Sermons

John 20:19-31

No Wonder

No wonder the disciples acted as they did, the day they heard the news that Jesus wasn’t in the tomb. They exhibited all the characteristics of trauma—fear, hiding away, not able to move, breathe, talk, or believe, in anything. I would be surprised if they were portrayed in any other way, even if they had just heard the greatest news that death had been conquered. They were still dealing with death and it gripped them.

Enter Christ.  No longer Jesus of Nazareth, now the Christ who could walk through walls and break the cycle of fear and death. What’s the formula? Our culture needs to hear. How did Christ do it? Listen and see.

Christ showed up and walked into the midst of their grief. He greeted them with “Peace be with you,” words they so desperately needed to hear when their lives and relationships had been torn apart. Peace in Greek (Irene) means to talk to each other again after a break in a relationship. As God sends me, he told them, so I send you. Be an apostle (literally, sent one), get up and go out and do something for someone else in the name of Christ. Then he breathed on them, as God breathed life into creation.

Oh, there’s more, but maybe that’s enough for now. How comforting to know that in times of grief and trauma, God doesn’t stay at a distance. God shows up. Even for us.