You have peace with God through Jesus, the risen Son of God!

My emails, voicemails and text messages are piling up before I can think clearly enough to respond and when I do, I’m short and rude with coworkers and customers. I am lost trying to follow what my teacher or teachers are talking about because I was still thinking about math when it was time for reading, and now my history pop quiz is attacking my mind like a science experiment gone wrong. The laundry and dishes are piling up, along with the toys and we are late for a doctor’s appointment, and the kids are crying, and I am crying. Whatever the situation is, you have been there at 2:30 pm on a Thursday when everything seems to be going wrong, and then you remember that lunch was supposed to be at 12:00 pm, but you did not eat lunch and now you are “hangry.” The term is “hangry,” it is a combination of hungry and angry, it happens when you skip a meal to keep working, and then become angry at whatever you are doing or whoever you are working with for no logical reason until you realize you are just hungry.

Early in Jesus’ ministry, he was at the temple just before Passover flipping tables over and driving people out of the temple courts. At first glance, reading through John 2 might make you think Jesus was hangry and when the Jews saw what he was doing, 18 “The Jews then responded to him, ‘What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?’” Confused by Jesus’ actions, the Jews wanted to know why Jesus thought he could flip tables over and drive people from the temple courts. Jesus did this because they had turned the Temple into Target; they had turned God’s house into a market, but the Temple was meant for worship, not buying and selling. The Jews were blind to their offenses, and demanded a sign from Jesus, so 19 “Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.’ 20 They replied, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?’ 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body.” Jesus’ reply sounded like foolishness to the people, until Easter.

It had been one week since Easter and all of the remaining eleven disciples believed Jesus had risen from the dead except one. As we pick up with the events after Jesus’ resurrection in John 20, we read that Jesus had appeared to ten of the remaining eleven disciples on Easter revealing he had risen from the dead. Thomas was not with them, and when the others told him that Jesus had risen, 25 … “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.’” Even though all the other disciples who Thomas knew, traveled with, taught with, watched miracles with and heard Jesus’ teaching with agreed that they had seen Jesus alive, it was still a struggle for Thomas.

Any of you if put in Thomas’ sandals would have had the same doubts about Jesus’ resurrection. When you are caught in a difficult situation and another believer tells you one of the amazing truths from the Bible, it is hard to listen. When you lose a job and someone quotes, Acts 14, 17 … “He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” All you can think about is how your cupboard, refrigerator, pantry and stomach are empty, your mortgage is six months late, your car is about to get repossessed, and you will not be able to cover any medical expenses if something happens. Or when you have been struggling with infertility for years and to show you God’s power, someone quotes Genesis 21, 5 “Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.” All you can think about was how that was a special miracle to allow for the creation of an entire nation and for the Savior to be born, and you just want one ordinary kid in your twenties or thirties. Thomas and the disciples were caught in a difficult situation, John 20 describes them as locked behind closed doors for fear that they would be put to death, a horrible death like Jesus had just experienced. Then, the disciples told Thomas that Jesus had risen expecting to calm all his fears, and he wanted proof that their claim was true, only then did he expect to have peace.

The Word of God alone had the power to replace Thomas’ fear with faith giving him peace. Again, 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!’ 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.’ Both times Jesus appeared to the disciples, he said, “Peace be with you!” This time, that peace reached all the disciples as 28 “Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” Thomas’ fear was replaced with faith when he saw Jesus back from the dead. Jesus’ words to Thomas addressed his real need. He was caught in denial because of a difficult situation. His faith that had been fed by Jesus for years as he followed him, had been overcome with emotions at the loss of Jesus and fear for his own life, and his own mind getting in the way doubting the possibility of a person bringing themselves back from the dead. Jesus cut to Thomas’ heart to the truth of what his real struggle was, it was a faith struggle, not a proof struggle. When Jesus told Thomas, “Stop doubting and believe,” the Greek phrase could also be translated, “Do not be born or go living after all you have experienced in unbelief, but belief.” Jesus’ words were the power to renew the trust of Thomas in Jesus as his God and Lord.

