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John 20:19-23
So let’s set the stage… Jesus has appeared to Mary that morning. John and Peter have a good idea of what happened, Mary maybe not so much. Remember that John saw the grave clothes and believed. But in the mean time the Disciples are still a bit concerned and in hiding, so they are behind locked doors. Let’s see what happens next…
John 20:19-23 (NIV) On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, 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.
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’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Wow – could you imagine, being in a locked room with no way in or out except through the locked door, and Jesus just shows up. You saw Him die on the cross and now He’s standing right in front of you – miraculously. Well – if Jesus shows up in person in my office when my door is locked, well then that’s a whole other devotion but you get what I’m talking about.
And Jesus is not recorded as saying shalom aleichem previously to His Disciples. The common greeting is simply shalom. So Shalom aleichem is more than just a simple greeting of peace. This was peace be on you, peace be within you. It carried with it an entirely new meaning. and it actually comes from Isaiah 53, specifically verse 5.
Isaiah 53:5 (NIV) But he was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed.
So this time when Jesus greets them with peace, it is not simply speaking completeness or well being, safety, prosperity, and rest into their lives. Rather it was a bestowing of all those things and including peace between them and God the Father as a blessing into their lives. No more was there to be enmity or division or separation but now there would be a perfect completion of the ministry of reconciliation.
Now, when we look at verses 21-22-23 we can see three things: The Christian Mission, The Christian Equipping, and The Power Over Sin.
So let’s talk about that for a moment. Verse 21 As the Father sends I’m sending. This is what Jesus tells the Disciples and us today. Isn’t that just exactly what we see in God’s plan for this ministry of reconciliation? God is working through His people? And it starts right there – on Resurrection Sunday – that very evening. Jesus includes them in His mission, they are no longer servants they have become brothers in the mission.
And He doesn’t send them out empty handed. He equips them by breathing into them the Holy Spirit – which is separate from what happens on the Day of Pentecost – the birth of the Church. Now, this whole thing has been debated repeatedly by smarter people than me and none of them come up with a good theological answer. What I see here is Jesus giving the Disciples the ability – giving them the tool they need, precisely the infilling of the Holy Spirit – to actually do the work He assigns them to do as Jesus sends them out.
And of course, it kind of seems odd to us protestant believers to have the power to forgive sin. But isn’t that exactly what the ministry of reconciliation is all about, the power over cancelled sin?
And here is what I’d like you to remember. When we are on mission – Christ’s mission, living in the will of Jesus Christ, and empowered by His Holy Spirit, we operate just like Jesus did when He was here on earth. If you live within the will of God instead of acting against God, setting your will to be in line with His, making His mission your mission, and carrying out the assignment He has for you, then you walk in the power and the authority of Jesus Christ.