Peace, Jesus’ Gift of Love (John 20:19-31) (4/12/26)

We have a number of visitors here with us today

And I just want to remind you it seems like we

have a lot of up and down we have a lot of singing

and what we are doing is responding God speaks

to us. He calls us and we we stand up and we

respond We sing in response to what we hear from

God's truth It's an act of faith that we have

even in the Lord's service Jesus is risen. Our

sermon title today is peace. Jesus' gift of love.

And just like last week, it's subtitle would

be Jesus keeps his word. Let us pray. Glory be

to you, O God, the Father who did raise your

son Jesus Christ from the dead and has made us

partakers of his victory over sin and death.

Glory be to you, O Lord Jesus Christ, for our

sakes became flesh and has overcome death and

has opened up the gates of eternal life for us.

All glory be to you, O Holy Spirit, who has made

us your people, your temple, and who day by day

does lead us in all truth in Jesus Christ. We

ask that you please make the words of my mouth

and the meditations of all our hearts acceptable

in your side, O Lord, our nearest kinsman and

redeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen. Again, for those

that are visiting, our method is to, from Advent

until Pentecost, to preach the Gospel reading,

to let the life of Christ be central for half

a year. Our focus is on Christ Jesus. And so

again today, we'll be looking at an Easter text

from John chapter 20, beginning in verse 19.

John 20 · chapter mention

And then the same day at evening, being the first

day of the week, when the doors were shut, where

the disciples were assembled for fear of the

Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said

to them, Peace be with you. And when he had said

this, he showed him his hands and his side, and

the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

So Jesus said to them again, Peace to you. As

the Father has sent me, I also send you. And

when he had said this, he breathed on them and

said to them, receive the Holy Spirit. And if

you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven

them. If you retain the sins of any, they are

retained. Now Thomas called the twin, one of

the twelve was not with them when Jesus came.

And the other disciples therefore said to him,

we have seen the Lord. And so he said to them,

unless I see his hands the prints of the nails

and put my finger in the print of the nails and

put my hands in his side I will not believe and

after eight days his disciples were again inside

and Thomas with them and Jesus came and the doors

being shut and stood in the midst and said peace

to you then he said to Thomas reach your finger

here and look at my hands, and reach your hand

here, and put it to my side. Do not be unbelieving,

but believing." And Thomas answered and said

to him, My Lord and my God. Jesus said to him,

Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed.

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have

believed. And truly Jesus did other signs in

the presence of his disciples, which are not

written in this book. But these are written that

you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the

Son of God, and that believing you may have life

in His name. These are the words of Almighty

God. Receive them in your hearts. Dearly beloved,

this is the second Sunday of Easter. The church

calendar gives us 49 days of celebration for

Easter. 40 days after Jesus' resurrection, and

nine more days where the disciples had waited

in Jerusalem after His ascension. Easter, like

Christmas in the church, is longer than for the

world. As you know, many people, when they celebrate

Christmas, they do it on just one day. But when

you follow the church calendar, we celebrate

Christ's entry into the world for 12 days. For

the unbeliever, Christmas is a nice story where

after the hardships of the parents, a baby is

born. Christmas for most is like a hazy dream,

largely forgotten and maybe replaced. Gifts are

given. And some murky aspirations for peace are

grasped after like vapors that slip right through

your hands. As if to say, if you play some soft

melodic music and you get a little snowfall out

there, whoa, peace. What a swing and a miss.

For the church, Easter. is a grand celebration

of God's faithfulness for our deliverance. Easter,

that season, this season is afforded seven Lord's

days. We the church cannot contain the excitement

and joy of the good news found in Jesus crushing

the head of Satan in his resurrection. We sing,

we sing. The fulfillment of Hosea 13 -14 where

it says, I will ransom them from the power of

the grave. I will redeem them from the death.

O death, I will be your plagues. O grave, I will

be your destruction. And we see that echoed in

1 Corinthians 15 where it says, O death, where

is thy sting? O Hades, where is thy victory?

And again, we see the fulfillment of Isaiah 25

-8. He will swallow up death forever, and the

Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces.

