Receive Power from the Risen Christ!

April 16, 2007 by admin.

John 20:19-31
In Christ Jesus, the Life of All the Living, Dear Fellow Servants of the Lord,
I’m sure it’s happened to you.  It doesn’t matter what it was — a stereo, your curling iron, the vacuum cleaner, the toaster, whatever.  I’m sure at some time or other you went to use one of these modern conveniences, only to find that it wasn’t working.  So you picked it up, maybe shook it a little, gave it the “once over,” before it finally dawned on you — it wasn’t plugged in!  The reason why you couldn’t get a particular device to work was because it wasn’t plugged into its power source.

You and I can’t function correctly as Christians unless we’re “plugged in” to our “power source.”  You might say the disciples found themselves “unplugged” on that first Easter evening.  But they weren’t that way for long.  They were given a source of power, the same source that is ours today.  This morning let’s learn to make use of this power source:

“Receive Power from the Risen Christ!”

                               I. Power to forgive
II. Power to believe
III. Power to live
What were the disciples doing behind locked doors?  It had been a pretty wild day.  There were reports flying around that Jesus, the crucified Jesus, was showing up all over the place.  Mary Magdalene, a group of other women, Peter himself, and a couple disciples on their way to Emmaus — they all had stories to tell about meeting Jesus.  An empty tomb, angels, a living Lord–this was all coming too fast.

So the disciples needed time to regroup, and the locked doors would keep the Jews off their backs for a while, at least (vv 19,20), “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’  After he said this, he showed them his hands and side.  The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.”  Locked doors couldn’t keep everyone out.  Walls offered no obstacle to the risen Lord.  All of a sudden he was there!  Obviously stunned by his sudden arrival, the disciples’ fear soon turned to joy.  This was Jesus!  “Look, there are the wounds in his hands and side!  It is our Lord!  He lives!”

Jesus wasn’t just making a social call.  He had work for the disciples (vv 21-23), “Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you!  As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’  And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.’” The Prince of Peace now entrusts his message of peace to his disciples–not only the eleven disciples, but to all his disciples of all time.  Jesus was speaking to all Christians when he said “go and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19).  He even supplies the power needed to do so.  He “breathed on” his disciples and gave them his Holy Spirit.  This was a glimpse of what would take place fifty days later at Pentecost, when the Spirit would come down in great measure to turn these quivering disciples into vigorous proclaimers of his Word.  By the power of that same Spirit Jesus instituted what we call the “Ministry of the Keys” (v 23), “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”  This is the part of the catechism most people forget.  And yet it remains a great privilege and responsibility for us.  God gives us the authority to forgive sins, to announce to people who repent that their sins are sent away and canceled, wiped off the books.  And Jesus also instructs us to issue the warning to unbelievers that without repentance, without faith, their sins are not forgiven and will end up damning them to hell.

Martin Luther felt very strongly about the use of the Keys.  In a public setting pastors have been called to announce forgiveness or to withhold forgiveness.  But in a private setting all Christians have the responsibility of using the keys to forgive or not to forgive sins in the name of the Savior.

Keys are used for two reasons — either to open doors or to lock them.  When believers repent of their sins, we can open the door to heaven by pronouncing such people forgiven.  But those who wish to remain in their sin and who reject God’s forgiveness are locked out of heaven, and it’s our duty to tell them so.  Are we doing our job?  Are we using the keys Jesus has given us, or have we tucked them away somewhere?  Make use of these Keys!  Open heaven’s door to those around you who feel the guilt of their sins by telling them about the living Lord who has won forgiveness for them.  And warn those who make light of their sins or think they can reach heaven on their own.  Tell them they are still in their sins if they reject their Savior’s forgiveness.  Use the Keys and receive power from the risen Christ to forgive others and to warn unbelievers to repent.

Jesus appeared visibly to his first disciples.  It was hard to dispute the fact that he was alive.  We, as disciples today, also believe that he lives.  But he hasn’t appeared to us.  And yet he still gives us power to believe!

One disciple was conspicuous by his absence that evening (vv 24,25), “Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.  So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord!’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.’”  Thomas wasn’t going to fall for it.  He insisted on visible proof before he would believe.  This was more than just doubt–this was unbelief.  It didn’t matter what the rest of the disciples said.  Thomas wasn’t going to be swayed.

