Easter 2, Year C, 4-7-13
Acts 5:27-32
Psalm 118:14-29
Revelation 1:4-8
John 20:19-31
A Changed Life
On that first Easter Sunday we read the accounts of the resurrection of Jesus.
Mary Magdalene and the other women came to the tomb to finish anointing the body of
Jesus. When they arrived at the tomb, the stone had been rolled away. When they
entered they did not find the body of Jesus. An angel of the appeared to them and said,
“He is not here; he has risen?” The women ran back to the disciples to tell them the news.
But the disciples did not believe them. Peter ran to the tomb. He saw the empty tomb and
the burial clothes neatly folded. Later that day two disciples were walking home to the
town of Emmaus. They were talking about the events that took place that week. Jesus
came up and walked with them. They did not recognize him at first. Beginning with
Moses and the prophets, Jesus led them through an impromptu bible study explaining
everything that was said about him in the scriptures. When they arrived at their house,
they invited Jesus in for a meal. Jesus took the bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to
give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he
disappeared from their sight. Their hearts burned within them as he opened the
Scriptures to them. They got up and returned to Jerusalem to tell the other disciples what
they had seen and heard. That Jesus had risen from the dead.
The apostle John then describes the situation in the Upper Room in the evening of
that first Easter Sunday: “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples
were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews” (Jn. 20:19). This hardly gives
us a picture of the disciples ready to turn the world upside down for Christ. We can
imagine the scene. Peter is cowering in a corner by himself still reeling from the
emotional guilt of denying Jesus. The others were sitting around the room in their
despair as they had run for their lives and abandoned Jesus at the cross. Then there was
John reminding them that he had been at the cross taking care of Jesus’ mother Mary.
One can imagine the sniping and bitterness that took place among them. We see their
human nature at its worse. They looked to Peter for leadership but he was battling his
own demons.
John then allows the light shine in that room when he says: “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” (vv. 19-20). In a
moment, when Jesus said ‘Peace be with you’ their bitterness, despair and guilt
disappeared. They saw the risen Jesus and were reminded of the love he had for them.
Jesus knew his disciples would fail him. But he went through the pain of the cross and
glory of the resurrection so they would know his love and grace in their lives. They
would become a new creation in Christ. Their despair was turned into joy.
But Jesus had a task for them: “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’” (vv. 21-23). They were not to stay holed up in the
Upper Room. They were given the mission to go into the world to proclaim the good
news of the gospel. Jesus equipped them with the power of the Holy Spirit for this task.
They were to proclaim the forgiveness of sins through the cross and resurrection and
Jesus. But there was one disciple missing. This was Thomas. The disciples went to
Thomas and told him that they had seen the Lord. But Thomas needed observable
evidence. He needed to see and touch the nail marks in Jesus’ hands and the wound in
his side. A week later the disciples were in the Upper Room along with Thomas. Though
the doors were locked, Jesus came a stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with
you. Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach your hand and
put it in my side. Stop doubting and believe.’ Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my
God’” (vv. 26-28). That was all Thomas needed. He saw the risen Jesus. Jesus was
alive.
In the book of Acts we see the change that took place in the lives of the apostles:
“The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all
the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. No one else dare joined
them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more
men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. As a result,
people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least
Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. Crowds gathered also from
the town around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits and all
of them were healed” (Acts 5:12-16).
We see a different side of the disciples. They are now in public view performing
miraculous signs and wonders. They were in the temple healing people. Crowds from
the towns around Jerusalem were bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits
and all were healed. But the high priest and his associates were filled with jealousy.
They arrested the apostles and put them in jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord
opened the jail doors and brought them out. The angel told them to go stand in the
temple courts and tell the people the full message of life. At daybreak the apostles
entered the temple courts and began to teach the people.
While this was taking place the high priest called together the Sanhedrin and sent
for the apostles in jail. The officers did not find them there. They went back to tell the
high priest. They were puzzled. Then someone came and said the apostles are in the
temple courts teaching the people. The guards went and arrested the apostles and brought
them before the Sanhedrin. They did not use force because they feared the people. The
apostles were questioned by the high priest and given orders not to teach in the name.
The high priest could not even say the name of Jesus. He said ‘you have filled Jerusalem
with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood’ (v. 28).
They were guilty of Jesus’ blood. They consented to his crucifixion. They rulers did not
have to be made guilty. They were already guilty and they knew it.
Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men! The
God of our father’s raised Jesus from the dead – whom you killed by hanging him on a
tree. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give
repentance and forgiveness of sin to Israel. We are witnesses of these, and so is the Holy
Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him” (vv. 29-32). The apostles were
telling the Sanhedrin to repent of their sin and come to Jesus Chris for cleansing of it. The
Sanhedrin’s response was to have the apostles flogged and have them not speak in the
name of Jesus, and let them go.
The apostles left the Sanhedrin rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of
suffering disgrace for his Name. Day after day in the temple courts and from house to
house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the
Christ. The Christian faith did not face away. Instead it has spread throughout the whole
world. It grew in power. Millions of people’s lives have been changed by the good news
of Jesus. It has prospered because it is not of man but from God.