The Second Sunday of Easter

April 7, 2024

John 20:19-31

Resurrection Reality —

The Living Lord Gives Proof and Peace!

19On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

21Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

24Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”

26A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

28Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

29Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

30Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (NIV1984)

Dear fellow worshipers of our living Lord and Savior,

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

Prove it! When someone claims to be able to do something and we consider their claim to be highly doubtful— at best!— we might look them in the eyes and say, “Prove it!”

Prove it! When someone claims that they have something and we don’t believe it, we might say to them, “Prove it!”

Prove it! That’s the sentiment we sometimes hear when we are striving to share the glorious message of Easter with others. In fact, that’s the sentiment we sometimes hear when we are talking about the resurrection of our Lord with other Christians! Just this past week I read an article on the Internet that is titled, “14 Reasons Some Christians Don’t Believe The Easter Story.” Since some of these “reasons” tie in well with our sermon text for today, I’d like to share them with you. One reason is: “The post-resurrection appearances could have been hallucinations. Some skeptical Christians argue that the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus could have been hallucinations or visions experienced by his grieving followers. Grief can do strange things to the mind, and it’s not uncommon for people to see or hear things that aren’t really there after a traumatic loss.” Another reason is: “The resurrection isn’t essential to the Christian message. Some Christians argue that the physical resurrection of Jesus is not actually essential to the core message of Christianity. They believe that the teachings of Jesus about love, forgiveness, and social justice are what really matter, not whether or not he actually rose from the dead.” One more: “Science has made it harder to believe in miracles. In our modern age of science and reason, it’s become harder for some people to believe in miracles like the resurrection. We know more about the natural world than ever before, and we’ve seen how many seemingly miraculous events can be explained by science. For some skeptical Christians, the resurrection just doesn’t fit with their scientific worldview.”

My initial reaction to anything like this is: He is risen! He is risen indeed! My second response is to say a prayer of thanksgiving to God the Holy Spirit! In His infinite wisdom God the Holy Spirit knew that things like this would be posted on the Internet for everyone to see. Therefore in His infinite wisdom God the Holy Spirit made sure that we have eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ physical resurrection from the dead— eyewitness accounts such as our sermon text for today.

As we continue our celebration of Easter we are going to follow an Easter-themed sermon series. The overall theme of this series is: Resurrection Reality. As we begin this series let’s see how the apostle John places this Easter reality before us: The Living Lord Gives Proof and Peace!

It is now the evening of that first Easter Sunday. Jesus’ disciples were filled with so much fear that they had locked themselves in a room. They were afraid that after the Sabbath Day was over the religious leaders of God’s people would hunt them down so that they could do to Jesus’ disciples what they had done to Jesus. (Pointing to the cross) It was there in that locked room that the living Lord proved to His disciples the reality of His resurrection! John tells us, “Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ After he said this he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.’”

Since the Lord our God knows that deep down inside each and every one of us there is a little voice that says, “Prove it!” the risen Christ proved to His disciples that He had indeed physically risen from the dead. To prove to them that this is the same Jesus that they had known for the last three years, to prove to them that this is the same Jesus who had been nailed to the cross on Calvary’s hill, John tells us “He showed them his hands and side.”

Even though Jesus could have easily “erased” the marks of crucifixion from His resurrected body, He knew just how important it would be for His disciples to be convinced — beyond a shadow of a doubt!— that He was not a “ghost,” and they were not hallucinating. In Luke’s account of that first Easter Sunday he tells us that Jesus said to His disciples, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your mind? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” And while the disciples still had trouble believing what they were seeing Jesus went on to say to them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” When they gave Him a piece of broiled fish, “He took it and ate it in their presence.” (Luke 24:38, 41-41)

Why? Why did Jesus want to prove to His disciples that He had indeed physically risen from the dead? Think about it. These were the people who would be the first ones to go out and proclaim the glorious Truth of Easter— He is risen! He is risen indeed! If they wanted other people to believe what humanly speaking is impossible they needed to believe it deep down in their hearts!

Hand-in-hand with the resurrection reality of proof that Jesus did rise from the dead is the resurrection reality of peace— true peace, peace with the one and only living God. Jesus provided His disciples with the resurrection reality of peace in two ways. Not only did He say to them “Peace be with you!” but He also “showed them his hands and side.” The marks of crucifixion in Jesus’ resurrected body are a powerful graphic reminder of the seriousness of sin. The Creator had warned Adam and Eve, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:16, 17). Adam and Eve rebelled against this command of their God. Adam and Eve sinned. Adam and Eve died. Adam and Eve brought death upon the entire human race.

