Title: Meetings after the Resurrection (John 20:19...
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Meeting after Resurrection (John 20:19-25) April 11, 1999
The Christianity we believe in stands on the foundation of those who confessed the resurrection of Jesus. Christianity could not have been established in history without a religious witness to the resurrection of Jesus and the experience that followed. The witness and experience of the resurrection are the power to change the quality of life of each person today, transform the life of the community, and create a new history.
What kind of people did the resurrected Lord meet and meet after the resurrection? Convincing evidence of Jesus' resurrection can also be found in the transformation of each individual person and community.
That evening, the resurrected Jesus appeared to the disciples who were hiding in the house after closing the door in fear and anxiety. They were so moved and happy that they touched Jesus' hand and touched his side. He was the one who had been crucified, speared, and died in their sight by Roman soldiers and Jews.
It was Martin Buber, who scientifically systematized the importance of encounters, who pointed out that there are two types of encounters.
The first is I and Thou. This is a personal encounter and a love encounter.
But there is an encounter of I and It. This is an impersonal encounter. It is not a meeting of personal love, but an encounter where each other wants to take advantage of each other. It is not meeting the other person as a person or as an object of love, but as an object of use. I think that the present era is an era in which there are more encounters where each other wants to use each other than when they see people as objects of love and meet to love. Who you meet is important. In particular, the issue of who to meet when the future is dark due to frustration, discouragement, anxiety and worry is more important.
The disciples in today's text were truly at the bottom of their lives, in despair, discouragement, and anxiety. Jesus Christ, who believed like heaven, suffered the most tragic death of a sinner. Also, they were spending a time so dark that even when the sun came up, they couldn't see the light. After the crucifixion of Jesus, the Jewish religious leaders were now pursuing his disciples. They continued to hold the disciples' breath. The disciples hid in a room in a house to avoid being pursued by the Jews.
At this time, a young man opened a door that had not been opened and stood in the midst of the disciples. It was Jesus who died on the cross. Jesus was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea.
Jesus came from the dead, just as he had told his disciples, “I will be taken away by the elders and priests, and suffer and be killed, and then on the third day he will rise again” He died and came back alive. This is how the One who was nailed to the cross, torn to pieces and slaughtered miserably, appeared. The disciples first met the resurrected Jesus.
Jesus knew that there were disciples who were doubting, "Is this really Jesus? Is this a man? Is it a spirit? Is it a demon?" So, showing all his hands and his side, he explained, “I am Jesus, who died on the cross.” This meeting was a new encounter between Jesus and his disciples. It was a miraculous meeting. Meeting people is important. Who you meet is even more important. The disciples met Jesus.
What happened to those disciples who met Jesus anew?
First, the joy has been restored.
The disciples rejoiced when they found out that it was Jesus who was showing his hands and side in front of them. Verse 20 says, “He showed his hands and his side, and the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.” When the disciples met the Lord, their fear disappeared. The dark night was brightened. I realized that the road ahead of my life was open. It is to restore this joy to keep and celebrate Easter.
What is joy? It is the power to overcome all tribulation, worry, care, and fear. Only those who overcome this difficulty can laugh and rejoice. How will you overcome all the difficulties of this world? Can we do it in our own strength? A thief who takes away joy has to do with the problem of sin in the human heart, so we can only find new joy when we meet Jesus Christ, who solves the problem of sin. When you meet Jesus, you can be freed from all your worries and worries. Why? Because only Jesus can solve our sin problem, give us joy, and give us the blessing of peace.
The disciples in the text were full of fear. But when I met Jesus, I became happy.
Why? It was because they believed that Jesus had the power to defeat the pursuit of the Jews and open a new path. If Jesus were not in that position, could the disciples have restored their joy? They restored their joy because Jesus, who was able to drive away their worries and anxieties, came from the resurrection.
You must always meet Jesus anew. From the moment we forget Jesus, we can't help but worry and worry. May we hold on to the risen Lord so that neither poverty, disease, nor circumstances can take away our joy.
Second, a new encounter with the risen Lord gives us eternal hope.
What characterizes human beings is that without hope there is no hope. Without hope, even if you are alive, you cannot have a worthwhile life. Even if one of the parts of the car breaks down, the car cannot be used. It's just that one of the parts breaks down. Likewise, life loses its flavor when the light of hope is extinguished, even when everything else is in abundance. People must have an indomitable hope.
