Portraits of the Passion - John 20:19-23

UNLOCKING THE DOOR OF FEAR

 

It’s late on Sunday night. The city is in turmoil over the day’s events. A woman of some questionable background is going around spreading a rumor. She says that the body of her teacher is missing. Then she changes her story and says that he’s not dead anymore and she’s talked with him. The dead man’s followers don’t know what to think. They are paralyzed with fear. Their leader has been executed by the authorities and they believe that they’re next. They’re not wrong. Soldiers search for the body. Authorities search for these followers. All they can do is hide and keep the doors locked. 

            The resurrection of Jesus Christ has taken place as Jesus said it would. Mary says its true. Peter and John say the tomb is empty. But the followers of Jesus are afraid to tell anyone about this good news.

            Fear! Fear keeps us locked up and hidden. They feared the Jews. We fear the unbeliever. Fear refers to being intimidated. Fear makes us want to run the other way. It’s a visceral, almost instinctual reaction to something that causes dread whether real or imagined. Fear is driven by “what if” statements, by doubt and uncertainty. It is often the opposite of faith. 

            In my first year of college, it was mandatory to take a course on evangelism. One of the assignments for the course was to evangelize three different people and write about it. A fellow student and I concluded we could either go to the local mall or the local hospital. We chose the hospital because we figured the patients were a captive audience – they couldn’t run away. My partner quickly found someone to talk to in one of the wards. I, on the other hand, walked laps around the hallway of the tiny hospital panicking about entering the room of a stranger and proposing to tell them about Jesus. I finally stirred up some courage and walked into a room…I was quickly greeted by a curtain and a sign that read “quarantined: stay out.” 

            The disciples had the fresh reality of Jesus rising from the dead. What a thrilling and exciting time. But they were afraid. On this side of the cross and the resurrection, we have the historical certainty that Jesus is alive. Yet we too are afraid, if we are honest, to share the good news of Jesus. 

 

What FEARS keep you “locked up”? 

 

If faith is “the reality of what is hoped for, the evidence of what is not seen” (Heb. 11:1), fear is the supposed reality of what is dreaded, the false evidence of what will probably never happen.

            “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews…” (20:19ab). Just like the disciples, fear keeps us from sharing Jesus with others. What are we afraid of?

Jayson Bradley of Churchleaders.com explains five aspects of fear that may lock us up in our witness.

Shame! Are you ashamed of our faith? Shame is being afraid to pray out loud for your meal in a restaurant. Shame is that feeling you get when people ask why you don’t use foul language and you don’t want to say it’s because you are a Christian. Shame is that gut sense you feel when people associate Christianity with some crazy ideas and people (i.e. Westborough Baptist Church).  

Foolishness is closely related to shame. None of us wants to look stupid. A God who would save people by allowing them to kill him is foolish. Going to church every Sunday and singing songs and listening to some guy preach is not seen as intellectually sound among educated elites. Funny thing that “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise…” (1 Cor. 1:27).

Ambiguity! One thing we fear in sharing our faith is uncertainty. We are scared that we will look like we don’t know what we are talking about. We are afraid someone will ask a question we can’t answer. Sometimes the best thing we can say is “I don’t know.” To admit that you don’t have all the answers to life’s problems, but that you trust in God anyways, is an authentic and honest response.

Opposition! No one likes to be opposed or even hated. I confess my own inclination is to have everyone like me. So, I can’t find the words to speak God’s truth when people are obviously hostile to God. Being rejected is our biggest fear. A BGEA survey at a Billy Graham crusade revealed that 51% of Christians in witnessing situations were afraid of how people would react. Lifeway Research countered this fear saying people aren’t as mean as you think. People are more willing to talk about faith than you think.

Pain! What if we get hurt? Physical pain is a rare likelihood. More realistically in our context is “What if I mess up a wonderful friendship?” What if my family kicks me out for believing in Jesus? I’m not going to tell you it won’t happen. Pain is a part of living in a fallen world and pain is certainly a reality in talking about Jesus with people who resist Jesus. 

            Fears are often without substance. As Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself…” Because fear itself is an enemy and a hindrance to acting or speaking on your convictions.

 

The KEY is Christ’s PEACE

 

While the followers of Jesus were hiding in an undisclosed location with the doors locked, “Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you,” (19c). 