Every funeral we attend impresses upon us that “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Every funeral we attend impresses upon us that because of our sins one day we too shall die. By saying to His disciples, “Peace be with you!” and by showing His disciples His hands and His side Jesus was proclaiming to them that He suffered and died as their Substitute. His death paid the penalty of their sins. Through faith in what He has done for them they now have an inexhaustible source of peace— the peace that flows from forgiveness of sins, the peace that surpasses all human understanding.

Second, the risen Christ gives His disciples the power to share that peace with others by giving us the authority to forgive sins in His Name. The words that Jesus spoke to His disciples on that first Easter Sunday are words that still apply to us. John tells us, “And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Through the power of the Sacrament of Holy Baptism Jesus has given to us the gift of the Holy Spirit. This means that we have the authority to share the peace of Easter, the peace of forgiveness, with all those who have repented of their sins. This means that we have the authority to point them to the cross on Calvary’s hill and assure them that the Son of God Himself died to pay for their sins and rose to life to guarantee that they have been “Declared: Not Guilty!” by the living God Himself! Yes, my friends, the reality of Jesus’ resurrection is what empowers us to enjoy and proclaim the peace that only the risen Christ can give!

The second portion of our text reveals to us an example of what Jesus’ disciples can encounter as they faithfully proclaim the reality of Jesus’ resurrection to others. We all know that Thomas was not with the other disciples on that first Easter Sunday. While Scriptures do not tell us why Thomas was not there in that locked room, it does reveal to us the danger of separating ourselves from the fellowship of our brothers and sisters in the faith. When the other disciples faithfully shared the resurrection reality with Thomas, he adamantly refused to believe it! “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”

For an entire week Thomas forfeited the joy and the confidence of Easter. For an entire week Thomas endured the burden of unbelief. Then out of love and grace and mercy the living Lord shared the reality of His resurrection with Thomas. Jesus appeared once again in that locked room and said to His disciples— including Thomas!— “Peace be with you! Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

“Stop doubting and believe.” Stop and think about how often we need to hear those words of our Savior. When the difficulties and the hardships of this world touch our own life or the life of someone we love, doubt can easily cast its shadow over us. “Maybe God doesn’t love me after all.” “Maybe God can’t— or won’t— help me.” When our sins weigh us down like a burden that is too heavy to bear, doubt can seep into our heart and mind like a poison. “Maybe there is something that I need to do in order to be forgiven.” Whenever doubt threatens to rob us of the joy and the confidence of Easter, our living Lord comes to us through His holy Word, lifts up our eyes to His cross and lovingly says to us, “Behold My hands and My side! Stop doubting and believe!”

Those words lead us into the closing portion of our text. John goes on to say, “Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’ Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

These words reveal to us that even on that first Easter Sunday Jesus was thinking about you and me! While we have not seen Jesus with our physical eyes, we “see” our risen Lord and Savior with the eyes of faith every time we read and study His holy Word! Through His holy Word we see Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of God” who willingly suffered and died to pay for our sins. Through His holy Word we see Jesua as “the Christ, the Son of God” who proclaims to us those precious words, “Peace be with you!” Through His holy Word we see Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of God” who has given to us the power and the privilege of assuring a repentant sinner that through faith in Jesus (Pointing to the cross) their sins are forgiven. Through His holy Word we see Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of God” who has commissioned us to share the reality of His resurrection with others.

Prove it! Because we live in a world that is shrouded in sin, because we are surrounded by countless spiritual enemies, because there are days when we are overwhelmed with our own fears and our own doubts, because there are people who claim to be Christian and yet have their “reasons” for not believing “The Easter Story,” we treasure the proof and the peace that our living Lord gives to us through His holy Word and His holy Sacraments.

May God grant that we will never make ourselves an easy target for Satan by separating ourselves from the fellowship of the believers. And may God grant that if we ever find ourselves echoing Thomas’ words, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it,” may God grant that the risen Christ will come to us in His grace and in His mercy and in His love and lead us to say with Thomas, “My Lord and my God”’!”

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

To God be the glory!

Amen