2 Easter John 20:19–23

 Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

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, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.” (Luke 20: 19–23 ESV)

 Dear fellow pilgrims celebrating the Paschal Feast,

Up until the events described in our Gospel Lesson this morning, the disciples had only heard about Jesus’ rising from the dead.  As of yet they had not seen him, and so they did not believe it. In addition, they did not enjoy the benefits of Jesus’ resurrection, because they refused to believe he was alive.  Their unbelief and sins made them afraid and so they were locked-up –hiding.  

For them there was no Easter joy.

This all changes with Jesus’ appearing to them, and his words of peace and forgiveness.  At once they go from being fearful to glad.  Their world is completely changed.  They now know that they are at peace with the Lord.  Even their relationships with each other are different.  Now they are able to forgive one another. 

Now there is Easter joy.

Yet at first they didn’t believe.

We ask –how could this be? Why? Why, when some of them had seen the evidence –the rolled away stone, the empty tomb and the grave clothes –and also heard the reports of those who had seen Jesus –did they not believe he was alive?  What more proof did they want? Need?

The reason the disciples did not believe is because they could not.  They lacked faith.  They were still in their sins and consequently unbelieving.  They had not yet received the benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection because they were unable to grasp them for themselves.  This is only possible by the Holy Spirit, who Jesus gives to them when he breathes on them.  It is the Spirit of life who gives life to those who are dead in their sins.  Without the Holy Spirit, there is no faith.

This shouldn’t surprise us.  Many people are like the disciples –even today.  They know some things about Jesus. They may even have quite a bit of historical knowledge of Jesus.  But they do not believe in him, that is, they do not fully put their trust in him as their Savior.  They remain in their sins and know no joy, but only fear. Consequently they are afraid and their hearts remain locked to Jesus.

Take the disciples for example, all the things that had taken place over the last three days were, no doubt, devastating and so upsetting that they were unsure as to what to do next.  And so they hid –from their enemies and from God.  And separated from their Lord what little faith they had quickly vanished.

Now we might think, “Wait, how is it that the disciples hadn’t any faith?  They’d been with Jesus for three years. During that time they heard him teach and preach.  They had seen his signs.  Some of them had been eye-witnesses to Jesus’ transfiguration.  Only recently he had raised Lazarus from the dead.  How was it that they lacked faith to believe the word that Jesus was alive?  He had even said would rise again!”

Well, my dear Christian friends let me remind you that it is possible to lose your faith and to fall  from the grace of God.  Sadly it happens often. 

Among the disciples there are plenty of examples.  The disciple Peter, for one, fell into terrible sin when he denied the Lord Jesus.  He cursed and swore that he didn’t know him.  Is it any wonder that he would not be cheered by what he was told? 

Even after going to the tomb and seeing the grave clothes lying there, Peter remained unconvinced.  No doubt he was plenty sorry, but as of yet he was unbelieving.  Even though he didn’t tragically end his life like Judas, no doubt he was wavering between denial and despair.  He may have even thought, “Now I am going crazy!  I am no longer in touch with reality.  Even what I am hearing and seeing is trying to fool me!”  No wonder he treated the women so roughly and thought their message was nonsense!  So he became defensive.

When a person lacks faith –that is, true, God given faith, that trusts in the Lord Jesus and receives for that person all the benefits of Christ’s forgiveness –when such a faith is lacking, that person is a most miserable individual –miserable from within and out.  They walk around not knowing the true joy of the forgiveness of their sins and are afraid of God.  Such people talk about God as if he were their enemy.  They blame him for their problems.  They don’t understand the troubles of this life.  They falter in temptation. They have sins that are “precious” to them. What’s more, they are fearful of death and terrified of judgment day.  And yet, remarkably, they’ll try to convince others and themselves that none of this is the case.

What’s more, such a person is, more often than not, miserable to be around.  We can only imagine how the disciples treated each other in that locked room.  Blaming one another; pointing out faults; criticizing and back-biting; probably cursing; telling each other to shut-up and the like. If the bickering at the Last Supper is of any indication, we can only imagine how they behaved when the Lord wasn’t with them!

Sometimes it is hard to recognize this problem within the church, for such people make the greatest hypocrites.  They’ll carry on as if nothing is wrong.  They call sins against Christ and his Word and against one another “normal.”  Further, when such hypocrites are confronted about their sins they’ll deny any wrong doing or they’ll claim they’re being picked on.  When they are offered forgiveness by the means of grace, they despise the only means by which Christ has promised to give us the fruits and benefits of his death on the cross.  Like Peter in the upper room, when Jesus tried to wash his feet, they either feel they don’t need the washing of Christ –or, when they are told of the real benefits Christ is offering them, they claim that what he offers is insufficient for them.  Not surprisingly, this eventually leads to being separated from the fellowship of believers and the Lord.  Usually they quit going to God’s house and avoid hearing pure preaching and applying of God’s Word.  We have many people on our church’s rolls who have fallen away in this manner.

