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John 20:19-23  THE APPEARANCE OF JESUS TO HIS CHURCH

Introduction:

	In our previous text Jesus made His first appearance
after His resurrection.  It was to Mary Magdalene.  In our
text today He appears to the whole church congregation -- at
least to all those who were present at that time.

I.  The call for the church to assemble

	V. 19, "Then the same day at evening, being the first
day of the week, when the doors were shut where the
disciples were assembled..."  The church was assembled
together.  That is, most of them had assembled.  There were
some who were not present.  At least there was one who was
not present.  The Apostle Thomas was not present.  It would
seem likely that were others who were also not present.
	Very likely after the crucifixion of Jesus a lot of the
Christians were already staying at the home which served as
a meeting place.  But after the reports began to come in
that Jesus had been seen alive, all of the disciples in the
area of Jerusalem must have been summonsed to meet at this
place.
	(V. 19), "...for fear of the Jews..."  This had been a
day of great confusion, excitement and fear.  Very early in
the morning some of the women had gone to the tomb of Jesus
and had brought back a report that Jesus had arisen from the
grave.  They had seen Him.  Mary Magdalene had seen Him
first.  Then the other women had seen Him as they came back
to report the empty tomb.
	The Apostles Peter and John had verified that the body
of Jesus was not in the tomb and that the tomb was empty.
John had already concluded by the evidence that he saw
within the tomb that Jesus had arisen and was now alive.  He
must have expressed his belief to those present.
	The disciples were already fearful for their lives and
the lives of their families.  Ever since the death of Jesus,
they had been afraid that the Jewish leaders would now start
eliminating the followers of Jesus. They were afraid of the
common people who were not Christians.  They were afraid
that they would report them to the Jewish leaders.
	They must have been even more afraid now that reports
were circulating that Jesus had arisen from the grave.  They
would be afraid that these reports would only stir up the
Jewish leaders even more and would cause them to start
arresting the followers of Jesus.
	Before the day was over two of the disciples who had
gone to Emmaus returned saying that they had seen Jesus and
that He had indeed arisen from the grave.
	Yet in spite of all these reports, the majority of the
disciples were still skeptical right up to the time that
Jesus appeared among them.
	Let me tell you that the explanation of the modern
skeptics falls short.  Some say that the disciples just
wanted to believe that Jesus had arisen and that they made
up the story and spread the news throughout the city of
Jerusalem.  Not so.  Those disciples, themselves, were hard
to convince that Jesus had arisen.  And until they were
thoroughly convinced they were not spreading the news to
anybody.  They did not want the Jews of the city to know
anything about the rumors.  They were afraid to spread such
news.  They had the doors shut and would not let anybody in
until they were first identified.

II.  A precedent set by this assembly

	This assembly took place on the first day of the week.
This was the very day in which Jesus arose from the grave.
This assembly on the first day of the week set a precedent
which the disciples continued to follow down through the
years.  Many continued to do so even in the days of The Dark
Ages when they, too, had to meet behind locked doors for
fear of their enemies.
	This is still the day on which Christians meet for
worship in our time.  Every first day of the week Christians
gather together to sing hymns, pray and to study God's word.
Thank the Lord we can do so openly without having to lock
the doors.

III.  The closed doors

	John said that the doors were shut.  This does not mean
that they were merely pushed to.  It means that they were
locked.  They were shut because they were afraid.  They had
good reason to be afraid.  The Jewish leaders had brought
about the crucifixion of Jesus.  The masses of common people
with whom Jesus had once been so popular turned against Him
and joined with their leaders in demanding the crucifixion
of Jesus.  I am sure that someone must have reminded them of
the words of Jesus, "If they have persecuted me, they will
persecute you."  Those same leaders would not hesitate to
arrest those disciples and seek their death.
	So the doors were locked tight and nobody was  allowed
to enter until he had identified himself as one of the
disciples.  How would you like to have to do that every time
we meet for worship?

IV.  The appearance of Jesus within the house

	(V.  19), "...came Jesus and stood in the midst, and
saith unto them, Peace be unto you."  The disciples thought
that nobody could get in without first identifying himself
and having the door opened to him.  But that was not so.
Suddenly Jesus appeared right in their midst.
	They were all frightened by His sudden appearance.  The
most of them thought they were seeing a ghost.  From this we
understand that people believed in ghosts even way back
then.
	Jesus spoke words of re-assurance to them.  He said,
"Peace be unto you."  In other words, He said, "Don't be
afraid."  How would you feel if someone you knew had died
and had been buried should suddenly appear in the room with
you behind locked doors?  They were afraid and Jesus sought
to calm their fears.

