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Second Sunday of Easter
Light of Christ Anglican Church
The Rev. Michael Moffitt, April 3, 2016


A Fuller Revelation


Last week as we celebrated the fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we recounted the story of the women close to Jesus going to the tomb and discovering that it was empty. They had arrived at the tomb to finish the process for the proper burial of Jesus by covering his body in spices and perfume and then re-wrapping it. They came with sadness and despair and left with an unexpected hope that maybe, somehow what Jesus had told them would happen, actually had happened.

This morning we want to continue focusing on the path or the journey that Jesus was taking them on, a journey of discovering the depth of who Jesus actually was and coming to a fuller revelation on the day of Pentecost. For the next few weeks we will be reliving the journey the disciples were being led on and I think we will discover that it is very similar to the path that we are to take as well. Each week we will be looking at the before and after of the disciples journey much like a before and after photo ad for a diet product, things change through the power of the unfolding relationship with Jesus through the Spirit.

In our gospel passage this morning the disciples have heard from Mary Magdalene that she had seen the resurrected Jesus that morning but they are still hiding behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. Then Jesus simply walks through the door and gives them a greeting that would have been strange but welcome, “Peace be with you”. I suspect that it would have been strange because they would most likely still be dealing with the guilt of having abandoned Jesus when he was arrested but instead he comes in and essentially tells them to be at rest, don’t worry. It was the same comfort that he had spoken to them in John 14:27,

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

He had told them this after promising to send the Holy Spirit who would remind them of all the things that he had taught them and impart even more knowledge of their heavenly Father and of his Son, Jesus Christ.

Now he will begin to lead them into the experience of real peace that will only be found in him. This was actually a common greeting back then and had been since the times of the Old Testament where peace was closely associated with the blessings of God, especially the salvation that was to be brought by the Messiah. Isaiah 9:6 revealed that the Messiah would be, “Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace.”

As the resurrected Jesus shows them his hands and his pierced side they finally began to see him for who he really is and they were overjoyed. Jesus had told them before he left that when they saw him again there would be joy. John 16: 20-22,

“Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21 A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.”

Such joy, like peace was to be the mark of God’s salvation, including the fullness that would come in the future. Psalm 96:13,

13 Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.”

Both the peace and the joy that all men and women long for come from the presence of Jesus himself, the very presence of God come to earth. Most of us have spent many years looking for something that would fill that emptiness inside. I can identify with what the disciples were feeling as they sat behind closed doors wondering what to do next. Everything is upside down and doesn’t make sense but then Jesus shows up and hope returns. I’ve experienced that and I know that many of you here this morning have to. When Jesus shows up that is always the beginning of something wonderful and amazing and it always will be, even when He returns again to make all things new.

“Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

Jesus immediately speaks of a mission for the disciples. He repeats his blessing of peace two times, the first to comfort them, to assure them that he had come not to scold or condemn but to offer them rest and the second to prepare them to receive his commission: “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

Over forty times throughout the gospel of John, Jesus is said to have been sent by God and now that will become the characteristic of his disciples also. The Son has a role in sending the Helper (Paraclete), the Holy Spirit (John 14:6; 15:26; 16:7) and he plays a role in sending his disciples. The Son like the Father sends because mission is always at the heart of discipleship.

Jesus did not complete His journey here on earth alone but had the anointing presence of the Holy Spirit and the blessing of His Father and the disciples would need no less if they were to complete the mission given them by the Son. Since the first of the year we have been focusing on how Jesus is our model and to understand the commissioning of the disciples both then and now we must continue to see Jesus as the absolute model for our calling and obedience. If the disciples were to function as the body of Christ then the gift of the Holy Spirit was and is essential. Remember Peter’s resolve in John 13:37, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now. I will lay down my life for you.”

I have no doubt that Peter was speaking from the very depths of his heart and meant every word of it. However, in the moment where his life was in danger his humanity- the survival instinct kicked in, he denied Jesus. I think we each know that frustration don’t we? Have you ever wondered how you would have reacted in the same situation? Jesus had told Nicodemus in John 3: 3&5,

“Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.”

Wanting to live like a Christian is great but something has to happen that transforms us in order to follow through with that desire. The disciples had been with Jesus night and day for three years. They had seen him perform miracles and heard him teach the crowds and even received personal instruction from him but that wasn’t enough. They would need much more to accomplish the mission that Jesus was preparing them for but they needed the humbling experience of failure in order to understand the absolute need they had for all that Jesus would pour into them.

Now that Jesus had been glorified the time is right for the Spirit to be given and the life that Jesus has always shared with the Father can now be shared with the disciples. They have been reunited with Jesus after his resurrection and now they will be given his very life by the Spirit- not only reunited with him but beginning to be united to him. The word breathed on (emphysao) is the same word used in the Greek Old Testament to describe God’s action when he, “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” Before God breathed into the nostrils of Adam he was merely dust from the ground, completely unable to live into the reason for his creation, this was to serve and worship God and enjoy him forever.

