Easter 2
Jn
20:19-31
4/23/17
Today is the Octave of the Feast of
the Resurrection of Our Lord. Like the word “octagon,” octave makes reference
to the number eight. In this case, it
designates eight days. Each of the major
feasts of the church year are celebrated over the course of eight days. One Sunday isn’t enough. The full week following Sunday is part of the
celebration, and then it spills over into the next Sunday. That is why today we pray not only the
Collect of the Day for the Second Sunday of Easter, Quasimodo Geniti, but also
the Collect for the Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord from Easter Sunday.
Our Gospel lesson for the Octave is
a perfect fit. On Easter morning last
week we heard the first verses of John chapter 20 as Mary Magdalene went to the
tomb early on Sunday morning, when it was still dark. Now on the Octave we hear from the end of
John 20 about what happened on Sunday evening.
We learn that on the evening of
Easter, Jesus’ disciples were gathered together. They had locked the doors because they were
afraid of the Jews. Now of course, they
too were Jews. But in the way John uses
this term we see that a change has taken place.
We believe that John was probably the last Gospel written. He uses this word in a way that clearly
distinguishes between those who believe in Jesus and those who do not. It is a division that would take place in the
decades after Jesus’ ascension as it became obvious to all that Judaism and
Christianity were different religions.
Yet while people didn’t recognize it yet on Easter Sunday, the change
had already occurred. Jesus had changed
everything.
The disciples were gathered gather
with the doors locked because they were afraid of the Jews. It’s not hard to understand why they were
afraid. The Jewish leadership in Judea had
done everything in their power to pressure the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate,
into crucifying Jesus. And they had succeeded. They had viewed Jesus as a
threat and had used every means at their disposal to eliminate him. Now with Jesus dead, it wasn’t hard to
imagine that they would come after Jesus’ followers in order to wipe out any
lingering danger.
Yet their fear must have been about
more than just this. That morning, Mary
Magdalene had gone to the tomb and found that the large stone had been rolled
away. She went to Peter and apparently
John and told them, “They
have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid
him.” Peter and John had run to the tomb
and had discovered the linen cloths in which Jesus body had been wrapped, and
the face cloth folded and placed in a different spot.
After they
had gone home Mary Magdalene had encountered a man she thought was the
gardener. Yet in their conversation she
had perceived that it was in fact the Lord Jesus! He had sent her back to the other disciples
to share this message: “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God
and your God.” Mary went and announced
to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and told them what he had said.
What was
one to make of all this? Fearful of reprisal
from the Jews; anxious about what exactly was happening, they were gathered
together with the doors locked. Fear and
apprehension often describe our lives. Sometimes we truly do fear what the next
lab report will say or what will happen to our job. At other times we encounter
gnawing apprehension, worry and uncertainty about what is going to happen in
our lives or the lives of friends and loved ones.
Now fear
and worry do not arise from faith. The
only fear that does is when we fear, love and
trust in God above all things. Instead,
this fear and worry is prompted by sin.
In fact, it is sin. Now it’s not
as if we want to fear and worry. It is instead evidence of how the Fall – the
old Adam – continues to hinder us and works against the new man within you
created in Christ by the work of the Holy Spirit. But all the same, it is sin because
it is a failure to trust in God.
The
disciples were locked up with their fear and worry.
And
then Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with
you.” Jesus appeared with them in the midst
of the locked building. The New Testament teaches us that in his resurrection
Jesus’ body was changed so that it can never die again. It is the same change he will work in your
body through the Spirit on the Last Day.
However, it doesn’t seem to be the
case that the cause of this extraordinary event is to be found in the nature of
Jesus’ resurrected body. Instead, we
cannot lose sight of the fact that Jesus Christ is also something you and I are
not – he is true God. In the Gospels,
during his ministry, Jesus used his power as God to serve others. He does great
things, but they are always helping and serving others. Yet now as the risen
Lord who has completed his mission, we start to see him manifesting his power
in new and dramatic ways.
Jesus appears in their midst and the
very first thing he says is, “Peace be with you.” The disciples are fearful and
apprehensive. Jesus appears in their
midst and imparts peace. His words,
“Peace be with you,” are not a wish. They are not a hope. Instead, they do what they say because Jesus the risen Lord stands in their midst
and speaks to them.
This
connection is emphasized immediately as we are told, “When he had said this, he
showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw
the Lord.” Jesus showed them the marks where nails had
been driven through his hands to affix him to the cross. How showed them the mark where a spear had
been thrust into his side in order to make sure he was dead – a thrust that
brought forth blood and water.
Jesus
appeared in the midst of fearful disciples. He said, “Peace be with you.” He showed them the marks of his crucifixion
and demonstrated that he, their Lord was alive. He had risen from the dead! And
John tells us, “Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.” This is actually a rather lame
translation. Better yet is, “they
rejoiced” when they saw the Lord. Jesus the crucified and risen Lord drove away their fear.
He brought them peace. He brought
them joy.
We gather
this morning to hear this Gospel lesson so that Jesus can do the same thing for
us. Jesus Christ, true God and true man,
is the One in whom the saving glory of God was revealed in the world. John begins his Gospel by saying, “And the
Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of
the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Jesus revealed
this glory through the miracles that he performed. After Jesus turned water into wine at the
wedding in Cana, John tells us, “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at
Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.” The signs revealed Jesus’ glory and they
called forth faith in Jesus.
All of the
signs in the Gospel point to the single action by which Jesus accomplished his
saving work for us. During Holy Week
Jesus said, “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this
world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all
people to myself.” And then John adds, “He
said this to show – literally ‘to sign”’ - by what kind of death he was going
to die.”
The signs
point to the cross. Jesus went to the
cross as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world – who has taken
away your sin. But Jesus was clear that
this sign would not end in death. He had said, “For this reason the Father
loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes
it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it
down, and I have authority to take it up again.”
Jesus
appeared in the midst of the disciples and showed them that he had risen, just
as he had said. He had conquered sin,
and so in our text he imparts the gift of Holy Absolution – he gives the
authority to forgive sins in Jesus’ stead. The risen Lord had conquered death.
Because of this the disciples now had peace.
And because of this, we now have peace.
On the evening of his betrayal Jesus told his disciples, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have
peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome
the world.”
In our world we do have
tribulation. We see it in all of the
messed up circumstances of this fallen world. We see it in the ways that the
old Adam in us continues to drag us back into fear and worry. And that is why
we need Jesus to continue to drive away drive away fear and worry. We need him
to give us peace and joy, just as he did to the disciples.
The risen Lord is doing that right
now through his Word. His resurrection
appearance to the disciples was a sign that revealed his saving glory and gave
them peace. John concludes our text by
saying, “Now
Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not
written in this book;
but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his
name.”
You see the sign this morning
through Christ’s Spirit breathed word.
It is the risen Lord who speaks through this word and says, “Peace be
with you.” He reveals his risen body
that bears the mark of his crucifixion.
He is the crucified and risen Lord who has conquered sin and death for
you. And so today, like the disciples,
we rejoice because we have seen the Lord. We give thanks because the risen Lord
comes to us this morning and says, “Peace be with you.”
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