By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
April 27, 2025
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John 20:19–31 (ESV)
19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” 24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” 26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Last week I probably did not deliver the expected Easter message. I did not cry out multiple times that Jesus is Risen! I did this because that first day of Resurrection was a day of confusion. It was a day where Jesus’s friends had to wrestle with knowledge. They were told that he would rise, and they believe the words that Jesus spoke. And yet they were wrestling with their own knowledge of the world around them.
We wrestle, we struggle. Life is often difficult because we face challenges from every direction. Maybe it is my personality but I seem to dwell in the mindset of struggle. That is my default position, I often find myself in the middle of situations and I do not even know how I got there. When I was in management in retail, I was placed in a store that was struggling, it was probably the single store that struggled the most. On the outside it may not have seemed like it, because we were selling merchandise like any other store, but behind the scenes there were problems. Thousands of dollars were misplaced. Large value items were missing with no explanation. Management seemed to be in chaos, the facilities were inadequate for volume of retail flow. Everything seemed in shambles, it did not only seem that way it was that way. I would spend nearly every waking moment working. And it seemed as if I go no where. I was once visited by my market manager and we walked around the store for an hour and he did not speak a single word to me. He would go look at a report and grunt. He would talk question one of the administrative staff, I would try to comment along with them and he would shoot daggers out of his eyes as he turned to me, and grunt again. For an hour this went on, and I walked with my notebook waiting for some directive or mention of what to do to improve the situation. We got to the front of the store, and he final said a word, “Your store is terrible.” And he left. He used words that I cannot repeat in church, but I got the full picture.
This place was in the midst of a struggle and no one knew how to get it out of that position. I was there for two years, and faced complete management changes nine times. And at the end of those two years, every problem that faced the store was placed on my shoulders because I was the only manager that had been there for a year. And I was unable to provide documentation of what we were attempting to do. I had never felt so small. But the worst part is that the reason the documents were unavailable is because we were not allowed to purchase office paper, and everything was to be saved on our computer. And a week before our inventory, my computer crashed. I had everything saved on an external hard drive, but it could not be accessed because the IT Department had not finished setting up the security protocols.
With all of the turmoil going on at that store, things did improve. One of the market managers that covered the area, would often come and just sit in my office doing her reports. I asked her once why she did that because she was touring my store, or giving me any instruction or performing disciplinary action. And her answer was interesting. She said to me, “your office is peaceful. You know your store is chaotic, and things are slowing changing. Everyone is on edge and stressed out, but I can come into this office in this terrible store and it is peaceful and I can focus.”
Life is filled with struggles and stress. That is where we found the disciples last week. The women among them had left early to anoint the body, but there was no body to be found. Then two angels came and stood with them asking them, “Why do you seek the living one among the dead?” They were confused because everything in them wanted to believe that he had risen just as he said he would, yet they had just lived through the most traumatic event of their lives. They watched an innocent man was imprisoned, tortured, and executed. They watched this. It was not just some random person within society where they could jeer saying, “he probably did something. I don’t know what but there was probably a good reason for this to happen to him.” The jeers that most people could find comfort in, were not available to them because they knew. They knew Jesus, and they watched, unable to do anything as the systems of the world came crashing down on one man. With the justification, “It is better for one man to die than lose a nation.”
Is it better? Can we live with ourselves when we take a step back and look at the humanity of those around us? In the abstract sure. But what if it was your friend that was wrongfully accused? What if it was your son or daughter who was whipped? Can we remain at ease with our justifications when we know the life and lifestyle of the accused?
They were living in chaos. They wanted to believe. They wanted to hope. They wanted to praise yet their experience dictated something different in their minds. How can I speak out against the brutality of the empire? How can I speak up when everyone I know seems to be satisfied with what is going on around us? How can I think it is wrong when those that have authority justified it?
Imagine what you would do in that situation. Imagine if you had been visited by angels who seemed almost annoyed that you did not have the faith to sing praises at the sight of the empty tomb. Imagine.
The disciples were doing the very thing most of us would have been doing if we had found ourselves in that situation. They sat in a room with the doors locked, because they feared the Jews. John is often ridiculed for statements like this. Many have said that John is giving justification for antisemitism. But we need to remember the context. Scholars debate about when the various books of scripture were written but they all agree that John’s was the last of the four. The people that first followed Jesus had Hebrew heritage, so when they say words like this there is a reason. They had experienced persecution at the hands these people. It was the religious leaders that handed Jesus over to Rome, it was the religious leaders that stoned their friends, threw them from the temple, and hunted them down. John is not being antisemitic he is being honest. They locked themselves in a room because the religious establishment might be looking for them. They had justified the killing of their teacher, the logical next step would be to find the remanent of his followers and kill them as well.
