Healing the Wounds of a Divided Nation

Jesus once said, “a house divided against itself cannot stand” (Matthew 12:25).

We find in our nation, that we are more divided ideologically than ever before. The division exists between progressive ideology and traditional ideology. Who are we as a nation? Are we evolved animals moving toward a utopian future through technology, science, and progress, free to make and remake reality around as we see fit, because all truth is relative? This is the ideology of a great many in our nation. Or are we really made in the image of God? Are we fallen beings, living in a fallen world, attempting to bring the light of Christ to all peoples?

What do you believe about reality? What is actually true?

I am one of those who believe that God is really real, that he really does care about the future of this nation, and I also believe that those who believe differently than me, are not my enemies, but people that I can live in peace with, even if we disagree, and yes, I do hope that I can help win some of these people to Christ, through the love of Jesus.

And I also believe, God is not done with this nation, despite our many sins. He is still at work in the affairs of America. Despite all the debates and infighting and even violence that has grown in our nation, I still see a hope for our national future.

This moment in history makes me think back to a time after the American revolution, when a conflict took place between Great Britain and the United States called the war of 1812.

A conflict arose that led to British troops attacking Washington D.C. and burning the nation’s capital to the ground. American troops had attempted to strike British controlled Canada but had failed. And as the capital burned to the ground, I’m sure for many Americans it seemed like a great dark moment in the history of our nation.

But do you know what’s quite astonishing, is what happened next. A great storm, possibly including a tornado, struck the city, and this storm was so fierce it caused the British troops to flee the city, and retreat to their ships. I’m not making this up, Google it. The hand of God was at work in those moments.

But the British weren’t done yet, they moved in force to attack the key American city of Baltimore, on the coast, with numerous ground troops, and a massive fleet of ships, bombarding Fort McHenry, the fort that protected the city.

Thousands of cannon balls were flying for 25 straight hours, bullets, fires burning, smoke, mortar shells, rockets, and it looked like such a dark moment for the nation. First the capital, now Baltimore.

At this moment, there was an American lawyer, young guy, onboard one of the British ships, trying to negotiate for the release of one of the prisoners, and they held him captive until the battle was over. So he stood and watched all this happen, his name was Francis Scott Key. 

He was trapped all night on the British ship, hour by hour he watched, and as dawn broke, and the smoke began to clear over the fort, he saw something that changed his life and gave him hope. He saw a giant American flag, still waving over the fort. It was 30 feet by 42 feet. The fort held. And this young lawyer penned these words on a scrap of paper…

“And the rockets' red glare,
The bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night
That our flag was still there.”

We’ve been in a fierce battle as the body of Christ in the last few years. The enemy, the demonic forces, principalities and powers have had their way in our nation in certain ways, though we’ve pushed back diligently in prayer and action.

I believe God would say to us: You are doing better than you realize.

God has been training us for a new battle I believe. All these struggles we’ve been through have been getting us ready. And we may feel today a bit like America did in the midst of the war of 1812, capital burned, cities under attack, but if we persevere through this great contest, which is the battle God has chosen for our generation to fight, we may yet see through the sin, and darkness, and spiritual warfare, and prayers and fasting, and weeping, that our flag is still there. There is yet hope.

And what our nation needs, as things get darker, is not for us to yell at one another, but, for us to go out with healing ointment, to pour oil into the wounds of the people of the nation.

After the civil war, a conflict much worse than our current divide, Abraham Lincoln gave one of the greatest speeches ever shared.

Think about the malice and hatred, after nearly 750,000 Americans died. We get mad at each other about politics. How would we feel after nearly a million had been killed? Yet Lincoln sought to heal the wounds and bring the nation back together, so he said…

The famous quote from Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, delivered on March 4, 1865: "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds..."

As we pray today, let us remember, our prayers and our actions, ought to bind up wounds.

Ezekiel 34:4 "You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost."

Let it be said of us, by the power of Christ in us, we strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bound up the injured, brought back those who went astray, and searched diligently for the lost.

When we felt such an urge within to want to fight back, instead we fought in prayer, we spoke in truth, and we loved the people who called us enemies. And many of those enemies became our friends in Christ. We know who the real enemy is, and it's not people, it's the Satan and his evil forces.

So in closing, I want to share a scripture with you from Romans for this moment: 

Romans 16:19-20 "Everyone knows you are obedient to the Lord. This makes me very happy. I want you to see clearly what is right and to stay innocent of any wrong. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you."