The question arises as to how this breathing of the Spirit by Jesus differs from that indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Remember what Jesus had told the disciples earlier in John 16:7,

“But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”

Jesus had not yet returned to the Father and so the conditions for the sending of the Holy Spirit had not yet been fulfilled. I believe what John is describing here is Jesus bringing the disciples to faith in him and commissioning them to be the Apostolic witness that will continue the work of building the Kingdom of God here on earth.

The Old Testament model for this can be found in 1 Samuel 16:13, “So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David.”

From that day forward David was empowered by God to be King and that began a special relationship that set David apart for the calling of God on his life. However it would 15 years before David actually took over the throne from Saul but during this time he was being prepared and was able to act according to the anointing that had been placed on him.

With the disciples the breathing of the Spirit upon them was setting them apart but it was not yet the time of their role as active witnesses that would require the indwelling power and presence of the Holy Spirit sent by Jesus. Rather Jesus breathing out the Spirit is unleashing it out not just to the disciples but into the world in a new way that made it possible for the possibility for new life to be found where there is faith. Jesus has overcome the power of sin and death and his breathing out the Holy Spirit indwelling within him is removing the authority of the prince of the power of the air. I suspect that is why the next part presented by John is Jesus’ appearing to Thomas. He had steadfastly refused to believe that Jesus was alive until he saw him in person and could verify by seeing the nail holes in his hands and the spear wound in his side.

“A week later his disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Thomas was not present when the Spirit was given yet when confronted by the risen Savior declares Jesus to be his Lord and God, a confession which is the work of the Spirit. Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 12: 3,

“Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.”

The moment that Thomas encounters the risen Jesus he no longer needs to stick his finger in the nail holes in Jesus’ hands or place his hand in the side where the spear had pierced him. Instead the blinders are removed and unbelief slips away, he is undone and can only proclaim, “My Lord and My God.”

“Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Some have suggested that Jesus is giving a mild rebuke to Thomas for being slow to believe but I think that doesn’t reveal the heart of our Savior here. Instead I would suggest that Jesus is actually commending Thomas for his proclamation of faith, acknowledging that it is the Holy Spirit that has revealed this to Thomas. Then Jesus is praying a blessing on those who would come to believe through the testimony of the disciples.

The mission that Jesus would send them on was not just them bearing witness to the resurrection of Jesus as his representatives but actually being the presence of Jesus through his Spirit. Through the disciples witness to Jesus by word and by the life and love of the community, the world would be forced to choose for or against Jesus just like during Jesus’ own ministry. To accomplish this they would need the same power and glory that Jesus had moved in since his baptism but that was going to happen a little later at Pentecost.

Our story from John 20 shows how the disciples were starting to get a glimmer of who Jesus really was even though they had been with him for 3 years they continually were not able to see or comprehend where they were being led and the important role that they were to play in starting and building the Church. The disciples, just like us, were becoming aware of all that Jesus was, is and is to be in their lives but it always happened in stages for them and it does for us. We can’t handle it any other way. I sincerely wanted to drive a car at 10 years old but I was not ready for it in any way. You could not have convinced me of that then because saw things through the eyes of a 10 year old. As we continue to focus on the journey of Easter it is perhaps helpful to look forward to be reminded how things worked out in order to see our own lives in the same context. Every believer is at a different place in their walk than others. Some are farther along in understanding while others may have a deeper faith. Some have one gift while others have different gifts. This is why we treat each other with love and patience. We are all works in progress.

Our passage this morning from Acts 5:27-32 shows the effect of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. No more are they hiding behind closed doors in fear of the Jewish authorities but instead they are standing in front of them confronting them about their opposition to the will of God.

These are the same men who earlier had fled and then hidden from the Jewish authorities but now they are confronting them publicly with boldness exposing the hypocrisy and guilt of those within the Sanhedrin. They boldly proclaim, “The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead - whom you killed by hanging him on a cross.”

They only difference between the apostles in this passage and the John 20 passage is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in power. In this case time was not a great factor because the period was only a few months but the change was Spirit driven. Does this mean that the Apostles had arrived at a full understanding of all that Jesus was? No, and when the Holy Spirit is given to us in various ways it is still only a part of the process but there is always more. We will be talking about the more in weeks to come.

A good example is our passage in Revelation 1 where the Apostle John now an old man and one of the last Apostles to be living testifies while in exile. He is worshipping God on the Sabbath and while in the Spirit is given a new word from Jesus. This word revealed to John and even fuller revelation of Jesus than he previously had. Here was an Apostle and writer of several books that are in our New Testament, towards the end of his life being given the honor and privilege of seeing into the plan of God and receiving a new way of seeing the glory of the risen Savior.

“Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

7 “Look, he is coming with the clouds,”[b]

and “every eye will see him,

even those who pierced him”;

and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”[c]

So shall it be! Amen.

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

I can’t imagine the joy that John had in those moments when the revelation from Jesus was given to him. John, the one who is referred to in Scripture as the “one whom Jesus loved especially”, is still being given the joy and wonder of seeing his master more fully than ever before.

I can only imagine that he would come to this morning’s Psalm with a deeper reverence and awe than we probably can understand because of a deeper understanding of the one to whom it is directed.

Praise the Lord.

Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens.

2 Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness.

6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

©2016 Rev. Mike Moffitt

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