Peace Be With You
Notes
Transcript
*** Image: Locked door
*** N/S:
The disciples were afraid
Meeting behind locked doors
Notice it’s the first day of the week—as early as Easter, the Bible shows gatherings on Sunday
Afraid, withdrawn, confused, in a locked room—the disciples gathered
Jesus Visits the Anxious & Afraid
Jesus Visits the Anxious & Afraid
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
*** N/S
*** Image: Jesus speaking with disciples
*** N/S This initial appearance did three things — but /S from this point
1. The risen Lord comes in peace
2. The crucified Jesus is the same risen Jesus whom the disciples encounter
After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
3. The disciples are sent into the world bearing the Lord’s message of forgiveness
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
When 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 retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
Jesus is Patient with Thomas
Jesus is Patient with Thomas
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.
So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
*** Image: Jesus & Thomas
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.
So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.”
Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
*** Image: Stained glass Jesus & Thomas.
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The people in the Bible didn’t become figures in stained glass without struggle.
Anxious, frightened men gathered and locked doors
One of the Lord’s close associates wouldn’t believe the testimony of the others.
Jesus speaks firmly but hear him: “Peace be with you.”
*** Transition. And John knows that generations will come after the early disciples encounter Jesus. He knows there will be those who believe quickly, easily, whose gift is faith. And he knows there will be those like Thomas who need more. Ask the Lord to show you hints, winks, etc.
“Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.
For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
*** Image: Jesus & Thomas
*** N/S Know that the Lord wants to be known. Know that Jesus intends to reveal himself.
Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
*** Image: Gospel of John
*** N/S. John tells us why he’s writing, and he’s writing for you and me. For our world, and the world that will be long after we’re gone. The faith of the early church came through seeing. Our faith comes through reading and hearing the gospel
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book.
But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true.
But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.