Spirit Birthed, Spirit Empowered

“It is not only the first act of conversion which displays divine power; but the whole of the Christian disciple’s life, until he comes to perfection, it is all a clear display of God’s power. The spiritual life is similar to the burning bush which Moses saw on Mt. Horeb: it burnt, but it was not consumed. It’s the same with the Christian, like a bush, he is most fitting fuel for the flame; yet the flame does not hurt him. It kindles about him, but he is not destroyed. The Christian life may also be likened to walking on water. As Peter walked on the waves, and did not sink so long as his faith looked to Jesus; so the believer every day, in every footstep that he takes, is a living miracle. Faith too, in its life, may be compared to flying: “They shall mount up on wings like eagles.” The believer, every day takes venturesome flights into the atmosphere of heaven, rises above the world, leaves its cares and its wants beneath his feet, with no other wings but those of faith and love. This is a continued and beautiful miracle of God’s divine power." -Charles Spurgeon (abridged)

We begin a new series today called “Follow Me” the last words of Jesus to Peter in our last series. So we’ll call the series “Follow Me: Discipleship Keys from the Life of Jesus.” And in this series we will be touching on key points from the book of Acts. So we will be in Acts for much of the series, but, we will continuously jump back from Acts, to certain points in the life of Jesus, to reference the teaching the disciples live in Acts.

For many years the book of Acts was a bit of a mystery to me, and it wasn’t until I took a class on Acts in college that I truly began to understand what it’s about. Acts is listed in the Bible immediately after the four gospel books. It follows the activities of the early church, particularly Peter and Paul, and their actions to help build the early faith communities in the ancient Roman empire. It is comprised of 28 chapters and covers numerous years of activities. It was written by Luke.

During this series we are going to continuously go back to this formula.

1. Look at Acts - the actions of the disciples of Jesus

2. Look at Jesus teachings, as the disciples follow them

3. Look at how we today can act on the teachings of Jesus

Notice the title, Acts. What is an act? It is an action. One of the biggest things we are going to learn about what discipleship is, is that it’s an action.

Taking an action consistent with what you believe is what it really means to be a disciple of Jesus.

So let’s dive in, today we’ll be in Acts 1:1-11, and we’ll dip into John 3:3-6.

Acts 1:1, “In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.”

The former book referred to here is the gospel of Luke. Luke here, is writing Acts as a second book, to someone by the name of Theophilus. We don’t know exactly who Theophilus was, though he is referred to as “most excellent” so it is possible he was a Roman leader of some sort. But many have pointed out the name Theophilus in Greek actually means, “friend of God” or “loved by God.” So, it’s very easy to think that God set it all up as a letter written to us, who are loved by God.

First thing to notice here is, we have in Luke’s previous book, in fact in all four gospels, an account of those things Jesus did and taught.

We also have a helper who is with us always, that is the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit’s job is to guide us in numerous ways, the most important of which is to constantly point us back to the words and actions of Jesus.

So the more we know the words and deeds of Jesus from the Bible, the more the Holy Spirit can point us to those things.

The book of Acts will be for us a historic explanation of those actions that the early disciples took in cooperation with the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Next, verse 3 “After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.”

The last seven weeks we’ve looked at many of those convincing proofs that Jesus is alive today. We have all that evidence, so we can confidently believe.

During Jesus’ life he kept talking about this mystery called the kingdom of God, that he said had arrived in his time. So another key for this series is going to be understanding what the kingdom of God is, and how it works.

Next, verses 4-5: On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Wait for the gift, is the instruction given by Jesus. After the departure of Jesus, the Holy Spirit would take over as the chief leader and guide of the body of Christ. And to this day, the Holy Spirit fills every true believer.

They are told to wait in Jerusalem, until the Holy Spirit comes.

We see the action that will take place is a baptism, but not simply one of water, but baptism in the Holy Spirit.

But what’s interesting is in John’s gospel, we see that in John 21, Jesus breathed on the disciples and they received the Holy Spirit. Yet we also see Jesus point to a separate incident which will occur later, which is baptism in the Spirit. What is going on here?

There appear to be two separate interactions with the Holy Spirit, the first is called regeneration, it occurs when we initially receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior. But there is a second work of grace, a second experience in which we are baptized in the Holy Spirit. This is a separate experience, that empowers us for service and is also connected with the Wesleyan concept of entire sanctification.

Next, verses 6-7: 6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

The disciples still don’t quite understand what is happening. They long for Israel to be restored as a nation, but God’s plan is so very different.

Next verse 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.”

Jesus’ response is fascinating. He doesn’t say, no, never. He says, not yet. Only the Father knows those dates. And it’s not for them to know.

We do know that one day Israel will be restored. In fact, it occurs at the conclusion of the end times, when Jesus returns, and sets up a one thousand year reign over the entire Earth, from Jerusalem. At that time, Israel will be restored. But that is future. 

It’s a tough thing when God tells us “not yet.” But in the meantime he has work for us to do in the here and now.

Being a disciple means letting go of what our plans were, and embracing what God wants for us. Do you think it was ever in my plans to live in Chicago, Escanaba, Owosso, Gary, Chicago again, and then Traverse City? I never planned any of that, but God did, and to be a kingdom disciple is to submit to His plans in place of our own.

