By Jonathan Keller
Now that Easter has passed, I have been taking some time to reflect on the Scriptural passages that speak of Jesus’ days on earth after He rose from the dead. He did not immediately ascend to heaven; instead, He took time to appear to His disciples and many others. Like in the rest of His ministry, Jesus deliberately executed His plan as our redeemer. Let us take some over the next few weeks to look into His pre-Ascension ministry before moving into the foundation of the church.
First, a locked room.
Unlocking the Disciples’ Hearts: Casting Out Fear
Think of how the disciples felt after Jesus was crucified. The leader of their small movement looked over the holy city of the Jews, nailed to a tree during the most popular feast time of the year. This would be like publicly executing someone right outside the stadium where the Super Bowl was held! Gruesome, yes. Frightening for those under Him, also yes.
The crowds had yelled, “Crucify Him!” Would Peter and the others follow? In John’s Gospel, that’s not the story to tell for now. Instead, John speaks of the time that the resurrected Lord first appeared to the frightened men, on the evening of Easter Sunday. Their recently executed Lord made His way through a locked door and spoke peace to them. While they trembled in fear of being the next victims of crucifixion, He said, “Peace be with you.”
They still had work to do, though. Even after Thomas came to see the Lord after his absence from the first appearance, the disciples could not sit still. Jesus sent them like God the Father sent Jesus. Jesus had work to do on the earth which was quickly finishing. They would need to continue on the work while He went away from them.
Jesus had a church to build through these men, and they needed both peace to cast out fear and a mission to direct them in the face of real danger. They would need to proclaim the kingdom of God and forgive sins in a world opposed to both of those things! With God’s divine appointment, though, they had His blessing to continue in ministry.
None of us reading this is an apostle. We are not breaking ground for the church today. However, the good Lord still speaks peace to us through His Word in our situations. He has seen to it that His Word is translated all across the world and raised up faithful interpreters to teach us the sense of it all. Moreover, the kingdom still needs proclaiming and hearts need to be changed.
What fears do you have? What keeps you up at night? What distracts you constantly? What brings you down? Search God’s Word and pray that He might speak peace to you and equip you for the work ahead of you.