“The Peace of Easter”
(John 20:19-29)
Easter Sunday
- Take your Bibles and join me in John, chapter 20 (page 731).
19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
24 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.
25 The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” ¶ So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
26 And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!”
27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
- Pray.
Introduction:
When you hear about Thomas–the disciple, later the apostle–when you hear about Thomas, what do you think about? How is Thomas usually remembered? How do we think of him? What’s the phrase? Doubting Thomas, right? Unfortunately, he is remembered as a doubter. He’s remembered as being a gloomy kind of person, a “Glass is half-empty” type.
He’s thought of as being something of a pessimist. You know a pessimist. This is someone who approaches green lights expecting them to turn red. You tell him why he can and he’ll tell you why he can’t. A pessimist! Someone said a pessimist is a person who feels bad when he feels good ‘cause he’s afraid he’ll feel worse when he feels better. I heard about two pessimists who met each other at a party and instead of shaking hands, they shook heads.
That’s how Thomas is usually remembered; a pessimist and a doubter. This morning we’ll see that we should not remember Thomas so much for being a great doubter as being a great believer. And I think we’ll see that this morning.
The Apostle John is incredibly selective in what he records in the Gospel, not like Matthew, Mark, Luke, synoptic. Not so much chronology as theology or Christology. Covers roughly just 21 days of Christ’s life. So John says, for example, in verses 30-31, “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:30-31).”
At end of Gospel, last verse, “And there are many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written (John 21:25).”
Imagine being in heaven and sitting down with John and asking him, “Tell me, what in the world did you guys do?! What did Jesus do?! I want to know the ‘many other things that Jesus did!’”
So, given the fact that John is very selective in what he has recorded, I really believe that what we have this morning is the climax of the Book of John. Yes, there is a chapter 21 that follows, but that’s more of a cleaning-up chapter, a sort of “tying-up of loose ends,” chapter. Kind of like in a movie how you have the climactic scene and then it fades to black and the movie fades back in with a scene that sews-up all the details of things that had happened earlier. If the movie hadn’t done that you’d be like, “Man, great ending, but what about so-and-so? What happened to that guy?” So there’s the detail in John’s Gospel, you know about Peter and his need to be restored by Jesus, and that’s chapter 21, but really chapter 20 and this scene with John is the climax of John’s Gospel.
And I want you to notice these references to peace. Someone says, “Why is your sermon entitled, ‘The Peace of Easter?’” Well, many times we can determine the thrust of a passage based on how many times a word or phrase appears in the passage. Often the author is trying to stress something important to him. So look at this word “peace” and this phrase “Peace to you.”
Three times in these few verses, verses 19-29, three times Jesus says “Peace to you” or “Peace be with you.” See it there in verse 19, last few words of verse 19, “Peace be with you.” See it again in verse 21, “Peace to you.” Then down in verse 26 when Jesus appears again to the disciples eight days later, last three words of verse 26, “Peace to you.”
So let me give you these two main headings to outline the passage and then I’ll leave you with a few principles, what I call “Resurrection Reflections.” Okay first, see that:
- The Basis for Peace is the Resurrected Christ (19-23)
The foundation of our peace and the basis for it IS the resurrected Jesus Christ. And here’s the point, Listen! Are you listening? The basis for peace, the foundation, the cornerstone, is NOT the principles of Christ, but the Person of Christ. Peace is found not in the teachings, but the Teacher. Look at verse 19:
19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
Jesus shows the disciples His wounds when He had said, “Peace be with you,” why?–because it is through the wounds of a resurrected Savior that true and lasting peace comes.
See, sometimes a person will say, “Well, all we really need are the moral teachings of Christ. Don’t give me all that stuff about a risen Savior. I don’t believe all that jazz about a dead, buried, and risen Savior. Let’s just follow His teachings.” But true and lasting peace–salvation!–comes through the wounds of a resurrected Savior.
Paul says in Romans 5:1 that it is only by our being justified–declared righteous by God and fit for heaven–it is only by our believing in the resurrected Christ that we have “peace with God.” So the basis for our peace is the resurrected Christ. Jesus says, “Peace be with you” and it is “When He had said this,” that He “showed them His hands and His side.” Verse 21:
21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
Now, what’s going on here? This is the commissioning of the Apostles by the risen Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is sending the apostles out with the good news of the Gospel and equipping them with the Holy Spirit to do the work. That’s the meaning behind the action in verse 22 where it says, “He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” He is equipping the apostles with the power of the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Gospel message.
His “breathing on them” is a foretaste of a greater equipping of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Acts chapter 2. This action here is a preview of that greater filling and equipping of the Spirit.
By the way, note the reference to the Trinity here. We serve One God in Three Persons. All three Persons of the Godhead are here in this commissioning. Verse 21, “As the Father sent (Jesus),” so Jesus sends His disciples, equipping them how?–verse 22, with the Holy Spirit; Father, Son, Spirit–One God, three Persons.