The rebuke of His people He will take away from

the earth for Yahweh. That's the covenant name

of God, the covenant keeping God, for Yahweh

has spoken. Easter changed history forever. Children,

look up here. Easter's not about an egg hunt,

although that's fun. It's not about the inflatables

we're gonna go do. That's fun, too. It's not

about the feast. All you guys who are thinking

about lunch right now, it's not about that. No!

Easter changed history forever. Think about this.

In our reading today from 1 Peter, bless a bee.

The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

who according to His abundant mercy, that's for

you and me, has begotten us again to a living

hope, not a dead hope, not a wishful hope, but

a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus

Christ from the dead. We are of course to rejoice

year round, but oh what joy there is in Easter!

Romans 5 8 says think about this. This is one

of the reasons for us to have joy Did you come

to church today being excited for this day? Or

was it another Sunday? Maybe you you came here

out of obligation Children, maybe you came here

because your parents say it's the day got to

go to church Got to put on those church clothes

No Think about this now. This is the joy of Easter,

but God demonstrates his own love towards us

that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for

us. There's a bunch of you young people out there

that are transitioning. You're transitioning

to new co -ops, to new schools. You're getting

older. What I'm trying to tell you today is this

is a great day. This is the Easter season. This

is a wonderful day. You need to be excited because

the world changed on Easter. And today's sermon,

although it's not Easter Sunday, is taking up

the latter half. of that day, the end of Easter's

day. Is your joy overflowing this morning? Oh,

the joy and the gratitude to God through Jesus

Christ, our risen Lord. There are three things

I want you to hear out of this passage. That's

all just prep. So are you excited for God and

his great mercies? Hear this now. Three things.

Jesus is the firstborn of the new creation. Jesus

is the firstborn of the new creation. It's really

important. Jesus' death and resurrection brings

peace. Jesus' death and resurrection brings peace.

And on that Easter Sunday, the breath of life

came from the Holy Spirit. The breath of life

in the Holy Spirit. Now again, John 20 19 tells

us the same day at evening. So this is the first

day of the week. It says When the doors were

shut the disciples were assembled for fear of

the Jews Jesus came and stood in their midst

and said peace Be with you now children. I'll

tell you this right now. God has blessed you

you live in a pretty safe country Right, you

don't have many things that get that gives you

thought of not being at peace. I promise you,

your parents, day in and day out, there are lots

of things that make them think about not being

at peace. Jesus says, peace be with you. Jesus

shows up the same day, this Resurrection Sunday,

the first day of the week, the first day of the

new creation. And Jesus appears to the disciples

and those that are with them in the house. even

though the door is shut and secured out of the

fear of the Jewish leaders. Throughout the day,

Jesus had appeared to the women, we remember

that, to Peter as it says in 1 Corinthians 15,

to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and

perhaps two more found in Mark 16. The disciples

have an abundance of eyewitnesses among themselves

of Jesus' resurrection. And, in spite of all

that, they are shut up securely out of fear and

uncertainty. The grave could not contain the

resurrected Jesus, nor could a shut and locked

door keep Jesus out from His people. Jesus' first

words to those assembled together on the first

day of the week is, Peace be with you. Here among

those who hold fear, doubt, joy and confusion

Jesus comes in and Establishes that he is at

peace with them peace Jesus is confirming upon

them the blessed fruits and effects of his death

and resurrection Because of Jesus atoning substitutionary

death for their sins and for all of us who are

his We are all at peace with Jesus which means

peace with the Father Now remember Jesus is leaving

his peace as a legacy. He makes the promise back

in John 14 and Of course the disciples don't

realize what it means and John 14. He says Peace

I leave with you my peace I give to you not as

the world gives to you Let not your heart be

troubled neither Let it be afraid. After the

resurrection, Jesus comes in and what does He

do? He establishes His peace. He makes it known.

Not just once, but twice. And a third time we're

going to find them in the following week. Are

you fearful and afraid? Are you troubled? The

peace of Christ is with you. All men have been

at war with God. Isaiah 59 has told us, but your

iniquities has separated you from God, and your

sins have hidden His face from you. And so He

will not hear. Later on in 59, it says the way

of peace they have not known, and there is no

justice in their ways. They have made themselves

crooked paths, and whoever takes that way shall

not. No peace. When left to our own, we're at

war with God. Our sinful natures run amok. We

cannot deliver ourselves, and the only thing

we want to do is go down the crooked path. And

when we do that, we do not know peace. The disciples

on that evening are desperately in need of peace.

