You have peace with God through Jesus’ forgiveness!

Not many people are in the dark about what is going to happen tomorrow. Tomorrow, if you have a pair of protective glasses, you will be able to safely watch the sky darken in the middle of the day. The temporary darkness has sparked a lot of interest, but it is good that the sun will only be hidden for a short time. The light of the sun needs to shine on the earth to sustain life. The Light of the world is one of the names used in the Bible for Jesus. He went into the darkness of death to save us, but he overcame the darkness with his resurrection. He is the reason we have forgiveness and peace with God, and he will sustain us for eternity in heaven.

We need the sun to live. The sun gives us warmth, allows plants to grow, gives us vitamin D, etc. More than that, we need the Son of God to live. God gave us life, but our lives are just a glimpse of what God wanted them to be. God wanted us to have life with him, bright shining lasting life, but we live in darkness and darkness lives in us because of sin. The way for us to have the long-lasting life God wants for us is to get rid of the darkness and sin. We cannot get rid of our darkness, that would be like looking through a telescope at an empty spot in the night sky and asking that it light up. Darkness is a void. Light is a thing; it is substance, and it fills spaces. God removed our darkness by sending his Light into the world.

The disciples were in the dark about what was going to happen the first Easter. Although Jesus had told them many times, they were not able to see what was going to happen. Then, on the first Easter, the darkness of death was engulfed by the Light of the world. In our Gospel reading from John 20, we hear Jesus miraculously filled a dark and empty space with his light, 19 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!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Jesus’ sudden appearance would have felt like a dream, but all the disciples were wide awake, hearing and seeing the same Jesus. And to prove it to them, he welcomed them to examine his hands and side. They were shocked and overjoyed to see their teacher, friend and Lord. They needed to understand what this meant, so Jesus repeated himself and further explained what his resurrection meant, 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Jesus spoke and opened their eyes of faith to understand what his resurrection meant. Separation from God because of sin and death had been removed. Peace between God and all people had been reestablished by Jesus. He was sent to save us, and he did. Now they would go to share this truth with the world. They were not going to stay locked up, alone and afraid. Jesus gave them the visual of breathing the Holy Spirit on them. They were now filled with the Holy Spirit who works through the words Jesus gave them, 23 “If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” This was now their mission.

When Jesus spoke to his disciples on the first Easter evening, he made peace synonymous with forgiveness. Peace pictures harmony, collaboration, acceptance, positivity, etc. between people. The opposite of peace is war, arguing, rejection, negativity, etc. When peace is lost, it is restored with forgiveness. Another way to say this is that without forgiveness, there is no peace. Peace remains out of reach when we do not forgive. We might say that we forgive someone, but then we bring up whatever we supposedly forgave the next time we are wronged by that person. There are times when we have not forgiven someone who was sorry and asked for it. And there are times when we long to forgive someone, but they are not willing to admit their wrongs and ask for forgiveness. When we deny the power of giving or withholding forgiveness, we prevent peace in our lives, for other people and with God. Life without forgiveness is not living because it is darkness, death and eventually hell.

Jesus spoke the words of forgiveness. His announcement of peace was the guarantee of forgiveness. Once his resurrection was an established event in history, every word of forgiveness he had spoken before and spoke after was guaranteed, as well as the words of forgiveness spoken by his followers of all time. The sins of all people are a void of darkness and evil; sin leaves a void that was meant to be filled with love. God’s disappointment and righteous anger for all the darkness we have spread was put on Jesus as was prophesied in Isaiah 53, 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. Jesus entered the darkness to save us, and he is also the light that filled us up as we hear in 2 Corinthians 5, 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. The one who is wronged has the authority to give or withhold forgiveness, and since all sin ultimately goes against God, he is the final authority to give or withhold forgiveness. Jesus, the Son of God, gave us forgiveness as the authority, as the payment for sin and the giver of righteousness. Against any doubts you have about your forgiveness, the risen Jesus said, “Peace be with you!”

Jesus is the living proof of forgiveness. He is the peace between God and all people as we hear in our New Testament reading from 1 John 1, 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. John was a witness of Jesus’ resurrection. His words point to Jesus as the one who gives us fellowship with God. We have fellowship with God when we continue to seek the peace and forgiveness of Jesus. Fellowship with God means walking in the light, which is a life of confessing sins, receiving forgiveness, struggling against sin and serving God and others in love. This is the Christian life. And one aspect of the serving God and others is what Jesus said in John 20, 23 “If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” You will be met with mixed results while carrying out this calling like we hear in our Old Testament reading from Acts 18. Paul was in Corinth preaching and teaching about Jesus, and some welcomed him and believed, while others rejected him and their Savior. The opposition caused him fear, but God reassured him as we read in Acts 18, 9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” 11 So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God. Our circumstances are different, but God remains the same. He is with us. When fear fills our hearts, we look to what Jesus has done for us. When you are living in the peace and forgiveness of Jesus, then you are ready to forgive or withhold forgiveness. When someone is sorry for their sins, forgiven them. When someone is not sorry for their sins, do not forgive them. In this way, you give the peace of God to those in the darkness who have seen the light. And to those clinging to the darkness, you give a clear warning of rejecting peace with Jesus.

Not many people are in the dark about what is going to happen tomorrow. Tomorrow, if you have a pair of protective glasses, you will be able to safely watch the sky darken in the middle of the day. Sin stands between us and the Son of God, but Jesus was sent to bring us peace and forgiveness. Through his sacrifice and resurrection, he earned the right to forgive all our sins. You will not remain in the darkness because you have peace with God through Jesus’ forgiveness. Amen.