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April 7, 2002
2nd Sunday of Easter
John 20:19-23
Pastor Robert Raasch

A Sunday Evening to Remember

1. Jesus Brings Peace to His Disciples
2. Jesus Gives Authority to His Church

I have a question for you. When was the last time you went to church on Easter Sunday evening? If you're like me, you're probably thinking, "Easter Sunday evening?!? Whoever heard of going to church on Easter Sunday evening? I mean, if I'm going to church on Easter Sunday, I'm going in the morning. In fact, I might even consider going to the sunrise service on Easter Sunday morning. I mean, Easter morning is when all the action is, right? Doesn't the Bible say, "On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women"…went to the tomb…found the stone rolled away…and heard the angel announce that Jesus had risen from the grave? Isn't that why for centuries, Christians have been gathering together for worship on Sunday mornings, namely to commemorate the events of that first Sunday morning? Yes, that is true.

And yet, all that occurred on Easter Sunday morning can sometimes lead us to overlook the fact that something equally important happened on Easter Sunday evening. Something that still has a great deal of application for our lives today. Since it seems pretty safe to say that none of us were in church last Sunday evening, let us take up the events of that first Easter evening right now. We might call it,

A Sunday Evening to Remember

As we look to John's eyewitness account of what transpired that evening we'll see that:

1. Jesus Brings Peace to His Disciples
2. Jesus Gives Authority to His Church

First, on that first Easter evening, the resurrected Lord brought peace to his disciples. Notice that here in our text, John tells us that the first thing that Jesus said to his disciples was, "Peace be with you." A little later Jesus again says, "Peace be with you." Now, why was Jesus so determined to put the hearts of his disciples at peace? Well, put yourself in their situation. If you were in the sandals of those disciples, what would you be feeling right now? As you think back to the Garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus asked you to watch and pray with him for a little while, what did you do? You fell asleep-not once but again and again. When Jesus was taken captive by the temple guard, what did you do? You ran away. And then, the very next day, Jesus was put to death. There was no chance for you to apologize to him. No chance to go back and be more faithful this time around. No, all you're left with is an overwhelming feeling of guilt.

And then something truly amazing happens. Suddenly, the very person you sinned against is standing right in front of you. And the first words out of his mouth are, "Peace be with you." Now, let's understand that with those words, Jesus was saying more than, "Hi, how are you doing?" No, with those words, the crucified and risen Lord was announcing to his disciples, "There is no longer anything that can separate you from a just and holy God. Because of my life and death in your place, God is not holding your unfaithfulness against you. Your hearts can truly be at peace once again."

My friends, do you think that those disciples are the only ones who are in need of that kind of reassurance from God? Could it be that you and I sometimes find ourselves carrying some of the same burdens they carried? I mean, have you ever felt like you've let the Lord down? Ever wished you could desperately go back and change something you had done or said? Or laid awake at night feeling a million miles away from God?

I don't know about you, but when I think about how many times I have been unfaithful to my calling, how many times I've been inconsiderate of other people's feelings, how many times I've managed my time and my money in a way that screams, "Me first." When I think about how easily and how often I have turned my back on God and his will for my life…I feel like crying out with the Apostle Paul, "Oh what a wretched man I am. Who will rescue me from this body of death?"

My friends, I think you know the answer to that lament. Who will rescue you and me from the unbearable guilt of our sins and failures? Jesus will. And he does just that with these powerful words, "Peace be with you." You see, what Jesus once said to a handful of believers on Easter Sunday evening, he still conveys to you and me today. Jesus gives us his peace. And Jesus transmits that peace to us in a number of ways. He grants us his peace through the sacrament of Holy Communion. In the Scriptures, Jesus says to us through the Apostle Paul, "Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Even through the words of the liturgy, Jesus grants us his peace. Think of how many times a minister of the gospel, speaking as a representative of Christ says something like, "Grace and peace to you…" or "The peace of the Lord be with you always." Or, "Be filled with joy; your sins are forgiven. Depart in peace."

My friends, all of those are more than pious wishes on the part of a pastor. All of those are statements of fact. Jesus has made peace between you and God. God no longer holds anything against you. Your heart can be at peace. If you think about it, that's a pretty powerful statement, isn't it? In fact, it might even lead someone to ask, "Wait a minute. Who gives anyone the right to tell someone else that they're at peace with God? Who gives that kind of power? Well, Jesus does. In fact, that's the second reason that Easter Sunday evening was a night to remember. Because on that night, II. Jesus gave a very Special Authority to His Church.