Think about this. You've gone through the week,

right? You've forsaken Jesus. Everybody there

is turned away. We can only imagine their concern.

We already know. We talked about this last week,

right? We know that the chief priests, scribes,

and Pharisees, they were afraid if Jesus rose

again and for good reason. Right? They plotted

it. But what about His disciples? What about

His followers? They all forsook Him. So if Jesus

does arise I'm betting I'm not getting that that

seat at his right hand because I didn't stick

it through But we see that all those who should

have stuck with Jesus the king were guilty of

high treason abandonment and even denial of Jesus

They needed Jesus and yes, they desperately needed

Jesus to give them peace They were afraid of

the justice of God and they had forgotten Jesus's

promise of mercy through him. Jesus provides

for them all undeniable proof that he has truly

risen from the dead. He shows them his hands

and his side. He does that without them asking

in that first group. Jesus lovingly demonstrates

himself to them. And the scriptures tell us that

they are glad. And so Jesus said to them again,

peace to you. As the Father has sent me, I also

send you. You know, they could have been caught

up here saying, oh my goodness. All right, he

says, is it peace with me? But I'm done. As a

disciple of his, I'm done. Because who am I?

Jesus re -emphasizes his peace given to them.

With this piece Jesus tells them that as the

father sent him He is going to send them out

he's gonna send the disciples out Not as the

disciples who did not know what was going on

around them And we're always bickering with one

another and striving for better position Thinking

about who Jesus was gonna be from their perspective

but rather You know and Jesus for three years

has been Correcting them teaching them and they're

just hard -hearted. Is that like us sometimes?

We're just hard -hearted about what Jesus Is

telling us who he is and how we are to live And

so they had been focusing in on their own glory

as Jesus disciple as You know Jesus came in humility

Every man, woman, and child in here, hear this.

This is important. Jesus came in humility as

a servant devoted to others' needs and to others'

causes. What causes that? The fact that they

are undiscipled, unproclaimed of the gospel,

in need of deliverance. And He did all this to

the disregard. of his own interests. He didn't

think, what, that his position as the Son of

God and being God was something to be held onto?

No. He didn't. He came down in the form of a

servant. Let me tell you something. Every one

of us is called just like Jesus was called and

sent to be the servant of others, not proclaiming

good works not proclaiming the good things we've

done but simply in quiet humility Serving others

that they may be delivered from their sin and

disciples Jesus called his disciples that day

and all those in the church to a life of serving

others So that others may know Christ Jesus So

every child in here Every person, every person

that you come into contact with, your children,

your husband, your wife, your extended family,

your coworkers in your community, we are all

called to proclaim the remedy to all men. Now

sometimes we think that that is just with our

words. You don't have to stand on the street

corner with a bullhorn proclaiming the good news

of Christ. How do you treat your coworkers? Does

your marriage reflect the gospel of what Jesus

is to the church? What do the neighbors think?

Can they hear you when you fight and drag it

on? What about those in your extended family?

Do they know that you are calling upon Christ?

Can they see Christ in you? You know, to be honest,

and I'm not talking about laying down For a lie

and not sticking with the truth But the but if

we're honest with one another our biggest arguments

and fights and beef with people in our lives

and our own lives Have to do with our desire

to be right ourselves To be vindicated through

our own mouth That's not what Jesus did Jesus

let the Lord the Heavenly Father raise him up

and finally vindicates him in AD 70. It wasn't

just at the resurrection, it wasn't just at the

ascension, but he closed off the old creation.

We are to proclaim the remedy to all men. Now

Jesus doesn't just leave the disciples with his

words, although his words are always true and

you can count on them. Jesus affirms his peace

by placing his disciples those who first followed

him into the new creation verse 22 said and when

Jesus had said this he breathed on them Received

the Holy Spirit Now this word breathe is only

used here in the New Testament But it is the

very same one in the Greek translation of the

Old Testament used in Genesis 2 7 When Yahweh

the Covenant God breathed life into Adam at the

first creation. It's also the word used in Ezekiel

37 in the Valley of Dry Bones, remember that?