V.  Proof of His resurrection
	
	Jesus did more than just speak words of comfort and
re-assurance to them.  He showed them His hands and His
side.  Luke says that He also showed them His feet.  That
it, He showed them the nail holes in His hands and feet.
This was not a ghost.  This was a real flesh and blood human
body.  He was alive.
	Luke says also that He invited them to handle Him.
"Feel of me.  Go ahead.  Touch my body.  See that it is not
a ghost.  It is solid flesh and bone.  Feel."
	In addition, Luke says that He called for food and ate
food in their presence. He did all this to convince them
that He was not a ghost.  He was really alive.  He had
really risen from the dead.
	Once those disciples were convinced, there was great
joy in their hearts.  V. 20, "And when he had so said, he
shewed unto them his hands and his side.  Then were the
disciples glad, when they saw the Lord."  They had a real
revival meeting.  Halleluah!  Jesus is alive!

VI.  The mission assigned to the church

	V. 21, "Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto
you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you."  The
thing that Jesus is interested in right at this time was
that to impress them of the need of carrying out the Great
Commission which He would later give to them.  The Father
had sent Jesus on a mission into the world.  Even so He
would send them on a mission into the world.  Jesus had sent
Him to seek and to save those who were lost.  The disciples
could not save, but He would send them into the world to
carry the gospel message where the lost could be saved.
This statement was in keeping with the Great Commission as
set forth in Matthew 28:19-20.  It was made to pave the way
for the Great Commission which would be given to them.
	He would later instruct them that they were not to
immediately launch into the world-wide mission program.
Rather they were first to tarry at Jerusalem until they were
endued with power from on high which would enable them to
carry out the Great Commission.

VII.  The Holy Spirit breathed on the church
	
	V. 22, "And when he had said this, he breathed on them,
and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost." What
happened here was similar to what would later happen on
Pentecost, but it was not the same thing as that which would
happen on Pentecost.  It was the same Holy Spirit.  They
were granted special powers by the Holy Spirit even on this
occasion.
	The difference was that on Pentecost they were given
the power they would need to carry out a world-wide mission
effort, whereas on this occasion they were given only the
power which they would need to tarry at Jerusalem, which was
a hot-bed of persecution for Christians.  If they were going
to be able to tarry there instead of fleeing from there,
they were going to need help from above.  He gave them the
help that they needed by breathing on them the Holy Spirit.
	V. 23, "...Whose soever sins ye remit, they are
remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they
are retained."  In a certain limited sense He gave them
power to remit sins.  That is, He gave them power to forgive
sins.  He did not give them the power to forgive sins in the
sense that is necessary for the salvation of the soul.  Only
the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse sufficiently to save
the soul.
	But He did give them sufficient power to remit or
forgive sins to enable them to miraculously heal those whose
sickness had been caused by their sin.  Jesus, Himself,
demonstrated this earlier when He healed a man who was sick
of the palsy.  He first said, "Thy sins be forgiven thee."
Then He said, "Which is easier -- to say `Thy sins be
forgive thee' or to say `Rise, take up thy bed and walk'?"

VIII.  Some things to take special notice of

	On that day a special call to assemble was made to the
Christians.  That same call has been made to all Christians
in all generations.  Through Hebrews 10:25 the Lord says to
all Christians, "Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves
together."  For a Christian to fail to come to God's house
to worship is somewhat like a child not coming to his
parent's table to eat.  He is not only disobedient, but he
will become undernourished.
	Jesus said that as He had been sent into the world to
reach lost souls and present the truths of God, even so He
has sent His church into the world to win lost souls and to
represent God's truths.  One of the reasons that God has
allowed this great church to stand for so many years is in
order to reach lost souls with the gospel message.  Another
is to represent the cause of Jesus Christ in all the world.
	Let me say to those who are lost.  Since the Lord wants
this church to reach lost souls, this must mean that He
wants you to be saved.  He wants the lost to be saved.  He
wants the saved to be faithful to attend church.  He wants
the save to worship Him and to serve Him every day.