Jesus makes his first appearance to the twelve, minus Judas,
and minus Thomas, in today’s reading.
Those 10 disciples are locked up, for fear of the Jews, but twice on
that Easter evening and once again a week later, Jesus stands among them and
speaks, “Peace be with you”
Shlama Alakhon – in the Aramic – was the common greeting,
based on that Hebrew word many of you know – Shalom! Peace!
But the peace Jesus brings them that day, and the peace that
he brings us this day – is much more than just an everyday greeting. With these words of peace, he truly brings
peace. With his death and resurrection,
he accomplishes peace. And with his
presence, he promises a peace that even passes understanding. Let’s consider this morning the words of
Jesus, and the resurrection peace he brings.
His first words greeting those disciples many NOT have been
what they expected. Actually they didn’t
expect him at all, they still thought he was dead – although the women had been
saying some strange things. Peter and
John went to investigate, and they couldn’t fully embrace the reality even
though they, too, saw the empty grave and the abandoned grave linens.
And even if they were starting to believe he’d really done
it, that he really rose from the dead, they didn’t grasp the full
implications. Because they were still
afraid. Locked up and hunkered down, in
hiding, John tells us, for fear of the Jews.
Even a week later, they still cowered.
But they’re not the only ones to slip back into fear. They’re not the only ones to hear that Jesus
lives and act like it doesn’t really matter.
We come here every week and hear the good news of Christ crucified and
risen. We know the scriptures well, many
of us have learned them from our youth.
But we still so easily turn to fear, and all sorts of other silly
things, guilt and shame and despair and doubt.
Jesus lives! The victory’s
won! But we act like the battle is still
in question. We forget so quickly, so
easily, what his victory over death means.
It means that no matter what befalls us in this fallen
world, there is a resurrection in store for us.
It means that no matter what our enemies plot and plan toward our
demise, they cannot win the day, because Christ lives, and we will live. It means that we are no longer bound for
death and hell, there is no dark cloud that can overshadow our destiny.
Jesus speaks peace to them, and to us. First, he shows them his wounds. It is as if he says, “My dear friends, look
and see the marks of my suffering and death, eternal reminders of what I, as
the Lamb of God have done for you. In
these scars you find your healing from sin and death. In these wounds you are healed. You are therefore forgiven of your sins and
at peace with God. Peace be with you.”
Now, of course, God doesn’t only give his gifts once, nor
does he speak his promises only once.
And so Jesus repeats his blessing, “Peace be with you” And now he gives
them another cause for their peace, and for the peace of all his people. Through them, he will distribute and apply
the forgiveness he won at the cross. “As
the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.
I’m giving you the authority to forgive sins in my stead, and by my
command. And whoever’s sin you thus
forgive, it is forgiven! Truly! Just as surely in heaven itself, because my
word and Spirit guarantee it.”
You know sometimes a Christian from a different denomination
wanders into a Lutheran service for some reason, and sometimes they hear a
pastor say these words, “In the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus
Christ, I forgive you all your sins!” And they are offended. Who can forgive sins but God alone, they ask,
the same question the Jews asked about Jesus.
But Just as Jesus was sent by the Father, and empowered to forgive sins,
so does he empower his apostles, and their descendants in office, to proclaim
and apply the same forgiveness. It’s
just as good as if Jesus said it himself.
Because of what he says here, in John 20, that first Easter evening.
And so a second cause for peace to be with them, and us.
And then there’s Thomas.
Who missed the boat. We don’t
know where he was or what he was doing.
But we do know what he said about that little visit from Jesus. He didn’t believe it. Much like the apostles didn’t believe the
women at first, so Thomas thought the others were putting him on, pulling his
leg, in some sort of sick joke maybe. “I
won’t believe it unless I see him. Even
better, I won’t believe it unless I touch those wounds!” Words of doubt that will ever ding poor
Thomas’ reputation.
But Jesus appears again, and Jesus speaks words of peace
again. He gently chides Thomas for not
believing the news, and matches Thomas’s doubt with proof positive – see,
Thomas. Touch the wounds. Stop doubting and start believing.
Jesus doesn’t appear to us bodily, but he does comment about
that. Oh, Thomas, you believe because
you’ve seen? Blessed are they, or even
more blessed are they, who have not seen, and yet believe.
That’s us. We’ve
heard the good news of Jesus. We’ve been
told and taught by faithful parents, pastors, Christian friends. And we have come to believe that Jesus died
and rose for us.
John even tells us that these words of his were written for
the very purpose that we (who have not seen) may believe, and believing have
life in his name.
Life in Christ.
Forgiveness in Christ. Peace in
Christ. The blessing of faith. You see, it all goes together. Gifts of the risen Christ for all his
people. For the skittish disciples still
coming to grips with the resurrection, and for the disciples of our day and age
who stand on the shoulders of 2000 easter Christians. Christ comes to us, having conquered death
for us, and he says, “Peace be with you.”
Amen.
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