Peace, Proof, and Power
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!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 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.”
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.”
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!”
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
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.
John 20:19–31
This Sunday, we continue to dwell in the joy and mystery of Easter. The stone has been rolled away. Christ is risen. Now what? What difference does the resurrection make in real life—when the door is locked, the doubts are loud, and the world is hostile?
In today’s Gospel, the risen Jesus comes to his disciples—not once, but twice. He meets them in fear and in doubt. He brings peace in their fear, proof for their doubt, and power to witness.
1. Peace in our fear
“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear…” (John 20:19)
This is the first thing the risen Christ does: he enters the locked room. And he speaks peace.
They had good reason to be afraid. Their Lord, teacher, mentor, and leader had been crucified. They had scattered. They’d lost Judas. Peter had denied him. The authorities were hunting down Jesus’ followers to extinguish the movement before it takes off. And suddenly—there’s Jesus, standing among them. The doors didn’t stop him. Their fear didn’t stop him. Their failures didn’t stop him.
He says, “Peace be with you.” Not just a greeting, but a declaration. The kind of peace that only the risen Christ can give—the peace that flows from the cross where sins were paid for, and the tomb that could not hold him.
That’s the peace we need when we’re paralysed by fear. Whether it’s fear of rejection, fear for the future, or fear of failure. Jesus does not wait for us to open the door. He steps into our locked hearts and brings peace.
It’s like being in a hospital waiting room, just after the doctor has said, “We need to run more tests.” Your stomach sinks. You rehearse worst-case scenarios. The clock barely moves. Then someone you trust—a spouse, a close friend, maybe a pastor—quietly sits beside you. They don’t need to say much. Their presence is peace. Not because they fix everything, but because you’re no longer alone.
That’s what Jesus does. He doesn’t wait for the disciples to get their act together. He steps into their fear and is their peace. In our fear, He is our peace.
And in Revelation 1, John echoes that same message: “Grace and peace to you… from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead.” (Rev 1:4–5). This is not some abstract hope. It’s peace from the one who went to the grave and came back alive.
2. Proof for our doubt
“Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side.” (John 20:27)
Thomas gets a bad reputation. “Doubting Thomas,” we call him. But in truth, he wasn’t asking for more than the others already received. They had seen the Lord. He just wanted the same.
And what does Jesus do? He meets Thomas exactly where he is. He gives Thomas the proof He asks for.
Whenever we want to be sure of something, particularly something major in life, we make sure we have proof that it is what it says on the cover.
Before getting married, people enter a period of engagement—I guess it’s just to make sure they’ve got the right person?
Before buying something online, we make sure the website is genuine and check that we’ll get what we’ve paid for.
Before Thomas is convinced that Jesus really rose from the dead (a world-changing moment), He wants to see and touch the man himself.
As a church community, we say that we are God’s people who come together to be forgiven our sins, be blessed by Him, and exist as a loving, caring Christian community. They are all pretty big claims. Where is the evidence that any of that is true? How can we prove that we are God’s people?
I’ve heard many of you reflect that it feels like we’re in a really good spot at the moment. The two main reasons I hear are that there are lots of young families around and that the hall is full for morning tea every week. Basically, high attendance means that we are doing what we are supposed to be.
Yes, it is a great sign that people are coming to church and hanging around for morning tea. But what is our strong attendance signalling? What are high numbers a sign of? These are great signs because they are happening despite our imperfections and failures.
Let’s be brutally honest for a moment: this congregation has its scars:
We’ve had conflict between families, individuals, organisations, pastors, and leadership
We’ve run projects that never got off the ground and burnt people out in the process
We’ve tried every trick in the book when it comes to worship services:
Traditional and contemporary
One service and multiple services
At the church and at the school
And these are just the self-inflicted scars. We’ve also been scarred by things that we have had no control over—death, sickness, and struggles of other kinds. Some scars are decades old, others far more recent.
When Jesus comes to His fearful and doubting disciples, He offers His scars as proof that He succeeded in His mission. Jesus doesn’t erase or hide His scars. He shows them. They’re not a sign of weakness—they’re a sign of victory. They prove that death really was defeated.
And in response, Thomas gives the most powerful confession in the Gospels: “My Lord and my God!” It doesn’t get more direct than that. He moves from doubt to worship.
Jesus doesn’t hide His scars, nor should we hide ours.
Our scars show that we are here because God wills it, and that He has a plan for us. Our scars serve as proof that God has redeemed us by His blood, and we live to tell the tale.
The Church is a hospital where sick people come to be healed and restored by the Great Physician. By coming here today, you are openly admitting that.
“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed,” Jesus says. We don’t get to physically touch his hands or see Him standing in front of us, but He comes pretty close. He comes to us in the bread and wine and through water, all by the power of His promise. He also comes to us in each other as we share life together as His people, with all its ups and downs.
Jesus gives us peace in fear, and He shows us His scars as proof for our doubting hearts.
3. Power to witness
“As the Father has sent me, I am sending you… Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:21–22)
Jesus doesn’t stop at comforting the disciples. He commissions them. He sends them out. That’s the third thing the risen Christ brings: peace, proof, and power.
He breathes on them—a sign of the Spirit, just as God breathed life into Adam. This is a new creation. A new beginning. A Spirit-filled Church.
Peter and the apostles will soon find themselves standing before the same leaders who had Jesus crucified. They’re warned not to speak in Jesus’ name. But Peter replies: “We must obey God rather than men.” What changed? How did these men go from hiding in fear to preaching in public?
They had seen the risen Lord. They had received the Spirit. They had peace in their hearts, proof in their minds, and power in their mission.
We aren’t just comforted by Easter. We’re commissioned. The risen Christ sends us out—to forgive, to proclaim, to witness. You might not feel bold. But boldness isn’t something you conjure up. It’s given by the Spirit of the risen Christ.
Conclusion
Easter isn’t over. It’s only just begun. Christ still walks into locked rooms. He still shows his scars to the doubting. He still breathes out his Spirit on the fearful.
So today, let his peace settle your fear. Let his proof strengthen your faith. And let his power send you into the world—not in your strength, but in his.
May the peace that surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
