11, but our text today will begin in verse 19. So let's give heed to God's holy word. John 20, verse 11. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept, she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? She said to them, they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus said to her, Mary. And she turned and said to him in Aramaic, Rabboni, which means teacher. Jesus said to her, do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord. and that he had said these things to her. Now our text for today. On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, peace be with you. When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. If you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld. This is the Word of God. Friends, since the inception of Christianity, those first few days, those first few years, and the events of them have been normative for Christians. It's interesting when you look at when the Gospels end, they end with the ascension of Christ. They end with the commissioning of the church to live for Christ in the world. But in particular, during this time, we have these very brief accounts. I want you to note that one of the characteristics of the Bible is the brevity of it. There's so much that could be said. There's so many questions that the accounts trigger in our minds. And there's just simply not answers to those things. We can speculate. The early church speculated, by the way, it got them in trouble sometimes. They speculated things that were in fact contradictory of other parts of the Bible. But we need to see that what we have is an eyewitness account of those who were near. In fact, I wanted to make the case, I mentioned this last night and I thought I would just kind of open with this today. There is a name that occurs in John 19 verse 25 that also occurs in Luke 24 that we read last night at the preparatory service. It's the name Clopas or Cleopas. Cleopas is one of the two people who were traveling from Jerusalem to Emmaus. And if you look at verse 25, so John 19 verse 25, it says, but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister. Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene. Three women named Mary. Mary Magdalene, she's from another town further south on the Sea of Galilee. But notice the link here between Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary the mother of Jesus. Two Marys have the same name. and apparently are sisters. If so, then that makes this guy, Clopas, if he is in fact the same person as Cleopas in the Gospel of Luke, that makes Jesus, that makes Cleopas Jesus' uncle. So just put this in context. There's a lot of data that's being given to us. It turns out that there's at least some members of Jesus' family and some who are not of his family. Again, we don't know this is a certain identity, but I believe that this is translated correctly here, Jesus' mother and his mother's sister. And then that name is given. The point here is that these are real people. going through real human emotions as real supernatural events were happening to them. Friends, this is a message from God. And these eyewitnesses are bearing witness to us about the inbreaking of God into His world for the purpose of redemption. And so, verse 19 is taking us to that first Sabbath evening. This is probably one of my biggest disagreements on how the ESV translates. In general, I'm very pleased with it. But chapter 20, verse 1, on the first day of the week, and now verse 19, on the evening of that day, the first day of the week. Now it is true that this is the first day of the week. What's missing in the translation is that the word Sabbath is right here. Literally on the evening of that day, the day of the resurrection, the first of the Sabbaths. That's the literal translation here. And so Sabbath morning is the first of the Christian Sabbaths. Verse one, that same word, The first of the Sabbaths is used. And then in verse 19, on the evening of that day, the day of Jesus' resurrection, the first of the Sabbaths. And so I believe that this is a very strong place where we can root and ground the idea that in the New Covenant, the Sabbath is the day of Christ's resurrection. We rest in Christ, and therefore this is the rest day of the new covenant. So our catechism says that from the beginning of the world until the resurrection of Christ, the Sabbath was on the seventh day. And the first day of the week ever since, which is the Christian Sabbath. So it was this first day of the week, the first day of the new covenant, and Jesus' first appearance to his apostles as a group. He's been appearing to individuals throughout the day. He appeared to Mary, probably the first one chronologically. He appeared to Simon sometime in this day. Apparently, he appeared also to James, the half-brother of Jesus. And that was a key part of James coming to faith in Christ and becoming a leader in the early church. But now here, at this time, Jesus appears to everyone. Notice how his followers are referred to in verse 20. When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. This now is the word of the new covenant. John has used this word again and again and again. And now the disciples are together, those who are following Christ in faithfulness and sincerity. As we come to the Lord's table today, we come in the light, not only of Jesus' real death, but of His bodily resurrection. I'm gonna call you today to watch as the Savior ministers to His disciples in three areas where they needed it most. I want you to see in this passage, first of all, Jesus deals with the evidence. It is shocking evidence, I'll be the first to admit that. The evidence of this human person who had been hung up on the cross, buried in the tomb, and now it's that same person that is before them in this room. Secondly, the engagement. That is that he is engaging with them and he is then calling