Transforming The Terrified

Imagine a person locked in a room, terrified of the people outside. Our imaginary person believes in Jesus, but is crippled with fear to share their faith with anyone outside that room they’ve locked themselves in. Now imagine, that not long after, that same person is accused of turning the world upside down for how radically they’ve shared their faith. What in the world must have happened in their life? They were given a new purpose. And this isn’t an imaginary scenario.

Crippled With Fear
Look how John 20:19 starts out for Jesus’ disciples: “When it was evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because they feared the Jews.” Here are these guys who’ve journeyed with Jesus, seen his miracles, heard his teaching, given him their lives, boarded up in a room terrified. They’d all scattered when Jesus was arrested. They went into hiding. Peter denied knowing Jesus multiple times. This is a low point. I mean, they’d banked their life on the fact that Jesus was God. It’d be worse than putting all of your money, everything you have in the stock market just to see it crash completely. Worse than putting all of your hopes on some relationship just to have the girl or guy run off with someone else. These 11 guys are maybe at the lowest point of their lives, terrified that they’ve made a huge mistake. They’re filled with fear in this locked room, probably the same room that they had the last supper with Jesus a few days before.

Maybe you know the feeling of being crippled with fear about people finding out that you’re a Jesus follower. Maybe you feel the possible ridicule, laughter, mocking that would follow if you shared your faith at work. Or, you know that it would be barrier for you to advance at work. Maybe you know the awkwardness that would come at a family gathering if you asked to pray before the meal. Maybe you live in a place where being a Christian could mean harm or even cost your life.

Given Peace And Joy
But look what happens in the rest of the verse: “Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” Jesus appears, in the room, standing alive with them, and he speaks to them. Now, what would you say to your 11 friends who abandoned you at your most desperate moment? When my friends bail on me for lunch or hanging out or surfing I call them punks and rub it in that they bailed. And that’s just for something small. If I were one of these 11, I’d be so ashamed to see Jesus. I’d feel so low and apologetic and embarrassed. 

But look at what Jesus says: Peace be with you. Peace. That’s the first word they hear from him. Peace, and not accusation. Peace, and not shame. Peace, and not anger. This word shalom means be full of wellness. It’s like telling someone to have life at it’s best, life at it’s fullest under God. He’s able to extent peace to them because of what he did on the cross. His last words “It is finished,” made these words “peace be with you” possible. Because he finished paying for their sin, shame, and guilt on the cross, they can live in peace now.

But he gave them even more than peace: “Having said this, he showed them his hands and his side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.” He shows them his scars on his hands and side. He doesn’t want them to forget the cross. He wants them to experience it with their senses. See what happened. Touch it, it’s real. He does the same with us by asking us to take communion every time we worship together. We touch the bread and wine, we taste it, and we’re drawn to the cross. Jesus says that if you put your faith in him you should be baptized. We feel the cold water, feel it overwhelm us when we go under, and feel the rebirth of coming up out of the water and having new life. Jesus wanted them and wants us to experience him with our senses, not just our minds. And look at what it led to: The disciples rejoiced when the saw the Lord. 

They Rejoiced. Their experience of Jesus with their senses overflowed out of them as joy.

These fearful men were given peace and joy from their experience with the resurrected Jesus.

Transformed To Go
Then look what Jesus said to them, “As the Father has sent me, I also send you.” So the Father sent Jesus on a mission to this world, and now Jesus sends his followers. They were sent by Jesus on a mission to this world. Just as God sent Jesus, Jesus sends us. That’s massively important. Jesus’ mission has become our life mission. 

And remember, these dudes were painfully normal. These are fishermen, tax collectors, nobodies, even rejects who probably weren’t gifted academically or in rhetoric, how they spoke. And these are the guys that Jesus sends. Which means that there’s room for all of us in this. But these are the guys who now have peace and joy because of the resurrected Jesus, and now he sends this band of misfits on mission for him.

Look at their reputation by Acts 17: “…they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too!” These men who have turned the world upside down! That was their reputation after Jesus sent them out. They were no longer fishermen, tax collectors, and nobodies, they were world changers. They were creating more and more worshippers of Jesus. They were planting churches in cities along the way. God used these scardy-cat dudes to turn the world upside down. 

How could that possibly happen?

Empowered For Mission
Look at verse 22: “After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” They’re going to receive the Holy Spirit, God Himself to live in them and guide them, so that they can live at peace, live with joy, and live on mission. How important is the Holy Spirit to our lives now? Jesus needed the Holy Spirit to live this way. When Jesus was baptized it says that eyewitnesses saw the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus, and we read over and over that Jesus lived his life in the power of the Spirit. In the book of Acts, one of the major recurring themes is how followers of Jesus were empowered by the Spirit to do all that they did. The Spirit is critical. We can’t fulfill our purpose as resurrected people without the Spirit. 

So we’re seeing that these guys have new peace, new joy, a new mission, and a new resource to live this life. They have a totally new purpose in life. Their purpose isn’t to pursue the American dream of owning a house, having 2.3 kids, a dog, and a comfortable retirement. Their purpose isn’t to find themselves and do whatever their hearts desire. Their purpose isn’t to become famous or pursue power. 

The new purpose that Jesus gives them is to live the same way Jesus lived. As the Father sent him, so he sends us. Jesus came as a humble servant. He came to give up his life. He lived in discomfort and self-sacrifice. The Holy Spirit gave him the power to fulfill the mission God gave him and Jesus’ life really made God happy. 

We’re called to live the same way: to live lives that have been transformed by the resurrected Jesus; lives of complete peace, immeasurable joy, and Spirit empowered mission as we share the gospel with everyone around us.

That’s our purpose. Let’s get to work!