Sermon: Seeing and Showing Jesus
April 28, 2019
Second Sunday of Easter
John 20:19-31
RUMC, Pastor SeokCheol Shin
Seeing and Showing Jesus
Spring Comes
“What a beautiful day!” This was my greeting when I visited some of our congregation members during the last week. Well, I know it had been raining during the weekend and it was a little chilly, but I like to see this rain as God’s gift for our gardens in our backyards. Sooner or later, we will get busy during our day-off as we plant flowers and vegetables and mow the lawns. After spending the cold winter season with lots of snows, finally we can open our windows, celebrate spring cleaning, and come outside to rejoice in the spring breezes.
Today’s Gospel also brings us a joyful greeting of spring. In this account, all the disciples look so terrific and excite, and I can almost hear them shout all together “What a wonderful day!” What’s going on in this story? They saw the risen Christ again coming into their gloomy upper room. Well, we need to go back a few days before Jesus was risen and see what happened to them, so that we can better understand why they were so excited to see Jesus Christ again.
Jesus’ Appearance in the Upper Room
On Thursday, Jesus and his disciples gathered in an upper room to share a meal together, which we now call “the Last Supper.” During the supper, Jesus knelt before his disciples and began to wash their feet one by one; he told them, “As I am your master, I have washed your feet; then you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” It was Jesus’s invitation and lesson for them to serve others
After the meal, he went to the Mount of Gethsemane with his disciples, and he prayed that God would empower him to obey God’s will as he confessed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Just after this prayer, he was arrested and handed over to the Roman power, and he was tried, beaten, and nailed to a cross with the title of King of the Jews written on a placard placed above his head. That was on Friday, the day he died.
On Sunday, Mary Magdalene and several women went to Jesus’ tomb to wash his dead body according to the Jewish custom for the dead. However, they could not find his body there because the tomb was empty. It was empty because Jesus was risen and came back to life.
In the meantime, all the disciples had run back to their upper room; they locked the door because they were afraid of the Jews who killed their Master Jesus. They were probably spending the most terrible weekend, worrying about their future life without Jesus. The women brought to them an unbelievable word that Jesus was alive. But they couldn’t understand it because they didn’t see what happened to the tomb where Jesus was buried.
It was these broken-hearted disciples to whom Jesus appeared. The first word that the risen Lord spoke to them was “Peace be with you” (v. 19). Right away, they came alive with rejoicing when they saw him speak to them in front of their eyes.
Yet, “Peace be with you” wasn’t the only message that Jesus proclaimed to them. He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (v. 22). He was breathing new life and new power into their souls. They became new creations, sustained and empowered by the presence of the Holy Spirit in their hearts.
So what happened to the disciples who saw the risen Christ and received the Holy Spirit? They were no longer coward but bold enough to open the door of their house; they came out to the world to proclaim that Jesus is risen and he is the Lord of all. For that, they were put in prison and tortured by the Jewish officials, but none and nothing could stop them; they continued their teaching in the city of Jerusalem, and from there they went out into the Gentile countries and all over the world.
They were now totally different people. Until recently, they were afraid of the Jews, but now the Jews were afraid of them. What a big change it is! What motivated them to stand bold enough to challenge and change the world? The answer is in the story. That is, the risen Christ appeared to them and they saw him alive in front of their eyes.
But interestingly, there were some other disciples who didn’t believe the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They only considered it as a rumor. Poor Thomas was one of them. We have given him a nickname, “doubting Thomas.” His doubt was very simple, that is, he wasn’t there when Jesus appeared to the disciples. He left this famous word in John’s Gospel, “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” (v. 25).
Yet, Jesus didn’t leave Thomas stuck in his own doubt. A week later, he appeared to them again, and this time Thomas was there with his fellow disciples. The first word Jesus spoke to them was also “Peace be with you.” Then, right away, Thomas overcame all doubts and came alive with rejoicing and confessing, “My Lord and my God!” (v. 28).
We tend to laugh at Thomas and blame his unfaithfulness. But I don’t believe he was weaker than any other disciples or that the other disciples were more faithful than Thomas. They were all hiding in the upper room; they were all worried about the world; they all didn’t believe the resurrection of Jesus until they really saw the risen Christ in front of their eyes. Thomas just saw him little later than his friends.
Of course, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (v. 29). This blessed one is Jesus himself. Jesus trusted his own resurrection and that’s why he allowed people to crucify him. But we are not like Jesus; we are like Thomas. Just as he needed to see the risen Jesus to believe, we also need to see, experience, and feel the risen Jesus first, so that we might believe in the power of God and all the promises of Jesus Christ.
Once again, seeing is believing. The disciples overcame their fear and doubt when they saw the risen Jesus in front of their eyes. Likewise, as we see Jesus, we can rejoice in our life, and as we show Jesus, we can challenge and change the world.
Showing the Risen Christ
How can we see Jesus, and how can we show Jesus to others? Do we see ourselves out of peace and out of hope in life? Do we feel like we are still caught in the power of darkness or sinfulness? Then, let us come forward to see Jesus Christ who is present in our gatherings. Christ comes in wherever his people gather in his name. Do we see people out there who still close their hearts, who are struggling in fear and loneliness, who don’t know God forgives and loves them? Then let us reach out to show the risen Christ as we touch their brokenness, wash their feet, and bless their lives in the name of the risen Christ who is delighted to offers us peace.
“Seeing Jesus” and “showing Jesus,” that is the point of today’s Gospel and that’s what we disciples are called to do for our worship and ministry. May the risen Christ come and breathe his peace and power into our hearts and may God empower us that we go to the world to become the Good News of peace, hope, and joy of life to all others. Amen.