them to engage. And thirdly, the experiential reality of the resurrection. So let's look at these things briefly today. Point number one is that Jesus came among the disciples. The doors were locked. The disciples were huddled there, probably very quiet. hoping that the Jewish authorities, who were out to get the Christians, would simply overlook them. John intends for us to wrestle with, if the doors are locked, then how does Jesus come and stand among them? This is the same problem that we wrestled with last night at the preparatory service when Jesus had just finished holding actual bread in his hands, breaking it, giving it to them, and in the giving of the bread, they recognized him. And then he vanished from their sight. And you're like, wait a minute. He was physical just a second ago. Physical people don't vanish out of your sight. Well, Jesus is truly raised from the dead. He has the same resurrected body that he had before. That's why he can show us his hands and his side, but with different properties. Remember that though he is fully human, he is also truly divine. And thus, Jesus does the reverse of that here as he comes in among his disciples. I want you to see that as he comes here, he's drawing near. And at least in some sense, at least in a spiritual sense, Jesus is in our presence today as well. Jesus stands with his people. In fact, these elements here on the floor today remind us that He is among us, that He is with us, that He is in us. And the day is coming when He will dwell in the midst of His people forever. And we will see Him as He truly is. 1 Corinthians 10.16 says that to bless the cup and to drink of the cup is is, quote, participation, literally fellowship in the blood of Christ. To break the bread is fellowship in the body of Christ. Participation in the body of Christ. That today as these elements are broken and poured out and then given to you, I'm ministering on behalf of and in the name of Christ. And when these elements are given to you, and you take them, and you eat them, and drink them, this is a sign of union with Christ. Of participation with Christ. Of discipleship of Christ. If they persecuted Him, they'll persecute you also. He was despised and rejected of men. Get ready. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Some of you are really struggling. There are people who aren't here today because they're struggling with grief and sorrow. Friends, remember what you signed up for. Remember that to be a follower of Christ is to go wherever He goes and He's leading us into the lives that we've been called to live. And Jesus is coming along. He came among the disciples. And that leads us then to the second point and the first of these three E's that I mentioned in the introduction. Point number two, Jesus showed them His hands and His feet. Jesus came, He said, peace be with you, and then He went right to the issue. He knew what the issue was, and He showed them His hands and His side. John has already told us what happened to His hands. They nailed Him to the cross, And He also is the only one that tells us about specifically what had happened to Jesus' side. That is, that it had been pierced. And so I imagine Jesus pulling up His tunic. He's like, look here. Now, Jesus is raised from the dead. He still has scars that He won in living to the glory of God. This causes many people to ask, well, will we have the scars that we have? I don't know the answer to that question. I know that you will have the self-same body. I just go back to the Westminster Confession. I know you will have the self-same body with different properties. I don't know all the differences. I don't know all the similarities, but that has been a really powerful way to help me to think more concretely about the resurrection. If Jesus was not bodily raised from the dead, then our religion is useless. But, if he was bodily raised from the dead, as he is, so we shall be. Jesus showed them it. The prints, the marks of the nails in his hands, probably in his wrist, showed him. where that nail had gone through his feet and his side. And look at the result. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. They saw that it was really Jesus. They saw that he was really alive. They saw that he was not a ghost. Luke 24 emphasizes that. But they also see that He now bears in His body the marks of loyalty to His Father, of holiness, and being set apart to the purpose that the Father had given Him. These are His royal badges of redemption. And you can trust Him, because He died for all that the Father had given to Him. So Jesus understands our need for evidence. There were no videotapes. The eyewitness accounts are brief, but they are legit. And they've stood up to investigation by those who come with an honest and sincere question. The Bible's not interested in trying to bang everyone over the head. The Bible is interested in showing the way for those who are seeking God and His plan of redemption. This leads us then to the third point. Jesus gave His peace and sent His saints. Jesus has already said this. I kind of skipped over it back at the end of verse 19, but now he says it again. Jesus said to them again, peace be with you. Why do you think this is so important? Well, number one, think about what they've just been through. They've been through three days of hell. Three days convinced that the whole plan of God that they had believed in had come to naught. That Jesus in His mid-thirties, His life had been cut short, and here was yet another failed Messiah. And now, they can rest. Now they know, Oh! Our sins have been forgiven. Oh, the kingdom of God has come on the planet. Oh, the gospel is for us. And all the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ. Friends, Jesus would have you today. Peace be with you. Know the glorious peace of Almighty God Peace in the midst of your struggles. Peace in the midst of your sorrows. Peace in the midst of your loneliness. Peace in the midst of your doubts. It's okay to doubt. Friends, walk by faith, not by sight, in the peace of God. Jesus gave His peace, but notice that then it's juxtaposed with one of the most challenging things. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. The Father sent the Son into the world to redeem His saints, and now here's Christ commissioning His saints to redeem. Not in the same way. But we are called to live as citizens of His Kingdom, pressing the goodness of Christ, the holiness of Christ, the sufficiency of Christ, the beauty of Christ. We are His witnesses. We are sent by Christ into the ordinary lives that we now possess. I don't know what your life is like. I was thinking about this coming to church today. You know, I've driven the same route. In fact, I think it's next week, it'll be 20 years that I've been a pastor. And I was thinking, in those 20 years, I've had two routines. There was my Walton routine. And I still park in the same place I parked at. I parked in the first time that I came to preach here in this pulpit. And that's okay. Like, our lives aren't quite as glamorous as they are in the movies. Hollywood supercharges everything for the sake of effect and emotional engagement with you. But it's okay to be sent into an ordinary life And to be faithful in that life where you will touch people that no one else will touch. And so as the Father sent Jesus, so Jesus sends us. Acts 1.8, Jesus says, you shall be my witnesses. In Jerusalem, here they are being his witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea, that state in which Jerusalem is the capital city. And Samaria, the one to the north that is so radically different that everybody walked around it. They didn't even want to go there. It's kind of like the competition between Kansas and Missouri. That's the closest thing I know to compare it to. Rooted in history, but with real manifestations today, and when our teams get together, there's rivalry. Something like that. In Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. And that gospel has gone forth. Romans 1, Paul says, Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning his son, who was descended from David according to the flesh, and was declared to be the son of God in power. according to the spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus Christ, our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all nations, including you." And here he's referring to the Romans in particular. Friends, we can see ourselves put into that. We also have been possessed by Christ. We are slaves of Christ. And I just want to go on the record and say I'm continuing to think whether it's time. I don't know. But the word servant in Romans 1.1, Paul a servant of Christ, the point of this title that Paul is claiming for himself is ownership. He is owned by Christ. Servants are not owned. Slaves are owned. And there are reasons, they're talked about in the preface to the ESV version, why this translation was chosen, but it's a cultural accommodation, not a clarity of meaning that's at issue here. And I think it is clear, Paul was owned by Christ. These disciples had been purchased by Christ with his very blood. And when they saw him, they were glad. It is freedom to be owned, to be bought by Christ. Jesus gave us his peace and he sent us as his saints. And finally, number four this morning, I want you to see that Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit on them. Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit on them. Remember when he said in the upper room, it is to your advantage that I go away. For unless I go, the Helper will not come to you." As powerful as Jesus' public ministry was, it was constrained by Him being in one place at one time. Now that He was preparing to depart and return to heaven, it's not a cop-out. It is in fact a manifestation of His glory. That the Father sent the Son, and now the Father and the Son send the Spirit through the agency of Christ. And that's what I want you to see here. Verse 22, And when He had breathed on them, And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit. Now this is an anticipation, this is a foreshadowing of the events of Pentecost. But I want you to think about, here's Jesus in His resurrected state, And I don't know what it means, He breathed on them. I'm not going to do that. You don't need my germs. But I want you to think about, have you been breathed on by the Holy Spirit? Do you understand what this verse is getting at? Receive the Holy Spirit. When I was in seminary, they taught us, Pastor, you have a job, and that is to pray not only with your voice, but with your hands. And so the invocation, you pray this way. And we all, through the gesture of the minister, are beseeching heaven. Come dwell in our midst. We need your presence. And I remember seeing Ed Robeson. Some of you will remember Ed Robeson. He said, now guys, it's time to turn your hands because now it's time for the benediction. And now, on behalf of Christ, you are blessing His people in His name, with His blessings. Do you see how we receive the Holy Spirit? Christ is ministering, and He's ministering through His ministers. And the ministers can take no credit for themselves. We're just hired dudes. But we have a role to play in your life and experience of His presence. And we can bless one another, by the way. When was the last time you laid hands on someone? Not to do magic miracles, but that you laid your hands on someone simply to bless them. I'm annoyed at how non-kinesthetic we're becoming as Americans. We need to shake hands more. We need to give holy hugs more. We need to wrap our arms around each other and bring one another before the throne of grace that we might be blessed. We need to understand that though Christ is not physically with us, that His Spirit dwells