Rejoice in the Lord

Christ’s Resurrection Appearance and the Peace of the Wounded Savior

Praise to the Sovereign King, hear His people sing Solely and wholly saving His own bride There where the Lamb has died, hide the blood of that grave, I pray

Today we're gonna be in John chapter 20, verses 19 through 25. And so I would encourage you to start turning that way. And before we begin reading, we're gonna just open up in a word of prayer, but we'll be in John chapter 20, verses 19 through 25.

So let's just lift up a word of prayer to our triune God. Lord God, what a joy it is to be able to come here, God, on a Sunday and to worship you with other brothers and sisters that are in you, Christ.

Lord, we thank you for the salvation that you've given to us, Lord. And I would just pray that in this text today, that we can see the wounds that are upon your body, Lord, and that we would be reminded of the sin that caused you to be nailed to that cross, Lord, and that we would just be comforted in knowing that you have paid that price for us, Lord.

God, let us remember these things. And Lord, we just pray so earnestly for those that suffer, God, those suffering saints, even of today, God. And I just pray that you would be quick in reminding them that we have a sure hope in you, God.

And Lord, I would just pray for our church and fellowship and corporate body here, Lord, under this roof, Lord. God, I would just pray that we would be increasing in spiritual knowledge and reliance on you, God.

And we would also see a numerical value from these things as well, God. Lord, we just wanna worship you today. And so Lord, I would just pray that through the reading of this text and the hearing of the word, God, that you would be worshiped and that we would just see you evermore clearly, Lord Jesus.

And God, we just say these things in your holy name, amen. So we're gonna be in John chapter 20, verses 19 through 25. And we're gonna just start in verse 17, just to kind of remind ourselves of the context from last week that we looked through last Sunday.

But let us just read in verse 17, all the way to verse 25. So starting in 17, Jesus said to her, stop clinging to me for I have not yet ascended to the father, but go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my father and your father and my God and your God.

Mary Magdalene came and announcing to the disciples, I have seen the Lord and that he has said these things to her. When therefore it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut, where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, peace be with you.

And when he had said this, he showed them both his hands and his side. The disciples therefore rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus therefore said to them again, peace be with you. As the father has sent me, I also send 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, their sins have been forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.

But Thomas, one of the 12 called Didymus was not with them when Jesus came. And the other disciples therefore were saying to him, we have seen the Lord. But he said to them, unless I see in his hands the imprint of the nails and put my finger in the place of the nails and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.

Let us pray again. Lord God, let us see clearly in this text today, Lord, the piercing, the bruising, Lord, the bloodshed that you took for our behalf, God. Lord, let us see these things clearly and let us not, let us have faith in what you have done for us on the cross today, Lord.

God, you have risen from the grave, defeating death, Lord, and we need to be assured on these things. And so Lord, I would just pray that you would give us this hope and that as you have said, peace be with you, that that peace might be with us today, Lord, and that we might rejoice in these things, rejoice in that salvation that you've given to us, God, and that we would go unto the world just as you have been sent, that we might also be sent in a likewise manner, Lord, and that we would tell people of the gospel that has bought us, the gospel that has secured us, and the gospel that we rely on today.

Lord, we just say these things in your holy name, Jesus Christ, amen. So as we look in verse 17 through 18, let's speak a little bit more on that context of what's going on. And also there's going to be a little bit of a time gap that takes place between verse 18 to 19, as we would see recorded in the gospel of Luke chapter 24, which we'll talk a little bit about as well.

But just for the context of what's taking place here, this is post-cross, the Jesus Christ has risen from the grave, that tomb is empty, and it is not encompassed to our Lord and Savior anymore. Christ is walking amongst man again, and the disciples in that timeframe of the time from Christ's death to his resurrection, up until this text that we're looking at right now, they have scattered as sheep, they have dispersed, they have, and as we have seen in verse 20, it says that they, or in verse 19, it says that they were fearful of the Jews.

So we see the reasoning of why that has happened is that they've seen their Lord Savior, the one that they've looked up to die in this most gruesome way, and then being scared of the recompense of following that King, they've now hidden themselves in homes and they've scattered in that way.

And so we would see that that's where the disciples have been. Mary, in that text that we read, 17 through 18, and last week, Mary has seen the risen Lord, and it would appear that after this command to Mary from Jesus to go and tell the disciples that I have risen and I'm going to be ascending to my Father, that from that time, Mary has left to go tell the disciples these things.

