C, Easter 2 - John 20:19–22 "Reception of Peace and the Holy Spirit"
Today, we in the kingdom of God, hear of God’s first
ordination in the evening of Jesus’ resurrection. Ten men are ordained in very simple fashion. Twice he says to the ten, “Peace be with you”, before saying, “As the
Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” (John 20:21)
These men, referred to as disciples, are sent or called to be
apostles, by our Risen Lord Jesus, just as he was by his Father.
Earlier in his ministry, Jesus had designated twelve
disciples as apostles and sent them out.
(Matthew 10; Mark 3:13-19; Luke 6:12-16) After his resurrection, Jesus prepares ten
of them with peace and the Holy Spirit.
He does this so they can function in the way God intended them to
function as shepherds in his body, his church, after Pentecost.
The last time Jesus spoke of peace was to his eleven
disciples after Judas had departed to betray him. Three times Jesus teaches them about why they
need peace, and how they would receive it.
Notice two very important things that cannot be separated
from Jesus’ peace and love — God’s Word and the Holy Spirit.
“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and
my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with
him. Whoever does not love me does not
keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent
me. “These things I have spoken to you
while I am still with you. But the
Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach
you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled,
neither let them be afraid. (John 14:23–27 ESV)
Jesus then goes on to elaborate about the works of the world’s
hatred, and the works of the Holy Spirit in those who love God. They leave the location of the foot washing and
travel to the location where Jesus prays his high priestly prayer. But before he prays, he places his peace upon
them for the third and final time, before his crucifixion, saying, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the
world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 ESV)
Three times he leaves his peace with them before his
resurrection. Now after his resurrection
he recalls to remembrance and reinstates this peace. Twice with the ten disciples and the third time
a week later with Thomas the eleventh disciple.
When Jesus left his peace with his disciples before his
death, he also taught them about the gift of the Holy Spirit. So too
after his resurrection! Jesus places his
peace and breathes the Holy Spirit upon them with his Word.
God’s love in Jesus Christ, the peace of God, Jesus’ Word,
and the Holy Spirit cannot be disconnected and seen in isolation from each
other. Therefore, here after the
resurrection Jesus no longer promises the gift of the Holy Spirit, he makes it
a command. Hear Jesus’ command, “he breathed on them
and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:22 ESV)
Although the Holy Spirit is a gift, the ten apostles are
commanded to “receive” the Holy Spirit. Some
might say, Thomas did not receive the Holy Spirit a week later. However, Thomas, the doubting one, receives
the peace and then receives the Holy Spirit after Jesus gives him the command
to believe.
Receiving the Holy Spirit and believing are one in the same
thing. If you don’t believe, you don’t receive
the Holy Spirit. If you believe Jesus,
you receive the Holy Spirit and allow the Holy Spirit to put off all doubts, as
well as beliefs in the self and the world that oppose Jesus Christ and his Word. One who allows the Holy Spirit to do this,
allows God’s Word to remain supreme and lives in peace, despite how much the
world hates you for bearing the peace of God.
Jesus ordains the eleven apostles in two ways. The ten get one command, to “Receive the Holy
Spirit”. Thomas, the doubter, however, gets five very practical commands.
He said to Thomas in the presence of the other ten, “Put your finger here, and see
my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do
not disbelieve, but believe.” (John 20:27 ESV) Thomas then makes the confession of belief, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28 ESV) Not only is
Jesus, master or Lord, but Thomas confesses him as God.
The eleven apostles have received the Holy Spirit and the peace
of God which surpasses all human understanding, so their hearts and minds are guarded
in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:7). The eleven
apostles and all other disciples need the Holy Spirit to guard their hearts and
minds. The treatment Jesus received, they
received and more, as the body of Christ, the church, grew.
We hear the high priest questioned them, saying, “We
strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled
Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon
us.” But Peter and the apostles
answered, “We must obey God rather than men.
The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a
tree. God exalted him at his right hand
as Leader and Saviour, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of
sins. And we are witnesses to these
things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”
(Acts 5:27b–32 ESV)
Here again, God’s Word and the Holy Spirit are
connected. The Acts of the Apostles are
really the acts of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. The apostles are the means through which the
word and the Holy Spirit work.
Today we need God’s Word and the Holy Spirit to function as
church. In John chapter fourteen to sixteen
Jesus prepares his eleven disciples with his peace, teaching them about the
hatred of the world, loving one’s neighbour, and the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Just as Jesus appointed twelve apostles from the disciples and
sent them out. Pastors have been called
and sent to shepherd the flock, to be under shepherds and slaves, of Christ and
those sheep whom Christ has called them to serve. Similar to the apostles, they serve in the love
of Christ with the command to bind and loose sinners and their sins, by the
power of the Holy Spirit and the word of God, in the stead of Christ.
We call this the office of the keys in the Lutheran Church. Those who reject the call to repentance, actively
work against God’s work through his servants, to bind their sin to the cross and
free them, a sinner. They’re in danger
of sinning against the Holy Spirit, as their sin remains free from the cross, treating
Christ’s crucifixion with contempt.
During Jesus’ ministry, he also sent out seventy-two
disciples ahead of where he went. The post-Pentecost
church is a church of disciples and disciples called in the apostolic tradition
to be pastors. Disciples are learners of
Jesus Christ, students of the Holy Spirit.
Parishioners and Pastors, alike, are all disciples in the body of
Christ.
John tells us what being a disciple is, at the beginning of
Revelation, “To him who loves us and has
freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God
and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (Revelation
1:5b –6 ESV)
Every one of us are priests in God’s kingdom, called to
practise our priesthood in the world, by loving others with forgiveness as the Father
has forgiven us. Inside God’s church,
however, we live in a two-fold priesthood.
This has been the case throughout the history of God’s redemption of
humanity.
God called Moses and Aaron to be his mediators or priests for
Israel, so he could consecrate Israel through them, saying, “if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my
treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you
shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:5–6a ESV)
The Apostle Peter picks this up calling all disciples of Christ’s
body “living stones” and Christ “the corner stone”. He
says, “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of
God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up
as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:4–5 ESV)
In these days of disobedience, it seems God’s peace has disappeared. To some it has for the very reason that they
have not received the Holy Spirit, nor have they hung onto God’s Word.
John speaks further to this in our situation today, saying,
“Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is
coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the
last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been
of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might
become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the
Holy One, and you all have knowledge.” (1 John 2:18–20 ESV)
You have been anointed in baptism, as one in the royal priesthood
of believers. Don’t be ignorant to God’s
Word nor the world’s influence on you and God’s church. Remain in God’s kingdom, remain in Jesus Christ,
receive his Word, allow it to breathe the Holy Spirit on you, and the Holy Spirit
to breathe Christ in you.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7 ESV) Amen.
