Part 3: Locked Doors John Chapter 20 We Have Seen the Lord Part 3: Locked Doors John Chapter 20

Why Do We Lock Doors? *For protection and safety, privacy. *To keep out unwanted things. *To control dangerous elements by keeping them locked in. *To preserve things (e.g., important documents). *Some places, e.g., large cities and offices, might have multiple levels of “locks.” *Locks are a way to keep out the unknown, keep out threats, to maintain some control over our lives, to assert control over something or someone. *Locks are useful when properly used. But can they be used improperly? Are there “locks” that aren’t physical? Are there emotional locks and spiritual locks that can close and lock doors of hearts and minds?

Review - 1 Faith and Trust in God’s Trustworthiness Based on multiple pieces of evidence Reviewed healing of man blind from birth We are part of today’s evidence for God We “show” God to the world Literary Structure of John 20 Five sections Repetition Motifs, phrases, words, references back

Motifs Unbelief Setting Evidence Questions and Doubts More evidence Understanding Belief Commission Witness *Note how these motifs are present in today’s portion of John 20. 4 4

Review - 2 What kind of God are you seeking? Our God is (within our limited perspective) Faithful, but not always predictable Always present, but not always recognizable Not in a box, in churches, or a tomb But is out in the world through the Holy Spirit Our commission Is to be out in the world where Jesus is To show that Jesus is indeed alive

Key Message Second (and Subsequent) Generations John 20:31 “…These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (ESV) 6 6

Sermon Series Part 1: Eyes of Faith Part 2: Open Tomb Part 3: Locked Door Part 4: Signs, Sight, Faith 7 7

Behind Locked Doors 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… (John 20:19a ESV) Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked… (John 20:26a ESV) *Never before noticed first two episodes occur at the open tomb, while the next two occur behind locked doors. *There must be something significant about the fact that the doors are closed and locked. *One of the significances is explicit in v. 19: “Fear…”

Peace Be With You Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” (John 20:19b ESV) Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you…” (John 20:21a ESV) Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”  (John 20:26b ESV) *One of the results of Jesus’ resurrection is to dispel fear and bring peace.

A Fulfillment of Peace 1“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me… 25“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.  Part of the final discourse in John 14

A Fulfillment of Peace 27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. John 14:1, 25-29 ESV Peace: In the Bible the word “peace” implies harmony, wholeness, rest, integrity, and tranquility. The world cannot give the peace of God, because it doesn’t have the permanence, authority, and stability needed to anchor peace. The false sense of security the world offers is always plagued by the threat of disruption. (p. 163, A Dangerous Hope, Al Truesdale and Bonnie Perry, Beacon Hill Press) Keep these thoughts in the back of your mind through the rest of the sermon. Won’t have time to return to it, however. *v. 29 side note: An important note about the purpose of predictive prophecy. How prophecy is fulfilled remains opaque until it happens. When it happens, believers recognize it and as a result their faith is strengthened.

John 20:19-23 19On 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.” 20When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”  *Irony that although the doors were locked for fear of the Jews, when Jesus comes, the disciples do not recognize him and are afraid (implied by v. 20). *The disciples present had to see the physical evidence before they really believed that Jesus was alive. No different from Thomas that comes up in the next scene. *Commissioning of the disciples

John 20:19-23 22And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.” (ESV) *Commission: John 14:12, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” John 15:26-25, “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. 27And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.” *Witness for Christ inevitably results in judgment: every person must come to a decision regarding the message of sin and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Do you accept it or do you reject it? *Holy Spirit’s work related to forgiveness and judgment: John 16:8-11, “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”

Judgment Revisited 19And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. 20For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God.” (John 3:19-21 ESV)

Judgment Revisited 39Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” 40Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains. (John 9:39-41 ESV)

Judgment Revisited John 12:44And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. 45And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. 46I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.  *John 20:23 “If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.” – not an imperative, but a description of the result of witness about Christ.

Judgment Revisited 47If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. (John 12:44-48 ESV)

John 20:24-25 24Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” (ESV) *The ten witness to Thomas, but apparently no one else.

John 20:26-29 26Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although 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, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”  *”Inside again…”  May convey the idea that the disciples had reverted to their earlier state of unbelief and fear. Perhaps because after Jesus’ appearance a week ago, they had heard or seen nothing more from Jesus. Ten had seen Jesus, but perhaps their initial excitement and belief had started to collapse.

