Peace Be With You

Well, good morning! How is everybody? Good. That sounded like about a third of us, but we’re getting there. My name is Kevin, and it is great to be here today to open up God’s Word with you. We are in our summer teaching series with just a couple of weeks left, and today we’re going to be in John chapter 20. I want to welcome those joining us online, those at our Fig campus, and those sitting outside—God bless you all out there.

We’re going to spend time processing through this text today. It’s not a ton of verses, but we’re going to let them sit for a bit. So, hold your finger in John chapter 20, and I’ll probably reference John chapter 14 before we get there.

Paralyzed by Fear

A few years ago, our home alarm went off in the middle of the night. It wasn’t the smoke alarm that chirps when the battery is low—that’s just annoying. This was the home alarm that says, “Hey, we have a problem.” It’s designed to wake everybody up. Of course, it woke my wife, Christy, immediately, and then she had to nudge me. “Hey, the alarm’s going off!”

I sat up in bed, and I’d love to tell you that I jumped out of bed, grabbed the first thing that could be used as a weapon, burst through the bedroom door, defended the family, and here we are. But that’s not actually what happened. I sat there on the edge of the bed in total fear. I was thinking to myself, “Are those sounds I’m hearing outside the door? Oh, no, that’s just my heart beating.” My imagination began to race. Did someone break in? Did I leave a door open? Am I going to have to rumble with somebody? Then I thought, “Oh my gosh, my kids! Who is protecting the kids?”

It wasn’t me. Fear has an interesting way of locking us up inside ourselves, doesn’t it? It paralyzes us. And that is exactly where John takes us in this chapter. This isn’t a scene at the empty tomb or a celebration in the streets of Jerusalem; he takes us into a locked room. This happens on the evening of the resurrection. Jesus is alive, but His disciples are locked away.

For three years, these men watched Jesus perform miracles. They saw Him heal the sick, feed the multitudes, and raise Lazarus from the dead. He repeatedly promised them He would die and rise again. He even made a specific promise that hangs over our text today.

John 14:27 (NASB)

’Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

I don’t want you to miss that. John chapter 20 isn’t just introducing peace; it is fulfilling a promise. Jesus is about to deliver on what He already said He would do.

Jesus Comes to Fearful People

In this text, we see John’s honesty. He doesn’t clean up the disciples’ image. He doesn’t pretend they were fearless; he tells us exactly where they were: they were afraid. That is so encouraging to me because, sometimes, my heart is slower than my theology. I know Christ is risen, and I know He is faithful, yet sometimes fear whispers louder than my faith. I find myself paralyzed. Maybe you’ve been there. John understands this, and more importantly, Jesus understands this.

John 20:19 (NASB)

So when it was evening on that day, the first [day] of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace [be] with you.’

There are two words in that verse that I love: “Jesus came.” They might be the two most hope-filled words in the text. Grace always makes the first move in our lives. The disciples weren’t praying for courage in that moment. They weren’t organizing a strategy. They weren’t even looking for Jesus. They were hiding, and Jesus came to them anyway.

This is the heart of the gospel—the story of Jesus finding people. It reminds me of what Paul wrote to the Romans.

Romans 5:8 (NASB)

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

If you’re here this morning and you’re limping—if you’ve convinced yourself that you’re too far gone, too ashamed, or too sinful—look at who is in this room with Jesus. These were men who had abandoned Him. They had run away. One had publicly denied even knowing Him. Yet, the risen Christ doesn’t avoid them. He comes to them. That is grace.

John adds another detail: Jesus “stood in their midst.” He wasn’t by the door or across the room. He stood right in the middle of them. Fear had filled that room, but now Jesus occupied the place that fear once held. He doesn’t shout encouragement from a distance; He enters the middle of our everyday, ordinary lives.

The Gift of Shalom

Imagine the silence in that room. No one knows what He is about to say. Peter is there, and I relate to Peter. If you’re Peter, your heart has to be pounding. Three days earlier, you denied Him three times. You swore you didn’t know Him. What do you expect Jesus to say? “Peter, why?” or “Where were you?” or maybe a “Told you so”?

But that’s not what He says. His first words are, “Peace be with you.” Those may be the sweetest words in the Gospel of John. The first words spoken by the risen Christ to frightened failures are not words of rebuke; they are words of peace.

The Greek word for peace here is eirene, but the disciples would have heard the Hebrew idea of Shalom. Shalom is much richer than just the absence of conflict. We usually think of peace as “peace and quiet”—no stress, no problems. But this peace is about restoring everything that sin has shattered. It’s reconciliation. It’s wholeness. Jesus isn’t just telling them to calm down; He is announcing that because of His death and resurrection, peace with God has been secured.

Romans 5:1 (NASB)

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

We don’t create peace, and we don’t earn it. We receive it because Christ accomplished it.

The Scars of Grace

Jesus knows that words alone aren’t always enough for us. These disciples needed to see why peace was possible.

John 20:20 (NASB)

And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

He doesn’t explain the mechanics of the resurrection; He simply shows them His hands and His side. Why those? Because the peace He speaks of cannot be separated from the cross He endured. The peace of verse 19 is grounded in the wounds of verse 20. These scars explain the greeting.