Next, verse 8: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Jesus instantly redirects the disciples, I know you longed for Israel to be restored, however, here is my will and plan: You will receive new power when the Holy Spirit fills you. And you will be witnesses to all the Earth of this fact.

A kingdom disciple knows he or she is a witness of Jesus, and with power, with demonstration of that reality. To the ends of the Earth. From Jerusalem, to the ancient Roman empire, into north Africa, to India, across Europe, even to the Americas, and yes even to northern Michigan. 

Discipleship is to be a witness. And this ability to be a witness is not found within us, yet, it is found within us, because, the Lord, the Holy Spirit dwells within us.

An eastern cleric was challenged to read the Bible, and once finished, they questioned him on what he found to be most surprising part, and they thought well, he would certainly say Jesus being raised from the dead, or God creating the world, but his answer surprised them, he said the most amazing thing was, that in Christianity God dwells within human beings.

This hearkens all the way back to Jesus’ conversation one night, early in his ministry, with Nicodemus, a leader of the pharisees.

John 3:3-6: 3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.”

A person of flesh trying really hard to be good can’t inherit eternal life. Me or you, born from our mother, can’t enter the kingdom of God system. We never could. It’s just white washed tombs, self-righteousness. But, if we go through Jesus Christ, we will experience the new birth. A new birth given by God himself.

The Spirit gives birth to this new us. But he doesn’t stop there. There is much more to come, in the Spirit life. And in our surrender to Him, comes the next phase of that adventure.

Next, verse 9: “After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.”

Wait for the Holy Spirit. You will be witnesses everywhere. And then… Jesus begins rising up to heaven. And that is the last time they saw Jesus in the flesh, rising into the sky.

Can you imagine the grief of the disciples? Their teacher would no longer be with them. Yes, he would send a new helper, the Holy Spirit, but I’m sure they would always long, the rest of their lives, to be with Jesus again face to face.

Similarly, we as kingdom disciples also carry a mysterious pain within us, a longing to see our dear savior Jesus face to face. We long to be with him in paradise. Every soul knows it's pain, the pain of longing for our true home.

Next, verse 10: They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.

Suddenly, angels stood with them. It’s a great reminder that angels continue to stand with us today. Jesus may have ascended, but the angels remain with us, protecting us, and delivering messages to us from God.

Discipleship is knowing we have angelic support all around us. We are not alone. God is with us. The Holy Spirit is with us. Jesus is with us. But we also have angel armies surrounding us. They fight off the demonic hordes all around us. 

Next, verse 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

Why are you staring up into the sky? Perhaps they hoped he might come back. The angels explain to them, Jesus has been taken to heaven.

Jesus is now seated in heaven, on a throne, at the right hand of God the Father. One day he will return. And he will return literally from the sky, and the word says "Every eye will see Him."

For now, he lives forever to make intercession for us. What does that mean? He’s making the case for us before the Father, every step of the way, praying for us, speaking for us, covering us, standing with the Father, as the Father guides our lives, giving us exactly what we need.

How does God the Father and Jesus do this? They do it through the Holy Spirit, who is the Lord, living within us.

The Holy Spirit is even called in scripture, the Spirit of Christ. The Holy Spirit points us to Christ, and Christ communicates to us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes I talk to Jesus when I pray, sometimes I talk to the Father when I pray, but the Holy Spirit is always speaking to me. And he’s always speaking to you.

Jesus is in heaven. Yet he is with us through the Spirit.

Chelsey and I went to a play recently in Hillsdale, a play called The Pilgrim and it tells the story, with creative license, of John Bunyan’s classic book, the Pilgrim’s Progress.

But in the play the director actually plays Jesus, God, standing in the background, unseen by the main character, but seen by us. There’s a scene, spoiler alert, where the main character Christian, loses a dear friend, and he is weeping uncontrollably, and he’s angry at God because his friend had died. But as the audience we can see God holding the friend with him, weeping just as hard as he is. It gives an entirely new perspective to our sufferings, to see Jesus crying with us through our struggles and losses. Christian cries out to God, do you even care, and as the audience, we could all see God weeping desperately with Him, there was no question that he cared even more deeply than Christian did, for his beloved one who had died.

But every step of the way, the God character in white was with Christian, invisible to Him, but always with Him. So it is with Jesus. He is always with us, invisible to our eyes, yet always with us, through the Holy Spirit within us.

So in conclusion today, very simply, the first principle we want to understand about discipleship, and the command to “follow Jesus” is that this journey is Spirit birthed in us, it is not something we create in ourselves, but a gift from God. It is not trying harder, but it is being born again.

Secondly though, it is also Spirit empowered. Once we receive the new birth, and we surrender, and receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit, we are empowered for service. And we cooperate with the Holy Spirit synergistically, listening for his voice, and following Him, which truly is to follow Jesus. And this Spirit gives us power, power to proclaim Jesus, power to heal, power to pray, power to manifest the fruits of the Spirit, and power to overcome our own fears and inadequacies.

