This morning I want us to consider what our message to the world is supposed to be. Well we are to preach the gospel. Yes, but what is about the gospel specifically that attracts people to God and calls them to repent and believe and be saved? In other words, what message can we take out of this place today, and give to our world tomorrow to draw them to Jesus Christ? And the Bible makes it clear that the central message of the gospel has to do with the forgiveness of sins. In this passage the risen Christ appears to His disciples, He commissions them for ministry, and gives them the Holy Spirit. Right after He commissions them for ministry He tells them what they are to say in vs. 23: “²³ If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” The central message of the gospel has to do with forgiveness. We’re going to talk about that today, but first let’s pray.

Just as a reminder, last week we saw Mary Magdalene at Jesus’ tomb, and we noted that she was responding to what she saw. The Bible says she was bent over, looking into the tomb, and weeping, wondering if someone stole the body. She’s thinking, “oh no, the tomb is empty” and she is weeping. And we suggested that there was another way for her to understand what was going on, and that was by faith. She could have believed Jesus’ words that He was going to die and rise again, and if she lived by faith she would understand that Jesus is alive, and she would have been rejoicing instead of weeping. “Oh yes, the tomb is empty! He’s alive!” And we said that in our lives we always have two ways of looking at things, either by sight or by faith. If we live by sight, often we sorrow because we don’t understand things correctly, but if we live by faith sometimes the very things that would cause us to weep give us reason for great joy as we see God working them out for His glory and for our good.

And today we come to our passage and again we see people who are not understanding things correctly. In vs. 19 it says “¹⁹ On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews…” now stop right there. Here are 10 strong men, hiding in a room with all the doors locked because they are affffraid. They are ssssscared of the Jews. This is “the Church of the Locked Doors”. And so we see these disciples as fearful.

But there is another way these men could have understood things. They could have believed Jesus’ words, that He would rise from the dead, and they could have believed Peter and John who said the tomb is empty. And then they would have thought, “Wow, Jesus overcame death. Satan bruised His heal, but Jesus rose from the dead and crushed Satan’s head. What do we have to fear? And living by faith would have empowered them to unlock the door and go witness to others that Jesus is alive. Please don’t hear me say we shouldn’t lock our doors at night.

I invite you to look with me at Colossians chapter 4. I want us to see how Paul responded differently than these disciples. Paul is in prison here, and he is facing death. He could have lived in fear. Notice vs. 3: ^“3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. ⁴ Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.” Instead of “lock the doors” he prays that God would “open a door” of ministry, so that He could proclaim Christ. He knows His purpose here, it’s to save the world, by proclaiming Christ.

And we can learn from this, too. Today our world is filled with fear. We have bio-terror threats, we have nuclear threats, we’re at red alert and orange alert and purple alert. Everybody’s on alert. And the language of fear is “lock the door”, what can we do to keep ourselves safe? But the language of faith, is “pray for an open door.” The man who lives by faith sees every situation as an opportunity to minister, to proclaim Christ, and seeks to make the most of every opportunity. If we get captured by the Muslims fine, pray for open doors to preach the gospel. Put us in a prison and we’ll have a captive audience, and we’ll pray for an open door of ministry. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, and power and a sound mind. David says in Psalm 56:11 “¹¹ in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Your God has overcome the world, has defeated the devil, has broken the bonds of death, has conquered the kingdom of darkness, has defeated evil powers and principalities of the air, what have we to fear? Instead, let’s pray that every day God would open doors of ministry for us.

So there they are in that room with locked doors, and they’re fearful, but notice the rest of vs. 19, it says, “¹⁹ …Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Notice, that He just came in right through the locked door. He walked right out of His sealed tomb, now He walks right in to this sealed room. I want to show you something we can learn from this. If you would, look with me at 1 Corinthians 15, and notice what Paul says about our resurrection bodies. Now when Paul here talks about the body being “sown” he means buried in the ground, like a farmer would sow seed by burying it in the ground. “⁴² So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; ⁴³ it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; ⁴⁴ it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.” One day we will have imperishable, glorious, powerful, spiritual bodies that can never get sick, will never get old, will never die. This is what Jesus’ body was like.

As we go back to John 20, I just want us to notice the grace in Jesus’ communication to these men in John chapter 20. Now remember, these are the men who deserted Him, Who left Him in His time of need. Peter denied Him, the rest forsook Him. And they were now under shame because they had run away. Does Jesus tell them it’s all over for them, that they no longer have any part with Him? No! To these men He says “Peace be with you” or peace be on you. What grace, what forgiveness of their sin. Jesus here is removing their fear, easing their consciences.