John 20:26-29 28Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (ESV) *Thomas goes from unbelief to the head of the class, the first to declare the risen Christ as his Lord and God. *To believe Jesus has risen and alive is necessary, but is not enough by itself. Each person must come to recognize Christ as his or her Lord and God, a God who is faithful and trustworthy.

The Locked Door What is its significance? Jesus had a changed body Symbolizes fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) Symbolizes unbelief Desire to assert control over self Lack of witness Jesus wants his brothers (v. 17) to move out from behind locked doors Locked doors are not barriers to Jesus *Critics could not simply say that Jesus had fainted on the cross. Jesus had a body that was no longer limited to known physical laws. (But he had a physical body of some sort, because he ate as other episodes make clear.) *FUD – only knowing and trusting the living God brings true peace and freedom from fear. John 8:31-32, So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” *Unbelief – the root cause of FUD. As mentioned in part 1 of the sermon series, each of the episodes in ch. 20, ch. 20 itself, and the entire gospel account is about people moving from unbelief to belief, from behind locked doors to confidence in the open tomb. *Control – doors and locks are human means to assert control over the unknown and threatening. *Results directly from FUD – a person cannot witness to something or someone of which he or she is uncertain or does not know well. *Locked doors – physical, emotional, spiritual – are not barriers to Jesus. He reaches out to everyone, where they are.

Importance of Resurrection It’s the only thing that can move people out from behind closed and locked doors God’s love is powerless without it Proves Christ’s righteousness and God’s justice Without it, the claims against Jesus would be true Proves the truthfulness of Jesus’ claims about God *Without the resurrection, death and worldly power would have been demonstrated as more powerful than love. The resurrection demonstrates otherwise, that self-sacrificing, giving love is indeed more powerful than sin and death. *As mentioned earlier in John 16, the resurrection proves the righteousness and justice of Christ, contrary to what the Jews and Gentiles would have said of Jesus on the cross. *Claims against Jesus: a fraud, a deceiver, an agent of the devil, a blasphemer, a criminal, cursed of God. *Jesus representations of God as loving, merciful, and gracious are proved true because of the resurrection. *It was the focus of the apostles’ witness: Peter, Paul, Philip, Stephen, John, Matthew. It was what moved their listeners from behind locked doors of captivity to sin, walk though the open doors of tombs in which they were dead, and experience a new life of freedom in Christ. *Without the resurrection, we might as well stay inside and keep our doors locked. There would be no point in witness because we wouldn’t have a clue as to what we're supposed to be witnessing. We wouldn’t know what is true and what is false.

Believers’ Witness To the risen Christ To the character of God Love and liberty To the healing of relationships Forgiveness and restoration Power through the Holy Spirit To judgment Each person’s choice regarding God’s offers *Risen Christ – already discussed in previous slide. *Character of God: God wants to free us from all our FUDs that keep us captive and slaves to something in this world. *Relationship: Between us and God, between one another, between us and creation. Salvation is healing. God seeks to heal individuals, communities, and ultimately all creation. *Judgment: Each person makes their own choice, God confirms each choice. *Is this our message? If not, I would seriously question whether it is the gospel. It might be good theology or interesting philosophy, but is it the gospel? *How we live this message, as individuals, as a community, and as stewards of creation, speaks much more loudly than any preached sermon. How do we show love and liberty? How do we show healing of people, communities, and creation? How do we show that a decision for Christ is a good decision? *Christians must be people who live according to the gospel of hope. The ways in which we relate to God’s creation should be noticeably different from those of unbelievers. Unless that happens, the gospel of hope loses its appeal to the lost world around us. (p. 164, A Dangerous Hope, Truesdale & Perry)

*Prince Caspian, p. 148, 152-4 (“The Lion Roars”)

We Have Seen the Lord *Through the eyes of faith, we must see the risen Christ, who is no longer in a tomb but is alive and is God with us through the Holy Spirit. Only then can we have the trust and confidence necessary to share the gospel to a world behind closed and locked doors of fear, uncertainty, and doubt. *We must be able to first say, “We have seen the Lord,” so that as agents of Christ, we can go behind the closed and locked doors of the world. Behind those doors as we reveal the God that loves and heals, our mission is for as many as will accept to say themselves, “We, too, have seen the Lord.”