The Locked Door

In John 20, on the day of the Resurrection, the disciples are behind a “locked door” - afraid.  We, too, live with both fear of what might happen and guilt over what has already happened. But into that locked space, Jesus comes and speaks His peace. Through His wounds and His Word, He brings forgiveness that deals fully with our guilt and presence that overcomes our fear. And then He sends us out, reminding us that we are not meant to remain behind locked doors, but to live as people set free by His peace and forgiveness.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

In Matthew 28, Jesus said, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. He calls you to be that disciple. To hear his word, to receive his promises, to repent, to believe. That Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And that by believing you have life in his name. Now here are the good news of Jesus for you. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. There's something about a locked door. Something about a locked door that changes everything. When a door is locked, it signals that something or someone is being kept out. Or perhaps that something inside is being hidden or it's being protected. You know that feeling? At night you go around the house and you check the locks, maybe you do it twice. Not necessarily because something has happened before, but because something could. The lock gives you then a sense of control, a sense that you've done everything you can to keep danger at bay, to keep danger at a safe distance. But there are other kinds of locked doors too. Ones that are not made of wood or steel, but the kind that we build in our lives, the things that we choose not to talk about, the struggles that we carry and we choose to hide them. The fears that we push down and we hope that no one is noticing that we're carrying those fears. The parts of our lives that we don't want others to see. And if we're honest, the parts we don't even want God to see too closely. We lock out people who might ask hard questions. We lock out situations that might expose ourselves and might expose our weaknesses. We'd lock out our memories, especially the ones that sting when we think about them. We even try and lock out God's word at times, especially when it hits a little too close to home, when it talks about things and names things that we would rather ignore, because it deals safer that way. And if nothing gets in, then nothing can disrupt us or challenge us or hurt us. But of course, there's a cost as well. There's a cost to this kind of safety. Because when the doors are locked, you may feel protected, but you're also still inside. And the fear doesn't always go away. It ends up kind of just sitting there with you in the room. You probably know that feeling. It's the evening of Easter. The resurrection has already taken place, although, again, they don't fully understand what that means or the implications of it. The women have reported to these disciples that the tomb is empty. And so there are reports, and then there's confusion, there's uncertainty. But one thing is clear, the Bible makes clear of this, the doors are locked for fear. That we know. Again, these disciples had just been uh, they had just seen Jesus arrested, arrested in the middle of the night and dragged through trials, mocked, beaten, and then publicly executed by crucifixion. They have seen how quickly the crowds turned on him. After all, just a week earlier, they were pulling branches from the trees and they were spreading their cloaks all on the ground and they were shouting, Hosanna, save us, Jesus. And so they've seen now how little it took for them to change and how little it took for the authorities to move against someone. And they know, they know that they are not just random bystanders to this Jesus. They are known, well-known associates of him, followers. And so, from their point of view, it would not be unreasonable to think that they might be next. If Jesus, if he was treated as a threat, then what about those who followed him? What if the authorities start looking for them as well? What if they too are arrested and questioned and then punished in the same way? And so these locked doors are not about some manufactured version of anxiety. This is about survival for them. But there's more going on behind those doors as well. There's more in that room than just the fear of what might happen to them. There's also the weight, the weight of what has already taken place. Remember, these are the same disciples who ran. The same disciples who scattered. It's the same Peter who at one point swore loyalty to Jesus. And then when he was pressured, he denied even knowing him. And now, in that quiet, locked room, there is nowhere for them to hide. And so they're not only afraid of what is on the outside, but they're carrying this guilt on the inside. And that's not far from us. We know what it's like to fear, to fear what comes next. Health, family, future, those things, those countless things that we can't control, try as hard as we might. We know what it's like to carry that regret, what we should have done but didn't, what we knew was wrong, and we did it anyway. We didn't care. The words that we spoke in anger, the people that we failed to love, that quiet pattern of sin that pops up again and again, and we try and manage it and control it instead of confess it. And so we do what they did. We lock the door. We try to contain it, we try to manage our lives in such a way that nothing gets too close, nothing gets exposed. And so on the outside, this is what ends up happening. On the outside, things look good. They look great, they look fine, they look fantastic. But then on the inside, the fear and the guilt, it still is there. Everything changes for the disciples. Because Jesus comes and stands among them. He doesn't knock, he doesn't wait for them to open the door, he just comes. And that means something really important for us. It means that the disciples, they thought that locked door was keeping them safe. But it was not keeping them away from Jesus. And the same is true for you and me. The things that we think are keeping Jesus out, they are not enough to do that. Your fear does not keep him out. Your doubt does not keep him out. Your guilt does not keep him out. Even in the places of your life that you've tried to seal off and the things that you would rather not deal with, the things that you hope that no one else sees. None of that. None of that is a barrier to Jesus. He comes anyway. And here's the best part. When he comes, he doesn't start with accusations. He doesn't start replaying all the failures. This is what he starts with. Peace. Peace be with you. By the way, this is not a casual greeting like we often treat it before worship. God's peace be with you. Yeah, good morning, uh-huh. Good to see you. It's not a casual greeting like that. This is a declaration. A declaration that Jesus is speaking directly to them. It's spoken into a room that's filled with guilt and fear. Because peace is exactly what at this point they do not have. And it's not something that they can produce for themselves. And so what happens? Jesus