So we might wonder, what is the remedy?  How can those Christians who were once believing and active in faith but have fallen away be restored to the Lord and to the church?  The answer is believing in the Lord Jesus and the forgiveness of their sins.

Did you notice how in our Gospel Lesson the disciples needed to hear they were forgiven?  They could not move an inch forward until they received the forgiveness Jesus had won for them by his all sufficient sacrifice on the cross.  So Jesus’ first word to them is, “Peace.”  And what a peace this was for them!  Not a peace they themselves had earned by living decent lives, or from intense religious training –a peace obtained through great personal sacrifice.  Now granted, all these would obtain peace for us if we were not sinners, but we are unable to do these things in such a way that we could get any lasting benefit from them.

No, this peace Jesus speaks is peace obtained by no less than his suffering and death and full payment of our sins through his suffering and death.  Jesus lived a perfect and holy life that was  god-pleasing in every way; fulfilling all righteousness.  And then he willingly offered himself up on the cross as a sacrifice for our sakes.  For our redemption.  To be credited to us.  So that we might be justified before God.  Just as St. Paul says in Romans 5:1” Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

As I said before, the disciples had not yet received the benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection because they were unable to grasp them for themselves.  This comes only by the Holy Spirit who Jesus gives to them when he breathes on them.  And we know that they received the Holy Sprit and the gift of faith because they are cheered by the presence of the Lord!

Now this not to say that they were never sad again, or that they never again had a worry or care, or even that they never again sinned.  No, they were not removed from the world and its cares and the consequences of sin and the constant hounding of the devil.

What did happen –and happens for all who believe in Jesus –is that in spite of whatever might come, repenting of sins and receiving forgiveness in Christ’s name, we are restored as people of God and with one another.

Here we have the church as Christ founded her.  God’s people gathered around his word with Christ present; receiving the forgiveness obtained on the cross.  The church is no less and no more than this.  To demand more is to go beyond the realm of faith, and only where there is faith in Jesus Christ is there forgiveness of sins; and where there is forgiveness of sins there is also life and salvation.

This morning we see what unbelief and separation from Christ and His body, the church, means.  It can happen that a person may still come to church, be with other Christians and yet hide an unbelieving heart.  Or it maybe they have so completely fallen away that we no longer see them at all.

Already many of the cheerful faces from last Sunday have gone back to looking pretty much the way they did before Easter Sunday.  The great promise of Easter day has already slipped from their grasp.  And some didn’t even make Easter Church, and are not here today and will not be in the Lord’s house any time soon. 

If they claim to have peace and forgiveness, they do not have it on the basis of the sure and certain word of Christ to them and the forgiveness of sins offered in his stead and by his command. What they have they have based only on feelings.  And that is no assurance at all –for we see how it left the disciples. 

But Christ’s Word changed all that for the disciples, and for us too, who have heard the news again that Christ is risen, so that we respond cheerfully that he is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

And notice here too, that when the disciple Thomas wasn’t there, the others went and urged him to believe.  This is another significant indication that the Ten had received faith from Jesus.  They urged their fallen brother to believe.  We are able –and want to do that, too.  Being for each other what the other disciples were for Thomas.  Just as Jesus was for them. That’s why Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” (John 20:21)

And notice how they are sent to preach forgiveness and absolve sins.  Certainly we receive these each Sunday at Church, but this is also a part of our regular interaction with one another, even in the home.  It would be strange if we were to be so presumptuous as to spread the peace of Christ elsewhere but were not to offer it or receive it or know it among ourselves!  This would take us back to the beginning of this sermon and to unbelief and no faith and not knowing that our sins are forgiven, and consequently no Easter joy or benefits!

How differently things turn out than you might expect for the people of God!  Early Easter morning gloominess quickly turned to Easer Sunday joy. A tightly sealed tomb had its door burst wide open.  One of the true joys of Easter is this: that God does what we least expect.  The sinner stricken with guilt and terror is shown grace.  The sinner who faces only the prospect of eternal punishment in hell is given mercy.  The sinner who knows no comfort or rest in his own efforts finds peace.

Christ opens heaven for the disciples and for all believers, and he gives his church the Keys to heaven.  This we know as the Office of the Keys and Confession.  It is a special authority given by Christ to his church on earth.  For the unrepentant heaven is locked, and entrance is denied, and no comfort or hope can be found or is offered here on earth.  To the repentant, heaven is fully made open –with all the promises of everlasting life and joy extended already here on earth. 

Some despise this teaching and figure they will force the door of heaven open themselves or convince God somehow that they have a sufficient supply of whatever it is they think will get them in.  They are sorely mistaken.

Those who trust in Christ and have faith know of no such storming of the gates of heaven or of any other kind of entrance fee.  Repenting of their sins, they have faith in Christ.  When they hear they are forgiven they believe it to be true.  This gains them access to heaven and eternal life.  And these words completes Easter for us all. Amen.