And we're going to be looking at verses 19 through 31. Once you've found your place in the Gospel of John, chapter 20, beginning with verse 19, please stand for the reading of God's word. Hear the word of the Lord. So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, peace be with you. And when he had said this, he showed them both hands and his side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit if you believe. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, they have been retained. But Thomas, one of the twelve called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, we have seen the Lord. But he said to them, unless I see in his hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails and put my hand into his side, I will not believe. After eight days, his disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst, and said, peace be with you. Then he said to Thomas, reach here with your finger and see my hands and reach here your hand and put it into my side. And do not be unbelieving. But believing, Thomas answered and said to him, my lord and my God. Jesus said to him, because you have seen me, have you believed. Blessed are they who did not see and yet believed. Therefore, many other signs. Jesus also performed in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name. Let's pray. Father, may your will be done, Jesus, may your word be proclaimed in spirit. May your work be accomplished in us. We pray. Amen. You could be seated. I could count probably a handful of times that I've studied this passage and heard about it in Sunday school and growing up in the church, and it's always referenced, or the title of that teaching or the preaching was doubting Thomas. I remember my grandparents often attributing Thomas with this doubt of faith. And as I matured in my faith and as I continue to read through the scriptures and study all of scripture, and specifically here, the gospel of John. I do not know why so many have taught such a negative view about Thomas and why Thomas gets the bad rap over the last three days at this point, before they're gathered here in this room for fear of the jews, you have Peter denying Jesus in the courtyard. You have all the disciples scattering. But yet Thomas is the one that gets the negative rap. He's the one doubting because he won't believe his own brothers. The disciples that they witnessed and have seen, the resurrected Jesus, none of them have believed necessarily. Mary, remember, was the first one to encounter the resurrected Lord, and she was sent to go tell them. If Mary was sent to tell the disciples that Jesus has risen to go meet him in Galilee, why are they in a room with fear of the Jews? The gospel of Luke would tell us, matter of fact, Jesus tells us that they are fearful and doubting in Luke 24. So I'm of the mind that we can't have this negative view. And I don't know where it comes from honestly about Thomas, and Thomas alone. When all the disciples over the events that took place in the last three days left their allegiance to their king, Jesus, behind, who exercised very little faith, who have no peace, even though Jesus prepared them to have peace. If anything, it's just not doubting Thomas, it's doubting disciples. But this is why I marvel so much at this passage that we just read, is because I identify with it. There is no. There is no reason to believe that everything is well and good with the disciples at this point. Their allegiance is waned. They're doubting, they're fearful, and they're stowed up into a room altogether. That's good. But what I find myself experiencing in my own life is the fact that I've offended people. I live in fear. From time to time. I have anxiety. Can you imagine what they might be thinking about in that very room together, recalling the events over the last past few days, of how they haven't exercised the faith that Christ has called them to or that they love? I'm not challenging even the fact that they love Jesus, but that they haven't manifested that love in a right way. Can you relate to that? Have you ever offended somebody? Have you ever be friend? Have you ever betrayed a friendship or a brother? Have you ever come face to face with that person you've offended, a person you betrayed? That's why I marvel at this, because I find myself in the room with the disciples having done the same thing to Jesus and others myself, and why I marvel at it is because King Jesus seems to know our plight very well. He seems to read our minds and know our hearts, because the next thing that he does, when they might be thinking and recalling all those moments of doubt and all the guilt that they might feel, that guilt and shame of us, I've denied my lord and savior. Oh, I left him. I scattered and fleed him in his moment of dying. I left him high and dry. I'm supposed to be his disciple. My allegiance should be true, but it's waned. Can you imagine that sense of guilt and shame that they might have felt? Can you imagine the self talk that they're telling themselves, guilt ridden. It's their actions that they might have felt that made their savior bleed. Aren't we all in that room with the disciples? And the amazing thing about this passage is we can relate. And I believe the disciples were