John 20:18-20

John 20:18-20  Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!”  And she told them that he had said these things to her.  On 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!”  After he said this, he showed them his hands and side.  The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.  Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you!  As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”  And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”  Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.  So 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.”  A 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!”  Then 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.”  Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 

On the evening of that first day of the week, the disciples' first instinct was positive upon hearing Mary tell them, "I have seen the Lord!"  They came together.  However, rather than finding total comfort and peace from her encounter with Jesus, their hearts and minds strayed to temporal realities; they remained inside a locked room for fear of the Jews.  When Jesus came and stood among them, He did what He continues to do until this day, He brought peace to the room, saying, "Peace be with you!"  When Paul describes God's marvelous grace gifts to the church at Ephesus, he tells them we were all dead in our transgressions and sins, but because of his great love for us and sweet mercies, God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  Furthermore, He tore down every wall of separation, making all people, Jew and Gentile alike one in Christ because Jesus 

himself is our peace. . . 

He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.  For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.  (See Ephesians 2:5-18)  Consequently, Christ not only offered his disciples his peace on that momentous day; He offered them hope, power, and authority.  He showed them his hands and his side, the identifying marks of his death.  When they rejoiced, again He blessed them with peace, but He added, "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”  Already the focus is outward rather than merely inward upon the inhabitants of the closed environment of this locked room formerly full of fear.  In similar fashion, in the midst of explaining grace to the Ephesians, Paul exhorted them: we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  There IS a harvest field. 

Jesus breathed upon his beloved followers, promising, If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.  Oblivious to what his friends, seemingly deaf to their account of Christ's words and actions when He came to them, Thomas who was absent from this event suddenly decides the rest of the group are all unreliable witnesses, liars.  He declares he will not believe unless he personally touches Christ's nail-scared hands and pierced side.  A week later, still behind locked doors, the disciples gather; and Jesus appears, again blessing them with his peace.  He allows Thomas to examine his wounds; then He speaks directly to Thomas' unbelieving heart: Stop doubting and believe.  This exhortation rings through the ages to every believer, every man or woman who draws back or waits in a locked room for concrete evidence of the risen Lord.  If we fail to believe Christ rose from the grave in power and authority over sin and death, we are bound to our old ways, our old habits and inclinations, our doubts and anxieties.  If we believe Christ is alive, in the room, we are loosed by the authority of his shed blood, by the Holy Spirit power of the resurrected One.  His work at the cross and his victory in setting the captives free brings eternal life to us now and forever.  His resurrection provides proof we are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; we experience the reality of a "born again" life; we will pass from this life into eternal life with him.  We are sons and daughters of the Most High.  Through Christ and the indwelling Holy Sprit we can stop doubting and believe.  Jesus said, I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.  Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.  So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.  (John 8:34-36)   

When Paul discusses the resurrection with the Corinthian church, he declares, if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.  He says outside of Christ rising from the dead, we do not possess a sure testimony or a true hope for the future.  If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.  He went on to say that he faced death every day for the sake of the cross, and that would be foolishness if there were no resurrection.  In fact, he says if he were doing such things for mere human reasons, he would not gain anything.  As he rightly concludes: "If the dead are not raised, 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.'"  (See 1 Corinthians15:16 -32)  Just as our only hope for eternal life is through Christ, our only hope for victory in this life is through trusting in Christ's total sufficiency now.  Thomas said he had to touch Jesus to believe.  Jesus allowed Thomas to do just that, and then Thomas cried out, “My Lord and my God!”  Today, every person has faith choices: doors open to those who believe; doors close for those who do not believe.  When Peter and John were arrested for healing a lame person and asked by what power or name they did such an act, Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people!  If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.  He is 'the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.’  Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”  (Acts 4:8-12)  Because Christ arose, Peter and John received the Spirit and went forth in Jesus' name.  This Christmas weekend, Jesus sends us forth as his new creation, saying, Peace be with you!