Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me”.
Have you ever picked a lock? I was a summer janitor at a college and one day we found ourselves locked out. What to do?
Aha. My credit card. The building’s old door latch quickly responded to my ministrations. We got our job done, locked up, and went back to the office. “Hey,” exclaimed the boss, the key’s still here. How’d you get in?”
That’s not how Jesus did it. On Sunday evening of the resurrection, he stepped into a locked room where the disciples were gathered (John 20:19).
What resurrection message do you think Jesus delivered? Did he confront the disciples for abandoning him? Did he reprove Peter for denying? Did he lecture them about how little they learned during their three-year apprenticeship?
No. None of that. Instead, Jesus had four positive messages for the failed disciples.
The first positive message: “Peace be with you” (John 20:21). Where did Jesus find peace in this situation? Not in fearful disciples tangled in a crisis of faith. Where did he find peace? Maybe in himself. Abandoned by friends, unjustly crucified, left in a dark tomb. Yet Jesus was at peace with it all. And he brought peace to his bewildered disciples. Not reproof, not anger, not disappointment. Peace be with you.
Jesus’ second positive message to the men in the locked room: “As the Father sent me, I’m sending you” (John 20:21). Really? Does Jesus think these disciples are ready to unlock the door and take his message into the world? After the shambles of crucifixion weekend, where will they find competence and courage to do that job?
In a third positive message to the men in the locked room, Jesus breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 10:22). Reminds me of Genesis, where God fashioned Adam from clay and breathed life into him. Now Jesus breathes on his disciples of clay. Will his breath, his Holy Spirit, bring them alive? Turn them from men in hiding to men with a message?
Jesus’ fourth locked-room message is, “If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you don’t, they are not forgiven” (v. 23). Jesus is delegating the mission of forgiveness. Perhaps even the mission of deciding who should be forgiven. I hope the disciples will use that power wisely.
Those are Jesus’ four resurrection gifts to his disciples. Peace. A mission. The Holy Spirit. The power of forgiveness.
Let’s pray.
O Jesus, we live in a different world than you did. In our modern imagination, the universe was born in a big bang, expanded for billions of years, gave birth by chance to life, life which evolved into us. In our world, God is dead and we have locked the doors against him.
And yet, and yet, we are your disciples, O Jesus. You stepped into time and space through our locked doors. You called us to follow you. You gave us gifts.
The gift of peace in a chaotic world. The gift of a mission that gives us purpose. The gift of the Spirit who communicates your words. And the gift of forgiveness more powerful than political self-interest and war.
Lord Jesus, help us receive your resurrection gifts. Help us move beyond our locked doors into the wider world of service.
Amen.
I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.
YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube.
