If you are like 45% of Americans, you probably made at least
one New Year’s resolution a couple of days ago. Maybe your resolution was one
of the top ten resolutions made in 2014:
1. Lose Weight
2. Get Organized
3. Spend Less, Save More
4. Enjoy Life to the Fullest
5. Stay Fit and Healthy
6. Learn Something Exciting
7. Quit Smoking
8. Help Others in Their Dreams
9. Fall in Love
10. Spend More Time with Family (statisticbrain.com)
All of these
resolutions are good ones to keep; however, it you are like 92% of Americans who
made them last year, you will fail to achieve these goals. Some of these goals
(trying something new, getting organized, etc.), if not kept, are no big deal.
In fact, many people will say things like, “I can always try next year.” However,
the resolutions I hope we will glean from John 20:19-23 are far more important
than most and, if left unkept, can have eternal ramifications. What will serve
as our motivation for making and keeping the resolutions we will soon learn
about? –The greatest event in all of history—Jesus’ resurrection. Following
this greatest act, Jesus manifests Himself in three ways to His disciples in
John 20:19-23 and accompanies these manifestations with three messages that
will give us confidence, call us out, and break our silence in this year and in
every year to come.
The Miraculous Appearance-20:19
As we return to our
John series, we arrive immediately after Mary Magdalene is sent from the empty
grave to the disciples with the glorious news of Jesus’ resurrection. It is now
evening on “that day, the first day of the week” and her incredible message had
no doubt made its way to the disciples and their close friends/loved ones.
However, instead of bringing them cause for celebration, it is obvious that at
this point, Mary’s news has brought them nothing but anxiety; the ”doors were
shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews” (20:19a). They probably
wondered, “What would the Jews now do that the body was missing?” “What would
Rome say?” “Could they really trust Mary’s message?” Instead of leaving the
bunker they had rested in for the last few days to look for answers to these
questions or faithfully spreading the message of Jesus’ victory to others, they
held themselves up and hesitated to do just about anything. Something profound
would have to wake them from their increasingly comfortable insulation and
fearful isolation—something even more shocking than news from a secondary
source—something like Jesus Himself! In His first manifestation, a miraculous
appearance demonstrates that Jesus’ peace can be known in the midst of anxious
situations.
At this time, “Jesus
came and stood in their midst” (20:19b). There stood the body that was bruised
and bleeding just days before healed and alive! Having made His way past the
locks and through the doors, the disciples’ Savior, Teacher, and Friend
confirmed Mary Magdalene’s most wonderful report, “Jesus is alive! Just as He
said He would be!” The same man who buckled under the weight of a heavy cross
and was taken from His loved ones to die now stood before them in total
victory.
Jesus never performs a
miracle for show, He always accompanies His acts with a message. This time, the
message is peace. As soon as He appeared, He spoke this peace into the fearful
milieu that gripped the disciples saying, “Peace be with you” (20:19c). Victory had been achieved! Death was
conquered! Everything Jesus said and did was now confirmed in this one
miracle! Surely this would wake them
from their worry!
This is just like Jesus
to break through barriers to bring encouragement and inspiration. Throughout
His ministry He had conquered illness, storms, and the Jewish authorities.
Though these previous victories should have inspired faith among the disciples,
nothing was as grand as Jesus’ victory over death. However, to bring
confirmation of this to those who should have expected it all along, Jesus had
to break through the doors and locks His followers had put in place to insulate
and isolate themselves.
The tendency we see in
the disciples’ here is not unlike what we are prone to do in our lives. Some
faith-shaking events or tragedies drive us into insulation or isolation behind
closed doors into bunkers of fear or hesitancy. When this takes place, we are
paralyzed spiritually, unmoved by the good news, and incapable of sharing it
with anybody. However, we are not without help. Jesus breaks into our bunkers
of isolation and insulation and wakes us up, speaking peace into our trouble,
rendering us useful again! Sometimes He speaks through His word in times of
quiet devotion, undeniable experiences, or through faithful messengers who
preach His Word. No matter what way the message is communicated, Jesus is
constantly reminding His own that because He rose from the grave, we can rise
out of despair knowing that His victory is confirmation of our own in Him. His
miraculous appearance here in verse 19 demonstrates Jesus’ peace in the midst
of our anxiety.
The Presentation of Evidence-20:20-21
After Jesus had miraculously
appeared to the disciples behind closed doors, He decides to take things a step
further by offering more proof of what has occurred. He does this by presenting
evidence of Himself to those who at this point were probably wiping their eyes
and asking, “is this a dream?” “And when He said this, He showed them both His
hands and His side” (20:20). The verb “show” is emphatic and suggests that Jesus
took time to explain the meaning or significance of the scars that remained on
His body. These scars confirmed that the
glorious figure they beheld was the same one who hung on the cross and was
taken away. They were a grim reminder of the most glorious demonstration of
love ever made.