So if we walk by the Spirit, let us then keep in step with the Spirit. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord!

Peter Restored after Denying Jesus Three Times

There was once a young man who seemed to have a promising future. But one day his uncle called up his grandfather to let him know, your grandson is in the newspaper. And not in a good way. This young man with the bright future, began to head down the wrong path, so it seemed. And more incidents occurred, so much so this young man was labeled as bad, or as no longer able to make something of himself. It was too late for that. He’d done too many bad things. He needed to wear the label, of one who was unworthy, the bad one. Of course I refer to my own story. 

And for years I felt I was the bad one, the wrong one, why couldn’t I just be like the other cousins who did everything right? I made my parents look bad. But one day, I realized, I couldn’t make something of myself, not with what I’d been through, but if I gave my life to Jesus Christ, he could make me into something special. But, wasn’t I the unworthy one? The bad one? The Lord gave me a bit of a miraculous realization one day: It doesn’t matter what they say about you, even your own family, if I’ve called you then you're called. Period.

This is the 7th of our 7 part Resurrection series. We first looked at the raising of Lazarus, how Lazarus shined as a bright example of Jesus power, so we too shine as an example of Jesus power today. 2nd we looked at the triumphal entry of Jesus, and saw how a gathering can form a revival, and we too sought the Lord to revive us as a church. 3rd we studied the death of Jesus, and saw how as Jesus died, we too must die to self. 4th we looked at the resurrection, how Jesus raised us to new spiritual power. 5th we looked at the Emmaus road, how lost dreams can be replaced by new dreams, 6th we saw how Jesus gives us perfect peace to heal our doubt. Now today, we tie it all together, with the concept of loving restoration.

We will be in John 21:1-19 today.

This would be the last time the disciples would see the resurrected Jesus.

Three years earlier, there was a man named Simon, a young man, working as a fishermen on a lake in Galilee. He must’ve felt like he was called to something more. But he did his best to make ends meet for himself and his wife, and sick mother in law. Yet one night he fished all night, and caught nothing.

That day a mysterious rabbi approached his boat, telling him to cast his nets one more time. Simon was struck by this man’s words and threw his net, and the catch was so huge, they could barely pull the net from the water.

This was his first meeting with Jesus. After this miraculous catch, Jesus commanded Simon to follow him. Three years later, we come to our scripture today, which deals with Peter’s last meeting with Jesus.

From John 21:1-3: Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3 “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.”

This is where Peter, James, and John made their living. They grew up on the lake. And Peter decides he’s going fishing. Just like what he used to do. We never see Peter fishing from the moment he started following Jesus, but now, here he is, going back to what he used to do before following Jesus.

What is going through Peter’s mind? Has he given up? More so, perhaps, does he feel he is not worthy?

"I failed Jesus at the critical moment, when he was arrested. I’m not worthy to lead the disciples anymore. I’m going back to my old life of fishing." 

Now, it doesn’t say he was thinking these things, in the text. So we don’t know for sure. We just know he went fishing. Maybe they just needed food. Or maybe something deeper was happening.

Sometimes I think we too, after we’ve had a personal failure, think, well, I’m not worthy to follow Jesus. I’ve failed him too many times. But… the story doesn’t end there.

We keep seeing in this series, Jesus’ resurrection is not confined to himself alone. His victory keeps getting applied like balm to the hearts of others, whether it’s Mary at the tomb, or the two disciples on the Emmaus road, or Thomas in the house, this resurrection life keeps flowing from Jesus to others.

Second part of verse 3, “So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.”

They fished all night, not a single one. Have you ever gone fishing and caught nothing? It’s pretty frustrating. Just one, even a little one would be enough! But nothing at all is tough. 

It feels like Peter goes back to what’s familiar here. It is so easy to cling to what’s familiar in our lives. For better or for worse. If we’ve developed a pattern of faithful prayer and worship attendance and evangelizing, and that’s what’s familiar, and we keep defaulting back to it, that’s amazing.

But what happens when what’s familiar isn’t God’s will? This is the great struggle for someone who was raised in abuse. A child raised in an abusive home may often end up in an abusive marriage, because it’s what they’re used to. It’s so familiar, they default back to it.

Same with drug addiction or alcoholism, their life was rewritten over years, to center around the use of a substance to feel safe. And any attempt at escape from that lifestyle is so hard, because it feels so unfamiliar.

Peter, I believe, goes back to what he knows.

How often do we do that as believers? We’ve been transformed, made new, but, we sometimes drift back to old ways of doing things that aren’t of God.

Next, verses 4-5: 4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

5 He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”

“No,” they answered.

At dawn, Jesus shows up. The sun is rising barely, still so dark. Yet they can make out this figure on the shore calling out to them.