God is speaking to Ezekiel, says speak to that

Valley of Dry Bones. Thus says the Lord God to

these bones, surely I will cause breath to enter

you and you shall live. I will put sinews on

you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with

skin and put breath in you and you shall live.

Then you shall know that I am Yahweh. In our

sins we are dead bones. But because of the death

burial and resurrection of Jesus, we are alive.

We are given the Spirit. The only way to be truly

human and alive is in Jesus. Everything else

is acting beastly. You think about that. In your

sins, the way you behaved, in the world around

us, we have people triumphing. Yeah, evolution.

We're just beasts, so we can act like beasts,

as long as you don't act like a beast to me.

First Corinthians 15 .45 tells us this, and so

it is written, the first man, Adam, became a

living being, and the last, Adam, became a life

-giving. Spirit. Jesus did not just come to give

eternal life, but life now. Life now. We're resurrected

in him now to good works, to service, to be proclaimers

of the gospel. Jesus shows up in his glorified

body and shows what is to come at the fulfillment

of all things when heaven and earth are no longer

separated. But just as Jesus was given all authority

in heaven and on earth He gives life and sends

us out with authority He says this and now he

is establishing in one sense the authority of

the church But this is important for us to realize

that this authority extends to all of us not

over people with whom Are not we're not responsible

before God But rather authority to speak the

truth and speak it just matter of factly. He

says this in verse 23, if you forgive the sins

of any, they are forgiven them. If you retain

the sins of any, they are retained. Now from

the church's perspective, from the authority

given to the disciples as the first ministers

of the gospel, part of this is the church holds

the keys. And forgiveness is for the humble and

the penitent. But there is judgment. for the

unrepentant. I got to tell you, one of the scariest

things that elders can do is to excommunicate

someone. This is why sometimes it seems like,

why are those guys taking so long to deal with

that guy? Well, if we see any spark of hope,

if we see any mercy, anything there, we're going

to work and be long suffering. Now, obviously,

the size of the sin, the public nature of it

all requires certain kinds of things. But for

every one of us you are given by God authority

in your life children look up here You have authority

over your own rooms. You have authority over

yourself you authority to Get up when you're

supposed to Of course that last one probably

has something for everyone in the room Parents

you're responsible for your family If you're

over other people in your job, you have responsibilities

to them, if you have responsibilities in the

church, what has God given you responsibility

for? That is your kingdom that He has bestowed

upon you. May it be small or may it be large.

Speak God's word truthfully and word indeed.

Jesus doesn't just provide us forgiveness for

our own benefit. but that we may as part of his

people be the living stones of his new temple

and live and speak that the good news of God's

grace and mercy may be found in his son Jesus.

Now, here's something important. I know you're

all here and in one way I might be speaking to

the choir, but you need to understand this. You

are the living stones of the new temple, right?

And so this is important. Every week you're going

to go out of here, commissioned by God to go

and spread the gospel. And then every week you

are called back and we take our stones with us

as we walk out. We're going to do that. And then

we're going to come back together and build the

temple of the living stones right here, together.

You can't worship God in the same fashion. and

you can't stay alive in isolation. If you take

your rock and proverbially go home, or as Israel

did, every man to his own tent, that's disastrous.

