Doubts Transformed To Confidence

Peace To You, Scared, Skeptical Sinners

4.24.22 [John 20:19-31] River of Life (2nd Sunday of Easter)

2 Pt. 1:2 Grace and peace are yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Risen Lord and Savior. Amen.

History is littered with figures most of us can’t figure out. People who made choices we can’t comprehend. Men whose mistakes have marked them for life as fools. History is filled with generals and military leaders whose arrogance and impatience cost them their lives and the lives of their men. Others were too cautious or indecisive. There are people who have a chance to nab a golden ticket and don’t take advantage. The man who owned 10% of Apple as a startup and sold it 12 days later for $800. The Blockbuster executive who nearly laughed Netflix out of the room. There were ballplayers who forgot the fundamentals at critical moments. Calling timeouts when their team was out of them. Not getting their glove in the dirt on a ground ball. Forgetting to catch the ball before running to score.

It’s not entirely fair, of course. We assess them with the clarity of historical hindsight. We know things they didn’t know. We can evaluate their actions and options in slow-motion. It’s easy to sit in judgment on those that history has judged to have made mistakes.

And it would be easy for us to do that today with the men we meet in John’s Gospel—especially with Thomas. It covers eight days—Easter Sunday to the next Sunday—but not much seems to change in the hearts & lives of the disciples. They were scared & skeptical sinners.

(Jn. 20:19) On the evening of that first day of the week…the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders. This fear made some sense at first, I suppose. The Jewish leaders had just put their Jesus to death. The Sanhedrin wanted to squash whatever Messianic movement Jesus had started.

But it’s not that they’re weren’t reasons for hope or joy. Mary Magdalene had told them (Jn. 20:18) I have seen the Lord! She told them how Jesus was going to (Jn. 20:17) ascend to his Father and theirs, to his God and and theirs. Other women had seen angels & Jesus, too! But the disciples (Lk. 24:11) did not believe any of these women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Perhaps they dismissed these reports because they didn’t believe Jesus could rise from the dead. Maybe they didn’t believe that if he had he would appear to women and not them.

But their words were not nonsense. The only thing nonsensical was the disciples’ fear and doubts. Jesus was alive. He is risen. He is risen indeed!

And that first Easter night, he proved he had triumphed over the grave. Despite the locked doors, (Jn. 20:19) Jesus came and stood among them. (Jn. 20:20) He showed them his hands and side. And when the disciples saw the Lord, they were overjoyed.

But that joy didn’t seem to really impact the way they lived, did it? Sure, when Thomas returns they say (Jn. 20:25) We have seen the Lord! They probably argued with him a little bit when he didn’t believe them. But (Jn. 20:26) a week later, his disciples were still in the house again, with the doors locked. Jesus being alive hadn’t really changed them. They were still scared. They were still skeptical.

Of course, Thomas is the most glaring example of this skepticism. Thomas makes brazen demands about putting his digits into Jesus’ wounds. But all the disciples were still skeptical of the importance and the impact of Jesus’ resurrection. They believed that he was alive. They didn’t believe that his being alive had any impact on how they could & should live. If they did, they wouldn’t have still been afraid of (Mt. 10:28) those who can only kill the body, but not the soul. They were afraid. So they looked for security in other ways. They were skeptical. So they looked for solutions in other places. But, in many ways we “disciples” are not much different than these disciples.

When you are afraid, what do you do? A lot more than just lock the doors, right? Some of us are afraid of what people think about us. We spend a lot of time and energy crafting this perfect image. We sharpen our minds; we strengthen our frames; we dress up our bodies—because we are afraid of what others might think or say.

Or maybe you are afraid of dependency or weakness. You treat your body as temple, not to impress others, but so that you don’t need others, so that you don’t feel weak. You go to great lengths to maintain your independence. You can take care of yourself, physically, financially, mentally, and emotionally. And each time you find yourself needing help from someone else, feeling weak, it feels like a death. You lock your very self away out of fear of dependency.

Perhaps you are afraid of the future. It is so very unpredictable. You’re always up-to-date with the news, because to you knowledge is power. Or maybe you’re hawkishly watching the ebbs and flows of the stock market, the rising rates of inflation, boning up on cryptocurrency so that you don’t get left behind.