Jesus could’ve said well, Peter let me down, so I really can’t trust him anymore. Time to move on, put someone else in charge. But instead, Jesus comes to the water’s edge, with a plan to take action in Peter’s life.

Jesus does the same thing for us, when we’ve failed in some way, he calls to us.

Next, verse 6: He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

Jesus is doing something very special here. He is replaying the original incident in which he called Simon Peter. But it’s also symbolic of something much bigger.

Next, verses 7-8: 7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. 8 The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards.

Simon Peter’s response here to jump into the water, is so Peter in every way! It just matches his personality. But I think more so, it reinforces the narrative we’re seeing, of Peter thinking perhaps he was unworthy. But suddenly he’s filled with hope, and takes off toward Jesus. For those who feel unworthy today, God hasn’t left you, he’s coming right toward you.

And I encourage you to join Peter in his response to the incredible restorative love of Jesus, by running, swimming, crawling, whatever you gotta do, toward Jesus.

Don’t let that lie of “I’m not worthy” keep you away from your savior. Run toward Him.

At the same time, scripture does command us in numerous places, to live in a way worthy of our calling (Ephesians 4:1, Phil 1:27, 1 Thess 2:12). So, we do want to make sure, by God’s help, we are living a lifestyle matching our calling.

Yet Peter lived unworthy of the gospel, you might say, by denying Jesus, but, Jesus still comes to him.

Next, verse 9: “9 When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.”

This moment, of breakfast with Jesus, it calls back to the last supper moment, where Jesus told Peter, you will deny me three times. Yet despite that moment, and what happened after…

There is now a new meal. Breakfast.

It reminds me of that scripture from Revelation 3:20, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”

It also brings to mind the marriage supper of the lamb. Revelation 17:18, "For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready."

And again in Revelation 19:9 “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”

Next, verses 10-11: 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn.”

Many have wondered at the meaning of the number 153. Could it symbolize the number of nations that the gospel would go out to? An early church writer Jerome indicated that Greeks had a listing of 153 types of fish, symbolizing completeness, the gospel going out to all peoples everywhere.

Whatever it may mean, I think it must symbolize the spread of the gospel throughout the nations.

Some say well the disciples were just bragging about how many fish they caught, I tend to doubt that, simply because scripture only includes information if it's important. If it's in there, it matters in some way. 

Next, verses 12-14: Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.”

They were now sure of it, no question remained, this is Jesus, he is Lord, and he is risen. They eat breakfast by the water, with the sun rising in the east.

This is pure love. He comes and serves them breakfast. It shows us how much Jesus loves us, and particularly Peter, the one who had failed him. Yet Jesus did not view him as unworthy, he viewed him as worthy of redemption. This is divine restoration.

Next, verses 15-17: When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

In front of the other disciples, Jesus begins to question Simon Peter, asking him a simple question: Do you love me the most of everyone here?

Peter answers yes. Jesus asks him a second time, do you love me?

Peter again answers, Yes Lord, you know that I love you.

Each time Jesus reminds him his leadership role: Feed my sheep. What does he mean? Feed them fish and bread? No, he means to feed them his word, to engage them in discipleship, like Jesus did.

Who fed the sheep while Jesus was on Earth? Jesus did. Now, as Jesus departs, Peter will feed the sheep.

A third time, Jesus asks Peter, do you love me?

Second part of verse 17: Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”

Why did Jesus ask him three times? Because while Jesus was arrested, three different times, when Peter was asked about Jesus, Peter said, “I don’t know him.”

He denied his savior three times. And Jesus here, does not ignore that sin, he doesn’t condemn Peter either, but, he draws Peter toward repentance, toward changing his actions, by asking him such a simple question, “Do you love me?”

Peter answers three times, I do love you. This is Peter’s act of repentance, to turn away from the three times when he said he didn’t know Jesus. Which is a major thing, really. We’re told in scripture one of the worst things we could do as a Christian is to deny our Lord and Savior.

Yet here we see such deep love from Jesus, to restore Peter to his role of leadership. Not by avoiding the sin issue, but by walking him through it to repentance, and complete redemption.

If you’ve felt unworthy, maybe the devil has been lying to you. Because God has called you for a purpose.

But, maybe if you’d felt unworthy, there is something God wants to redeem in you. Something he wants to restore in you. Come running to Jesus. He’s waiting at the shore to meet with you about it. And to set you free.

We see Peter go on to live a life of victory, never again denying his savior, but standing boldly for him, to the very end.

Next, verses 18-19: 18 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.” 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God.”

Jesus gives Peter a hard word about his future. It sounds like Peter used to love going for walks, long walks, such a feeling of freedom. And Peter is told, one day, you will be taken forcefully somewhere you don’t want to go. You’ll be killed, and this death will glorify God.

