Kingdom's Keys Fellowship
Where God's Kingdom Meets Man's Heart.
Easter 18 Resurrection Appearance, Peace and Forgiveness
Easter 18 Resurrection Appearances 3
So far we have seen the external evidence of the risen Jesus in terms of the empty tomb and the undisturbed grave clothes. Next was His appearance to Mary Magadalene and her personal heart recognition. In this third segment is His appearance to a group, His disciples (John 20:19-23). We need to assess this appearance closely because it speaks directly to the spiritual condition of the disciples and ours. Let’s take it verse by verse.
Vs.19 It is evening and growing darker, the disciples together, doors locked, for fear of the Jews. Note these four things: darkness, together, doors locked, fear. Here is the human condition in a nutshell. Every individual born into a dark world without God, afraid individually, afraid together, hearts locked for fear of the outside forces of social, economic, political and emotional pressure. Their unity is the spirit of fear. Outside of God this is everyone in every group.
Jesus comes, stands among them and says, “Peace be with you.” Jesus is always able to come through the walls of isolation and through locked hearts, the frightened heart, and the abandoned heart. He is always standing ready to minister. He is always saying “Peace be with you.” His presence in our hearts is our peace. As He said, “My peace I give you, not as the world gives.” The world’s concept of peace is negative. It is the absence of conflict. The peace Jesus gives is His positive presence coming and standing with us in the midst of aloneness, confusion, frustration and fear.
Vs.20 After He gave them His peace He showed them His hands and His side still marked with the wounds of the Cross. While we may be over interpreting this scene it seems obvious that He retains the marks in order to show it is He who was crucified. They are not to forget His crucifixion, His sacrifice on their behalf and on behalf of the whole world. His wounds reflect the wounds inflicted by the devil, sin and evil. They are our marks as well. He bore the wrath of His Father against sin, the wrath that should have been directed at us, the wrath only His sinless nature could absorb. He embraced the full brunt of the devil’s fury and the dark spiritual arsenal of death. That is why Scripture tells us “By His stripes we are healed.” How the devil, sin and evil wound us, He bore fully in our place. The power of sin, fear and death, the devil’s final weapon, was destroyed on the Cross and the Resurrection is the proof. The disciples are never to forget that.
When we consider the scars we bear from the impact of our sin and the sins of others we know that our hearts are spiritually broken. Whatever we have used to cover them outside of God are our weaknesses. They are the strongholds held together by our fear. He comes to take down their walls that separate us from being whole fulfilled images of God. He comes to heal us by removing our inner fears, insecurities and demolishing the strongholds in the heart. Then the Lord prevails and becomes our only stronghold, our fortress and our balance. No dark power, no evil, no sin, no locked heart, no earthly force can withstand the final thrust of the Spirit’s power in Jesus the Christ, God the Son.
Vs.21 Here Jesus reaffirms that His peace is at the center of their mind and heart. His peace is their stronghold and will enable their commission, which He gives, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” The disciples receive their apostleship and, carrying the power-message of the Cross, they are sent in the same Spirit Jesus was sent, with the same orders and the same mission, make disciples, but now, make them everywhere in all nations. However, there is one more step.
Vs.22-23 These two verses belong together because they encompass that one more step. Something else must take place before they can accomplish His mission for them. They have to be forgiven and they have to forgive each other. Remember they had deserted Jesus, one had betrayed Him and one had denied Him. Judas was lost but the other eleven needed to grapple with their guilt. They had basically deserted each other as well. Guilt festers, motivates sin and heart withdrawal. There will be the inevitable finger pointing and blame seeking. They will fall apart again even though they have seen the risen Lord.
There is a spiritual quality and a spiritual Person they must allow into their hearts to break the final strongholds of fear and guilt that bind them. They must have this quality and this Person to be united. Unless they possess this quality and this Person they will be separated, their strongholds left in place and their mission compromised.
That quality Jesus pronounces from the Cross is forgiveness, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” That Person enabling forgiveness is the Holy Spirit. If they do not have the Spirit of Jesus they cannot be forgiven nor can they forgive one another. They will only continue acting out of fear. Spirits of distrust and suspicion will undermine all their efforts. So Jesus breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” They need to experience forgiveness within and among one another to clear their hearts, to overcome the subtle spirits waiting in the wings to lure them away from Jesus, each other and their mission. It is not a spirit of forgiveness; it is the Holy Spirit who brings Jesus’ quality of forgiveness, part of His very nature, into their hearts and ours. It has to come from the heart and that is where the Holy Spirit works the qualities of Jesus.
This is not Pentecost, which we will look at later. It is Jesus establishing something that is central to His message, forgiveness. It is this prime quality that brings His peace to the individual heart. This in turn enables the mission and message of Jesus---the transformation and restoration of the heart. It is a must for the Apostles because they are the ones who will be the first to carry this essential truth into the world. For more, stay tuned.
