Ira Baptist Church
Sunday, December 7

      • Isaiah 9.6ESV

      • Isaiah 9.7ESV

  • Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

      • John 14.23-25NIV2011

      • John 14.26-27NIV2011

  • O Come O Come Emmanuel
  • Our God Will Go Before Us

  • Transformative Peace

    When the disciples were behind closed doors due to fear, Jesus entered in to their fear with peace and a commission. “Peace on earth” is more than an advent wish, it is a calling from our Savior.

    Behind the Doors for Fear

    John 20:19 ESV
    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.”
    Fear of the Jews:
    Association with Jesus
    Having taken their leader, the disciples would be logical next targets
    Fear of the ramifications of the one you have staked your life upon.
    Makes sense, because of what Jesus had already told them.
    This appearance to them confirms and reiterates what he had tried to make abundantly clear before his death.
    Don’t be troubled
    I’m not going to be dead forever
    I’m sending the Holy Spirit
    You are going into the world to do my work
    The world will hate you like it hated me
    But Your sorrow will turn into joy
    John 15:18 ESV
    “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
    John 15:20–21 ESV
    Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.
    And that is where they find themselves. Fearful of that hatred of the world toward them, and having their worst fears realized in the death of their savior.

    In Comes Jesus

    John 20:19–20 ESV
    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.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
    The Miraculous Nature
    Entering in through closed and locked doors
    The Response of the Disciple
    gladness
    The Words of Greeting
    Peace
    Just like the fear of the disciples was foretold in Jesus’ teaching to them, so was the antedote - the promise that he would bring them his peace.
    He repeats it twice here - and at first, it would have been taken as just the common greeting - “shalom”
    Similar to how when we greet one another, we may without even thinking ask the common question “how are you doing?”
    And we’ve all been in a situation where someone asks us how we are doing once, and we reply “doing fine!” “doing well!” because that is the polite reply. But then, after a few moments or in a more private setting, the same person asks, “but really, how are you doing?”
    In a way, this peace that Jesus refers to here is not the greeting at all, but the assurance of the promised gift.
    John 14:27 ESV
    Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
    John 14:28 ESV
    You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
    The action that assured the promise was the very reason Jesus came. In a sense, the “peace be with you” here is the direct result of the “it is finished” that he cried on the cross.
    John 14:29 ESV
    And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.
    And that is just it - the peace is real. More than a greeting, more than a well-wish, it is the life and calling of the believer. So the question first, is do you believe?
    And the question second, is How are you doing?
    What door are you behind for fear?
    Is it, from the first question, the locked door of unbelief?
    Does it seem illogical, this whole business about Jesus?
    Does it seem too fanciful, this whole deal about the Gospel, about having eternal life?
    Does it seem too counter-cultural, this whole business about Jesus being Lord and changing you from the inside out?
    Read down the page a bit, to another parallel instance.
    John 20:26 ESV
    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.”
    John 20:28–29 ESV
    Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
    1 Peter 1:7–8 ESV
    so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,

    Under New Management

    That second question, to the believer, “how are you doing” is really addressed in the gift that Jesus gives his disciples.
    And by the way, just as the prediction of cause for fear, and just as the promise of peace, so too Jesus promised this gift before his death, and makes good on it now.
    John 20:21–22 ESV
    Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
    What does it mean to go, and what does that look like? In this context, it is to be peacemakers in the fullest sense of the word - by taking the gospel of forgiveness wherever we go. - vs. 23
    Forgiveness of sins, not a popular topic in this day. In fact, rejected outright by most. Yet, the Lord of heaven and earth, the one who came through virgin birth, lived perfect life, and rose from the grave after dying a sacrificial death tells us that its the paramount issue.
    In fact, its the road to peace on earth.
    Colossians 1:19–20 ESV
    For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
    Colossians 1:21–22 ESV
    And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,
    We who have been given peace by being at peace with God are those who are to share the gospel of that peace, and seek to live in that peace day to day.
    Romans 14:19 ESV
    So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
    Romans 12:18 ESV
    If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
    Matthew 5:9 ESV
    “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

      • John 20:19NIV2011

      • John 15:18NIV2011

      • John 15:20–21NIV2011

      • John 20:19–20NIV2011

      • John 14:27NIV2011

      • John 14:28NIV2011

      • John 14:29NIV2011

      • John 20:26NIV2011

      • John 20:28–29NIV2011

      • 1 Peter 1:7–8NIV2011

      • John 20:21–22NIV2011

      • Colossians 1:19–20NIV2011

      • Colossians 1:21–22NIV2011

      • Romans 14:19NIV2011

      • Romans 12:18NIV2011

      • Matthew 5:9NIV2011

  • In Christ Alone

      • Luke 2.29-32NIV2011

Ira Baptist Church
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