Let me ask you this: Is everything perfect once you’re a Christian? Everything goes great once you give your life to Christ? Of course not! We go through terribly difficulties and problems. These trials test and refine our faith. We walk through a world that does not know us, because it didn’t know Jesus. Life isn’t easy. And for some like Peter, they will be called to make the ultimate sacrifice, to die for Jesus.

Some of you maybe already have been martyred in a way, you’ve been through such horrible sufferings, it was like a sort of spiritual or emotional death. Life is very hard sometimes. And Jesus knows that.

I love how God knows our whole story. He tells Peter I saw you when you were young, going for your walks wherever you wanted, and he sees the end, where Peter would be arrested and killed. He sees it all.

Lastly, second part of verse 19: Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

I’ve heard it said, I think it was on the Chosen series, "I’ve only got one thing to do today: Follow him, the rest will work itself out."

I think that’s true. We’ve been restored by God’s love. We know we who overcome, are worthy in Christ to receive all things as our inheritance, says the word of God (Rev 21:7). 

We’ve experienced resurrection. This resurrection in our lives happens in so many different ways. When we first met Christ, we began shining for Him. Then through gathering together we grew. Through death to self we let go our past ways. Christ sanctified us, raised us up. Lost dreams becoming new dreams. We received perfect peace in our healed hearts.

And now in loving restoration through our failures, we understand our identity: Loved completely. Worthy to be called children of God. Worthy of redemption. Worthy of Restoration. Worthy of Divine Love.

And now today, tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that, the goal is “follow Jesus.” Follow the one who loves us. Take up our cross. Listen for His voice. Obey His voice. And live and walk the way Jesus did. We do it gladly, because his love for us is so complete. This is discipleship, to follow Jesus.

And that is also, what our next series will focus in on, the lifestyle of discipleship, following Jesus through the leading of the Spirit.

The Peace of Jesus Christ given after His Resurrection

One of my favorite paintings is Van Gogh’s Cafe Terrace at Night. Before I was a Christian I had a poster of it on my wall. Dark, colorful, beautiful, with a mysterious figure in white at the center of the cafe, serving the people at the tables.

I remember when I was a cadet in the Salvation Army, I was about to graduate. That spring me and my session mates Abby, and Shanell were visiting a Goodwill outlet store, and I was wandering around shopping, praying and asking God for something to pop up to me, and bam, I found a plate, with the picture of the man in white from Van Gogh's painting, and it later became the emblem for our Sunday night church service at Owosso, 'dinner church' we called it.

All those years I looked at the Cafe Terrace at Night, but I never could quite see into what was happening in the painting. A bigger story was being told. But sometimes it’s just so hard to see. I didn’t even know why God led me to the plate that day in 2018, but he opened my eyes, that it would become an emblem of a new season.

Similarly today we'll see how one disciple of Jesus struggled to perceive the true meaning of what Jesus' life and ministry meant.

We’ve talked about how the women had seen Jesus at the tomb on Sunday morning, then, the Emmaus road incident occurred in the afternoon of that same Sunday. In the evening of that same Sunday, we look at yet another appearance of the resurrected Jesus Christ.

We’ll be in John 20:19-29. Verse 19 says, “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…”

So we have our setting. The disciples are in hiding, fearful of the Jewish authorities. They are behind locked doors. It reminds me of many believers today throughout the world, who have to meet in secret, in nations like Pakistan, Iran, North Korea, or China. It is not safe to proclaim Jesus, so believers meet in secret.

I can only imagine the kind of battle with fear those believers have. The thought might be, "I could be arrested at any moment." Then again, the choice might be simple at the end of the day, I will be afraid, or I will trust. There’s little middle ground. But I can only imagine what they must endure. In the USA we have freedom of religion, for now.

The disciples of Jesus were afraid, and uncertain about what was happening. They had heard Jesus was alive, but to them, it was just a rumor.

They didn’t understand. They didn’t believe. And this led to fear. And when fear takes over, we withdraw, go into hiding, and this leads to even greater doubts. It’s a vicious cycle.

Unbelief leads to confusion leads to fear leads to withdrawing/hiding which leads to doubt which leads to more unbelief. Round and round the cycle goes. That is… until Jesus shows up.

Second part of verse 19: …Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”

Jesus simply appears in the room right in front of the disciples. They must’ve been shocked. And immediately he speaks saying to them… "Peace be with you."

Let me ask you something: How much peace do you have in your personal life? Would you say you generally live at peace, or would you say your life is filled with a high amount of fear and anxiety?

Jesus comes to give us peace. In Noah Webster’s dictionary from 1828, he defined peace personally in this way: “Freedom from agitation or disturbance by the passions, as from fear, terror, anger, anxiety or the like; quietness of mind; tranquility; calmness; quiet of conscience.”

Freedom from fear. Real peace. Oh how we long for it, don’t we? Real peace, to be free from anxiety and worry. But we can have it, truly we can. We can have it in Jesus.

Next, verse 20, “After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.”

