A life changing encounter...

John 20:19-29

Last month Donna and I went to Humboldt to watch the movie, “Jesus Revolution.”

For those of you who went to see it, you would have seen a story that was based on Greg Laurie’s book called, “Jesus Revolution.”

Maybe you’ve heard of the Jesus People, the Jesus Movement, and maybe you haven’t, but Jesus impacted the lives of countless young hippies in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. This movement, this revolution, impacted not only the United States, but it also impacted the world.

Contemporary Christian music as well as worship choruses were birthed in this movement.

Songs like, “I have decided to follow Jesus” and songs like, “Father I adore you”, “Seek ye First...”, “Create in me a clean heart”, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus”, “Be still and know that I am God”, and “Oh the Blood of Jesus.” Just to name a few.

A lot of the choruses that I grew up singing came directly out of the “Jesus Revolution.” Only in eternity we’ll know what impact that the Jesus Movement had on Christianity as a whole.

It’s amazing what can happen to people when they have an encounter with Jesus.

Let’s read about Jesus’ disciples encounter with the risen Lord.

John 20:19–23 NLT

That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

A Life Changing Encounter...

Maybe in your life, you met somebody that gave you an opportunity that changed the trajectory of your life. It could have been a business opportunity, or someone that spoke into your life and helped you decide what you wanted to become.

These encounters can truly change our lives, but there is only One that we can encounter that can change our eternal destiny and that’s Jesus.

The disciples...

Jesus had called His disciples from many different careers. I’m not sure that we know what each of them were doing before they met Jesus, but we do know what some did.

Peter, James, John and Andrew were fishermen. They had a business on the Sea of Galilee. Matthew was a tax-collector. Simon was a Zealot, which means that he was involved in politics but was a revolutionary. Judas Iscariot was Jesus’ treasurer, but John said that he was a thief. I don’t know if that was his occupation, but that’s what he did. Some of the others might have been fishermen as well, but we don’t know for sure.

Did Jesus’ disciples really know Him?

Over the course of three years, Jesus spent a lot of time His disciples.

He was closest with Peter, James, and John, but He obviously spent a lot of time teaching about the Kingdom of God.

There would be no doubt that they were friends. There was no doubt that they were close. There was no doubt that there were times when they wondered what kind of a man this was. They were astounded at His miracles. Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”, but everything seemed to fall apart when Jesus was arrested, sentenced to death, and crucified.

Peter and John ran to the tomb and found it empty. They went in and believed.

Meeting Jesus for the first time...

Maybe you remember when you met Jesus for the first time. Your heart was pounding, your palms were sweaty, maybe for others you felt a peace and a joy, a burden lifted and you knew you would never be the same again.

Here’s

The disciples experience...

I think there were only ten there because Judas Iscariot has committed suicide and for whatever reason, Thomas, the Twin, wasn’t there.

The doors are locked just in case the Jewish religious leaders came looking for them. Fear had gripped them. They were in a predicament. They had left everything to follow Jesus. Jesus had died. Apparently He’s alive but where is He? Now what can we do?

The next thing they know is that even though the door is locked, and there’s no way for anyone to get into the house, Jesus is standing among them.

Did they freak out? Did they run for the exits thinking that it was a ghost? Did Jesus speak before they could react?

We may never know but this is what we do know,

Three things happened:

1. Jesus spoke

2. He showed them His wounds

3. They were filled with joy

What did Jesus say? He used a common Hebrew greeting:

Peace be with you...

but it wasn’t just a greeting. He replaced their fear with the peace that God can only give.

John 14:27 NIV

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

John 16:33 NIV

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

He said, “Peace be with you” in verse 19 and then He reinforces it in verse 21.

Any worries or anxieties that they had vanished in Jesus’ presence. As Jesus spoke, He showed them His hands and His side.

If they needed proof that it was Jesus, He showed His wounds, His scars.

After the ten saw Jesus’ hands and side,

They were filled with joy

Psalm 16:11 NIV

You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Before the disciples saw Jesus, they were fearful, probably paranoid, and worried what might happen to them, no doubt they were feeling alone and maybe even abandoned.

When they encountered the Risen Christ, everything changed. Philippians 4:7 happened to them.

This is what it says,

Philippians 4:7 NIV

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The what ifs didn’t matter anymore, Jesus was there.

Even in our trials, in our difficulties, when we encounter Jesus, the what ifs don’t matter anymore.

This is what Paul said to the church in Corinth.

2 Corinthians 4:8–18 NIV

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

The disciples’ despair had turned to hope. They knew that Jesus had not failed them. He had not abandoned them, but He didn’t just show up, and leave them on a cliff hanger, He did three things:

John 20:21–22 NIV

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.

1. He gave them His peace

2. He commissioned them

3. He gave the Holy Spirit

His peace

Romans 5:1–2 NIV

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.

He commissioned them

As the Father sent Me, so I am sending you.

Jesus sent them to preach the Good News. We have Good News, Jesus has given us access to have a relationship with God because He died. He has paid the penalty for our sins, so that

1 John 1:9 NIV

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

If you confess with your mouth that “Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved from God’s wrath, and receive His mercy and grace.

We have been given this message to share with the world.

He gave them the Holy Spirit

John 20:22 NIV

And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

Up until this point, their only encounter with God was to see Jesus face to face. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would come upon a prophet or a king. He would come and go, but now this is their salvation experience when God the Holy Spirit came to live in them.

Later in Acts 2, they would be filled with the Holy Spirit.

What about Thomas?

Let’s read,

John 20:24–29 NLT

One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.” Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed. Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

Even though the rest of the disciples had encountered Jesus, Thomas just couldn’t believe. For him, seeing was believing.

Eight days after the other disciples had seen Jesus, Jesus appeared again.

This is what He said,

Peace be with you...

Jesus extended the same peace to Thomas that He had given the other disciples, and He has and wants to give us that same peace, that no matter what’s going on around us that we are safe in His arms.

Jesus gave Thomas proof...

Thomas needed to put his fingers in Jesus’ nail prints. He needed to feel His side.

Even though Thomas struggled with his faith, Jesus gave him all the proof he needed.

Thomas isn’t the first and he certainly won’t be the last to doubt or need evidence that God is for us.

It reminds me of Gideon in the book of Judges, who had a message from God but just needed more evidence that God would give him the victory over his enemies, so he asked for a sign.

Gideon put out a fleece to see if God would give him proof that he would win. He asked God for a wet fleece of wool on the threshing floor and that around it would be dry, so God answered. Then he asked for the opposite and God did it again.

Not only did God show Gideon that He would bring victory over Midian, with the army that was available, He showed He was able to win the battle with 300 men.

There are times that God will give you proof that He is for you, but let’s not forget that it is God who brings victory.

Israel could have never won, but God brought a great victory through an unlikely candidate.

Getting back to our story,

When Thomas encountered the Risen Christ,

John 20:28 NIV

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

Thomas was wrecked. He would never be the same. Instead of doubting Thomas, he became a great man of faith.

When we encounter Jesus, we too will never be the same.

Believing what we have not seen...

John 20:29 NLT

Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

Jesus scolded Thomas a little for his unbelief, but He blessed anyone that believes without seeing.

1 Peter 1:8–9 NIV

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Let’s be quick to believe because,

Hebrews 11:6 NIV

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, let’s be earnest to believe God. Let’s not settle for encounters with Jesus Christ, but let’s encounter our Lord Jesus Christ each and every day through the Holy Spirit that He has given us.

Go and tell everyone that you see that Jesus is alive! and that He will come again one glorious day!

Let’s pray.