feeling those things. They're gathered together in fear of the Jews. What is going to become of us? What is going to happen now? And maybe they're not speaking and confessing their sins that have taken place over the last three days with each other. There's no doubt, because I know their humanity, because I have it too. They're living with rage and turmoil, guilt and shame in themselves. And then we find this delightful moment where Jesus comes in. What about that person you've offended? Come face to face? I've been in those confrontations. I'm nervous. I'm shaky. I deserve chastisement. I deserve punishment, be talked down to. And yet the prince of peace walks into the room. And in verse 19, let me just read you his first words, find yourself in that room in that very moment, guilt ridden Shamefield, thinking about how you failed and the one who died for you, who has every right to chastise you, has every right to say, how did you flee from me? My moment of need. You're my disciples. What does he say? He says this, peace be with you. Peace be with you. He says it a couple times. And then a week later, because they're in it again, in the room again. And this time Thomas is there, he'll say, peace be with you. And for the next few minutes, I want to focus on those words, because I think, well, at least for me, I need to hear it. I need to expound upon that phrase that Jesus commands into the room. Because I find myself this week, for the last month, for my whole entire life, recounting the guilt and shame of the poor decisions I've done in my life, the offenses I've caused at others the harsh words that I've spoken, this rage that gets inside of me when I get stressed out, the anxiety that overrides me, everything. And my world seems to be on fire at times. I don't know if you guys can relate to that, but I do. And so I'm just going to declare right now what this message means for me is that Jesus walks into that space where I find myself and where these disciples are, and he says, peace be with you. Peace be with you. He's the prince of peace. He's the same one that at the beginning spoke and brought all things into being. And here, the prince of peace speaks peace. And this isn't the first time he's told them about this. Earlier on in John, this is chapter 20. In chapter 14, when he's gathered his disciples once again prior to his passion and the death and resurrection, he says this peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives, do I give to you. Praise be to God. The world's passing away and its allegiance stinks. But Jesus allegiance to us is forever. Sure, he says, so. Peace I leave with you. Peace I give to you. And he even tells them, do not let your hearts be troubled, nor let them be fearful. But he finds them in a room afraid of the Jews, riddled with guilt and shame for the things that they. How they've acted and the poor faith that they've executed over the last few days. And he speaks peace. Peace be with you oftentimes. And I'm guilty of this. I think a peace is just one dimensional. It's very emotional peace. Ah, I just need this peaceful, easy feeling. But when the prince of peace dishes out his peace, it is an all encompassing, all manifesting peace that resides emotionally, spiritually, physically, that he could come into your world that is on fire, and he can calm the seas that are raging. He can calm the fears. You remember when the storms are raging and the disciples are freaking out, and he wakes up and he calms the storms, even the winds obey him. And so when he's in this room and their minds are aflame, their hearts are aflame, they're guilt ridden. They're ashamed. He says, peace, and it all subsides. Their minds. Stop the chatter. Satan's lying tongue. Look at what you did to Jesus. Look at what you did to Jesus ceases and he speaks peace. And a calmness peace comes over them. Can you hear the word of peace? Can you trust in that peace that Jesus declares to us even now, is your marriage on fire? Not in a good way. Is there tension among brothers? Is there raging in you, an attitude of vengeance for someone having done you wrong? Do you wrestle with guilt and shame for the sins you have committed and have offending a holy God? Has hate overwhelmed your heart towards others? Do your eyes burn with judgment upon others? Is your life filled with anxiety and fear? Have you stoked the fire of bitterness from your refusal to forgive others their faults and offenses? Have you become a stubborn Scrooge, a naysayer, someone who plays the pessimist because of all the negative experiences in your life? Yes, sir. Is your word upside down? Is your world upside down from recent changes in your life, whether intentional or unintentional? Are you living in unrest, unpeace, rage, turmoil, tribulation, and trial? Then hear the words of Christ, peace be with you. Peace be with you. Peace be with you. Are you understanding the fullness of that peace? This is not talking about one little aspect of it. It's multidimensional, a peace that surpasses all comprehension, a peace that calms everything so that you can actually live life, regardless of what's happening, regardless of trials and tribulations, in complete peace. That you can live in a raging world, but yet