The Risen Jesus - Pt 1

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 any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” (John 20:19-23 ESV).

Our reading today is so benign. It is almost as if there was a resurrection everyday as far as the disiciples were concerned. Part of that is in the fact that John is writing this account sixty years after his experience. He has certainly seen much in those decades. It is not that this great miracle was not wondrous beyond imagination; it was that he had had much time to see even more of the miraculous power of God and he had simply come to expect nothing less than that from his great God. After all, there is nothing simple about this event. It would become the centerstone of a religious movement that would shake the world. We do well to remember that the Bible has two parts, the Old Testament and New Testament. The New Testament has 27 books; four of these are gospels that tell the life of Jesus, 21 letters to explain the meaning of Jesus for our lives, one history about the early church, and one prophecy. All 27 of those books deal with Jesus as alive, risen from the dead and the central, living reality in the universe today, he himself being very God and very man. In the next few days I want to take a few of the passages that describe Jesus’ first appearance to all his frightened disciples after the resurrection. I want us to see is how Jesus acted in each of these encounters. We’ll see what He said to each of the disciples and draw strength and encouragement from each of them. Tomorrow we’re going to look more closely at this first appearance; today I want to simply concentrate on that first verb: “Jesus came.” His work was done, yet he came to the disciples. So often we talk about coming to Jesus when the truth is that He comes to us. We don’t need to look far at all. He is not hidden in some far off place that is unreachable. He is “in our midst.” When you find yourself not being able to “feel” the presence of God, it is not because He is gone. Jesus is with you. Assume that truth and welcome His presence to transform all of you. He won’t disappoint you!