Jesus immediately shows them the locations of the wounds on his hands and feet, and his side, where the spear was plunged into his flesh. They must’ve been stunned to see the scars from the wounds. If we were to see Jesus face to face today, we would still see those wounds in his hands and feet, and side. They are permanent scars of his gift to us.

In the book of Revelation, (Rev 5:6) Jesus is pictured as a lamb who looked as if he’d been slain.

Imagine being a non-believer on judgment day, and you’re standing before Jesus and the Father, and the Father is explaining to you, pointing to the wounds in Jesus hands and feet, that Jesus had done everything for you to be saved, but you wouldn’t receive it. To look at those wounds in the Son of God would be sobering, Jesus did all that for me, and I still I wouldn’t let him save me.

Let us always remember what Jesus did for us, it was extreme, that God would come as a human, to offer himself for our sins... Those nasty little things we did that we were wrong. Jesus paid it for us.

Jesus is showing them, so they understand he isn’t a ghost, he isn’t a different person, he’s the same messiah whose body was placed in the tomb.

How do the disciples respond? They are overjoyed. Joy is one of those uniquely Christian emotions. Most people don’t experience joy, they may experience pleasure in various forms, but joy seems to me to be linked to the divine, it is pleasure mixed with holiness and goodness, it’s happiness combined with God’s favor. There is nothing like it, when we have this joy of knowing we are loved by God, walking in God’s will, or we just did something pleasing to God. Maybe we just visited someone in the nursing home, or we picked someone up for church, or we attended a bible study, or brought food over for a neighbor, as a Christian, during this event or immediately after we experience joy, a sense of happiness mixed with Godliness. It’s beautiful.

The disciples experience happiness in God as they see Jesus their dearest friend risen from the dead.

Next, verse 21: Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

A second time Jesus offers them peace. It harkens back to the upper room, when Jesus said to them, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you” (John 14:27). Why does he say it twice?

Jews would often say to each other “Shalom.” as a hello or farewell. But sometimes it would be stated "shalom shalom" as a double portion, a double blessing, and in Hebrew to say it twice indicates a superlative, so to say "shalom shalom" meant not just peace to you, but perfect peace to you.

Jesus said in John 14 ,that he doesn’t give peace the way the world does, worldly peace is often based on positive circumstances, if everything is ok in my life, I’ll be at peace, but Jesus' peace is not dependent on circumstances, it is perfect peace, that we can receive and live in.

But he doesn’t just want us to sit basking in his peace, as amazing as that is. He says, I’m sending you, just as the Father sent Jesus.

The new mission begins to take shape immediately here. Go out and tell the world that forgiveness of sins is possible. Eternal life is open to those who will repent of their sins and receive Jesus as Lord.

Next, verses 22-23: And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

At this moment, the disciples receive the Holy Spirit, who is the Lord. Jesus breaths on them. And so they receive the living God’s presence within them. What a mighty gift of peace, and empowerment for service.

And Jesus tells them, you have the power by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the forgiveness sins. And to also tell people when they still need forgiveness.

After this moment, Jesus again disappeared. And the disciples were left in awe at what they’d seen. But it turns out one of the disciples had been missing.

Next, verses 24-25: Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

Thomas refuses to believe that the disciples had seen Jesus, unless he personally witnesses it himself. He does not believe their witness. Many throughout history have since dubbed Thomas, doubting Thomas, but I think he gets a bad rap here.

All the disciples doubted until Jesus appeared to them. Thomas wasn’t there to see it. So he doubted the incident as well.

We struggle with doubt too, don’t we? We struggle to believe.

Next, verse 26: 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!”

One week later, same situation. Disciples together, at the house, doors locked, but this time Thomas is present.

Again Jesus releases peace to them. The statement is a command, "Peace be with you", the Greek word here eirēnē (i-ray'-nay) pictures harmony or unity between peoples. But I think it also points to personal peace, and even more so, ultimately, peace with God.

Peace of the soul had been found at last for the disciples. And maybe today you feel like you’re lacking a peace of the soul between you and God... Like something is causing a separation, I encourage you to pray right now, and seek the Lord on whatever might be causing a rift in your heart. And if it’s a need for salvation, ask Jesus Christ to be your savior today.

Peace with God is a beautiful thing. It’s one of the best feelings in the universe, going from buried in sin, to set free.

I remember when I was a minister in Gary Indiana, I took two of our boys to camp, their names were KJ and Keshaun. They had a hard time at camp, and there was an incident in which one of them was caught doing something they weren't supposed to do. But the Lord used this incident to stir him up in a way, where he went to the altar at the service that night, and laid down his pain and anger at the loss of his grandmother. And he came back from the altar saying "I feel so light!" It was amazing. He was set free.

What barriers to peace exist?