So far we have seen the external evidence of the risen Jesus in terms of the empty tomb and the undisturbed grave clothes. Next was His appearance to Mary Magadalene and her personal heart recognition. In this third segment is His appearance to a group, His disciples (John 20:19-23). We need to assess this appearance closely because it speaks directly to the spiritual condition of the disciples and ours. Let’s take it verse by verse.
Vs.19 It is evening and growing darker, the disciples together, doors locked, for fear of the Jews. Note these four things: darkness, together, doors locked, fear. Here is the human condition in a nutshell. Every individual born into a dark world without God, afraid individually, afraid together, hearts locked for fear of the outside forces of social, economic, political and emotional pressure. Their unity is the spirit of fear. Outside of God this is everyone in every group.
Jesus comes, stands among them and says, “Peace be with you.” Jesus is always able to come through the walls of isolation and through locked hearts, the frightened heart, and the abandoned heart. He is always standing ready to minister. He is always saying “Peace be with you.” His presence in our hearts is our peace. As He said, “My peace I give you, not as the world gives.” The world’s concept of peace is negative. It is the absence of conflict. The peace Jesus gives is His positive presence coming and standing with us in the midst of aloneness, confusion, frustration and fear.
Vs.20 After He gave them His peace He showed them His hands and His side still marked with the wounds of the Cross. While we may be over interpreting this scene it seems obvious that He retains the marks in order to show it is He who was crucified. They are not to forget His crucifixion, His sacrifice on their behalf and on behalf of the whole world. His wounds reflect the wounds inflicted by the devil, sin and evil. They are our marks as well. He bore the wrath of His Father against sin, the wrath that should have been directed at us, the wrath only His sinless nature could absorb. He embraced the full brunt of the devil’s fury and the dark spiritual arsenal of death. That is why Scripture tells us “By His stripes we are healed.” How the devil, sin and evil wound us, He bore fully in our place. The power of sin, fear and death, the devil’s final weapon, was destroyed on the Cross and the Resurrection is the proof. The disciples are never to forget that.
When we consider the scars we bear from the impact of our sin and the sins of others we know that our hearts are spiritually broken. Whatever we have used to cover them outside of God are our weaknesses. They are the strongholds held together by our fear. He comes to take down their walls that separate us from being whole fulfilled images of God. He comes to heal us by removing our inner fears, insecurities and demolishing the strongholds in the heart. Then the Lord prevails and becomes our only stronghold, our fortress and our balance. No dark power, no evil, no sin, no locked heart, no earthly force can withstand the final thrust of the Spirit’s power in Jesus the Christ, God the Son.
Vs.21 Here Jesus reaffirms that His peace is at the center of their mind and heart. His peace is their stronghold and will enable their commission, which He gives, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” The disciples receive their apostleship and, carrying the power-message of the Cross, they are sent in the same Spirit Jesus was sent, with the same orders and the same mission, make disciples, but now, make them everywhere in all nations. However, there is one more step.
Vs.22-23 These two verses belong together because they encompass that one more step. Something else must take place before they can accomplish His mission for them. They have to be forgiven and they have to forgive each other. Remember they had deserted Jesus, one had betrayed Him and one had denied Him. Judas was lost but the other eleven needed to grapple with their guilt. They had basically deserted each other as well. Guilt festers, motivates sin and heart withdrawal. There will be the inevitable finger pointing and blame seeking. They will fall apart again even though they have seen the risen Lord.
There is a spiritual quality and a spiritual Person they must allow into their hearts to break the final strongholds of fear and guilt that bind them. They must have this quality and this Person to be united. Unless they possess this quality and this Person they will be separated, their strongholds left in place and their mission compromised.
That quality Jesus pronounces from the Cross is forgiveness, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” That Person enabling forgiveness is the Holy Spirit. If they do not have the Spirit of Jesus they cannot be forgiven nor can they forgive one another. They will only continue acting out of fear. Spirits of distrust and suspicion will undermine all their efforts. So Jesus breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” They need to experience forgiveness within and among one another to clear their hearts, to overcome the subtle spirits waiting in the wings to lure them away from Jesus, each other and their mission. It is not a spirit of forgiveness; it is the Holy Spirit who brings Jesus’ quality of forgiveness, part of His very nature, into their hearts and ours. It has to come from the heart and that is where the Holy Spirit works the qualities of Jesus.
This is not Pentecost, which we will look at later. It is Jesus establishing something that is central to His message, forgiveness. It is this prime quality that brings His peace to the individual heart. This in turn enables the mission and message of Jesus---the transformation and restoration of the heart. It is a must for the Apostles because they are the ones who will be the first to carry this essential truth into the world. For more, stay tuned.
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