Even if we are weeping secretly and suffering all kinds of hardships here and now, we should have hope. And hope must be renewed in Jesus Christ. Otherwise, hope will not last to the end. Therefore, after meeting the resurrected Jesus, the disciples regained hope and hope. That hope was the hope of the heavenly kingdom, including the earthly hope. So the disciples who met the resurrected Jesus continued to preach this hope. Human beings are objects of mutual love, respect, and understanding, and they can never be objects of hope. Our hope should be in God, in Jesus Christ.
Third, there is a victory in life in a new encounter with Jesus.
The resurrection of Jesus is a triumphal event. Jesus' battle was a battle against Satan and a battle against death. How can I apply the victory of Jesus' resurrection to my life so that I can live a victorious life every day?
(1) We must have faith that the victory of the resurrection is mine.
Because we died and were buried with Jesus Christ. Romans 6:5 says, “If we have been united with him in his death, we will also be united with him in his resurrection.” In Romans 6:8-9, “If we have been united with Christ, If we died with him, we also believe that we will live with him, knowing that, since Christ was raised from the dead, he dies no more, and that death has no more dominion over him." In a word, these words are the logic that death cannot claim us because we who are one with Christ already died when he died and were resurrected at the time of his resurrection.
Then you will ask, when did I die with Jesus? That's why Jesus tells us to be baptized. Baptism is a ceremony to live and die with Jesus. Just as a Jew became a true Jew by being circumcised, baptism, a sign of faith, is a symbolic ceremony of dying and living with Jesus. We who participate in the death and resurrection of Jesus through baptism are eternal victors together with Jesus. When we know and believe this truth, we can apply the victory of Jesus' resurrection to our lives so that we can win every moment of each day.
(2) Those who have overcome mankind's greatest enemy, death, must have the conviction that they cannot be defeated by anything in this world, so that the victory of the resurrection can be applied to your life.
Thousands of people today are living their lives without victory. There is no failure in our members. There is only training. When we fall, we don't completely fall. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I am not walking alone. God is with you. We should never raise our hands when we lose. You must do your best to win. No matter how strong it is, it is weaker than the power of death.
When you meet the risen Lord anew, you can restore joy. Meeting the risen Lord gives us the assurance of prosperity in this world and a sure hope for the kingdom of heaven. When I meet the risen Lord, the power of the Lord's resurrection becomes mine, and I can always live as a victor. “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).
The resurrected Lord appeared to the disciples and told them not to be afraid. Also, receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's sins, their sins will be forgiven, and if you do not forgive, you will go out unpardoned. Then Jesus said that he breathed out. The breath of Jesus is the very breath of creation that God breathed into man when he created him in Genesis 2:7. He gave them new strength and new courage by breathing the breath of creation into their terrified disciples.
Just as the bones scattered in the valley of Ezekiel were resurrected as new people by the wind of God, Jesus appeared to the trembling disciples with new hope, new strength, new order, and a new community. After giving them new courage, a new wind, and a new Holy Spirit, Jesus said he would now give them all the power to rule the world. To rule means to rule and to control.
But Jesus was not talking about ruling through strong control, but through the power of love and forgiveness. In the end, the Lord of the Resurrection appeared to the disciples who were terrified by fear and anxiety and gave them peace and peace, courage and refreshment, and the Holy Spirit and love. In that sense, the church that confesses the resurrection of Jesus must become a community of love and peace that begins with forgiveness and ends with forgiveness.
Resurrection faith must be manifested in all areas of our lives. Resurrection faith must not be kept only on Easter Sunday. Because the basis of our belief is the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we must put our hope in the resurrection. This confession of faith is the very core of the Bible and the core of our faith.
First, we must confirm the certainty of the resurrection in our daily lives.
The words of Jesus Christ, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me” are phrases to be confirmed every day. Jesus Christ was resurrected historically as he claimed. My faith is based on the Resurrection. The saints who confirm the certainty of the Resurrection can live a positive life. Because of the Resurrection, they do not have to wander around on this earth. Think about it. Would those who are convinced that a more important life is promised on the other side of this earth would relate to this earth? The saints who have confirmed the certainty of the resurrection can boldly tell their neighbors. The saints who have confirmed the truth are the ones who can spread the truth.