1. Not knowing Christ as savior, if you don’t really have Jesus, and you aren’t really born again, you’ll never have real peace

2. Don’t believe his word / unbelief 

3. Unresolved trauma / Pain / PTSD

4. Disobedience / lukewarm relationship with God

If you don’t have a lot of peace in your life, please don’t feel hopeless. There is a solution. There is a way to find that, and have it, because ultimately Jesus says to each of us, “peace be with you.” But it may take seeking Jesus to help break down a barrier.

Next, verse 27: 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.”

The NLT says “Don’t be faithless, believe.”

The most important truth in the universe is… Jesus is alive. So hard for Thomas and the others to believe, after seeing his brutal crucifixion. Yet here he stands right in front of them. And this time he comes directly to Thomas, and fulfills everything Thomas requested, to touch his scarred hands and his side where he was pierced.

If you could see Jesus today, you’d still see those scarred hands and feet, all of it done for you and me. And one day we all will meet him face to face. And give an answer for our lives.

Jesus rebukes Thomas, corrects him, stop doubting, and trust. Believe. Get past your hurt, to the truth, I’m real, and I’m alive, and the whole world is about to change, when you take my message to the ends of the Earth.

Next, verse 28: Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Here we see Thomas’ reply to Jesus. He calls him two things, Lord, which means among other things, "master" or "owner." The second statement is very much a statement of divinity. He is God.

Similarly for us, if we desire to walk in peace with God, we must understand these truths. Jesus is our master, and Jesus is our God. If we misunderstand or disregard these realities, we will miss peace.

Whenever I get focused on my pleasure, instead of on God’s will, I begin to lose my peace, and shift into worldly pleasure, and that road always ends at an empty feeling.

But we face a challenge different than that of Thomas and the other disciples. They got to see Jesus risen from the dead. They felt his hands, they touched him, talked with Him, saw him alive, and as they say, seeing is believing, right?

What about us today? We don’t see Jesus with our physical eyes. What a challenge we face! We have these writings in the Bible, we have the evidence of the world around us, we have history, and we have experience. But.. it’s a tough challenge. And a blessing to overcome it. So Jesus says in verse 29…

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

This scripture is referring to us. But I think it’s also referring to John, the writer of this gospel. When John and Peter initially ran to the tomb, they both looked in, and when John saw the empty tomb, he saw and believed. He saw the evidence, without actually seeing Jesus himself, and began to believe.

Can we believe in Jesus without seeing? Indeed we can, we have, and it’s changed our lives. And in a way we’ve seen. We’ve seen Jesus through the testimony of others, our parents, friends, family members, people in our community whom Jesus has changed. And we’ve seen Jesus change our lives, once we believed in Him, and it causes us to believe even more, that he’s really real. We’ve seen, not with our physical eyes, which so often can deceive us anyway, we’ve seen with our mind and heart. It’s written inside every human that God is real and Jesus is His son. So it’s not too much to ask, for us to believe today, and not doubt.

Though if you doubt, take your doubts to Jesus, and perhaps like Thomas, he will come to you, in a way you can understand and reveal himself to you.

John tells us, in verses 30-31: "Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."

The whole purpose of the written accounts of Jesus life, is that we would really believe, and by believing, we would have life. And in that life, is great peace. A peace that comes from the unveiling of our eyes to something we couldn’t understand without His help. He really is the Lord of this planet, the Lord of the human race, and the Lord of us personally.

Look again into the Café Terrace at Night. We have a dark night, yet stars shine the sky above. The stars, suns and galaxies, point us to the reality that God is real. But it’s darkness that makes them visible.

And we see the scene, of the man in white, which many interpreters believe to be a representation of Jesus, symbolic of him serving, or the last supper.

The bright golden light that surrounds the café is so very powerful in the painting, it’s as if those in the café are in a physical world, yet just above them is this spiritual reality symbolized by the golden light. Yet we also see a dark figure in the scene…

We have a doorway on the left, blue, that seems to lead upward toward the heavens. Jesus is the door.

Sometimes when we see something, like a painting, we don’t fully see everything that is happening.

Elizabeth Edwards, an art analyst, reveals on her Substack, that everything in the painting by Van Gogh is intended to point us to the figure in white in the midst of the café.

When I was a non believer, I couldn’t see the deeper realities in this painting. But now, today, I have the honor of seeing Jesus not just in this painting, but everywhere in this world.

But do you see the point? Thomas doubted. Just like we struggle with doubt. But, Jesus helped him to see.

Jesus also helps us to see. He puts it all together for us. We look at the same painting and suddenly it’s so different. It’s like that when Jesus opens our eyes. Suddenly, we see differently. We see beyond the physical, to the spiritual realities all around us, seeing this spiritual plain, as Jesus said, is seeing the kingdom of God in this world.

Can you see today? Are you beginning to look beyond the physical to the spiritual? Even as Christians we need God to open our eyes, remove veils, take us deeper, to see the spiritual all around us, and ultimately, to see Jesus Christ himself, the risen Lord of our lives. Amen.