            “Peace be with you” was a pretty common saying in those days. Normally it didn’t mean much, like saying, “Hi, how are you? I hope you are well.” 

            In this context, it means so much more. Jesus repeats this blessing again once the disciples had calmed down. Luke reflects this event in his writing saying they thought they had seen a ghost. Luke adds that Jesus eats a fish to demonstrate that he’s not a ghost. No wonder he starts with, “Peace dudes.” 

            The disciples were afraid, then confused, now freaked out. Jesus spoke peace over them. Before he died, Jesus had promised them peace. “Peace, I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid,” (John 14:27). This peace is so important at this moment that Jesus repeats it a third time in our next story with Thomas (26). 

            The word “peace” refers to the OT idea of shalom. When Jews spoke “shalom,” it meant more than peace; it was “used to denote the unqualified well-being that would characterize the people of God” once the kingdom of God was realized. Well, here’ s the king, Jesus, and the kingdom has come. What does shalom mean? What is this peace? 

            Peace covers us in so many ways. 

            We have peace between us and Jesus. When fear was at its highest peak for the disciples, Jesus stood among them and said “I’m here. I’m your friend, your helper. Don’t be afraid.” And he does that for us too. Jesus is here.

            We have peace between us and God the Father. Our sins no longer create an unapproachable chasm between us and God. Through Jesus, we are forgiven of every sin, and we can approach the Father in his name. 

            We have peace with others who follow Jesus.

            We have peace in our own souls. We do not have to live with guilt and shame or memories of the past. Trauma does not define us – Christ does.

            We have a hope of peace for our world. One day Christ will rule the world with Shalom. 

            Christ’s peace is the key to unlock the door of fear. John Stott wrote, “We learn then that the Church’s very first need, before it can begin to engage in evangelism, is an experience and an assurance of Christ’s peace — peace of conscience through his death that banishes sin, peace of mind through his resurrection that banishes doubt … Once we are glad that we have seen the Lord, and once we have clearly recognized him as our crucified and risen Savior, then nothing and no one will be able to silence us.”

            

You possess POWER that overcomes fear 

 

In the place of our fear, Jesus gives us his peace. He gives us his peace so that we can participate in his mission. The text continues with Jesus saying, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld,” (21-23). 

            There are two remarkable truths in this verse regarding our participation in the mission of God. The first is that Jesus Christ needs the church. Do you want me to personalize this? Okay, Jesus needs you! Jesus came preaching the good news and became the good news, as it were, on the cross. Now he was going back to the Father. His message could never be taken to every person unless he returned to the Father and left us with the task of telling every person about Jesus. Jesus is depending on you and me to spread this message.

            Second, the church needs Jesus. A person who is sent out with a message needs someone to send him. He needs a message to take. He needs authority to speak this message. Without Jesus, we have no message, no power, no authority, no means to enlighten minds, no joy to encourage the heart. The church needs Jesus. 

            Because Jesus needs us and we need Jesus, Jesus gives us his Holy Spirit to empower us to speak this good news. The text says that Jesus “breathed on them” and gave them the Holy Spirit. I love that. John is reflecting on the old Creation story where “…the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life…” (Gen. 2:7). And it’s the same picture Ezekiel saw in the valley of dry bones when God breathed on the bones, and they stood up. The coming of the Holy Spirit is like the wakening of life from the dead. When the Spirit comes upon the church, she leaves fear behind and stands up to bear witness to Jesus.

            We have a message that is worth hearing, don’t we? That message is forgiveness of sins through the person of Jesus Christ who just happens to be the Son of God and King of this Universe. That last verse, the one about forgiving sins and not forgiving sins, is a little strange. John Piper paraphrased it and I think he made some good sense of it:

“When you tell people about what I have done, speaking my word, about my work, in the power of my Spirit, I am the one speaking through you, so that if anyone believes your word, I forgive their sins. And if any does not believe your words, I don’t forgive them. And since you are my voice and my truth, I speak of you forgiving them, and you withholding forgiveness.”

            You possess power from the Holy Spirit that overcomes fear. Just like the timid disciples who became roaring lions, speak the name of Jesus and you will overcome fear. 

            

Many Bible readers assume that Timothy was timid – shy. Maybe he was. I confess that I have some of that timidity in me. I am shy at times and will not be the first to speak. We could all take to heart what Paul said to Timothy, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline,” (2 Tim. 1:7).