And Jesus, in that time period between then and what we see in verses 19 and on, there would be the encounter on the road to Emmaus with the two disciples who we do not have their names, but two disciples of Christ that were walking on that road.

Christ would have made contact with those two, and He goes to their house, breaks bread with them, teaches them all about the scriptures and how they were concerning the Christ, and then they recognize Jesus in this way, and Jesus disappears from their sight, and then He appears now in verse 19 on.

And so we'll look a little bit more about this as we go through this text, but let's look into verse 19 here. It says, when therefore it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and this is a reminder that this is a Sunday, and it's getting to the point where in the Jewish culture, it's going to turn from a Sunday to a Monday as they saw night and day versus how we look at day and night as being one day.

They would see night and day being one day. And so we would see that it's going from a Sunday to a Monday timeframe, and in this period of time, it records for us in here something that's very specific.

It says, and when the doors were shut, where the disciples were for the fear of the Jews. This is essentially the recording in the text for us that the door was locked. They had the door locked. They wanted to keep the outside world away from them.

They were hiding inside their homes because they were fearful of what the Jews might do to them. They know that they've been walking around with Christ in a public manner now for many days, years now, and they're fearful that the Jews just crucifying this miraculous King that has healed people that have risen the dead, all these things that here they have conquered in their mind, they've killed that Jesus.

And so they're fearful of what would now happen to them. And so they've locked the doors and it's recorded for us very specifically in that way. We're gonna look in here that it says that after it's recorded that the doors was locked because of the fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst.

And we're gonna look in what that means because it doesn't say that he comes through the door. It says that he stood in their midst and we have another recording of this in Luke chapter 24. So we're gonna go and look at that.

Luke chapter 24 verses 33 through 39. Luke chapter 24 verses 33 through 39. And as you're making your way there, I will make mention of just some things here in Luke chapter 24 that would be taking place in between Mary's command to go and tell the disciples and also what we would see here in the text.

So in verse 13 of Luke chapter 24, it says this, and behold, two of them were going that day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were conversing with each other about all these things which had taken place.

And it came about that while they were conversing and discussing, Jesus himself approached and began traveling with them. It would then go on and express that these individuals were unable to recognize Jesus Christ.

They didn't recognize him. And there's some speculation on why this might be, and we'll talk a little bit more about that in a moment. But it says that these two individuals come and they greet them into their house.

And it doesn't record which two disciples these were. It was not one of the 11 though. So there's these two other disciples that we don't have names of. But they invite him into the homes. They break bread with him.

He breaks bread with them. And he teaches them all about how the scriptures pointed to the Christ and how the Christ was revealed all throughout the Old Testament. And after this, they recognize him. And after they recognized him, he disappears from their sights.

It says in verse 31, and their eyes were opened and they recognized him and he vanished from their sight. Now, reading on in verse 32, we'll go all the way to verse 39 now. And they said to one another, were not our hearts burning within us while he was speaking to us on the road, while he was explaining the scriptures to us?

And they arose that very hour and returned to Jerusalem and found, gathered together, the 11. That's why these are two other disciples than the 11, two other followers of Jesus. They come to this house and they find the 11 and those who were with them.

So there's a group of these individuals hiding in this house with the doors locked. And then says, they go to them and they say to them, the Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon. And they began to relate their experiences on the road and how he was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.

And so they start expressing that we've really seen the risen Lord. We've seen him. He was before us. We broke bread with him. And verse 36 goes on to say this. And while they were telling these things, he himself stood in their midst, but they were startled and frightened and thought they were seeing a spirit.

So this is something that is supernaturally taking place that is not an everyday occurrence by any means. In here, we would see that Christ having all attributes of God, that even being of omnipresence, he can control all things.

And so therefore he can vanish from somebody's sight and reappear in the midst of a gathering of group of people. And so we would see that here Jesus in this miraculous supernatural way appears in the midst of them.

And for the onlooker that sees this, they think that they're seeing a spirit. They're blown away by this. They don't understand what's going on. And it then says this, they still don't recognize Jesus.

They still don't recognize him. They think that this is just a spirit that they're seeing, a ghost in a sense. And it says in verse 38, and he said to them, why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your heart?

See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. And so they physically touch Jesus Christ. They physically touch this. This is another reasoning that Jesus physically rose from the grave.