We know how they feel. Because there are countless times within our lives where we have felt the need to speak up, but remained silent because of fear. My classmates might laugh at me. My friends might think I am uncool. Maybe I have misread or misunderstood what is going on and I do not want to seem ignorant. Maybe I know what the response will be and I just do not want to hurt their feelings or cause a fight. We are silent out of fear, and our silence is submission. Our silence is quiet acceptance.
They sat in a locked room in fear. Their entire world had come crashing down and now the body of their teacher is missing and they are struggling to accept the implications of what that means. The angels said he has risen, but we watched him die, can a dead person rise on their own. Then Lazarus pipes in, “I was dead once.” and Mary and Martha respond, “Yes that is right he was dead, for days, and Jesus brought him back.” Then one of the twelves speaks up, “but Jesus was alive with power when he called out to Lazarus. Can he really do that if he, himself is dead?” Then I am sure someone probably told them to talk quieter because they thought they heard something. And they all sit again with their eyes fixed on the door and their ears straining to catch the shuffle of feet on the dirt just outside.
“Peace be with you.” a voice suddenly says in the silence.
Imagine the shock.
Imagine how many of the group had fainted.
Imagine how long it would have taken for you to catch your breath.
They were locked behind a closed door. And Jesus somehow was standing right there. He utters those words and then he rolls up his sleeves, and lifts up his shirt to show his hands and his side. I have not really thought about it too deeply, but Jesus says four words, and he immediately shows them these things. Why?
It is probably because they just sat there with their mouths open in stunned silence. Some of them probably had to be reminded to breathe.
Once they get their senses back and their faces begin to soften from terror to recognition, Jesus speaks again. “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
Peace.
This is the word that my eyes kept falling on in prayer. My mind of course is hyper focused on this because I know that this world is currently not at peace. This word can be used in three different ways according to my theological dictionary. The first gives the sense of a treaty of peace. This means that there was some sort of physical conflict occurring between parties and they had come to terms. The second concept is to be at a state of rest. And the third is a peaceful attitude. I know you are not supposed to use the word to define itself, but this is a theological dictionary not grammar. Peace is without conflict so the point is this can be between multiple parties, either nations or individuals. It can be with your environment, or within yourself.
Usually, we look at the fear surrounding the situation. We see that the disciples are locked behind closed doors and we take the statement about peace from Jesus as being a peaceful attitude, or maybe calm down. But then I thought about the proclamation that was raised by the crowds on Palm Sunday. They cried out, “Peace in heaven.”
This caused me to pause this week. They are looking at the victim of the height of human injustice. Religious leaders threw this one man to the dogs, for what reason? To save the nation. The world’s leaders, used the power given to them to investigate the incident, and instead of giving justice, they decided to appease the crowd. And they mocked and tortured Jesus within an inch of his life. This was not enough so to ease the tension, so they listened to the masses and executed him. The idea was that if they are brutal enough the people will not revolt. They will submit, they will not speak up and will keep quiet to protect their own life. Jesus faced the full evil within the heart of humanity’s quest for power. In their desire to hold and maintain power they used violence and brutality to beat any resistance out of the population.
This is the way of the world. Humanity wants power, they want influence and prosperity. And often the way to gain and maintain this is to use force, or the threat of harm. Most of us do not face this in the physical sense, but we face it everyday in other aspects. How many of us go to work and have the threat of losing your job hanging over you? How many of us might lose a scholarship if we get a bad test score? What will happen if we forget a love one’s birthday or your anniversary? We constantly live under real and imagined threats. But then there are those that live under even more intense threats. A governor’s house is firebombed on passover. And there are people within this society that are genuinely fearful of a traffic stop because they know people that were stopped for speeding and ended up in the hospital or worse. We do not know the full story of every situation, but fear is often where we life. Because fear is the tool of the enemy.
Jesus stands before them. He shows them the marks of injustice. And he says, “Peace be with you.”
Could it be that this is more than saying “Chill out?” Could it be that Jesus is showing them that He has overcome the injustice we all feel and is telling them there is hope? There is peace between heaven and humanity?
At this point Jesus does something interesting. He breathed on them. What does this look like in your mind? When I was a child, I would read this and I thought Jesus was like a fire breathing dragon, or like superman blowing icy air onto the disciples with super breath. But then I began to learn about other cultures, like the hongi practice among the natives of New Zealand. Where when people greet one another they press their noses and foreheads together to share the breath of life. That is now what I picture as I read this passage. I see Jesus going to each of the disciples, pressing his head to theirs and sharing that intimate space.