The Lord gave Thomas exactly what he was looking for (vv 26,27), “A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them.  Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’  Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands.  Reach out your hand and put it into my side.  Stop doubting and believe.’” Jesus made an extra visit the following week, a trip made out of love.  He came to banish all of Thomas’ doubts and to strengthen the faith of all the disciples.  He gave Thomas what he had requested–a chance to see for himself the risen Christ!

What was Thomas’ reaction to all of this?  “Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God’” (v 28)!  We’re not told if Thomas did actually touch the wounds of Jesus.  The important part here is his confession.  The Lord turned unbelief into faith by a pure act of grace.  Thomas was given power to believe!

Then Jesus added important words for all future believers (v 29), “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”  Perfect faith does not depend on one’s feelings or senses.  In his first epistle Peter tells us (1 Pe 1:8), “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him.”  Luther had another way of putting it, “I believe what God’s Word promises, if I feel it, or if I don’t feel it.”  Faith doesn’t require visible proof (Heb 11;1), “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”  As Paul says (2 Co 5:7), “We live by faith, not by sight.”  But our faith is anything but blind.  It’s solidly grounded on the pure Word of our God.

Thomas believed in the theory, “seeing is believing.”  Sometimes when things aren’t going our way we’re tempted to behave just like Thomas, demanding that God give us proof that he’s still there for us.  But Jesus tells us that “believing is seeing.”  The sure Word of God is all we need.  It points us to Christ and his promises for power to believe.  Jesus said (Jn 5:39), “These are the Scriptures that testify about me.”  They tell us all we need to know about our Savior.  No matter what the circumstances, faith clings to that Word.  Don’t just trust your feelings.  They’ll betray you.  The psalmist writes (Ps 42:5), “Why are you downcast, O my soul?  Why so disturbed within me?  Put your hope in God.”  Faith is rewarded by sight.  Abraham believed and was given a son.  The Children of Israel believed and were delivered at the Red Sea and at Jericho.  Gideon believed and with a very small army was given a great victory over the Midianites.  We also receive that same power to believe from the risen Christ!

With that power we have all we need.  We have power to live here on earth and hereafter in heaven.

The disciples were blessed not only with Jesus’ words but also with opportunities to see Jesus in action (vv 30,31), “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.  But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”  What we have recorded for us in Scripture is but a small sampling of Jesus’ deity.  But it’s proof enough that Jesus was who he claimed to be.  The events recorded in Scripture give us the power to believe in “Jesus,” which describes who he is, his person, our “Savior.”  We believe that he is “the Christ,” the title describing his office as our Messiah, the one who came as our Prophet, Priest, and King.  We believe that he is “the Son of God,” the God-man who came to this earth to be what we could not be, and to die so that we could live eternally.  From this risen Christ we receive power to live (Jn 3:16), “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

That’s what gets us out of bed each morning!  Even though we know things are going to go wrong (because they always do!), even though we know we’ll never have a perfect day here on this earth, we still keep going because we receive power to live each day from our risen Savior.  He never leaves us (Mt 28:20), “Surely I am with you always.”  He’s always by our side, and because of that we know where we’re going after we leave this world.  We also have power to live eternally through our Lord.  For us life is not a mystery.  We do have the answers!  Death can’t beat us because Jesus has beaten death!  He’s our power source for life eternal!  Plug into him!  Don’t let Satan disconnect you!  Get into God’s Word and stay there!  Put down that TV guide and spend a little less time with the daily newspaper.  Open up your Bibles instead!  Read all about the power that is yours through your Savior, how Paul writes (Ro 1:16), “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God.”  The Word is God’s dynamite, able to shatter hearts of stone and to give power to live here and hereafter!  That’s the power that is yours from your risen Lord!

Have you ever plugged an appliance into an electrical outlet but it still didn’t work?  What was the problem?  It’s possible that you were working with a “dead” socket.  There may have been no life in your power source.  That’ll never happen when you plug into Jesus.  That’s because he’s a living Savior!  So hook up to your power source, and receive power from the risen Christ, power to forgive, to believe, and to live.  Hook up to Jesus!

Jesus lives!  To him the throne
High o’er heav’n and earth is given.
I shall go where he is gone,
Live and reign with him in heaven.
God is faithful; doubtings, hence!
This shall be my confidence.  (CW 145:2)

Amen

–Rev. Jonathan Rockhoff

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