In John 2, the Jews asked Jesus by what authority he cleared the buyers and sellers from the Temple, and he responded, 19 “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” At Easter, Jesus made good on his promise to die and rise three days later. And John went on to record these words, 22 “After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.” It was Jesus’ words, which agreed with Scripture, that caused the disciples to believe. And that faith in Jesus meant peace. Peace is harmony, it is existence without conflict. Without Jesus there is no peace with God because of sin. Sin is conflict, it makes us enemies with God and with one another, and it leads to death and hell. With Jesus resurrected, there is peace because sin was paid for and we now stand with Jesus covered in his goodness, welcome to live with God.

This peace Jesus announces to all people hinges on the resurrection. God gave Paul the explanation why Jesus’ resurrection matters and what believing in Jesus means for you in 1 Corinthians 15, 13 “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.” It is all or nothing, either Jesus rose from the dead to save you from your sins, death and hell, or he did not rise meaning you are still in your sins, you will die, and you will go to hell. Jesus as the solution to sin and death was announced by God in John 3, 16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” These words are very clear that the purpose of Jesus sacrificing himself was to give eternal life to all who believe. The Greek word translated into English as ‘that,’ in the phrase ‘that whoever believes’ indicates purpose, and is the same word translated as ‘that’ twice in our section from John 20, 31 “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 purpose, the reason, that Jesus was sacrificed and rose from the dead was to give you eternal life through faith and believe Jesus is the Son of God.

The message of the peace Jesus made between you and God has power. When standing on trial for his life, Paul confessed in Acts 26, 22 … “I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen— 23 that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.” The message of Jesus risen from the dead was hated so much by unbelievers that Paul had to be protected as a prisoner or else the crowds would have killed him. Paul was sharing the message handed down for generations that God would send his Son to save the world, both Israel and all nations. 28 “Then Agrippa said to Paul, ‘Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?’ 29 Paul replied, ‘Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.’” Paul had to share the message of Jesus, he had to share the Word of God, he trusted its power to bring people to faith in Jesus. He did not see it as a magical cure that works instantly or takes away all the bad stuff in a person’s life. Instead, Paul trusted God’s Word to be miraculous in its power to bring unbelievers lost to sin and death, at war with God, filled with fear and eager to believe unsupported lies from the minds of people, to peace and harmony with God, their Creator, the one who loves them, saved them, forgave them and has prepared an eternal home for them in heaven. God’s Word is powerful because it gives faith in Jesus the Son of God who rose from the dead and will raise you from the dead, forgiven and at peace with God.

Like Thomas you need to hear God’s Word again and again to fight against unbelief. There will be no end to threats to your faith in this life especially when God’s Word makes unbelievable promises and asks you to trust God when you have intense fears about things in your life. Just like allergies in Texas, attacks on your faith will not stop. And just like you need to constantly take remedies of all kinds to keep from suffering with itchy eyes and a runny nose, you need to constantly apply the Word of God to your heart. You need the Word of God preached and taught to you, you need to listen to it and read it for yourself and ask questions to grow in your understanding of how Jesus’ love, forgiveness and resurrection apply to all aspects of your life here and for eternity. Like Thomas your struggle is not one of logic and mental understanding, not arguments, debates and apologetics. The struggle is faith vs. unbelief, sin vs. grace, truth vs. lies, God vs. devil, and God has won decisively by rising from the dead. John wrote, 31 “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.” And, he recorded these words of Jesus, 29 … “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Sometimes when you are having a tough day, the simple answer might be that you skipped lunch and are hangry, but with some food, your day gets better. Other times, your soul is hungry. When you are separated from God, it starves your soul and filling up on what the unbelieving world, the devil and your own sinful thoughts believe is like filling up on twinkies, they might sound good and even taste good, but they do not satisfy. Just like Thomas, you need Jesus’ Words to stop you from being overcome with fear and unbelief. Hearing the good news of Jesus’ resurrection is food for your soul and it feeds your faith to get through hardships, even job loss or infertility showing you that your family of believers will be there to help you with bills and food, and to show you that there are people who can help you get a child in various ways. Jesus’ resurrection also gives you solutions to the problems that stretch into eternity. You are no longer God’s enemy, and he is no longer against you or separated from you, God came to earth and became just like you, to save you, life for you, die for you, rise for you and Jesus stands in heaven guaranteeing that you have peace with God through Jesus, the risen Son of God. Amen.