speaks it to them. He gives it to them. And then he shows them his hands and his side. He shows them the wounds. Wounds that are there because of what they did. Not just the wounds that were given to them by other people, but by even these disciples. Their sin, their running, their denying, their abandoning. And yours as well. And yet, at the same time, those wounds are now the very source of their peace. Because their sin has been carried, their guilt has been paid for, their failures, there's an answer for those. That's why Jesus can say peace. And then Jesus does something remarkable. He says, Just as the Father has sent me, even so I'm sending you. And then he breathes on them and says, Receive the Holy Spirit. And he tells them, if you forgive the sins of any, they're forgiven. And if you withhold the sins of any, they're withheld. We often call this the office of the keys. And usually we think that means that the pastor is the one who holds all the keys, but that's not actually the truth. Notice, though, where this happens. This happens. Jesus gives this gift to the church, to the people of God. He gives this gift in a room that's what? Locked. He gives them the keys. Dear friends, that's no accident. That room is filled with fearful, guilty sinners. And so Jesus establishes the importance of this office and this work right in the place where it is needed the most. These disciples are cowering. They're cowering behind these locked doors. And here's what they don't need: they don't need advice. They don't need self-improvement. They don't need strategies to cope with their decisions or to cope with the things that they're going through. They need forgiveness. They need someone to speak a word that is strong enough to break through, to break through their fear, and stronger still to deal with the guilt that they are carrying. And that is exactly, that is exactly the word that Jesus speaks. He takes what was accomplished on the cross and he delivers it. He puts it into words, his spoken words. And he places it into that locked room. He places it into their ears right where they are, right what, right where they need to hear. Now these disciples are forgiven. And that's not just information, although we kind of treat it that way sometimes. That you're forgiven. Ah, okay, great. Thanks. Appreciate it. Thanks for letting me know that. No, it's a declaration. And then he entrusts those words to them. And what he's doing is he's making sure that what was accomplished on the cross, these this forgiveness that Jesus won, that that forgiveness doesn't stay locked in that room. Or in this room, or in any room for that matter. Because sin has a way of doing that. It has a way of locking doors, and it locks you in guilt and it locks you in shame. It locks you in fear. And you cannot unlock it yourself. We try to, and we try to in all kinds of ways, but you can't, you can't unlock it yourself. But Jesus can. And he does. And he does that through this word. This word that's spoken. He breaks right through doors, right through the wall. Peace. That's why this matters so much. Because forgiveness is not something that you can go out and find. It's something that comes to you. Again, God places it in your ears. You are forgiven. It's a declaration. He unlocks the door. What was shut is now open. He sets you free. Now, Thomas was not there that first evening. He missed all of this. How unfortunate for him. And so they do what any of us would have done, what anyone would have done in that situation. They run and they tell Thomas, they say, Wow, we saw Jesus. You won't believe it. He said, Peace be with you. He showed us his hands and his side. Jesus is alive. And Thomas is so honest, and I love it. We should love it because it reminds us, it should remind us of ourselves. He says, unless I see his hands and his side, I'll never believe. This is nonsense. Eight days later, Jesus comes into another locked room, except this time Thomas is there. And notice Jesus speaks directly to him. He speaks right to Thomas. And he doesn't dismiss him or reject him. He says, okay, fine, put your finger here. Put your finger here. Don't disbelieve, but believe. He invites him to see and to touch and to believe. Right in the middle of his doubt, Jesus meets him. And Thomas responds, My Lord and my God. He doesn't agree with the disciples' assessment that Jesus is alive, that he did rise from the dead. No, he gives this beautiful confession of faith that this is who Jesus is. He is my Lord. He is my God. And then Jesus speaks a word that reaches beyond that room. And beyond that moment, all the way here today, he says, Blessed are those who have not seen. And yet they believe. That was for you. Because you weren't there. Because you didn't put your hands in Jesus' hands and his side. You didn't see him. And yet, you believe. He speaks to you. Peace be with you. Go back to that image of the locked door. Because here's the thing. We often think that the door, and the fact that the door is locked, that it's keeping us safe. That if we can just manage things and control things and keep certain people and certain truths, or even God at a distance, then we'll be okay. Then we'll be at peace. How ironic, right? But that's not actually what happens. When you lock that door, what we call safety, when we lock that door, it slowly becomes something else. That locked door slowly becomes a prison. Because when the door is locked, again you're trapped inside. And so you're inside with that fear. Fear about your health and family and things you can't control. And inside you're locked with your guilt. Times when you knew what was right and you stayed silent. And that's what life behind the door actually is. It's not peace, it's not rest. It's not safety. It's fear and guilt and fear and guilt over and over again. And that's why Jesus doesn't leave the disciples there. And he doesn't leave you and I there either. He doesn't say, go ahead and stay in this room. You're going to really like it here. He comes into the room and he says, Peace be with you. And that changes everything because now what's filling the room is no longer fear. His room is, this room is filled with his word. Not guilt or doubt, but forgiveness. And then he opens the door, metaphorically, and he sends them out, which means they are never meant to stay there, and neither are you. We are not meant to live behind the locked doors, managing the fear and rehearsing our guilt and trying to protect ourselves from what might happen or what already has happened. Because Jesus has already dealt with both. Your fear. His answer to that is his presence and your guilt. And so he opens the door, what was shut. And so that you can step out into the world and you can be free. Free from what controls you, free from guilt that so often defines you, free to live not as someone hiding, but as someone who is sent out into the world. Because, dear friends, that is who you are now. Not the person behind the locked door, but someone who has been met by Jesus, spoken to by Jesus, forgiven by Jesus, and now sent. Sent by Jesus. And that's peace. And that's what Jesus has come to bring. Through and because he's alive.