You cannot deny that Jesus physically rose from the grave. They literally touched the nail prints that saved them, the piercing of Jesus Christ. They literally go up and touch these things. And therefore they realize that this is Jesus Christ that we're seeing here.

So now let's think about a little bit more of the speculation of why did the disciples not recognize Jesus when they first saw him? It would be my opinion, as well as many of others opinions that according to Isaiah chapter 52, in there we see a poem that is being written by Isaiah, a prophecy that's being written.

In Isaiah chapter 53, where we see the details of Christ's crucifixion, this is called the suffering servant song. And many people think that that starts in verse one of Isaiah 53. It actually doesn't.

It starts in Isaiah 52. And so in Isaiah 52, at the start of this servant, we have in here in verse 13, it says, behold, my servant, this is speaking about Jesus, will prosper. He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.

Just as many were astonished at you, my people, so his appearance was marred more than any man and his form more than the sons of man. Thus he will sprinkle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths on account of him for what had not been told, then they will see.

And what they had not heard, they will understand. And then we would see Isaiah 53 that very clearly depicts the crucifixion account of Christ. So in here in Isaiah 52, we see in here that it says that he was marred more than any other man, that his appearance was not something that we would recognize in that way.

And so we look and we see now that most likely what had happened to the disciples is that they got used to seeing Jesus not pierced in those three years. And here he has now gone through excruciating disfigurement of his body in horrible and evil ways.

And Christ still bears those wounds as we see them touch the very nail prints. He still bears those things. He's in heaven right now as Isaiah or not Isaiah, Revelation chapter four and five depict Christ as a lamb standing before the throne as if slain.

He still bears these physical scars and wounds for you and I today. Absolutely wild. And so let us now go back to John chapter 20. And we can now recognize that this is why the disciples most likely didn't recognize Christ at first, that they're seeing this human being that has an appearance marred more than any other.

Absolutely wild stuff that we were seeing in this text. John chapter 20, it says that Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, peace be with you. Now, as we just read from Luke, he knows what's in their hearts.

He knows that they're troubled. He knows that they are fearful. They know that they're confused. And the very first words that Christ utters to the disciples is this, peace be with you. Brothers and sisters, think about this for a moment.

This lamb that is standing as if slain before them, here are these apostles and disciples of Christ that have locked the door saying, no, we don't want the world in here, they'll hurt us. Here is Christ that has been physically disfigured standing before them in triumph, in victory.

And he says to them as they're looking at him, peace be with you. Now, to the person that doesn't believe in Jesus Christ, how they would say, how can you have peace when you're looking at what death did to that person?

We understand that this peace is far beyond our understanding and comprehension. That the peace that Christ gives to us is not the peace like the world gives to us. The peace that the world gives to us is not something that saves us.

It is not something that satisfies us. It's an idol when they say, oh, just be at peace. This world that tells us this is how you get peace is through doing this or that. No, peace is only through Jesus Christ.

And that peace is not one that is a physical subsidence. Christ is standing scarred, standing as a lamb slain before the disciples who were just fearful of dying, keeping those doors locked, saying, no, we don't want the Jews to come in and kill us.

And here is Jesus Christ, that lamb, in great victory, bearing those wounds. Peace be with you. These are the very first words that Christ say to his disciples, excluding that that he's already talked to Mary.

These are the very first words that he utters to those that are so scared and that have scattered and ran away from the tomb. Peace be with you. Peace be with you. Now, this idea is even expounded on even far more than just this.

He says, peace be with you. And as we saw in Luke chapter 24 and in this text, it says, and when he had said this, he showed them both his hands, his side, and therefore the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

Isn't that wonderful and beautiful that here's this marred, death-stricken, human being that's standing before them, bearing these unthinkable wounds. And here he says, peace be with you, come touch the scars, come feel the side, see what I've done for you, peace be with you.

This is mind-blowing of a text in here. Peace be with you, come see my scars, come see what I have done for you, come see the love that I have done on your behalf. Come glorify me, praise me, worship me.

Why have you been hiding in your homes? Come and touch that which I have done for you. The disciples therefore rejoiced when they saw the Lord. And so here are the disciples, not knowing that this is the Christ at first, when they see this appearance of this disfigured man before them, supposing it to be a spirit, supposing it to be this strange thing that takes place before them, but this omnipresence of Christ is now standing in their midst.