Here in our text, Jesus says to his disciples, "If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." Now, I have to say that those words are often misunderstood. At first reading, Jesus may sound like he's saying, "Christian, whoever you forgive, God will forgive as well. And if you refuse to forgive someone, God won't forgive them either-as if to say that humans will decide for God who's to be forgiven and who's not.

But that's really not what Jesus is saying here. The fact is, with these words, Jesus is simply reinforcing a statement he had made to his disciples earlier in his ministry. In Matthew 18, we hear Jesus tells his disciples, "Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Actually, the original language is even a little more specific than that. A better translation might be, "Whatever you bind on earth will have already been bound in heaven." Or in the terms that Jesus used here in our text, "If you forgive anyone his sins they will have already been forgiven in heaven."

What does that mean? It means that God is still the one who will decide whose sins are forgiven and whose are not. What God has done for us is simply told us what criteria he will use to make that decision. In fact, the Apostle John records what that criteria is when he writes in his first epistle (1:8,9), "If we confess our sins, (God) is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (But) if we claim we have not sinned, we make God out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives."

In other words, God promises to forgive the sins of all those who acknowledge their sinfulness and trust that Jesus has paid the full price for those sins. And God promises to withhold his forgiveness from all those who refuse to acknowledge their need for that forgiveness. God then gives his church the authority to tell people that fact.

That authority, to announce God's forgiveness given or withheld, is called the Ministry of the Keys, or the Application of the Binding Key and the Loosing Key. Luther's Small Catechism defines it with the words, "It is that special power and right which Christ gives to his church on earth to forgive the sins of penitent sinners, but refuse forgiveness to the impenitent as long as they do not repent."

Boy, you think about what an awesome power God has placed into the hands of Christians like you and me, the privilege of announcing to a repentant sinner, "In Christ Jesus, the gate of heaven is open to you. Your sins are forgiven." And you realize that when we make that declaration, in the words of Martin Luther, "It is as valid and certain in heaven also, as if Christ, our dear Lord, dealt with us himself." My friends, cherish the privilege Christ gives to you to employ the loosing key. Look for opportunities to use that key on your spouse, your children, your parents, your fellowman-to say to them, "In Jesus' name, your sins are forgiven."

And yet, it must be said that along with that privilege of using the loosing key, Jesus also gives us the responsibility of using the binding key. Or to put it another way, as surely as God gives us the authority of announcing sins "forgiven," God also gives us the authority to announce sins "retained," that is, sins that remain unforgiven-not because Jesus didn't pay for them, but rather because someone has refused to accept Jesus' forgiveness, by refusing to acknowledge their need for forgiveness. When someone is determined to cling to their sin rather than renounce it, then the binding key must be applied.

In our midst, it's often the pastor or the Board of Elders who must use the binding key by saying to one of our members, for example, "Listen, if you go through with your plan to divorce your spouse without any Biblical grounds, or if you continue to engage in sexual relations outside of marriage, if you continue to despise God's Word and His Sacrament, by being absent from worship for weeks on end, if you continue to show by your words and your actions that you regard such sin as something trivial, or something that you're willing to live with-then God gives to his church the right, yes, the responsibility to tell you where you stand with God. As long as you remain impenitent, you stand outside of God's kingdom. Heaven's doors are closed to you. You are still in your sins."

Now someone might ask, "Why would Jesus want his church to say that? I mean, going around and telling people that they're hell bound is not a very popular message, right? Why would Jesus expect his church to say that? Why? Because Jesus is more interested in having people's names written in the Book of Life, than his is having them on some church membership roster. The fact is, if people are living in impenitence, then they're outside of God's kingdom, regardless of what they think. And Christian love demands that we tell them as much.

Besides, what's the ultimate goal in telling someone something like that? What's the purpose in applying the binding key? Isn't it to lead a person to see the gravity of their sin, to acknowledge the offense it is to God, and ultimately lead them to turn to the Lord for forgiveness? And when that happens-and let me tell you, by the power of the Holy Spirit, it does happen in people's lives--then what does the Christian church have the opportunity to do? It has the right, yes, the responsibility to apply the loosing key. That is, to say to that penitent sinner, "Friend, your sins are forgiven. You are not lost. You are once again a member of God's family." And at that moment Jesus' words will once again be fulfilled: "I tell you there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." (Luke 15:10).

My friends, on that first Easter evening, a handful of believers gathered together to reflect on the astonishing news of Jesus' resurrection from the dead. In the twinkling of an eye, Jesus appeared in their midst, and with his words, he put their hearts at peace and at the same time, instructed them regarding the privilege and the responsibility of using both the binding key and the loosing key for the eternal welfare of precious human souls. It is my prayer that through his inspired words, Jesus has done exactly the same thing for you and me today. In his name. Amen.