You have to be in the vine constantly in order

to stay alive. Now all this sounds great. A new

life, a new mission, and all by the death, burial,

and resurrection and ascension of Jesus. But

here this morning, you may feel like you missed

the boat. You say to yourself, I have sins. I

have doubts. I had a feeling like I wasn't there

when everyone else was there. You don't have

the same experience as others. When God calls

a person, He sees it through. Thomas wasn't there

and we aren't told why. But as one commentator

says, it is a terrible thing to miss the assembling

together as God's people. You don't know what

you're going to miss. Right now, we confessed

our sins when we came in here. We responded to

God's call. We sang gloriously on the ascension

up the hill to assemble together. We confessed

our sins. We are in the heavenlies. And here's

something I read over and over again, and this

is kind of a terrible thing for me. Right? I'm

representing Jesus' words to you. Do you understand

that? I'm up here proclaiming Jesus to you, and

Jesus is speaking to you through me, and it's

very humbling. And I don't do this for drama's

sake, but I want you to understand what is happening

in this room right now. When God calls a person,

He sees it through. No ordinary salvation can

be had outside the church. And if you don't understand

that, just come to me afterwards, I'll talk with

you. Thomas, even with all these eyewitnesses

whom he knew, says he won't believe and he sets

up three things. Can you imagine? Like we read

this and we're just like, is Thomas out of his

mind? He challenged God. He wasn't there. We

don't know why it wasn't there. But he said this,

even with all these people he knew, who were

his friends, who had gone through these terrible

things together with him, seen the great mighty

miracles of God, and then suddenly say, well,

I wasn't there. So one, unless I see the prints

of the nails in his hands, but not just see him,

I got to actually put my finger in it. Two, and

then three. my hand into His side. Otherwise,

I won't believe. Jesus comes again on the eighth

day. You see this pattern, the eighth day, the

first day of the new creation. This is why the

church worships on Sunday. Again, the door is

shut. And then Jesus stood in their midst, and

even with Then barely figuring things out even

with what he's already told them about peace

even with one guy that he called Saying I don't

believe it unless I get all these proofs What

does he say? He stood in their midst and declares

peace be to you and Then he went and he called

Thomas out. Can you imagine? But he doesn't walk

up and stick his finger in Thomas's face or his

chest and say how dare you Instead he says the

times reach your finger here Look at my hands

reach your hand here put it in my side Do not

be unbelieving but believing and Thomas answered

and said to him my lord and my god Every one

of us in here should rejoice in the second chances

or chance after chance that God gives us. We

believe for a moment and then hardship comes

and we struggle. And we put up, man, if God just

does this, then I'll believe. And then we believe

for a short while, then we say, if God just does

this. He is so kind, so kind. Jesus is long suffering

for all those whom he has called. And first Timothy,

it tells us this, however for this reason I,

this is Paul speaking to Timothy, a pastor he's

mentoring, I obtained mercy that in me first

Jesus Christ might show all long suffering as

a pattern to those who are going to believe on

him for everlasting life. Remember, Paul was

Saul, the great persecutor of the church. He

threw them in jail. He killed them. He persecuted

them in every way. And Jesus was long -suffering

to those he called. And this isn't like an isolated

message by himself. The long -suffering of Jesus

towards his own is so important that the Apostle

Peter in 2 Peter points to Jesus' long -suffering

towards Paul. You don't believe me. Look at our

brother Paul. He says this in 2 Peter 3, 14.

Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these

things, be diligent to be found by him in peace,

without spot and blameless. And consider that

the long suffering of our Lord is salvation,

as also our beloved brother Paul, according to

the wisdom given to him, has written to you.

See, he's referencing what Paul had already written

on these things saying, yes, Jesus is long -suffering.

He pursues those who are his. You're here this

morning. Jesus is pursuing you as his people.

You are his covenant people. Jesus died for you.

He rose again for you. He ascended to the throne

for you. And we can be full of joy and gratitude

for all of this. For Thomas he is blessed, but

Jesus says to us today and all who are afar off

Thomas you believe because you've seen me But

blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe

that's us praise God His peace is given to us

All these words in our text and throughout the

whole of scriptures are given to us that we may

believe in Jesus the son of God he is our Savior

and Mediator, and they're all given to us that

we may have life in His name. Dearly beloved,

Jesus' death and resurrection restores peace

with God for the collective of all y 'all. Jesus

is the firstborn of the new creation and has

given His church His breath of life and the Holy

Spirit for service in His kingdom. Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you that you have been

gracious and long -suffering to us in Christ

Jesus. We thank you for the peace and new life

we've received in Christ Jesus. We humbly ask

you to grant us belief, courage, gratitude, and

grace. We boldly proclaim the good news of Jesus'

death, resurrection, and ascension in your glory

and our humbling benefit. We ask all these things

for the sake of Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus

Christ, who reigns with you in the Holy Spirit

forever and ever. Amen.