And after the disciples understand now what has taken place, that all the times that Christ had been promising to us, that I am going to die, and on the third day I will rise again, that that has now absolutely taken place, there's no doubt in my mind that they would have been remorseful in the way that they've been behaving in these last days, locking themselves in and not exposing themselves to the Jews.

But their attention right now is on Jesus Christ, and it says that they rejoiced in the Lord. Church, when we look at that cross and that crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and we see the arms of Christ being spread out for us and being nailed to that cross beam, and Christ in agony, breathing, and saying that it is finished, and all these terrible sins of man being put upon the shoulders of Christ, every disciple that knows who Christ is will rejoice in the Lord.

How does that even work, that we can look at the suffering of Jesus and still rejoice? Here's this most evil act of man, and there's this most loving act of God, and all these things taking place in this historical, everything has been pointing towards it.

Everything still is pointing towards it. This is what history is all about, is for Christ to come to this moment, and that is where our sins have been laid, is on that cross. I am going to rejoice in the Lord.

So therefore, these disciples in this house, when Jesus comes and is before them, they have heard Christ say, peace, be with you, and Christ shows them his wounds and his scars, and it says that the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

Absolutely beautiful text in here. We're gonna look at verse 21 now. Because it says it again. Jesus therefore said to them again, peace, be with you. As the Father sent me, I also send you. Now, we're gonna look at a couple different areas in the Gospel of John specifically, and look in some different things, but this painting of this picture, what's going on right now?

Christ has said, peace, be with you. He then shows them the wounds of himself, and then he says again, peace, be with you. It's significant that it records it for us, and he said again, peace, be with you.

Because then the following sentence after that is so, so significant. He says, just as the Father has sent me, so I send you. I want you to think that the disciples are right here holding the wounds of Christ.

Their fingers have touched the nail prints. This is the reason that Christ was sent. That's why the Father sent Jesus, is to die. And they're holding those wounds. And here they were just fearful just a moment ago, and Christ says this to them.

This is the reason that I have been sent. And just as I have been sent, so I send you. That's now why he says, peace, be with you. You have no fear of death, disciples. You have no fear of anything that this world can do to you.

Because what you're grasping onto right now, Christ and his wounded, pierced body, that is the peace that is with you. Peace, be with you. Just as I have been sent, so I send you. We're gonna look at John chapter one, verses 10 through 13.

John chapter one, verses 10 through 13. Verse 10 says this, he was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own, and those who were his own did not receive him.

But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name, who were born not of the blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

He was in the world, and he had made the world. Our God that has created all things became flesh. He was sent unto the world, and they did not receive him. They rejected him, and that still is taking place today.

The world rejects Christ. They hate him and despise him. That is why Christ was sent. What we just read out of John chapter 20 is evangelism. It's an evangelist text. I'm gonna turn to John chapter 15, verse 18, to illustrate this idea of evangelism unto a world that did not receive Christ.

John chapter 15, verse 18, it says this in verse 18. If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it ever hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you, love its own, but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Anybody that thinks that a Christian should be accepted in this world does not heed the words of Christ. Why is it that the world loves the false teachers and the wolves, those that make their stage a comedy and a play, and they speak of the Bible, but they distort the truths that are in it?

It's because they're appeasing the world, and therefore the world accepts them, and they love them, and they want them. But as a Christian, what happens to the Christian when they go out and tell the world of the Christ that they know?

They're rejected, they're hated, and their neck is put on a chopping block. Every, every martyr that has ever died in the last 2 ,000 years, their gaze is not down into the world that is rejecting them.

Their gaze is lifted up unto the heavens, looking at the Christ that is having their arms before them, and they're coming and seeing the one that was pierced for their sins, the ones that they have pierced.

All the disciples of Christ and the apostles, save it be John, died gruesome and horrible deaths, but yet the song that was sung by these apostles when they died, any martyr in the last 2 ,000 years, they die with their last breath singing praise to Jesus Christ.

Now when we look at the high priestly prayer of John 17, which we won't look into, and he's praying on behalf of all those that would believe in him, he understands that though we were of the world, though we are of the flesh, they are no longer of the world, but they are in the world, that our residency is in the kingdom of God in heaven, our residency is not here on earth any longer, but that we're sent as ambassadors unto a fallen, broken, destitute world that is going to reject us and hate us and chew us up and spit us out, just like the master that purchased us, and it is because they hated him first, and we have to remember those things.

