+ Easter 2 – April 11, 2021 +
Series B: Acts 4:32-35; 1 John 1:1-2:2; John 20:19-31
Beautiful Savior Lutheran
Milton, WA
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Have you ever been too afraid to go outside? So afraid that you find yourself hiding behind locked doors with the shades pulled and curtains drawn? So afraid you want to hide? Don’t take phone calls. Don’t answer the door. Don’t engage the world.
I’m guessing that’s not what any of us were up to last Easter Sunday. Maybe we had some family over, gathered for an Easter dinner, or took an afternoon nap.
But this was not the case for the disciples that first Easter Sunday. 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.
One of the most remarkable reactions to the resurrection of Jesus is fear. In Mark, the women who went to the tomb early that Sunday morning and heard the news of the resurrection from the angel ran away in fear and told no one. In John, the disciples are hiding in the upper room, probably the same upper room where four days before Jesus had told them not to fear. The doors were locked tight. The disciples were cowering together in fear.
When you stop to think about it, it makes sense. The rumors were already thick as fog. The tomb was empty. The guards were bribed and disappeared. Mary Magdalene has seen Him, touched Him. Every street corner was buzzing in whispered tones about how the tomb of Jesus was empty. His grave clothes mysteriously folded neatly. The religious authorities were probably conducting a frantic door to door search. They had crucified Jesus. They were aware of His predictions. They would stop at nothing to squelch this rumor now. And so the disciples were afraid. Huddled together like frightened cats, and locked the doors.
Their fear is also understandable in that they knew that dead men don’t ordinarily rise. Maybe they feared the worst, that the religious leaders or the Romans had taken the body of Jesus and were now going to come after them. Or maybe they didn’t know what to think.
In any event, they were afraid. They could hide from the Jews and the Romans and attempt to hide their fears from one another, but they could not hide from Jesus.
Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
Even before Jesus opens his mouth, Jesus shows his love for his disciples and for all. Jesus joined them in their fears. Jesus stood in their presence knowing full well that their hearts were racing, their minds swirling, their fears overwhelming. He does not require them to pull themselves together before he enters the room. He doesn’t tell them to get a grip. Jesus joins them in their fear.
Martin Luther once said that Christ dwells only among sinners. This is good news for the disciples. Good news for us. Christ did not come to save perfect, unfearful people who have it all together. No he came to save the lost, the least, the hurting, the broken, the fearful.
It’s not hard to sympathize with the disciples. We see their fear and understand. We put ourselves in their sandals. If we had been there in that upper room we’d have been huddled right next to them too.
With the disciples, we have a common enemy of fear. Consider how over this past year doctors have reported an increase in treatment and medications for anxiety and depression. And it’s not just the pandemic. It’s fear of many things. Fear of uncertainty. Of the economy, politics, rights, and freedoms. Sometimes our fears are more personal. Fear of letting others down. Fear of shame or guilt. Fear of mistakes we’ve made. Sins we’ve committed.
But again, notice what Jesus says and does. He does not rebuke the disciples for their fear. He doesn’t shake his finger in disappointment.
Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
Jesus comes to his disciples. Jesus speaks to his disciples. It is Jesus’ presence. Jesus’ word. Jesus’ peace. That’s what calms the disciples fears.
It is Jesus’ word and promise that brings his disciples from fear to joy. And this is the way it has been throughout Jesus’ life. Mary and Joseph’s first reaction when they are visited by an angel is fear. But the angel’s message quickly turns fear to joy. So too, the shepherds, gripped with fear as they watched their flocks by night, are quickly moved from fear to joy by the angelic announcement of good news that “unto you is born this day a savior.”
At Jesus’ resurrection, no coincidence, the women are moved from fear to joy as the angel proclaims, “You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the Crucified One. He is not here; he is risen. Just as he told you.”
And again here in the upper room that first Easter evening, it was Jesus’ presence, his peace, his word that brought the disciples from fear to joy.
The same is true for you this Easter season. Jesus brings us from joy to fear in his death and resurrection. Does that mean that we will no longer feel afraid of various things in life? No, but that our fears do not win the day. That as great as our fears may be, the peace and joy Jesus gives us in his death and resurrection is far greater.
No matter what our fears are, Jesus joins us in the midst of our fears, just as he did his disciples. Jesus speaks his peace to you.
Jesus is present with you and for you, here, at his table, in his body and blood, in his word of promise. Jesus dwells with you and in you in your baptism.
Jesus speaks his peace to you and declares all your sins are forgiven. No matter how big of a monster our fears appear to be, Jesus’ death and resurrection have slain the dragon, defeated the grave, and destroyed the last enemy of death. For his disciples. For you.
In Jesus’ dying and rising, you are brought from the shifting sands of uncertainty to the solid ground of Jesus’ certain promises, from death to life, and from fear to joy.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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