He breathes on them and he then says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Peace be with you. Receive the Holy Spirit. My mind is transported back to the beginning of the human story. God breathed on you lifeless first parents and gave them life. He gave them the breath of life, and then he placed them into the Garden. What this poetic description is telling us is that we became the image bearers of God to creation. We became the image or physical representation of the divine being, and were placed within the temple dedicated to worship that deity. God set humanity as his image bearer, that is why he said do not make an image of anything and worship it as him, because he had already given us the bearer of his likeness. We are his image. And the breath that he gave our first parents was the Spirit living within them, giving them true life.
That life was lost when humanity joined in the spiritual rebellion and ate of the tree. In their desire to be like God knowing good and evil they turned away from God’s teachings and because of that turning, God’s spirit could not longer reside within us and we died spiritually.
But there is peace in heaven. Jesus took on humanity. God became flesh and dwelt among us. He faced the full extent of human knowledge of good and evil. He experienced the justification of our national security, and he died for the good of a nation. But things did not transpire the way the kingdoms of men intend.
We assume that if we are strong enough, if we can exert enough force we can make the world bend their knees to us. We see it playing out in the playgrounds of schools, the bully using force to ensure their standing. And this mentality moves up into all aspects of society. Its in our workplace and among nations. It is humanity seeking our own knowledge of good and evil. Desecrating the bearers of God’s image in the process.
Yet Jesus looks at his disciples, he presses his head to theirs breathing on them and says receive the Holy Spirit. Take back the life that was once lost. Live once again in communion with the Spirit of God. And with Christ, God took the rebellion of humanity onto himself, and in his resurrection he offers us the life we once lost. He restores each of us back to image bearers of God to the world, as the Spirit of God is taken into our lungs and we share the breath of life.
Jesus then tells us what we should do with this new restored life. “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
Imagine what would be coursing through the minds of the disciples at that moment. The power of that statement is profound. Within us we have the power to restore creation or continue its destruction. We have within us the power to redeem relationships, or continue the disorder. We have the right to bear God’s image, to be his representatives and his ambassadors to creation. And this is a power that is not lost on the disciples.
They were living in fear. They were locked away hiding from the world. Living in a state is dis-ease. And Jesus brought peace. Peace emotionally, peace environmentally, and peace spiritually. He restored hope, he by standing with them and sharing the air between them restored the dignity of who they are. They are children of God, image bearers to the world. And agents of the King who comes in the name of the Lord.
But there was one that was not with them that day. Thomas my favorite disciple. They go out to find him. No longer are they hiding away but they the go out seeking the one the one left behind. They go out to bring him back in among them. They want him to experience the very thing they experienced. Yet Thomas, like so many of us is skeptical. “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my fingers into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
Thomas was skeptical, yet he joins with them. He did not believe, yet he did not neglect or turn away from his friends. He may not have agreed with them but he saw something with them, that he wanted. And Jesus met him there. He met him where he was. He showed him what he needed to see. And it is Thomas the once skeptical disciple that proclaims, “My Lord and my God!” It is the skeptic that understood the fullness of who Jesus is. And Jesus tells him, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
We live in a world of struggle. I struggle there are moments where I wonder if there is a God, moments if I have any faith at all. There are moments when I wonder if I have made a difference, or if I should just go off alone as Thomas did. But then something happens. I see a sunset and I marvel as the beauty. I see the unique pattern in the iris of the eye. I see the smile rise from the lips of my son to his eyes as he plays a sport he loves. I see those little things and am reminded that there is more. I know the science behind the beauty of the sunset, I know the genetics involved with the formation of the eyes. I do not know where Albert gets his ability from that is a divine mystery. I know these and yet I cannot answer why here, why us. Why do we have the privilege on this planet to experience life? I am a skeptic. And Spirit has shared the air with me. I can face the struggle because I know that there is hope. I can look at the injustice of the world and yearn for change, because I have faith that Jesus is risen.
That does not take away the struggle. I stepped down from that job in management, for a number of reasons. But it taught me a great deal. There can be peace in the midst of a struggle. I can testify to it because one of my bosses came to the worst store of the market to find peace. She found that peace, not because I was anything great, but because there was peace reflecting around, there was hope in the air. The world is what it is. It is filled with humans that fight among themselves trying to be the one that possesses the power. They throw that power around and demand respect, expecting us to bend our knees to them. But we have a hope greater than them. Jesus took their blows to the grave, and he rose again. And today he is calling us to his peace, he is pressing his head against ours share the breath that brings life, and is encouraging us to forgive, just as our Father has forgiven us. He made our peace. Will you share it.
Previous Messages:
The Mind of Christ
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church March 29, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Query 3: Do you attend regularly the services of your church and participate in them actively? Do you prayerfully endeavor to minister, under the guidance of the Holy…
Walk as Children of Light
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church March 15, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Ephesians 5:8–14 (ESV) 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit…
Your Kingdom Come
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church February 22, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Romans 5:12–19 (ESV) 12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all…
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