John 20:19-31
Some first words are infamous throughout history: “Four score and seven years ago,” “I have a dream,” “In the beginning.”
Jesus could have said anything to His disciples on this first encounter together after the resurrection. The first words the resurrected Christ chooses are words of peace.
The morning of my son’s first day of first grade he locked himself in the bathroom. After some coercion, he let me in and I asked if he was afraid to go to school. He simply said, “They make you wear name tags, Daddy. I don’t want to wear a name tag.”
John 20 is less about unbelief and more about the unmeasurable grace and peace of God through Christ Jesus. His grace is so big that it will come into those locked rooms where we’ve hidden in fear. It is a peace so big that we can face any unnamed, or named, anxiety. His peace passes understanding and is full of forgiveness.
Receive the invitation of grace and boldly declare through your everyday, ordinary first word interactions, that Jesus is Lord and God of all.
Author: Tim Whetstone