At times, we are even afraid to do what God calls us to do—to forgive as we have been forgiven. We fear that forgiving freely will make us a laughing stock or a punching bag. At times, we are skeptical that we can really forgive someone—or that we should. We hesitate to forgive until we know they’re really sorry & won’t do it again. We have our suspicions about their intentions & assurances.

Our world is full of dangers and questions, as was the disciples. But look at the power fear and doubt had over them in these moments! They hid behind locked doors for a week because they were afraid of people. They made demands that only revealed their foolishness. Compare that with Acts 5, when Peter and the other apostles are staring the Sanhedrin down confidently declaring: (Acts 5:29) We must obey God rather than men!

What changed? Why were these guys, who were scaredy cats, now speaking about Jesus even though they had received strict order not to? Why were they so confident even without Jesus?

They were not obeying God out of fear. They had seen the Lord! They trusted God. They recognized that God was really in control. (Acts. 5:30) He had raised Jesus from the dead! What did they have to fear? Why should they doubt? They had learned that anything a person took from them wouldn’t last and didn’t matter. They understood that everything important that God gives a person in Christ can never be taken away from them. God had given peace to scared, skeptical sinners and transformed them into powerful witnesses of the Resurrection.

And it all started in John 20 with Jesus. Not just with his appearing, but his announcements. Not just with his physical presence, but his spiritual prescription and directive. When Jesus found them behind locked doors, he didn’t rehash the past. He didn’t dress them down for denying him or fleeing his side. He didn’t disparage them for forgetting all the times he told them he had to die and would rise from the dead three days later. He stood in their midst and as their mediator. (Jn. 20:19) Peace be with you. It wasn’t just some greeting. It was a gift. A gift he had earned for them through his suffering, death, and resurrection. A gift he gives to us today, too.

(Is. 26:12) The Lord Jesus established peace for us by paying for our sins. God gave us his son, (Is. 9:6) the Prince of Peace, so that he might be (Is. 53:5) pierced for our transgressions. Crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that he endured—the physical pain and social shame of the cross, the spiritual agonies of hell, and being forsaken by his heavenly Father—that (Is. 53:5) punishment brought us peace. Those wounds worked healing for us. And when Jesus returned to be with his disciples, he shared the spoils of his victory with them. (Jn. 20:19) Peace be with you.

Think about that. The guy you gave up on comes to you and gives you peace. But this is what grace is—undeserved love. The disciples didn’t earn or deserve this peace. Jesus gave it to them. Jesus is rich in mercy and abounding in faithful love. (Is. 32:17-18) The fruit of his righteousness is peace. Christ gives us confidence forever. Because of what Christ accomplished by living for us, dying for us, and rising from the grave allows us to live in peaceful places. We are undisturbed, no matter what is happening around us. We know and believe that anything that is taken from us is but temporary and everything important that God has given us in Christ can never be taken from us. (Is. 32:20) How blessed are we!

Even though, at times, we are scared, skeptical sinners, Jesus speaks and gives us (Php. 4:7) peace that passes all understanding. Peace that guards our hearts and minds. Peace that tempers our emotions and shushes our skepticism. Peace that points us to the Risen Jesus.

God has not given us answers to every conceivable question. He has given us his Son who is (Jn. 14:6) the Way, the Truth, and the Life. God has not given us an acceptable solution to every problem we will face. He has give us the Prince of Peace, who has (1 Jn. 2:2) atoned for our deepest problem, our sin, and has made us acceptable in God’s sight. God has not given us a rebuttal to every doubt our misleading minds can conjure up. He has given us a Redeemer who didn’t just rise from the dead, but is (Jn. 11:25) the Resurrection and the Life. Jesus is the first-fruits of God’s glorious harvest. He has blazed the trail to heaven for us. He is the Pioneer of our path to peace. God gives this blessed peace to all those who believe in Jesus—even those who have not seen him with their own eyes.

We have that peace in Jesus. We have that powerful peace that allows us to be quiet and calm even in the middle of a storm. We have that peace that centers us in the unshakeable strength of the one who has demonstrated his power over even death. We have that peace that prompts us to forgive what everyone else may think unforgivable. Because it’s not. Not when you know Jesus as Thomas did. As your Lord, your God, and your Risen Savior. Amen. (Rom. 15:13) May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him. Amen.