“Jesus Stands Among Us” John
Intro.: Last week, our celebration of the Lord’s resurrection
with powerful music, a full church, and a beautifully adorned chancel was so
great. As always happens following such
a service a number of the members told me that they wished it could be like
that every week.
Today I announce to you that you have your
wish, because even without the brass, the lilies, and all those extra people
the celebration of Easter continues.
Christ is risen! He is risen,
indeed! Alleluia! Alleluia!
He has risen and stands among us to bless us.
I. IN OUR
GOSPEL JESUS S
A. While huddled together in fear, Easter, came
to the disciples on that first evening after Christ arose from the dead.
Although they had heard the report of the
women, seen the empty tomb, and some had even seen the risen Christ, still they
remained uncertain and afraid. They
locked themselves and their tiny spark of faith away; hiding it from the rest
of the world in defeat. What they needed
was more Easter. They needed to see the
risen Christ, and experience His presence among them. So Jesus came and stood among them!
He came to those who had forgotten his
promise, to those who had denied and deserted him, to those who were troubled
and afraid. He stood among them, and
said “Peace be with you!” No locked door
was going to prevent Jesus from being with His disciples when they needed Him.
He came and stood among them in order to
display his glorified wounds of victory, so that they might believe that He was
truly the risen Son of God. He was all
they had believed him to be and more.
Yes, He died on the cross, and was buried in a tomb to take away their
sins, but now He lived to give them victory over death and eternal life with
God. They needed to believe that Jesus
was alive, and that because He lived with and for them, they would live
also. And so Jesus came and stood among them. But even this was not the end of the Easter
celebration...
B. One of the disciples, Thomas, was
missing. He did not get to see Jesus the
way the other disciples had. He also
needed to know that Jesus had risen according to his promise. He needed to have Jesus stand with Him. He needed to believe.
Although, many of us have
criticized Thomas and the other disciples in the past for their fears and
doubts. This year let’s not call
names, and point fingers. Really, I
don’t think that these things are recorded as much to point out the flaws of
the disciples, as it is to reveal the faithfulness and love of the Lord who
wants all people to come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved.
Thomas had always been, one, unlike Peter,
who thought things through, and he was not going to swallow any old story. The disciples, no doubt, had told him about
seeing Jesus’, and had even described His wounds. But Thomas said “(No, no matter what you people say, I need to see it for myself.) 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 it.”
One day last week standing among the rest of
them was not enough. Thomas needed more,
so Jesus came and stood among them again.
Just as He had the week before, Jesus showed himself to the disciples,
and this time Thomas was there. Even
though the news of His resurrection was a week old, Jesus loved Thomas so much,
and wanted so badly for him to believe and share in His peace that upon hearing
Thomas’ condition, Jesus appeared to Him, and greeted Him with words of
peace. In essence He said to Thomas,
“(If that’s what it takes brother) put your finger here; see my hands. (Go ahead and) reach out your hand and put it
into my side. (I don’t want you to live
in fear and doubt any longer) Stop doubting and believe”
C. We know from the Bible that Jesus did not
stop there, but appeared to hundreds of the disciples over the next 40
days. Again and again he proved that he
was not a ghost and that he wasn’t dead and buried in the tomb. He was alive, glorified, and victorious. He appeared to those who needed Him. He stood among them to bring them
resurrection peace and Easter joy.
And it still goes on today. Every week we celebrate our mini-Easter as
Jesus comes and stands among us to speak to us in His Word, to wash us in the
waters of baptism, and to feed us with His living body and blood. Though we have not seen, we have heard the
things that are recorded in His Word, and so we believe that Jesus is the risen
Christ. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is our Savior. And He stands among us to bless us.
We know that according to His promise the
risen Christ is here today. He is here
with His disciples, because we need Him.
We need to know that even though we have often forgotten His promises,
He will not. We need to believe that He
forgives our sins, and the many times we have deserted and denied Him. We need faith to overcome our fears, and to
bring out into the open the spark of faith we too often keep hidden behind
locked doors. We need to see by faith
the risen Christ so that we may stop doubting and believe. So Jesus is here with us today…
II. JESUS IS STANDING AMONG US TO OFFER
A. When Jesus comes to us to declare His
resurrection, the light of His life puts an end to our darkness. We learn from the disciples, even as we
experience in our own lives, that when Jesus stands among us doubt is replaced
with faith, fear gives way to peace, joy overcomes sadness, and the idleness of
defeat is taken over by a new victorious life filled with purpose.