And you know what? This is exactly how it will be when we meet Him face to face — if we are genuine Christians, even with all our miserable failures, with all our sins, with all our controversies, His greeting will not be “Shame on you” but “Peace be on you”. How do we know this? Because He is “The same yesterday and today and forever.”

 

And now notice vs. 20. “²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side.” He showed them His scars, the wounds He received on the cross. And I want to suggest 2 reasons why He showed them His wounds so that we can understand what He is doing here.

1—He was proving that it really was Him. This was no imposter, no ghost, this was the same Jesus Whose hands and feet were nailed to a cross, and whose side was pierced with a spear. He is proving His identity to them by showing that even though His body is now spiritual instead of physical, it is the same body. He is the same Person. He has risen, just as He said. You remember Acts 1:3 says “³ After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive.”  

2—But there is a second reason. Notice vs. 20 says “After he said this…” That connects us back to the previous verse where He said, “Peace be with you.” After He said “Peace be with you” He showed them His hands and side. He was showing the basis of our “peace” is His death on the cross. He’s saying, “Peace be with you, and here’s the reason why” as He reminds them of His death. What He really did here is to show that our enmity with God has been removed at the cross, Jesus made peace between God and man. Through Jesus’ death God has been pacified, and we have been reconciled. We now have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  And Revelation 5:6 tells us that these marks are still on His holy body, John saw a Lamb looking as though it had been slain”. These marks our great High Priest shows to God as He prays for us.

 

Charles Wesley helped us to look up to heaven and see Jesus before God. Imagine the scene in heaven as Jesus prays:

 

Five bleeding wounds he bears, received on Calvary,
They pour effectual prayers, they strongly plead for me
“Forgive him, oh forgive” they cry
Don’t let that ransomed sinner die.

 

The wounds proved His identity, and they also are the basis for our peace with God, the basis of our forgiveness. These disciples were fearful, now they’re forgiven. They have peace because Jesus was punished.

Then vs. 20 says, “The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.” Oh their fears were all gone, their hopes and dreams had come true, they were filled with joy. Just like Jesus said. Look back to John chapter 16 and notice what He said. In vs. 22 Jesus said as He faced the cross: “²² Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” Jesus made good on His promise as they were overjoyed when seeing Jesus.

But I want us to notice a distinction here this morning, and here is the secret to experiencing joy in our lives. Notice this distinction: first He said, “Peace be with you and He showed them His hands and His side” and then it says “they were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.” So peace comes from Jesus’ work on the cross, and joy comes from seeing the risen Jesus Himself. Joy comes from seeing Him, being preoccupied with Him.

Now don’t take this lightly, because this is a secret that many Christians do not know, and that we all sometimes forget. Many times we think if we’re in difficult circumstances we can’t rejoice. If we’re fearful we can’t rejoice. If we’re grieving a loss we can’t rejoice. But that’s not true. If we see Jesus in the circumstances we will be overjoyed. Notice Jesus did not change their circumstances, they were still locked in the room. But they rejoicing now. Because they saw Jesus in the midst of their circumstances, and He raised them above their circumstances, and they were filled with joy in seeing Him. This then is the great secret of joy, to be occupied with Jesus, to see Him in every circumstance.

I had a dear brother write me this past week, someone who is really growing in Christ; and this is what he said, “January 25th is said by scientists to be “the most depressing day of the year“. Something to do with the mid-winter gloom, and all that. Anyway, I thought: must I be doing something wrong? I wasn’t depressed like the “scientists” said I should be! What’s the “matter” with me?” What’s the matter with him is that he is in the Word of God, he is seeing Jesus and so he is filled with a joy in the midst of difficult circumstances.

Remember something: when Mary saw Jesus she was turned from a weeper to a worshipper. And now when the disciples see Jesus they go from fearful to joyful. This is the secret to experiencing joy in the Christian life.

And now we get to vs. 21 where Jesus gives these disciples their mission, their purpose, what they were here for: “²¹ Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” Their mission was the same as Jesus’ mission. They were to do what Jesus was sent to do. So let’s just examine what Jesus was sent to do, if you’ll turn to John chapter 3 we’ll see it. ¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” Now combine that with John 20:21, “as the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

So if you look at the cross you see Jesus’ mission. He was sent to save the world. That’s what He is doing hanging there on that cross, He is saving men and women from their sins. Through His death He saved all who will repent and believe. When we believe, His pain becomes our gain. His punishment is our peace. His death is our life. He was sent to save the world.

And Jesus says, we’re sent just as He was sent. Now we can’t atone for the sins of people but we can proclaim the atonement. And just like Jesus we are called to suffer to promote the gospel, to die to ourselves in order to bring life to others. Look with me at Colossians chapter 1, and let’s notice Paul’s suffering in order to save the world. Paul says in Colossians 1:24 “²⁴ Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.” So our purpose is just like His, to save the world by bringing them the gospel. Wherever we are, we are to engage people, we are to talk about Jesus, we are to speak about forgiveness for repenting sinners. Doug Eades has purchased a whole bunch of tracts for us to hand out, they’re over there on the table. Pick some up, give some out. Our commission is to reach people. As God sent Jesus, so Jesus sends us.