in every single true believer. And you know what I'm talking about. You've experienced this if you're in Christ. Friends, we're in the Kingdom. This Kingdom cannot be taken away from us. We live in America, that's a little shaky at the moment. We live in a world that's on fire. But we live in a kingdom that will not and cannot be shaken. Receive the Holy Spirit. Understand the blessing that is yours through your union with Christ. He is with you. He cares about you. He hears your prayers. And so you can have this same kind of joy. Are you a disciple of Jesus? I love it there when it says the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Have you seen the Lord? Not with the eyes of your head, but by faith, have you seen Him? So I want us to see the evidences here. Jesus understands the questions. When was the last time that you really looked through the Bible and gathered evidences specifically of the resurrection of Jesus? I have a list of 12 evidences of the resurrection. There's many more than that. Number two, Understand that Jesus understands our need for peace. A peace that passes all understanding. Learning that even when we go through troubles, Jesus is with us. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you. Be ready to share the gospel as Jesus gives you opportunities. Not in some kind of aggressive or pushy way, but simply trying to communicate to someone else how God changed your heart. That it really is simply describing, putting into words the wondrous blessing that is yours when you believed in Christ. And finally, recognize that the Holy Spirit is the source of power and joy, and a word I'm trying to use more, I would invite you to use it with me, the word virtue. I'm persuaded that one of the virtues is humility, and so we don't go around talking about our virtue. But the Christian church needs to speak in more and more of a coarse and vile world about the importance of virtue. Virtue is what makes us civil. It's what makes civilizations that live in cooperation rather than in confrontation. To be civil is to be with people that you disagree with. It's to actually have them as friends and to say, you know what, it's actually kind of cool to agree to disagree agreeably. Neighborliness is not sameness of opinion. It's dwelling together in friendship with different opinions. Friends, we need to see that God is providing both a clarity of conviction for the church, but he's also teaching the church how to live in this present world. So I would invite you to give thanks to God for His work in you. I would invite you to think more deeply about the present ministry of the Holy Spirit in your life. It is the Holy Spirit who will make this table a source of nourishment for your soul. This fits in to God's plan to bring you safely home to heaven. through all the trials and all of the impossible things that you face right now. So renew your commitment to Christ and strive for new obedience. Let's pray together. O Lord our God, how we thank you for this brief encounter between Christ and His disciples. in that room. We thank you, O Christ, for your enduring ministry. Thank you that you ever live to make intercession for us. Thank you that you've commissioned your representatives to go forth into the world and to proclaim a message that brings hope into a hopeless world. A message that is unapologetically spiritual. It's not a kingdom that we can usher in, but it is a kingdom that comes and begins with new hearts for new people whom you love. Lord, we pray that you would help us to be faithful to the distinctives of our Reformed heritage. But Lord, I also pray that you would enable us to be the center of something that you would do in this city. That Lord, there would be many, many people who through the words and the lives and the love of your saints would see that to know God is to have life. To know God is to have purpose. To know God is to have a sense of direction and calling in one's life. Lord, there are people around us who are desperate for these things. Lord, who are just kind of flailing about. who do the same things with a sense of no purpose. And Lord, who at the end will die far from you, unless we love them. Lord, help us to see, not in an arrogant or prideful way, but that we are the plan. And that Lord, the mission of the apostles of the New Testament, has descended to us. And Lord, that we can, in a way that's not pushy or judgmental or offensive, that Lord, we can bear witness to the power of God in our life. Lord, thank you for the power that's here. Not because the bread is anything special. Or because the cup is the best cup in the world. But Lord, because You are in the midst of Your people. And that You link us and You connect us through our remembrance of You to that time when Your power was on display. Lord, show us how to walk by faith in light of Your truth. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right, at this time I'd invite the elders to come forward as we now come to the Lord's table. Do you see how Christianity is different than the myths of the pagans? It's not rooted in some vague fairy story. It is rooted in an event. We don't know exactly which building in Jerusalem. I think we can have an idea of where in Jerusalem. but that the remembrance brings us back to a historical event when Jesus sat around a table with his disciples to give them something to sustain them. If there was no race, there wouldn't need to be water stations. If there were no trials, there would not need to be tables in remembrance of Christ. But because our lives are hard, he invites us to come again and again and again to the table. So let us come to that place. The Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread and also the cup. And so following his example and ministering in his name, I take this bread and this cup and exhibit them to you as the sacramental symbols of the body