Jesus sends His apostles out with the Good News. Apostle means, “one who is sent.” He sends them out to spread the Gospel. We continue the work of spreading the Gospel today. We are His followers and we receive the same equipping of the Holy Spirit to do the missional work of the Gospel. And by the way, the reason some of us are miserable in our evangelism and missional work is because we rely on ourselves instead of the Holy Spirit! We try to do God’s work in our own strength.
23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
As the apostles share the Gospel message, a message of forgiveness of sin, as they share that message, those who believe in Christ have their sins forgiven and those who do not believe, their sins are retained–they are not forgiven. And as you and I proclaim the Gospel message today, the message of forgiveness of sin, we proclaim that those who believe in Christ have their sins forgiven and those who do not believe in Christ do not have their sins forgiven. We can announce forgiveness with certainty. That’s the idea.
It’s interesting: at the conclusion of each Gospel is a commission of the Gospel. There’s the conclusion and there’s the commission. Why? Because the story never ends! You and I need to share the Good News of the Gospel today when we’re eating our Easter ham with lost friends and family. The story never ends. Share it today. The basis for peace is the resurrected Christ. Secondly:
- The Pathway to Peace is to Believe Christ (24-29)
24 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.
Let me pause for a moment and point out the obvious: when you miss worship, you miss everything. “Thomas was not with them when Jesus came.” Verse 19 says they were gathered together in the evening of the first day of the week; this was Sunday evening worship and Thomas missed it. Why? He was not with them when Jesus came.
There are not many pastoral questions that I get that have not been answered already in a worship service. Thomas was not with them when Jesus came. Have you ever encountered Christ in worship and you’re trying to tell others about it and they’re just not where you are because they missed it? That’s where the other disciples are. Verse 25:
25 The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
In the Greek it’s a double negative, more like, “I will not, will NOT believe!” Thomas lays down conditions before he believes. His actions demonstrate what we’ve seen more than once in our study of the Gospel of Luke. Belief in Christ is ultimately a matter of the WILL. It’s not an intellectual problem; it’s a moral problem, a matter of the will.
I used to think that if people were just presented the facts that they would be overwhelmed by the evidence and become a Christian. This is how many use what’s called “Evidentiary Apologetics,” you know presenting the evidences of the Christian faith, showing people the historical reliability of the New Testament and so forth, but I have learned that a person has to have his heart opened by the Holy Spirit or he WILL NOT believe. So now, I still present evidences, but all the while I pray, “Lord, open his heart. Lord, open her heart.”
26 And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!”
27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
It’s cool: Jesus wasn’t there when Thomas had spoken those words, but He who knows everything knows what Thomas had said. Wherever Jesus was He was listening. He heard Thomas’ conditions.
Now this is important: why did Jesus appear to Thomas? Why this special appearance? Well, what did Thomas miss? He had missed the commissioning service. He had missed the sending out of the apostles by the resurrected Christ. One of the requirements or conditions to be met in order for a person to be qualified as an apostle in Jesus’ day was that he had to see the resurrected Christ.
This is why John opens his letter in 1 John 1 the way he does. He says, “We are writing based on what we have heard, what we have seen with our own eyes, what we have touched with our hands and have handled concerning the Word of life,” the Lord Jesus Christ (1 John 1:1).”
Thomas had to see the resurrected Christ not to be a believer, but to be an apostle. Thomas had missed the commissioning, receiving the Holy Spirit and being commissioned and sent out to share the Gospel (19-23).
So Jesus makes this special appearance to Thomas. Thomas and the others were commissioned to proclaim the Gospel, the core of the Gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. This is why we said earlier that the basis of our peace is found not in the principles of Christ, but the Person of Christ, not the teachings, but the Teacher.
If the main message of the Gospel was the teachings of Christ, then Thomas would not have needed this special appearance of the resurrected Jesus.
The resurrection is not about believing the principles of Christ, but the Person of Christ, not about the teachings, but the Teacher. This is what changes a person’s life. So it’s not like we proclaim the teachings of Christ, teachings like the Sermon on the Mount, you know love your neighbor, work for justice, turn the other cheek, and so forth, and people listening are like, “Wow, I’ve never thought of this before, loving my neighbor and praying and trying not to worry.” That’s not the main message of the Gospel. That’s not what changes their lives. What changes their lives is an encounter with the resurrected Christ. When people encounter the Teacher, they’ll want to live-out His teachings. When they encounter the resurrected Person of Christ, they’ll want to live-out the principles of Christ.
28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
This is why I said earlier this passage is the climax of the book of John. This is a strong profession of faith! My Lord and my God. Note: Thomas had laid down conditions earlier. Remember? “Unless I put my finger in the print of His nails and put my hand in His side, I will not believe.” Well he drops his conditions. “My Lord and my God.” This is arguably the greatest confession of faith in the Bible.
29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
In essence Jesus says, “You don’t need this. You don’t need to see the resurrected Christ in order to believe.” Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.