            One writer put fear in a different context that I want to pass on to you. He said the problem of fear is that we just don’t fear enough. More fear? Yes. The fear of the Lord. He quoted Isaiah 8:12-13 where Isaiah was needing a boost of courage in the face of a people that didn’t want to hear his message. The Lord said, “do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread…” 

            There is a saying, “What grips the heart, wags the tongue.” Are we gripped with a proper fear of the Lord and his overwhelming love?                         AMEN

 

Full story shared by Darryl re: Lee Strobel’s evangelism experience:

 

Lee Strobel tells the story of a time when he felt God prompting him to go and share an Easter invitation in the business office of the newspaper where he worked. He didn’t know why. But, he listens to God. When he arrived, he saw his friend who was working in the business office.

It was an average routine day, and I was packing my stuff up to go home and I felt like God was kicking me in the butt and real specifically to go into the business office of the newspaper and invite my atheist friend to come to Easter services at our church. Because Easter was coming up, so I thought this is great. If God is really leading me to do this so specifically, this is gonna be spectacular. He's probably gonna repent right there, get on his knees and receive Christ. This is gonna be fantastic!

So, I walk over to the new business office with great anticipation. I walk in and look around. I see my friend behind his desk.

Perfect, so I said, “Hey how are you doing?”

He said, “I’m doing great”.

I said, “Hey, you know Easter is coming up?”

He said, “Lee, I’m an atheist, I don’t observe Easter”.

I said, “Yeah I know but Easter is when we remember that Jesus rose from the dead.”

He said, “No, he did not”.

I said, “Well actually there is good historical evidence he did.” I began to talk to him about the evidence historically Jesus rose from death and I'm trying to get in a bunch of stuff in and you could see his eyes are glazing over. So, I thought okay this isn't going well.

So, I took another tact, I said, “So um yeah, do you do you ever think about God?”

He said “No”.

Okay um, I said, “Do you have any questions about God”.

He said, “No”.

Okay um Hey look I said, “I know you like music, our church has got great music. Why don’t you come to Easter services, I think you’ll like the music”.

He said, “I don’t want to go to your stupid church.”

“Hey okay, um thanks. Um.. I’ll talk to you… you know where my office is if you ever have a question”.

I thought I screwed up and I thought what the heck was that. Why did God tug me so specifically to go and invite him to church and talk about Jesus and the resurrection? To this day he's still an atheist and I'm telling you this bothered me for years. But I'll tell you now the rest of the story.

Several years after that, by then I was a pastor at this church outside Chicago, I'd preached on a Sunday and a guy came up to me and said, “Can I just shake your hand and thank you for the spiritual influence you’ve had in my life.”

I said, “Well, that’s very nice. Who are you?”

He said “Well let me tell you my story. A few years ago I lost my job and I was panic-stricken. I didn’t have any money in the bank. I was gonna lose my house. I was going to lose my car. I went to the newspaper, and I said, “Hey you have any odd jobs I can do to earn a buck at the newspaper.”

And the guy said, “Well, can you tile floors?” and I said well “Yeah I’ve titled my bathroom. I think I can tile the floor.”

The guy said, “Well, we need some tiling installed and repaired at the newspaper so if you can do that we can pay you for a while”.

So, he said, I went to work at the newspaper. One day, an average day before Easter, I was in the business office of the newspaper, and I was on my hands and knees on the floor behind a desk working on some tile on the floor and you walked in the door. And I don’t even think you knew I was there. You start talking this guy about God, you start talking about the resurrection, you start talking about the historical evidence that Jesus really did rise, you started inviting him to church. But This guy was shutting you down and I’m on my hands and knees behind this desk. And my heart’s beating fast. I’m thinking I need God. I need to go to church. So as soon as you left, I called my wife. I said, “We’re gonna go to church on Easter”. She said, “What!”. I said, “Yeah”.

We came to your church that Easter. I came to faith. My wife came to faith and our teenage son came to faith. And I just wanted to thank you.”

I thought to myself, “This is a new form of evangelism.” Ricochet evangelism is where you share your faith, and it bounces off a hard heart. You just don't know where it's gonna go.

Friends this is the unexpected adventure of the Christian life. You don't want to miss this we can't do this in heaven this is our one chance so let's ask God to take us on these unexpected adventures.

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeO0HwS7Zi0