John 20:19-31 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
“Going Home: House Keys”
Easter 2 Sunday, April 28, 2019
One week ago, we gathered together as a congregation for two Easter worship services as well as other activities. In our sunrise service in the Courtyard, we read the first 18 verses of John chapter 20, the account from John’s Gospel about what took place early on the first Easter Sunday morning. Those verses focus on Mary Magdalene, who went to Jesus’ tomb, found the stone rolled away, and ran back to tell Peter and John. They record how Peter and John ran to the tomb to see for themselves that it was empty except for the cloths that had wrapped the body of Jesus. And then those verses tell us about Mary weeping outside of the tomb until Jesus spoke to her and gave her instructions. And then she went back to the disciples again to tell them what had happened. When we revisit that account on Easter Sunday morning, it is an exciting time. It is a special time. More people make a point of coming to church on Easter than on most Sundays. Many dress in a special way for the celebration. Many participate in a number of church activities. Some go on to celebrate in other ways later that day. But what happens after that? What happens for us as a congregation and as individuals? What happened to those disciples so many years ago? What comes after Easter? This year we are looking to answer those questions by talking about going home. These several weeks after Easter in the Church Year lead to Ascension, when Jesus visibly left his disciples, went up in the air, and was hidden by a cloud. He was going home to heaven, from where he had come to earth in order to do his work. But going home is not just for Jesus. After Easter as well as before, a very significant aspect of the work of Jesus was to prepare his disciples for what was going to happen. He wanted them to be prepared for when he ascended, for that “going home.” And he wanted them to be prepared for the day when they would go home. And it is fitting for us to turn our attention today to the very next verses in the same chapter of John’s Gospel to see what comes next, to see the how on the very evening of his resurrection, Jesus immediately set about to preparing his disciples. And one of the ways that Jesus prepared his disciples was by giving them the house keys. And what he did he did for their benefit and so that they could benefit others. Let’s look at the circumstances of that first Easter Sunday evening. After all that had taken place in the morning, the evening found the disciples locked together in a room because they were afraid. They were afraid, John tells us, of the Jews. They were afraid, no doubt, because their leader had been put to death just days before and so they were worried that something similar could happen to them. That’s when Jesus appeared. The doors were locked, but that didn’t matter to the risen and glorified Jesus. He stood among them and greeted them, “Peace be with you.” That was a rather standard greeting, only this time there was nothing standard about it. All the restless fear of the disciples was to be overcome with the peace of Jesus. All their concerns, all their troubles, all their difficulties, could fade away because Jesus would give them peace. He was standing with them. It was really him. They could look at his hands and his side and see the familiar marks of the crucified. But he was not dead; he was clearly alive. And he repeated his greeting of peace. And that was exactly what the risen Jesus had brought to these disciples. A commentator on these verses notes that when Jesus appeared to his disciples, nothing about their outward circumstances changed. They were just as vulnerable to the Jewish authorities as they had been. They were just as uncertain about what their enemies might try to do to them. They were still hiding behind locked doors. But everything had changed for their hearts and souls. Their Lord was alive, just as he had promised. The Jews could attack and even take their lives, and in the end the disciples would be fine. They would be better than fine. They would be with their Savior in heaven. They were at peace with God; their sins were forgiven. That’s what all of the events of those days had meant. Jesus went to the cross bearing the sins of the disciples, and he appeared to them to assure them that their sins were left in the grave.