Jesus’ scars were
empirical evidence of Jesus’ bodily resurrection. This was not just a spirit
floating overhead or a mirage in an amber glow. Jesus had been raised bodily
from the dead. Also, Jesus’ post-resurrection scars are a brilliant reminder of
to what lengths Jesus was willing to go to provide salvation for His disciples.
The evidence has spoken; Jesus’ scars tell the story; Jesus has risen from the
dead!
At this point that the readers of John’s
account are given the response the disciples made after witnessing these first
two manifestations, “the disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord” (20:20b).
Having witnessed the miraculous appearance and having examined the evidence
along with Jesus’ corresponding explanation, they rejoice. Why, because they
beheld their Lord! Knowing that Jesus is alive from the dead is the difference
between being most pitied and exceedingly blessed.
1 Cor.
15:17-19-“and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you
are still in your sins. Then
those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If
we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.”
Because
Christ has been raised from the dead, our faith is fruitful; we are no
longer in our sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have life.
If we have hoped in Christ in this life AND the next, we are of all men most
blessed!
Jesus accompanies this
presentation with another message, “So Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with
you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (20:21). His second message is
a reiteration of the first (“Peace be with You”) with a corresponding call (“I
also send you”). In fact, the call that Jesus makes is dependent on the peace
the disciple has because of Jesus’ life in them. One cannot be sent of God like
Christ unless they know His peace. Because Jesus came and ministered without
fear or worry, we must have peace to be like Him as we are sent into this
world. To obtain this peace, we must examine the evidence Jesus has presented
and, like the twelve, behold our Lord alive and well.
What this passage makes
abundantly clear is this: because Jesus is alive, there is no reason to be
anxious and no justification for being idle. We have His peace and because of
that we have His call to be sent into the world to share it.
The Promise of the Holy Spirit-20:22-23
The final manifestation
Jesus offered in this text is a simple breath, “and when He said this, He
breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’…” (20:22). “The
process of breathing on someone may have very important symbolic implications.
In some instances this can be related to a blessing” (Louw Nida). So what does
it symbolize here? The most obvious theological antecedent is Genesis 2:7. There
the exact same verb form is used (albeit in the Septuagint) when God breathes
His Spirit into Adam at creation, (rendering him a “living being”). Here, at
the occasion of the commissioning of His disciples, Jesus breathes life into
the new messianic community (Kostenberger, 574-75).
However, is this new
community really established in this moment? Is the Holy Spirit actually given
here? What about Pentecost in Acts 2? Is
this a biblical discrepancy? No, instead, Jesus is symbolically promising the
future gift of the Spirit at Pentecost with this breath and encouraging, nay,
commanding that the disciples receive Him when He comes.
Like the miracle and
the presentation of evidence before, this action comes complete with an accompanying
message. The first message was about peace and the second was a command to be
sent. This time, the message has everything to do with forgiveness, “If you
forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the
sins of any, they have been retained” (20:23).
In this context, the
mission of Jesus’ disciples and the Spirit who empowers them is in full view (“being
sent” in verse 21 and the reception of the Holy Spirit in verse 22). With this
in mind it is important to correctly interpret the perfect verbs here as
aspectual (i.e. “they stand forgiven”) and passive (implying that it is God who
is doing the forgiving). There is therefore little doubt that the reference to forgiving
sins, or withholding forgiveness, is connected to the message the disciples would
eventually preach. The preaching of the gospel either brings men to repent as
they hear of the forgiveness of God (forgiving them), or it leaves them
unresponsive to the offer of forgiveness, thereby leaving them in their sin
(i.e. retaining their sin) (Marsh, 641-42). Therefore, a paraphrase of this
might read, “if you preach a message of forgiveness and they respond
positively, their sins have been forgiven by God; however, if you preach a
message of forgiveness and they respond negatively, they are still in their
sin” (Jeff Dickson).
Each of the three
messages builds on to reach other. First, there is peace because of Jesus’
resurrection. Second, those who have this peace are able to be sent into the
world. Third, those who are sent into the world must do so to spread a message
of forgiveness in Jesus Christ.
So What?
I cannot think of a more appropriate message for the
beginning of this year. As often as we taken time to remember the birth of
Jesus and the death of Jesus, we should also reiterate His glorious
resurrection. This passage offers three manifestations of a risen Jesus that
inspire His disciples away from fear and
toward peace, off the pew and into
the world, and call us to speak up
and not be silent. All of these activities depend on one’s understanding
and remembrance of Jesus’ resurrection. For those who are IN Christ, there
really is no reason to fear, no justification for remaining seated, and no
message more important than forgiveness of sin through Jesus.
Therefore, resolve this year to live in the confidence that
comes from knowing your Savior is alive and not dead. Resolve this year to use
the peace Jesus has made available to catapult you out into your world for His
sake. Resolve this year to keep His message of forgiveness of sin on the tip of
your tongue as you do life with those around you who need to hear it. These are
resolutions that I pray through God’s grace His church will keep!
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