was barred and locked. He is not in the form of a spirit just because He could move through walls. And to make sure you don’t think that verse 20 says, “When He had said this, ‘Peace be with you,’ He showed them both His hands and His side.” This is an actual physical bodily resurrection. And to demonstrate that He shows them His scars, and as we read in Luke 24: 42-43, He ate broiled fish. This is really Jesus in bodily form, a glorified body, and a resurrected body.
And then verse 20: “The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.”
What was their conversation like, what was that joy like. “They rejoiced.” Surely, that’s a pretty understated way to describe the disciple’s reactions as they were confronted with the undeniable fact that they believed Jesus was dead and now He shows up alive coming through the wall, undoing all the doubts that they had cultivated in the hours since His death, and substituting in their place indescribable joy.
In verse 21 “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you.’” The first time He calms them down because they were traumatised, now He calms them down because they’re erupting in joy.
But calming them down seems to be a regular thing, as He said it in verse 19. He said it in verse 21 and now after eight days verse 26 we find His disciples are again inside the room and Thomas is with them. The doors having been shut, – and again He comes through the walls and says, ‘Peace be with you.’” It’s a greeting, but it’s more than that Romans 5:1 and Ephesians 2:14-17 tells us that we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ as He is our peace.
The other disciples had already touched Him, according to Luke and now Thomas has his opportunity in V’s 27-29 and “Thomas says, ‘My Lord and my God! I’m convinced.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Because you’ve seen Me, you have believed,’ Blessed are they who did not see and yet believed.’” And that, dear friends, includes all of us. When Jesus appeared to them, all doubt was dispelled, and they were so confident that Christ was alive from the dead, that they preached a risen Christ and proclaimed His resurrection.
We often talk about the fact that what someone says before they die is important. Usually, people don’t trivialize at the moment of their death because what they say in their last breath is something that’s dominating their thoughts and dominating their hearts.
But think about this as there is more to this resurrection meeting: What is the first thing Jesus said to His disciples after He rose from the dead and how critical is this? He has one simple message. It is so simple, it is so straightforward that it just occupies three little verses from 21 - 23, and yet it is a profound sermon and essentially it is the first revelation of the Great Commission, and it has three parts. The first, verse 21: “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” Surely, this is the first phase, the first element, the first feature of the Lord’s commission.
Why did the Father send Jesus into the world? “The Son of Man come to save the lost.” That’s why He came. The Father sent the Son to seek and save the lost, to provide the sacrifice necessary in His death, and the triumph necessary in His resurrection, to bring salvation to all God’s chosen people through all of redemptive history.
When Luke begins the book of Acts he says, “The ministry that Jesus began was now carried on by the apostles,” and it’s continuing to be carried on by us. He said, “I have not come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners. I sent My Son into the world to save sinners,” says the Father. And the Son says, “And now I send you to do the same.”
In His great high priestly prayer, our Lord says the same thing in Chapter 17: 18: “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And in order for them to be effective, you have to sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. I send them as a people sanctified in the truth to do the very thing that You sent Me to do.”
The second aspect is, verse 22: “When He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” When the Father sent Christ into the world and He began His ministry, the Holy Spirit came upon Him at His baptism and launched Him into His ministry. He actually said, “When you reject Me you blaspheme the Holy Spirit,” because in His incarnation, in His self-emptying, He submitted Himself to the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. As the Father sent Jesus into the world, Jesus sends us. As the Father empowered Jesus with the Holy Spirit, Jesus empowers us with the Holy Spirit. He is our Spirit-filled model.
Throughout the evening before, in John 14, 15, and 16, He kept saying to the disciples, When I go, I will send the Spirit. When I go I will come back in the form of the Holy Spirit. It is better for you that I go, because then the Spirit will come, and He will lead you into all truth, and He will teach you all things concerning Me.”
In Acts, chapter 1:8, He says, “When the Spirit comes on you, you’ll received power, and you’ll be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. You can’t do this without the Holy Spirit.” But the way in which He says this is so interesting: “He breathed on them.” That’s a powerful gesture. That’s a creative gesture.
If you go back into Genesis, chapter 2, you’re remember that when God had created Adam it says, “He breathed into him the breath of life, and Adam became a living soul.” That’s the expression of God’s creative power.
In that famous valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37, which is a picture of the future corpse of Israel lying like dry bones in the desert, you remember God shows up and says to the prophet, “Breathe on them.” And the breath of God comes, and all the dry bones come alive, and that is the future salvation and resurrection of the nation Israel.
And in the great new covenant passage of Ezekiel 36, we hear that God is going to cleanse us from our sins and He is going to give us a new spirit, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the breath of God. The Holy Spirit is God in us. The Holy Spirit is the source of power: “You’ll receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” Here in John 20:22, our Lord shows them a symbol of this, “He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” This was a promise that was spoken of again in Acts 1 and fulfilled after Christ’s ascension in Chapter 2, and they are turned into fearless, bold preachers of the truth, who confront the leaders of Israel, who confront the world preaching the death and resurrection of Christ:
Down in verse 26, they were still fearful, they were still hiding, and Jesus comes back and says, “Peace be with you.” They still didn’t have a constant peace like He had promised in Chapter 14: 27: “My peace I give you. My peace I leave with you, not as the world give, but this is the peace that comes from God.” So, the first thing our Lord post-resurrection wants us to know is you have a commission. You are in the world for the sake of preaching the gospel. Second, “You’re not in your own strength going to be able to do this, so I’m giving you the Holy Spirit.” Paul in Romans 8:9 says, “No believer is left without the Holy Spirit. He that doesn’t have the Sprit is not God’s.” So, our Lord’s commission then is to evangelise in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Then the third element of this sermon is really critical. John 20: 23: “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.” In Acts Chapter 10, we have the testimony of Peter. Listen to what he said, verse 42: “God ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.” He’s talking about Christ. “Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”
Did you get that? Peter says, “We have been commissioned, we have been sent, we have been ordered to preach. And what are we to preach; that everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ receives forgiveness of sin. So, if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, then I can say to you, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ If you reject the Lord Jesus Christ, I can say to you, John 8:24 says “If you do not believe in Me, you will die in your sins.”
Just to remind you, the Great Commission in Luke 24 is this: “When you go, you preach repentance for forgiveness of sins. You proclaim that in Jesus’ name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. And I’m sending you forth in the power of the promise of My Father.” “I’m sending you in the power of the Spirit who was promised by My Father to preach forgiveness.”
Jesus stands before the disciples and us as the Saviour who has taken away our sins. He stands before us resurrected as He has defeated death. The Cross is and furthermore the gospel is the message of forgiveness.
The Lord came to save, and He came to preach repentance and forgiveness. It wasn’t just for Thomas or the disciples as personal as it was. It is a message for us all because we have been called to a commission empowered by the Holy Spirit to confront the world with repentance and forgiveness as an escape from eternal judgement.
This is what Jesus declared, and that’s what He has asked us to do because how shall they hear, who have not heard.
