Easter Blessings

John 20:19-31

Our gospel story today is a very familiar text. We have journeyed with Jesus through his three years of ministry. We have been witnesses to so many miracles yet there were many times when we were confused and unbelieving. We are all disciples and live within this age-old tale that we hear today. And we continue to gather together each week at our churches in the living word of scripture knowing God offers us new encounters and fresh grace.

Now we stand together, and it is Easter evening. Judas and Thomas are not with us. The doors are barred. Our teacher, our rabbi, our best friend has been crucified. The officials have seen us with him. Maybe they will consider us as conspirators against the government. We have talked a lot about that news that Mary Magdalene shared with us…good news that there is no body in the tomb and Jesus spoke to her in the garden, although she did not recognize him at first. We have never felt this overwhelmed before. This is such a time of confusion. Things are bleak.

When it seems as though fear and confusion and despair will swallow us up — Jesus comes. He comes in a body that is whole, a body bearing the scars of His crucifixion. Jesus comes when we need Him most and yet He is always beside us. He loves us so very much, just as He loved His first disciples.

Three days Jesus was in the grave and now He comes to us with three blessings. First is that wonderful blessing of PEACE. It’s that peace deep within us that we cannot even begin to understand or to explain to others. It’s a feeling of mercy that brings with it a sense of calmness and glorious joy. Pause for a moment and feel that peace flowing through you. We who are all imperfect sinners can feel that powerful peace of the Lord seep into every corner of our bodies and our souls.

Jesus’ second blessing is also a commission. “As my father sent me, so I send you.” That phrase “as my father sent me” tells us the journey has not ended. We have a task ahead, a beautiful purpose to achieve. Jesus knows the disciples have not acted in a stellar way these past few weeks and knows how often we fall short, but He never mentions being left down by us. This encounter is amazing but there is still one more surprise ahead: Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit into each one of us. He wants us to feel that breath and to turn to each other, knowing that we do not breathe alone. This is the Holy Spirit that is within us, moving here among us. It’s a blessing that began at the beginning of time. It has passed through the ages and witnessed years of history. Now it is planted in you and me. Jesus, the master, our Lord of Salvation, is making sure that we are clothed in Him, giving us life abundant both now and for eternity. That Holy Spirit will equip us for the ongoing work that lies ahead.

I think we get gathered into these accounts in the living word and witness them so that we truly understand the liberation Jesus bestowed on us through His death and resurrection. To realize that we are children of the living God, our sins were forgiven, and we have been granted the life Jesus came to share, the real and eternal life lived the way Jesus personally revealed it.

The promises we hear take time to sink in, to come to active trust and faith. God understands our faith journeys. God knows they happen bit by bit. He knows that we are uniquely created. He knows that our life of faith will be marked by hilltops and pitfalls and that we will endure scars on behalf of others. There will be times when we sail calmly along. There will be times of trial. We will need to be told over and over again that God and Love cannot be separated. It is in that love that we will become real witnesses to the resurrection. A hunger will grow within us:

Hunger to gather together, to share a meal and celebrate life

Hunger to share the trust and life-giving power of our Lord

Hunger to become a community of faithful who are not afraid to live courageously

Hunger to break bread together

Hunger to encounter strangers everywhere until they are no longer strangers

Everything that has happened to these disciples has happened to us. We have received the peace of the Lord. We have received the Holy Spirit and we have been sent out. When we share the peace of the Lord with each other we are enacting what we heard in our gospel. We have that peace, so it is easy to fill our sanctuaries with the life of the Holy Spirit, breathing to each other the meaning of Christ’s death and resurrection when we greet each other.

And when we say the words of the Apostles Creed as an affirmation of our faith, we say we believe Jesus rose from the dead. We believe in the resurrection of the body and the forgiveness of sins.

When we say those words, we don’t want them to be some ancient doctrine that we are mouthing without thinking. These words should be the basis for our calling to encounter the risen Jesus.

Personally, I know that the story of the resurrected Christ and His grace-filled presence has rescued me from the depths of grief, from confusion and disbelief when there was nothing else inside of me to help me stand and walk forward. In the ordinary days of my life, it is the risen Lord who helps me move forward with a comfortable sense of purpose—with gentle nudges toward a life of love. With His mantle of forgiveness which He spreads again and again, He pushes me to get back out there where I should try to do better.

The gospel writers want us to fully understand that Jesus is not a ghost. He is flesh and blood, He ate, He bore the wounds of crucifixion. His familiarity and solidarity with our human conditions did not end with his death.

We must not linger

We have seen and been already blessed

We have been seen and we are the blessing

We don’t need fancy words

We must go and simply tell

Christ has come with his powerful peace. He stands here among us. His holy spirit is alive within each of us and awaits the stirring of our limbs. It waits for what has been dead within us to return and to live. So let us show the world the resurrection in all that we say and do. In this world where we are sometimes surrounded by scoffers let us be awestruck, amazed and moved to proclaim that Christ is risen indeed.