John 20:19-22
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
The gospel reading for today as given in the lectionary is really much longer than these four verses. In its entirety this reading goes on to include the saga of Doubting Thomas, who was not present for Jesus’ initial post-resurrection visit, and who famously asserted that he would not believe it until he touched the Lord’s wounds for himself.
There are times, however, when the best-known story, is so well-known that it blocks out any quieter, yet just as important points that get completely lost in the telling. There is one of those points in this reading, and that’s what I actually want to speak on today.
The very first verse of this reading goes like this: “It was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews.” Before we go any further I do think It’s important to emphasize that when it says “the Jews” anywhere in the gospels it is not referring to any and all Jewish people – the disciples after all were all Jewish. Jesus was Jewish. It is almost always referring to the Temple crowd – the Pharisees, the lawyers, the priests – the ones who wrote and enforced the “rules” – the very ones, in fact, who had just crucified Jesus, even if they had to use the Romans to do it for them.
So – the disciples are locked in a room, and they are afraid. In John’s version of things, the disciples have by this time seen the empty tomb, but they have not yet seen Jesus himself. Mary claims to have seen him and spoken with him (but she’s just a woman, after all). They don’t know who or what to believe right now. They want to believe that Jesus has risen, but it’s such an outlandish idea that they can’t fully embrace or accept it. And so, they cower behind locked doors, in fear of the known and the unknown. Their faith is just a little too shaky to take out in public right now.
My question for today is, how many locked doors do we put between our hopes and dreams and the world? How much of the faith that we claim as our own is hidden away behind locks because, as much as we want to believe, we are still too troubled by doubt and uncertainty to take them out in public? What is it that we fear might happen if we trust our beliefs?
How often do we find ourselves struggling to trust the things we say we believe in, but still having to deal with those locked gates?
In response to all these questions I’ve been asking, let’s read the second part of that opening sentence – what took place while they were hiding behind those locks: “Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’” Peace. That thing that Jesus always offers us in place of our fears. In place of our struggles. Just ... peace. If we are concentrating on our fears and uncertainties then we leave no room for peace.
If we are allowing ourselves to be frantic and distracted, peace is going to have a much more difficult time finding a way in. As St. Paul put it in his letter to the people of the Greek city of Philippi, “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable...keep your mind on these things,” and surely the words spoken by Jesus himself should fit in that category of things commendable. Then peace will be able to enter in and make its home in you. And when peace is at home in you, then you can freely pass on peace to all those around you...in words, in prayer, in acts of kindness.
There is a saying that I love. It’s attributed to St. Francis, but who knows? It goes like this. “Preach the gospel at all times. And, if necessary, use words.”
Peace be with you always. Breathe in Peace. Breathe out love. In the love of God there is no fear... Peace.
There are times, however, when the best-known story, is so well-known that it blocks out any quieter, yet just as important points that get completely lost in the telling. There is one of those points in this reading, and that’s what I actually want to speak on today.
The very first verse of this reading goes like this: “It was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews.” Before we go any further I do think It’s important to emphasize that when it says “the Jews” anywhere in the gospels it is not referring to any and all Jewish people – the disciples after all were all Jewish. Jesus was Jewish. It is almost always referring to the Temple crowd – the Pharisees, the lawyers, the priests – the ones who wrote and enforced the “rules” – the very ones, in fact, who had just crucified Jesus, even if they had to use the Romans to do it for them.
So – the disciples are locked in a room, and they are afraid. In John’s version of things, the disciples have by this time seen the empty tomb, but they have not yet seen Jesus himself. Mary claims to have seen him and spoken with him (but she’s just a woman, after all). They don’t know who or what to believe right now. They want to believe that Jesus has risen, but it’s such an outlandish idea that they can’t fully embrace or accept it. And so, they cower behind locked doors, in fear of the known and the unknown. Their faith is just a little too shaky to take out in public right now.
My question for today is, how many locked doors do we put between our hopes and dreams and the world? How much of the faith that we claim as our own is hidden away behind locks because, as much as we want to believe, we are still too troubled by doubt and uncertainty to take them out in public? What is it that we fear might happen if we trust our beliefs?
How often do we find ourselves struggling to trust the things we say we believe in, but still having to deal with those locked gates?
In response to all these questions I’ve been asking, let’s read the second part of that opening sentence – what took place while they were hiding behind those locks: “Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’” Peace. That thing that Jesus always offers us in place of our fears. In place of our struggles. Just ... peace. If we are concentrating on our fears and uncertainties then we leave no room for peace.
If we are allowing ourselves to be frantic and distracted, peace is going to have a much more difficult time finding a way in. As St. Paul put it in his letter to the people of the Greek city of Philippi, “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable...keep your mind on these things,” and surely the words spoken by Jesus himself should fit in that category of things commendable. Then peace will be able to enter in and make its home in you. And when peace is at home in you, then you can freely pass on peace to all those around you...in words, in prayer, in acts of kindness.
There is a saying that I love. It’s attributed to St. Francis, but who knows? It goes like this. “Preach the gospel at all times. And, if necessary, use words.”
Peace be with you always. Breathe in Peace. Breathe out love. In the love of God there is no fear... Peace.
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