When Jesus appeared to the disciples, and
then to Thomas, the doubts they had before Easter were put away. Locked behind those closed doors they had to
be wondering what had happened. In the
span of a week they had gone from being the inner circle of one of the most
sought after celebrities to being branded the coconspirators of a much hated
and crucified criminal. They had seen
the one they thought was the true messiah, who they had seen perform miracles,
and who they had confessed to be the Son of God, refusing to do anything to
help himself when he was tried, beaten, abused, and nailed to a cross to
die. They must have been wondering what
had happened, who Jesus really was, whether anything he said could be trusted,
and if they had just wasted three years of their lives following him? But then Jesus comes to them and where there
was doubt now there was faith and hope.
Thomas, the greatest doubter of all shows us the difference that Easter
makes, when he boldly confesses, “My Lord, and my God!”
Many of us also have struggled with the
doubts that arise throughout the week.
We doubt whether God truly loves us, and forgives us, especially when we
consider our sins and the many bad things that keep happening to us. We question whether Jesus really is the
Christ, whether he really is alive and stands with us, and if perhaps we have
just been wasting our time following him.
And then we come here, and Jesus comes to us. He stands among us and speaks to us in His
Word, and we believe. Faith is given to
us, because as Scripture declares it comes by hearing the message of
Christ! We believe, and we confess,
“Yes, Jesus, You are My Lord and My God!
Holy is your name above all the earth!”
We turn to one another with deep conviction, and with joy confess:
“Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed. Alleluia! Alleluia!” And we, like those disciples on the first
evening and like Thomas a week later, are blessed with in continuing our Easter
celebration, because Jesus still stands among us.
We believe and confess that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God and by believing we now have life - eternal, abundant life -
in His name.
B. Because we believe that Christ is risen we
can now live in peace. The Easter
greeting of our Lord, “Peace be with you!” was
something that he was never recorded to have said to His disciples prior to His
resurrection. Seeing Jesus, either as
the disciples did, or as we do with the eyes of faith, is a source of peace
even in the most troubled times. Think
about it, nothing that had threatened the disciples and driven them behind
locked doors had really changed. The
dangers and hostilities were still there, but now they knew that the risen
Christ, the Son of God, was with them, and if He stood for them, who could ever stand against them?
His victory assured them that they would be more than conquerors.
Knowing that Jesus stands among us, even in
this world filled with fear and danger, we have peace. Not the kind of peace this world promises but
fails to deliver, but the real lasting peace that only Jesus can offer. We know that we have peace with God. We know that His Son is with us, and that
nothing can snatch us away from Him. And
we know that we will rest in His peace for eternity.
C. Because we believe that Christ is risen we
now live with joy. Think back to last
week, if you will. Not the fighting and
frustration of trying to get to church on time, trying to find a parking place
for your car and a pew for yourself, but seeing the bright light of the
resurrection celebration. I don’t know
about you, but in the midst of all the troubles of my life, this gave me such
joy! Like the disciples who saw Jesus
that first night, weren’t you overjoyed to know that the risen Christ stood
among you! This is the new life we have
in Christ: to sing at the Lambs High Feast, to regularly get that foretaste of
heaven, and to be here with Jesus and our holy family in Christ with whom we
will spend eternity. What a joy to know
that Jesus lives! He lives with us! He comes to us here! And prepares us to go and live with Him
there! What a joy to be able to say,
“Christ is risen!
He is risen, indeed. Alleluia!
D. Because we believe that Christ is risen we
don’t have to stay behind the locked doors hiding a little tiny spark of
faith! As with the disciples on that
first night, he has breathed on us and given us the Holy Spirit, and sent us to
share the good news of life in His resurrection with others. Our faith, our peace, and our joy are overflowing,
and we dare not hold it in lest we burst!
Our lives have purpose. Christ
has given us the keys to the kingdom of heaven, the very power and authority to
forgive the sins of those who are repentant, and open the gates to the kingdom
of heaven to them! Our new lives are all
about bringing the blessings of Easter to others, and enable them to know that
Jesus stands among them. We bring Jesus
to the world, so that others may believe and be blessed with the same lives of
peace, joy and purpose that we have.
What a great life we have in Christ!
What a great life to share with others!
Jesus still stands among us, because:
Christ is risen! He is risen
indeed! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.