Throughout the pages of the gospels, we see how much the disciples loved Jesus. They loved him so much that they would do anything for him. But that does not mean they always understood what he was saying.

Jesus told the disciples that he would be put to death and that he would be right back in three days. The disciples tried to understand, but for some reason they just didn’t. As a result, the disciples were very confused on the evening of the first Easter. They were still trying to make sense out of what had happened.

They were meeting behind locked doors. They were afraid. They talked in muffled tones, because what had happened to Jesus could very well happen to them. Every time they heard a noise they thought that someone was coming to haul them away to prison. 

OUR EXPERIENCE WITH A BREAK IN…

I guess we could say the disciples were hearing footsteps like that. They were very frightened. But suddenly, out of nowhere, Jesus appeared in their midst.

He showed them his hands and his feet and greeted them with familiar words, “Peace be with you.” Their response was probably not peaceful at all. No one was supposed to know where they are hiding. How did Jesus find them? How did he enter without using the door?

The disciples were anxious, afraid, and uncertain of what would happen next. Yet here was the Master right in their midst. And alive! He overcame the hatred, rejection, persecution, torture, the terror of crucifixion by death,

and the grave. And like on the stormy sea when Jesus said peace be still, then, slowly, they began to calm down, and then to rejoice.

My friends, Jesus’ presence unlocks the doors of fear. That’s the first thing that happens when people meet the risen Christ: He takes away fear. Just as when the disciples begin to relax and then to rejoice. He is alive! 

That’s what happens when folks come to know the risen Lord. Christ unlocks the doors of their fear.

The disciples were in hiding, frightened, listening for footsteps. But He came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”

And notice what happened next: Jesus breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” This was Jesus’ way of commissioning the disciples for the work he needed them to do. They would no longer be disciples, or learners, but apostles, those sent in His behalf. They would now be putting their lives on the line as His representatives. 

No longer cowards, hiding in the shadows. Hiding in the shadows from the Principalities and Powers, terrified to die for being a follower and promoter of Jesus.

They were now empowered to face not only the Sanhedrin and Pilate, but empowered to go to all parts of the world facing the cruelest tyrants and mobs to continue Christ’s teachings on the law of love, forgiveness and peace. From coward to the empowered!

Jesus knew first-hand what awaited His disciples in the days ahead. He had unlocked the doors of fear in their lives. AND NOW He was sending them into the world to unlock those doors for others.

But first of all, He wanted them to have a sure foundation. He wanted them to have an assurance, an inner witness to the faith that they proclaimed. Thus He breathed on them saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

Did you realize, this all took place in the upper room. Yes, the same room where Christ instituted the Lord’s Supper. This is the room where they fled to when Christ was crucified. This is the room that became their hideout.

This is the very room of remembrance that Christ freed them from their fears of persecution and death.

This is the room where they were empowered to be witnesses to the power of the gospel—making God’s love for them and for all the world.

This is the room where the Spirit blew open the doors of their paralyzing fears, giving them the courage to go into the world. Reminding them that they are never alone, Christ is always with them.

Friends, the upper room was there, but is also here in this sanctuary

and in your homes. The transcendent Christ meets us here, and all our paralyzing fears and disappointments flee his presence.

Here Christ says, My Peace be with you all. Brothers and sisters, may the peace of Christ be with you.

Closing Prayer

God of mystery and love, like Jesus’ first followers just one week from the startling events of Holy Week, we struggle to make sense of all that has transpired. The death of Jesus on the cross shatters not only our preconceptions of what it means to proclaim that Jesus is the anointed one, but also our foundational beliefs about you.

We long to believe that it is true, but some of us are haunted with doubts. We believe, Lord; help our unbelief. Looking back on these events that changed the world, help us to see your love revealed in surprising ways. Help us to recognize your love in the freedom of will you grant your children. Help us to recognize your love in the self-emptying humility of Jesus. Help us to recognize your love in the trauma of the cross, a suffering you share with all who suffer. Help us to recognize your love in the risen Christ. Help us to recognize your love in faith that transcends belief.

Even more, gracious God, help us to embody your love. Make it a part of who we are and how we live. Help us to love you with our entire beings and to love each other as ourselves. Where there is pain and suffering, may we respond in love. Where there is loneliness and grief, may we respond in love. Where there is sickness and death, may we respond in love. Where there is hunger and homelessness, may we respond in love. Where there is inequality and oppression, may we respond in love.

Not only this, O Lord, but give us also courage to speak your love; to articulate what we believe even as we speak our doubts out loud; to confess our failures and share our fears; to proclaim the good news of your love in Christ; to testify and bear witness to the ways you have changed us and the ways you continue to change us. For this is our prayer through Christ who taught us to pray saying…

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.