**Resurrection Reflections:
- Listen to the Apostles’ Teaching
See there are no apostles today. We said earlier that one of the conditions of apostleship in New Testament times was that one had to have seen the resurrected Christ (cf Acts 1:21-22). So there are no apostles today.
However, in the place of the apostles we have the words of the apostles. The church has the apostles’ teachings. We have the books of the New Testament, written by apostles. So listen to the apostles’ teaching. Listen to this teaching about a crucified, buried, and risen Lord and Savior. Listen: the message of the Gospel is not what Jesus said, but what Jesus did. He died for your sins, was buried, and was raised for your justification.
Remember: Thomas didn’t need this special appearance of Jesus if the main message of the Gospel had been, “Just keep the teachings of Christ–you know, be a good Samaritan, do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” but he needed this special appearance of the resurrected Christ so he could proclaim the Gospel, the Easter message, Christ has risen!” So we’re back to what we said earlier: The resurrection is not about believing the principles of Christ, but the Person of Christ, not about the teachings, but the Teacher. This is what changes a person’s life.
This is why, I believe, this passage is the climax of John’s Gospel. Do you believe the testimony of others who had seen the resurrected Christ?
- Know that Peace includes Forgiveness of Sin
Verse 23 teaches about the forgiveness of sin that comes by way of what Jesus did: He died, was buried, and rose again. Peace includes forgiveness of sin.
We need to be forgiven of sin because we are all sinners. We are born this way. This is what we refer to as “original sin,” sin has its origin in the first transgression of our first parents in the Garden of Eden. Sin has been around a long, long time. It’s not a recent thing. It’s an old thing. It’s as old as Adam and Eve.
To borrow from the words of Billy Joel, “We didn’t start the fire, it was always burning, since the world’s been turning.” Well, almost since the world’s been turning. It dates back to Genesis 3 and the Garden of Eden. Our first parents “started the fire,” if you like and brought sin into the world.
And we inherited that sin nature. We are naturally born sinners so we need to be forgiven. God has punish our sin in order to forgive us for our transgressions against Him. So God comes to us in the Person of Christ and takes the punishment we deserved upon Himself. He suffered the violence of the cross so that we could be forgiven and made right for heaven.
But Paul adds later in Romans 4:25 that Jesus had to be raised from the grave “for our justification,” so that we could be justified or declared “righteous” before a holy God. In other words, it’s not enough that Jesus merely died for our sins, He had to rise from the grave for our justification. So God the Father raises Christ from the dead to indicate His approval in what Jesus did. Remember we are saved not on the basis of what Jesus said, but on the basis of what He did.
We said earlier that it is when Jesus shows the disciples His wounds that He had said, “Peace be with you,” why?–because it is through the wounds of a resurrected Christ that true and lasting forgiveness and peace comes. Peace includes forgiveness of sin, peace–peace with God and peace with man.
There are businessmen here this morning who need “peace,” there’s a single mom here who needs peace. There’s a divorced spouse here who needs peace, a child, a teenager, a young adult trying to figure out what to do in life. You need peace. You need to believe in Christ. You need to place your faith in Him.
So, listen to the apostles’ teaching, know that peace includes forgiveness of sin, and thirdly:
- Realize You Already Have Faith; You Must Transfer Your Faith to Christ
See faith is something that you don’t have. You already have it. The question is, “In what are you placing your faith?” We spoke of this last time when we talked about the existentialist or the nihilist saying something like, “Well, I just believe once you’re dead, your’e dead.” And we suggested the loving follow-up question: “On what basis do you believe that?” In other words, “What is your authority for that belief?”
Every one of us has faith. We all believe something. In fact, if we don’t believe in Christ, we really believe in ourselves, we believe in our own ability to call the shots. Thomas is laying down these conditions, he’s calling the shots and then Christ appears and what does Thomas do? He drops his conditions. Apparently, he doesn’t need to “put his finger in the prints and his hands in Christ’s side,” he just falls down before the resurrected Christ and says, “My Lord and My God!” He transfers his faith from his self to Jesus.
If you’re an honest skeptic you’re willing to allow your skepticism, your beliefs, your doubts, etc., to be subjected to scrutiny, you’re willing to say, “Hey, maybe I’m not the master of my fate, the captain of my soul, to quote Hemingway. Maybe, I’m wrong.”
Conclusion:
Verse 25 is a present progressive verb, they “kept on telling him.” Thomas had heard this truth about Christ more than once. Most of you have heard this truth about Christ more than once. Believe what you have heard more than once. Believe the apostles’ testimony.
Jesus said to Thomas in verse 29, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen Me and yet have believed.” Believe the apostles’ testimony.
- Stand for prayer.
“Lord Jesus Christ, I admit that I am weaker and more sinful than I ever before believed, but, through you, I am more loved and accepted than I ever dared hope. I thank you for paying my debt, bearing my punishment and offering forgiveness. I turn from my sin and receive you as Savior. Amen (Tim Keller).”