be in an agent of peace from its early conception. And I believe because of this very instance, the church has always done something to practice a tradition of passing to each other this peace that Jesus brought in this very room among his disciples. I can imagine that the reason why the early church did this is because the early church was founded on the apostles. And this is what Jesus is actually doing here in 20 is he's commissioning them to be apostles and to build his church. This is actually why it's important for Thomas to come and see and witness, because each disciple is to be a witness of the resurrected Lord, so that those who haven't seen can believe in what they're saying. And we ought to be a people who know the peace of Christ. The peace of Christ should be in our own lives, and we desire our brothers and sisters to experience the full peace of Christ in every respect of their life. We are the wielders of peace. The word spoken to us from our Lord and savior is peace. And he has left that peace in us to carry into a dying world so that it might be resurrected to the peaceful life that is everlasting in a kingdom that is ruled in reign by such a peaceful prince who never lords over our shameful deeds or never displays our little faith or our lack of allegiance, that we hold. Instead, he encourages us. He empowers us. He embolds us to live a life in peace with him and with each other, a peace you can't find anywhere else but in Christ Jesus himself. For he is the giver of peace, true peace. If you seek peace in your life, seek Christ, and he will bestow upon you the peace that surpasses all comprehension. If you seek peace in your life, then be a giver and sharer of peace and pass it along to others. Pass the peace. That's what the church has traditionally done. It's an extension of a hand and a hug and says, peace be with you. The very words that Jesus, because Jesus ascended and sits at the right hand of God, spoke words to his disciples, and he says, now share it. Pass it. Pass it along. Go. We need to pass the peace to each other. It's what I'm aiming to do for each and every one of us, including myself this morning, is to pass along this understanding of peace. There's a lot here, but I couldn't help but just to hone in on this one aspect. I would love to unravel verse by verse for you all that Jesus is doing here. But the thing that spoke most important to me is this, peace be with you. I haven't been living in peace. I've been raging a little bit. I've been quickly angered. I've been harsh, and I've needed to hear peace. I had a dream a couple nights ago. I wasn't going to share this, but a couple nights ago I had a dream. It was all these things from my past and all these people coming up, people I've offended, people I haven't offended, but people have been wronged and all these other things, and they were just taunting me in my dream. And I just was like, absolutely, I deserve this. I deserve this. But their voices began to get louder and they were surrounding me and I was just tucked away. And all of a sudden, in my dream, in the midst of it, and this has happened a few times to me, try not to get emotional. Jesus shows up and says, peace be with you. That's actually how I came to this sermon today. And immediately I had, this is telling, I wear this blindfold thing at nighttime. And so that was on. And I had this dream. I went to bed early and I had this dream and I woke up and I was just crying because the dream was so intense. And I felt the immense, overwhelming power of guilt and shame in my own life and just how people were not kind and ugly and calling me things. And all of a sudden, it just kept on resounding in my dream. Peace be with you. Peace be with you. And all of a sudden, I was calm, and I began to weep. Melissa doesn't know this. I didn't share it with her, but she. She had come to bed later, and I grabbed her hand and. Cause I just woke up from that dream. She was like, oh, you're awake. I said, yeah. I don't know if you're hurting. I don't know how your self talk happens in your life. I don't know if you really sit there and think about all the offenses you've done in your life. I do. Jesus doesn't do that to you. If the recounting of your sin, which has been forgiven in Jesus Christ, comes leaping into your life over and over and over and over again, it is not the prince of peace doing that. It's you wrestling against your flesh or wrestling against the prince of the power of this present darkness. Because Jesus doesn't lord over you with punishment, he lords over you with peace. And just approve that. Verse 20. And when he had said this, he showed them both his hands and his side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. After speaking peace to them, he immediately shows them hand inside. Have you ever come face to face with somebody you've offended, and you saw how their life, how you hurt their life, how you hurt them? Wouldn't that make you think, like, more guilt and shame would have entered into the room? Wouldn't seeing the wounds of Jesus make you reflect on the punishment he had to bear for our sin? That's true, but that's not the effect it had on the disciples. They didn't wallow in despair. They weren't sorrowful. They