Therefore, when it says in John 20, verse 21, just as I have been sent in the world, so I send you, we have to remember that if we're accepting praises from the world, we're doing something wrong. This is going to be a reality until Christ comes again, it would be my argument, that the world will always reject Christians.

They will always hate that which Christ has purchased, and that is because they hate Christ himself. Now does this excuse a person that doesn't want to do evangelism in the workplace, or a person that doesn't want to do evangelism on the streets, or a person that doesn't want to tell their friends and family of Jesus Christ?

No, it does not, it is their responsibility to still tell them those things. Christ did not come to the world to be accepted, he came to be rejected, and that is how we've been sent too, is to mimic and bear our own cross, and mimic that which Christ has done for us.

And that means being bold in our faiths, expressing the truth of who Christ is. Philippians chapter one, verse 23, you don't need to turn here, but in verse 21, it says, for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Doesn't that sentence mean even more now that we looked at John chapter 20? For me to live is Christ, Christ died, for me to live is Christ means I'm gonna glorify him, and know I'm gonna be rejected, and that's okay, because for me to die is gain.

John chapter 20, verse 21, Jesus therefore said to them, again, peace be with you, as the Father has sent me, I also send you. There's no coincidence that in here, that Christ knowing the heart of the disciples, knowing the heart of all those that would be reading a text like this, would say it for a second time, peace be with you.

Verse 22 goes on to say this, and when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit. Now, we have talked extensively in the past, especially in John chapter 14, about the sign gifts that were given to the apostles, namely that of tongues and prophesying, and we talked about how in John 14, it says, and we won't, you don't need to turn here with me, I'll just read verse 17 for us out of John 14, but in John 14, verse 17, it says this, that is the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold him, or know him, but you know him, because he abides with you, and will be in you, and so Jesus already established the disciples already have a Holy Spirit in some effect, but it's going to come again, it's going to be with you in the future, and so it would be my argument that the disciples have been born from above, they've been regenerated in that way, and therefore they have the Holy Spirit, but there's going to be a day that the Holy Spirit is going to be manifest in the disciples in such a way, and we are reading about it here in John 20, and when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit.

The whole idea of cessationism, and especially that of what I would be as a consistent cessationist, is that the sign gifts that we see throughout the book of Acts, and that we spoke of when we looked through John 14, the sign gifts were given to the apostles in the first century to validate the message of the gospel, to validate the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, because once Christ ascended, they needed a way to validate to the world that their message was true, and so therefore in Acts chapter two, we see that they speak, and everyone in the room was able to hear in their own tongue the things that the apostles were saying, and so therefore it validated the message that they had brought to them, and so in here, we see Christ show them the wounds, and he says, look, peace be unto you, just as I have been sent, so I send you, and so it's speaking about them going out and telling the world of the message of the piercing of the hands and the feet, and the wounding of the side that they've literally just touched, and therefore he breathes on them, the Holy Spirit, to validate that message.

Now there are some, once again, false religions that look at the obscure texts in scripture rather than clear texts in scripture, and they try to twist the meaning of this. Catholics, for example, look at this text, and they say, Jesus here breathed on the apostles, and therefore the Catholic church has the authority of what Jesus breathed on them then.

It would be my opinion that if a Catholic person breathed on a person today, it's just stinky breath that they're breathing on them. This is a divine breath that were taking place in here, and in fact, we know that it's not just the 11 that Jesus had breathed on in this text.

It says that the two disciples that were on the road to Emmaus that weren't the 11 came unto the room where there was a multitude of people, and so we would say that this is, once again, a validation of the gospel message that the first century disciples in church would take forward.

Now this is why, and we're gonna look here and break this down a little bit in verse 23, that the Catholic would say that you have to go and confess your sins to a priest, and they will give you penance, that they will be the author of your forgiveness.

They will say that now you have been forgiven, that it's going to be from them. In verse 23, it says, if you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, you have been, they have been retained, and so the argument from the Catholic and those that would be of false religions when they look at a text like this, you see the church authority is what they would say, the church authority, those that are in these positions of power that have had these, through ordination and so on and so forth, that they've been placed in these positions of authority, they've received this Holy Spirit in the same way that Christ has breathed on the apostles and disciples of that day, that in that same way, these men now have the right to forgive your sins, these priests of the Catholic Church or these figures within there, they have the right to forgive your sins.