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John 20:19-31

¹⁹ 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, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. ²¹ Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” ²² And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

²⁴ Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵ So 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.” ²⁶ Eight 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.” ²⁷ Then 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.” ²⁸ Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

³⁰ Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; ³¹ but 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.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

The Introit today began and ended with 1 Peter 2:2-3, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

As I was talking with my wife about the texts for this Sunday, I mentioned that verse, and she told me about something wonderful and beautiful that I hadn’t heard of before. Within an hour of being born, if a newborn infant is laid on her mother’s abdomen, that weak, helpless baby will move herself, find her mother’s breast, and start nursing.

God has fearfully and wonderfully made us, and this natural instinct or phenomenon (whatever you want to call it) is one of the many testimonies to that fact. God has designed us so that, even from the moment we are born, we know what we need physically, and we know where to get it.

Two weeks ago, on Palm Sunday, ISIS terrorists bombed two churches in Egypt killing 45 and injuring more than 120 other Christians. As those brothers and sisters in Christ gathered just as we did to wave palms shout Hosannas in praise to their Savior, their cries of welcome were stopped short. They were welcomed by Jesus into His presence where they now wave palm branches around the throne of Christ in heaven (Rev. 7:9).

Why mention these two things together? Why speak of the beauty of a newborn infant nursing and the horror of a terrorist attack?

Because of what happened later that same day. Hours after their neighbors, friends, and relatives were killed, hundreds of your Egyptian brothers and sisters in Christ took to the streets. Outside of the rubble of those sanctuaries, believers gathered together and publicly, boldly confessed the Nicene Creed.

Despite their loss and despite the danger, these Christians, like newborn infants, knew what they needed and knew where to get it. They needed the comfort of their Savior, and they knew the peace that was in their shared confession with their brothers and sisters in Christ.

This Gospel text begins the very first Easter evening. Jesus has risen. The women have seen Him and talked with Him. Jesus has appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and they have told the other disciples that they have seen Him.

But there are the disciples locked inside because they feared the Jews would accuse them of stealing Jesus’ body and faking His resurrection. But just as the sealed stone lying over the entrance didn’t stop Jesus from getting out of the tomb, so also locked doors couldn’t do anything to keep Jesus from His disciples.

Jesus appears and says, “Peace be with you.” He shows them His hands and side, relieving their fear. And Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

Twice comforted by Christ speaking peace to them, sent with the presence of the Holy Spirit to forgive sins, and given the promise of serving a risen Savior, you would think the disciples would immediately be out in full force to proclaim the Good News of Christ crucified and risen. But… eight days later, there they are. Inside. Behind locked doors. Again.

Does Jesus just give up on them? No! Should He? I would.

But Jesus is slow to anger and abounding with steadfast love. He shows up again and gives them the same word, “Peace be with you.”

Thomas had not been there the first time, and because of that, he gets his (unwarranted) surname, doubting. You rarely hear him called ‘Apostle Thomas.’ Sometimes, you might hear him called ‘St. Thomas.’ Most of the time you hear him called ‘Doubting Thomas.’ Yes, of course, Thomas should have believed the testimony of his friends. He should have. But his vow of unbelief until he could see for himself is simply Thomas wanting to have the same blessed experience as the other disciples – nothing more, nothing less.

The other disciples, they should get more criticism. They had seen. They had been sent with authority. They had received the Holy Spirit. But they still feared. Yet, Jesus shows them mercy. The next Sunday, Jesus is back to preach the same sermon to all eleven of them. “Peace be with you.”

There is something to learn from both the disciples and from Thomas.

First, from the disciples, we see that we always need these comforting words from Jesus. As your pastor and brother in Christ, I need to hear this because I fall into doubt. I fall into unbelief. It doesn’t matter how many hours I spend in God’s Word each week, I need to be here – not just to preach and lead the service. I need to be here and hear Jesus give me His peace. I need to hear Him say to me, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Second, from Thomas, we should learn that we need to be where Jesus is to hear His preaching. We all, myself included, need to be where Jesus comes to preach to us, “Peace be with you.” Without constantly hearing Jesus, all of us quickly fall into doubt and unbelief.

The only thing that can keep Jesus’ peace from us is our own sinful neglect of hearing God’s Word.

Every week, we go out into the world and get ourselves beat up and kicked down, and we fall into the same fear that made the disciples lock themselves in. And every week, God is here giving out the treasure of His Word. Every week, Jesus is in this place to give us exactly what He repeatedly gave the disciples – His sermon, “Peace be with you.”

But too often, there is some excuse. “I was getting over a cough and needed to sleep in.” “We were just too tired from that tournament.” “We were busy with some guests from out of town.” Whatever the excuse is, it’s rubbish.

If you knew that a billionaire was going to be here one Sunday morning to dole out $1 million to anyone that showed up at 10:30 AM, would you miss it for any of those same reasons? Of course not!

How much more valuable is the Word of God? What greater treasure is Christ’s Gospel? Faith comes by hearing the word of Christ (Ro. 10:17). Without continually hearing Christ’s word, your faith will die, and you will perish for eternity.

Repent. All of us need to repent. We come to church as nonchalantly as we go to the grocery store. We live and we act as though we will always be able to come to this place to hear the Gospel. But that isn’t promised.

Christ has promised that the gates of hell will never overcome His church. Christ has promised that He holds you in the palm of His hand from which no one will be able to snatch you. But that doesn’t mean that this church, Christ the King, will always be here. That doesn’t mean that someday you won’t have to break the laws of man to hear the Word of God.

So the question you need to answer today is this: Do you know what you need, and do you know where to get it?

Satan is attacking this church. The devil has this congregation in his sights because He knows that what happens here week after week is nourishing food for your soul. The devil knows that the singing, the liturgy, the absolution, the reading of the Scriptures, the confessing of our faith, the preaching, the administration of God’s Sacraments is leading people out of his kingdom into the kingdom of God, and he hates it. He absolutely hates it.

So the devil has been patiently nibbling away by tempting all of us with anything that will distract us from being here. But Satan is upping his efforts. Fight the good fight of the faith.

Brothers and sisters, you have tasted that the Lord is good. Keep longing for the pure spiritual milk. Hear again today Christ’s pronouncement, “Peace be with you.” Then, come hear it again next week and the week after and the week after. Through this nourishing Word you will grow up into salvation.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.