Now this, you have to admit is an impossible task for these men. They’re behind locked doors for fear of the Jews, and they’re supposed to go win the lost? So let’s notice what Jesus does next in John chapter 20. Vs. 22 says, “²² And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Jesus entered His ministry anointed by the Spirit, and now He gives them the Spirit.

Now you can imagine Jesus breathing on them, and His Spirit coming into them, and this was a very intimate act. He breathed on them, giving to them what was His, His very life, His air, His Spirit, given to make them fruitful in ministry. When the Holy Spirit is given to you it is an act of love, of intimacy, of closeness, of union. And He comes by believing the Scriptures, according to Galatians 3:2. We receive of the same Spirit as Jesus, in an intimate encounter, where we place faith in Jesus, and He places His Spirit in us.

Of course by now you know there are several pictures of this in the Old Testament. Let’s look at the first one in Genesis chapter 2. This is after God made Adam. So here is this dust made into a body. And notice vs. 7. It says that God “⁷ …breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” God breathed into Adam and he came to life. Because of the Breath of Life Adam could fulfill the great commission God gave him in chapter 1 vs. 28: ²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.” But he needed the spirit of life to be able to multiply and spread and conquer.

And so Jesus in John 20 breathes the Spirit of God into these disciples so that they might multiply and spread and that the gospel might go forth with power and conquer the earth and subdue it. So these disciples were fearful, then they were forgiven, then they were filled with the Holy Spirit, so that they might be fruitful in ministry.

And finally, the Holy Spirit filled them so that they could go out and proclaim one main message. This is the central message of Christianity. It’s in vs. 23: ²³ If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Jesus gave them authority to proclaim the message of forgiveness, because this is the most important message ever. People come into the kingdom of God directly through the forgiveness of their sins. This is the greatest benefit we have is forgiveness. And so David writes in Psalm 103: “² Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits– ³ who forgives all your sins…” In Romans 4 Paul picks up on this blessing and says, “⁸ Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” “⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” Ephesians 1:7  This is the central message of the Bible, and if anyone ever becomes a Christian he does so because he receives the message of the forgiveness of his sins.

Now they had to be discerning because they were not to give forgiveness to those who would not repent, because they are not forgiven. Jesus said, “If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Those who stubbornly rebel against God, who refuse to submit to His requirements, those who will not embrace the Savior, who choose sin over Jesus, they will not be forgiven and we have no business telling them that they are. That would be speaking peace where there is no peace. But to those who enter through the narrow way, those who leave their own self-righteousness and their own works and who trust only in the cross of Jesus Christ, they are completely, entirely forgiven of all sins.

Now the Catholic church has misused this statement. They say that you must go to a priest to receive forgiveness, but they are forgetting that every Christian is a priest. Every Christian has authority to give the gospel with its central message of forgiveness.

And so look at these disciples. In the period of just one meeting with Jesus they have gone from fearful to forgiven, to being filled with the Spirit to be fruitful in ministry, using the message of forgiveness.

Now I want to see this as a picture of the entire life of a Christian. First, there is fear. We fear man and we fear our sins will keep us out of heaven, we fear that we are not in the family of God. And at some point Jesus comes. The risen Jesus comes to us through His Word, and says “peace be with you” and He shows us the cross and the scars He bears in His resurrection body. And we believe. And when we believe Jesus leans over very close to us and in an act of intimacy gives us His own Spirit to live within us. He breathes spiritual power into us for the purpose of us being fruitful in ministry. And it’s all done through the powerful message of forgiveness that we have authority to take to those who repent. That’s the whole life of the Christian.

Where are you in that process? Maybe you’re fearing the consequences of your sin, and are covered with shame because of them. Then you just need to look to Jesus and see that He died to remove your sins and make you new. You just need to believe the good news about Jesus. Or maybe you are a believer but you’re not being fruitful and multiplying. You need an infilling of the Spirit, and what you can do is just get alone with God and His Word, or come to church and hear it preached, and receive the gift of God’s Spirit so that you might be sent out to save the world. Or maybe you’re a Christian who has believed and been filled with the Spirit and you’re witnessing, but you have some other message that you’re presenting than forgiveness. Then it’s time for you to come back to the central theme in all the Bible, and simply tell people there is a way they can be forgiven if they will repent and believe.

Here’s our lives: from fearful to forgiven, filled to be fruitful, taking the message of forgiveness to the world.