Imagine Peter looking at those hands. Those hands had washed his feet just days earlier. Those hands had touched lepers. Now, they bear scars. It makes me pause. This is post-resurrection. Death is defeated. If anyone had a reason to remove every mark of suffering, it was Jesus. Yet, He kept the scars. Apparently, the only scars in heaven will be those of Jesus, because they tell the greatest story ever told. They remind us that grace is not cheap.

We often spend our lives asking God to fix our circumstances, thinking that’s our biggest problem. The disciples were afraid of the religious leaders outside the door. But Jesus knew their greatest problem wasn’t outside the room; it was the sin inside their hearts. Even if all our temporary problems disappeared, without Christ, our greatest problem remains. Our greatest need has never been a better life; it has always been peace with God.

Ephesians 2:13-14 (NASB)

But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both [groups into] one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,

John tells us the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. They didn’t just rejoice at the scars; they rejoiced at Him. Seeing Jesus changes everything. And then John turns the invitation to us.

John 20:29 (NASB)

Jesus said to him, ‘Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed [are] they who did not see, and [yet] believed.’

You may never place your fingers in the nail prints, but you can see Christ through the testimony of Scripture.

John 20:31 (NASB)

but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

I want to encourage you: don’t anchor your soul to something temporary. Anchor your life to the finished work of Jesus. Those hands that were pierced for me are the hands that now hold me. And if those hands are holding me, I have nothing to fear.

Peace Before Purpose

Jesus gives peace before He gives purpose. In verse 21, He repeats Himself.

John 20:21 (NASB)

So Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace [be] with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’

At first glance, it sounds repetitive. Why say it twice? Because Jesus knows that frightened hearts rarely believe grace the first time they hear it. The distance between our heads and our hearts can be a long journey. Before He gives them an assignment, He gives them assurance. He is a Good Shepherd who repeats what frightened sheep need to hear most.

Notice the order: He speaks peace, shows them the ground for that peace, repeats the peace, and then gives them a mission. He didn’t burst in and say, “Let’s go, the world is waiting!” He settled their hearts first.

You do not work for peace; you work from peace. That might be the most important thing you remember today. The gospel changes why you get up in the morning. Everything becomes a response to grace, not an attempt to earn it. Stop striving. Stop measuring your worth by your performance. Rest in Him.

The Breath of Life

How were these ordinary, frightened men supposed to accomplish such an extraordinary mission? How does Peter go from hiding in a room to standing before thousands at Pentecost? Jesus doesn’t just give them a mission; He gives them Himself.

John 20:22 (NASB)

And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ’Receive the Holy Spirit.

John says Jesus “breathed” on them. This points us back to the very beginning of the Bible. In Genesis, God formed Adam from the dust, but Adam was lifeless until God breathed into him.

Genesis 2:7 (NASB)

Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Now, centuries later, the Creator stands in another room and breathes again. It’s a declaration of who He is.

John 1:3 (NASB)

All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

The one who breathed physical life into Adam is now breathing new life into His disciples. This was a promise of the Holy Spirit who would come in power at Pentecost. Jesus was assuring them: “You will not do this mission alone.”

Stop relying on yourself. You are powerless on your own, and the Christian life was never meant to be lived in your own strength. It’s about trusting the one who lives within you.

Sent to a Fearful World

Finally, Jesus tells them what to do with this peace. It was never meant to stop with them.

John 20:23 (NASB)

‘If you forgive the sins of any, [their sins] have been forgiven them; if you retain the [sins] of any, they have been retained.’

This doesn’t mean the disciples decide who goes to heaven. Only Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away sin. We aren’t little saviors; we are faithful witnesses. We are like ambassadors. An ambassador doesn’t negotiate a new treaty; he faithfully delivers the message he was given. We don’t create forgiveness; we proclaim it.

Think about how this story started: locked doors, fear, and silence. It ends with a mission. Jesus never actually removed the external danger. Rome was still Rome. The religious leaders were still hostile. Nothing outside the room changed, but everything inside the room did because Jesus was there.

God doesn’t only use fearless people. He meets us as fearful people, transforms us, and then sends us in His power. The qualification has never been courage; it has always been Christ.

Think about your own story. Someone carried the gospel to you. Someone spoke peace into your life. That chain wasn’t meant to stop with you. Look around—there are locked doors everywhere. People are hiding behind fear, shame, addiction, and grief. They are waiting for someone to tell them there is hope.

I eventually had to get out of bed and open my bedroom door the night that alarm went off. I had to go find out that everything was okay. Thankfully, Christianity isn’t the story of frightened people finding enough courage to go find Jesus. It’s the story of Jesus coming to frightened people.

If you’ve spent your life looking for peace in success, relationships, or religion, and none of it has lasted, it’s because peace is a person. His name is Jesus. Today, He extends the same invitation to you: “Peace be with you.” You don’t earn it. You simply receive it.

Let’s bow our heads.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your love—that You come to fearful people. God, You calm our hearts and stand in our midst to give us peace. Thank You for bearing our sin and conquering death so that we can have eternal life. I pray for everyone here today, that we would recognize our need for You and receive Your free gift of grace. In Jesus’ name, Amen.