and the blood of Christ. After the Lord Jesus had taken the bread and the cup, he blessed them. Let us now pray as we give thanks and consecrate these elements. O Christ, as we read your word, how we bless you for your gracious presence. How we bless you for the gracious testimony of those whom you touched in your ministry that resulted in lifelong service to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. O Father, we would ask that You would bring us once again to the fount of our salvation. That we, as far as I know, all of us in this room, as we Gentiles, are brought to the river of salvation, where that tree grows and the leaves are for the healing of the nations. Lord, we want to reaffirm our trust in your grace and in Christ's righteousness and in his present mediation on our behalf. O Lord, we would plead that in this time and at this place that you would grant the effectual and gracious work of your Spirit in this sacrament. Lord, You've warned us that to come without faith is indeed to be guilty of the body and blood of Christ. This is not a sacrament for unbelievers. But Lord, You have also invited those who are weak to be nourished by Your grace and Your presence in their lives. O Lord, we would ask that these elements then be set apart. We ask that You would bless so much of these elements as shall be used on this occasion, which we hereby set apart from a common to a sacramental use. In the name and by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King and Head, of the church. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, after the Lord had blessed the bread, He broke it. And so, following His command and example and ministering in His name, I take this bread and I break it. And I give it to you, his disciples, saying, as he said, take and eat. This is my body, which is for you. This do in remembrance of me. I'd ask that you would hold the bread until all are served, and then we'll be directed to eat together. In the same manner, also, he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Once again, I'd ask that you would hold the cup till we're directed We'll continue there in just a moment. So at this time, let's consider that the Lord has given us this bread before us so that we might feed on Him. But I still want to eat chicken. The Lord gave us the bread and the cup. In the same manner, he took the cup after supper. He pointed out that this was a symbol of the new covenant. One cup. This is the new covenant in my blood. This do as often as you drink of it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. So once again, I would ask that you would wait until we partake together. I wonder what kind of discussion took place around the table there in the upper room. I've wondered how Peter and James and Bartholomew and all of those apostles reflected together the times that they must have been, that they must have pondered and thought back and encouraged one another. Do you remember what Jesus said? Do you remember what Jesus did? His teaching and example, that's how we describe it in the Covenant of Communicant membership. We need to think, we need to remind one another about Jesus' teaching, about Jesus' example. Friends, this is where the covenant is on display, a covenant of grace. I remember the first time I heard R.C. Sproul with his kind of, out the corner of his eye, he was like, do you believe that salvation is by works? And the audience verbally said, no. He said, oh, not by your works, maybe, but your salvation is very much by works. by the works of Christ, who on your behalf fulfilled the rock-solid conditions of the covenant of life. There was that sword, that flaming sword, whipping around, guarding the way to the tree of life. And Christ is the one who disarmed the electric fence, if you will. It's Christ who has opened the way so that to you, Yet sinners, you might receive the snowy white righteousness of the imputed righteousness of Christ. If you would, turn with me in closing to Psalm 31, Selection D. This was our Psalm of the Month for quite a while. This was a psalm that was in my head as I was thinking about these things this week. I want you to note in stanza eight, verse 20, the third line, within your secret presence, there you preserve their life. Notice that there's lots of drama going on around. but God preserves the lives of his saints in his own secret presence. What does that look, what does that mean? Stanza nine, the Lord be blessed forever. He showed, he showed his love to me. I was besieged like a city, I was faced with the enemy, but God heard my pleading. And so the call here is, friends, love the Lord. Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. Love one another as much as you love yourself. Our culture is teaching us to love ourselves more and more and more. So love one another as much as you love yourself. This is a psalm that is that is communicating God's heart in the sacrament. It's communicating both God's provision, the mystical presence of God that gives us this life. But it's also in stanza 10, the new obedience. How do you love God, children? How do you love God? By loving Him. I heard it over here, somebody just whispered it, by loving Him and doing what He commands. Both of these things are involved in glorifying God. Notice the call to persevere then in verse 24. So then, be strong and steadfast, and let your heart be brave. All you who wait with patience, wait on the Lord to, and here's our word that we've talked about in recent weeks, save. Why was his name Jesus? Because he will save his people from their sins. Jesus, Hebrew name, means salvation. Wait. The Lord has a plan. He will send salvation to His people. Salvation not as a concept, salvation not as some sort of military victory, but salvation as a person who will give His life in order that we might have eternal life. Let's stand and we'll sing in closing Psalm 31d.