Being With Jesus:
John 20:19-23 (NLT)
The disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
It was the evening of resurrection Sunday, and the disciples were abuzz with the resurrection. A few of them had encountered the living Lord but others of them had only heard rumors of resurrection. They were about to get the surprise of their lives—and this would be a game-changer.
No man had ever risen from the dead, and if this were indeed true, it would prove beyond all reasonable doubt that Jesus was who he said he was—God come in the flesh. And if he was who he claimed to be—the living Lord of life and Savior of the word—he therefore had it within his authority and power to do what he said he would do: forgive sin, heal the sick, set those in bondage free, provide his subjects with a real experience of the Kingdom life and in fact, grant them eternal life.
This was truly the Good News!
Yet for all their anticipation of a resurrected Jesus—and all that it implied—these disciples were still huddled in fear behind closed doors. They were still intimidated by the religious leaders who ruled the day with an iron fist and the religious system that had sent their Lord to the cross in the first place. There was still a major disconnect between what they intellectually accepted and their emotional reality. Fear and concern dominated their better judgment.
Now before we get too far down the road on this, perhaps we ought to admit that fear and concern often dominate our emotions, our behavior, our thinking as well. We accept that Jesus is risen, that he is Lord over all, yet we easily get intimidated by circumstances, get set back on our heels by the system, whatever that might be for us, and give into fear in our emotions. We are really no different than the disciples—their story is our story.
But thank God for Jesus! While he suddenly appeared among those first disciples—one of the benefits of having a resurrected body—he no longer needs to do that with us. Why? He doesn’t have to; he is already among us. In fact, his promise is that he will never leave us nor forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5) Moreover he shows himself to us, not necessarily by opening his wounded hands, but by holding our hands all along the way. (Isaiah 46:3) It’s true, that as we look back over the course of our journey with Jesus, our testimony has to be, “the Lord has led us all along the way.” (Deuteronomy 8:2) Then to neutralize our concerns and fears, he grants us his peace—the peace of Christ that rules ours hearts. (Colossians 3:15, Philippians 4:7) And he makes all of this not only possible, but sustainable by placing the Father’s gift within us—the precious Holy Spirit, who infuses us with both the authority and power of God Almighty to do his will and work.
So rather than living our lives huddled in fear and paralyzed by worry, like the disciples, as we act in faith upon what Jesus has done, we can live in inner confidence and spiritual power—we, too, like those first disciples, can change the world. At the very least, our corner of the world can—and should—look radically different now that the resurrection has rocked our world.
This truly is and always will be the Good News!