looked upon their savior, and they saw the wounds that their sin caused. But when he showed them his wounds and his side, they rejoice. That's the power of peace that surpasses all understanding, that when Jesus speaks peace, everything you've done in your life for bad is made calm and is taken care of. And there's much rejoicing. Jesus presence doesn't leave you in despair. It leads you to hope. It leads you to thankfulness. It leads you to rejoicing. These are characteristics, and know them well, because if you find yourself in despair and anxiety and fear, wherever you find yourself with guilt ridden shame and all these other things, those are not the mark of the presence of the power, the prince of peace in your life. Jesus doesn't lord over you with your sin. He has said, it's finished. It's done. We're not going to talk about that. We're going to give peace. That's what we're going to do. Jesus himself, our Lord and savior, lords over us with peace, not punishment. And it leads us to joy, not remorse. It leads us to thanksgiving, not despair. And seeing these wounds, they rejoiced. These wounds that Jesus bears does not cause despair, but rejoicing and manifest the full fullness of peace. That Jesus spoke over them in a moment, in a gesture, in a word, Jesus shows them how peace is now available in an unlimited amount. Now their lives can be ruled by peace, which will aid them in what Jesus is about to commission them to do, which is to pass the peace of the gospel as witnesses to the rest of the world. Jesus lords over us not with guilt and shame, but with peace. So if you feel guilt and shame, know that it does not come from him and cling to him. Cling to Jesus and receive the peace that he now speaks to you through his word. Peace be with you. Peace be with you. Here in a moment. If you haven't found yourself being able to relate to the disciples, maybe you can relate to them in this way. That as they were gathered together on the first day of the week, and Jesus appears to them and speaks to them peace, and shows them his hands and his side. Here in a moment, what you're going to see, literally and partake in are the exact same wounds that he is showing to you, that he showed the disciples in his body and his blood poured out for you. And when you look upon into the cup, and when you look upon that bread, which are symbols of all that he's done, which are symbols of those wounds that he received, I pray that you too will respond just like the disciples did. Not with sorrow, not with despair, not with guilt and shame, but rejoice in thanksgiving. In closing, I'm going to pray for us in a second, and I would like to just. Would you guys just bear with me? This one thing that I'm going to ask, and that is after I pray, and if you don't want to do this, you don't have to. I'm not forcing anybody to do it. I want it to be an authentic, genuine christian fellowship that we do, is I want to pass briefly the peace to one another. You may not have ever done this. I grew up southern Baptist. I didn't do this once. But I think this is what these disciples did moving forward. And that's why every time on the first day of the week when everybody gathered who believe in Jesus, I believe they passed the peace. They hugged each other's neck, they made restitution, restoring relationships. If you're at odds with somebody here, seek peace. And you just do it simply by this. Don't be dramatic. Jesus wasn't. He just said, peace be with you. Didn't rehash every moment of their lives of what just took place over the last few days. He just says, peace be with you. I don't need to rehash it. I've already satisfied it. Let's move on. You guys ready to go? Let me commission you. So here in a second, after my prayer, I'm just going to enter a brief time of passing the peace. It's literally going to people you don't know but who are here, gathered here together at the beginning of the week as one in unity and pass the peace and simply say the words of Jesus to them, peace be with you. And you can respond back and also with you. And you're passing this piece that started right there in chapter 20, there in chapter 20 of John, and you could pass it to each other, but just don't say it. A lot of times we can say words and they lose its meaning and effectiveness. And it's not in the words that lose its effectiveness. It's your heart. But say it and genuinely mean it. Peace be with you, brother. Peace be with you, sister. And also with you. Let's pray. Jesus, I thank you so much for your words of peace. I thank you that I got to pour over them all week. And I praise you for the opportunity to speak it to my brothers and sisters this morning. I do not know who needs to hear of it. I can only imagine that each and every one of us do. But I praise you that you do not lord over us with the guilt and shame of our pasts, but that you offer us peace and newness of life. And you speak peace unto us now through your word. And every time we read it, we will always be reminded of the peace you offered your disciples and now offer to these disciples in this room. Thank you for your peace, o prince of peace, and may it reign and rule over our lives, I pray. Amen. Let's all stand and pass the peace, the peace of Christ.