On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ John 20:19 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/jhn.20.19.NIVUK
Glasgow is a strong footballing town. Football is practically a religion. There are two hugely famous football teams: Rangers and Celtic. They are known all over the world. They have hundreds of thousands of fans. When they play at their home stadiums, between fifty and sixty thousand people watch them. Their stadiums have incredible atmospheres. They are practically temples to football. But how many people know about the third team in Glasgow? They are called Partick Thistle. Unlike Rangers and Celtic, they have no religious affiliation. They don't have a lot of fans. The only way more than ten thousand people would watch them is if they were playing Rangers or Celtic. They don't tend to win things very often. In fact, they're not very good. If you were to wear a red and yellow Partick Thistle scarf in Glasgow, people might tease you. Or just feel sorry for you. Why? Because you're not backing a winning team. You're supporting a losing team. By walking into that room and standing among His followers, Jesus was backing a losing team. They were a dispirited bunch of ill-educated misfits. They were fishermen and tax collectors and women of ill-repute. They had been healed of demons. They were not the kind of people good people should be seen with. Jesus could have gone anywhere. He could have walked into the governor's palace or the Temple. But He chose to stand among His followers. And this should strike us as the most incredible act of grace. Why? Because of what had happened just a few days earlier: Then everyone deserted him and fled. Mark 14:50 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/mrk.14.50.NIVUK It was the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus was in deep despair. He needed His friends to support Him in prayer. They fell asleep. Judas arrives with the Temple guard and betrays Jesus with a kiss. Jesus prevents His followers from striking back. Then they all run away. Every one of them. To a man. They all deserted Him. Now, we're not talking yet about Peter's later denial. We're talking about every man in that room who had abandoned Jesus when He needed them the most. Not one of them stood their ground. Not one. They'd all fled to save their own necks. Yet now, when He could have appeared anywhere He chose, Jesus chose to appear in their midst. To identify with the very people who had let Him down. Maybe this is a word you need to hear today. These are terrifying times we live in. Maybe at the times you needed to be strong, you have been weak. Maybe you have been overcome with worry or despair or anger and have abandoned the strong faith you once had. Maybe you feel just like they did: like you've lost something precious and you can do nothing to get it back. Take heart. Jesus can stand among you. He can identify with you again. He can call you His own once more. John records two other such acts of incredible grace in his Gospel. The second is Jesus reaching out to doubting Thomas and giving Him the reassurance he needed that Jesus was alive: 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!’ John 20:26-28 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/jhn.20.26-28.NIVUK The third was to the man whose weakness had been exposed most painfully, the man who had hurt Him more than any other disciple, the man who had denied even knowing Jesus three times just to get a seat by the fire: Peter. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.’ Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, ‘Follow me!’ John 21:18-19 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/jhn.21.18-19.NIVUK Understand this: not one of these disciples had done anything to deserve this special grace. In fact, the opposite was the case. Yet Jesus, in His mercy and grace and gentleness, having been raised from the dead, sought out the very people who had denied Him, abandoned Him and doubted Him, and He restored them. He did everything possible to bring them back and restore their faith. Are you battered and bruised by the times we are living in? Is your faith at a low ebb? Do you struggle with doubt and fear and dread? Are you tempted to abandon your Lord? Then reach out to Him today. Ask Him to stand among you, to stand beside you, to stand with you. He is able to restore you and make you strong. You only have to let Him in. So we see that the disciples gathered on that first Easter Sunday, that Jesus came most unexpectedly and stood among them, most undeservedly. Lastly we see that JESUS SPOKE.
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