Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the anxiety that comes with the storms of life? Or struggled with trusting God in the midst of your fear or felt totally consumed with doubt and despair?
In these seasons I think Jesus would call us to rest in the peace of his presence and trust in the faithfulness of his presence and to be filled with the joy of his presence. But what does it look like to rest in the peace of the presence of Christ? To trust in the faithfulness of the presence of Christ? Or to be filled with the joy of the presence of Christ?
Take a look at Luke 24:36 – 43…
36 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” 37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. 38 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate before them.
What’s happening in this passage?
It’s the day after Easter or at least late on the night of Easter. Jesus’ disciples have just witnessed the most horrifying day of their lives. All of their hopes and dreams have been dashed against the rocks of despair and disappointment. They’ve just witnessed the brutal murder of their friend Jesus and they’ve heard the confusing story of his missing body along with some startling reports of his appearances from some of their crew.
#1. The peace of the presence of Christ (36)
As these disciples are gathered in a house discussing the events they’ve just experienced, Jesus himself appears to them almost magically walking right through the locked door of the house as he appears, standing among them. And he says “Peace be to you!” What a moment! Can you imagine it? You’ve endured the disappointment of failed expectations. You’ve been bombarded with news release after news release of horrifying events and right into the middle of all the chaos of your brokenness and despair, Jesus appears physically in the room, proclaiming peace into the storm of life that you are suffering through. What’s your response in this moment? What do you feel in this moment? What do you do in this moment?
The disciples respond in frightened anxiety. Their thoughts immediately begin to spin out into believing that somehow they were seeing a ghost. Maybe they were afraid because they had all abandoned Jesus on the day he needed them the most. Maybe they thought that Jesus’ ghost was going to play tricks on them and try to get them back for their failure and sin.
Do you ever feel this way? Ever wonder what kind of presence Jesus would bring into the sinfulness and shame and guilt of our despair and depression and struggle with sin? Ever feel like you’ve abandoned Jesus one too many times as you’ve pursued your sinful desires? Ever cowered in the corner of your fear and shame, thinking that maybe if Jesus showed up right now he would just give you a heavy beat-down? That’s not Jesus’ approach with his disciples. Jesus’ approach with those that belong to him is to step into the storm and proclaim the peace of his presence.
#2. The faithfulness of the presence of Christ (37-38)
Can you hear his loving tone as he shows up in this room with his disciples? Can you hear his faithfulness when he proclaims peace into your heavy heart? Can hear the encouragement in his rebuke when he says, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?” Can you hear him playfully but firmly and resolutely digging into the thing beneath the thing of your fear and doubt? Can you feel the kindness of Jesus as he refuses to bow out of the opportunity to shepherd your heart through your fear and doubt?
Jesus is so faithful to lovingly and gently shepherd you through your fear and doubt and despair. It’s almost like he’s been waiting for this moment all along. This moment where he walks into the room of your confusion and fear and shame and proves that he is the master shepherd of wounded, broken and sinful souls. This is Jesus in all of his resurrected glory and all of his love for you and for me being manifested in the flesh to renew our hope in his work at the cross. This is the faithfulness of the presence of Christ.
#3. The joy of the presence of Christ (39-43)
What more could you and I want when facing the physical realities of our suffering in sin and brokenness and weakness? What more could we cling to in this life other than the reality of the physical resurrection and glorification of Jesus? What greater vision for our joy to be legitimately renewed than this vision of the resurrection of Jesus and the truth that we will also share in this same resurrection of our physical bodies?
And to prove it, Jesus is like, check out my hands and feet and touch me and feel the scars of my crucifixion and observe the healing affects of the power of the resurrection that is available to you. And check out how I can still enjoy myself, feasting on some great seafood. All of these joys are available to you for all of eternity. What do you think in these moments? What do you feel? Do you feel the joy of the presence of Christ?
Do you ever wonder if this is all too good to be true? Luke tells us that all of this happened while the disciples “still disbelieved for joy and were marveling”. In other words they were absolutely floored and completely shocked. Think of this moment, like the biggest emotional roller coaster of your life beginning with absolute horror and fear and then ending in utter shock and dismay at the joy of unthinkable outcomes. Feel the overwhelming sense of your greatest dreams coming true in one moment after all your hopes were completely crushed. This is the kind of true joy that is found in the presence of the resurrected Christ.
How does this passage help us out practically?
Ever have one of these days? Where everything comes apart? Where someone sins against you or you sin against someone? Where Jesus shows up and speaks right into that horrific day and proclaims his peace over you and calls you to trust in his faithfulness and fills you with his joy? That’s my aim today with this message.
My aim with this message is to proclaim the peace of the presence of Christ over you, and call you to trust in the faithfulness of the presence of Christ amidst your storms and pray that Jesus would fill you with everlasting joy in the truth of his resurrection. To that end, I want to call you to three things that I pray would be helpful to you in your journey.
#1. Rest in the peace of the presence Christ amidst your storms…
You may feel the anxiety of the storms of your life today but Jesus wants to call you to rest in the peace that he offers to you in the midst of that storm. It may be the storm of a broken relationship, or the storm of battling addiction, or the storm of a lack of resources but Jesus wants to step into that storm with you and he wants to help you rest in the only true peace that he gives generously by the power of his presence.
I want to call you to resting in that peace through regular time in the Scriptures, silence and solitude before the Lord, transparency and vulnerability with brothers and sisters in Christ, and regular disciplines of praise and worship. I want to call you to rest in the peace of the presence of Christ amidst the storms of life.
#2. Trust in the faithfulness of the presence of Christ amidst your fear…
You may be wrestling with the affects of crippling fear today but Jesus wants to call you to trust in the faithfulness of his presence so that you can stand courageously against the fearful powers of Satan, sin and death. You may be afraid of where your next paycheck is going to come from, or you may be afraid of confessing your sin, or you may be afraid that God is too ticked at you to love you, or you may be afraid of backing away from an unhealthy relationship but Jesus wants to call you to trust him and the faithfulness of his resurrected presence in the midst of your fear.
This might mean that you need to courageously get vulnerable with a friend about your sin. Or maybe you need to courageously ask for help with your finances. Or maybe you need to courageously resist that unhealthy relationship. Or maybe you need to ask the Lord to reveal his loving posture towards you as you seek to trust him. I want to call you to trust in the faithfulness of the resurrected Christ in the midst of whatever brings you fear.
#3. Be filled with the joy of the presence of Christ amidst your despair…
You may be full of despair today but Jesus wants to call you to be filled with the joy that comes from being in his presence. Maybe you’re filled with despair instead of joy because you realized that your addiction is a poisonous grave, or maybe that old depression and sadness has crept up again, or maybe your loneliness has consumed you, or maybe your plans for a more stable future have fallen apart. In the midst of that despair, Jesus is calling you to be filled with the joy of his resurrected presence.
This could mean that you revive that Bible reading plan where you can get to know Jesus through his Word, or join a gospel community where you can be encouraged by other believers, or carve out time in your schedule for being filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit through communion with your Father in Heaven. However that looks for you, I want to call you to being filled regularly with the joy of the presence of Christ amidst your despair.
Concluding Thoughts…
I want to summarize by saying this, If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the anxiety that comes with the storms of life or if you’ve ever struggled with trusting God in the midst of your fear or if you’ve ever felt totally consumed with doubt and despair, then, Jesus is calling you and I to rest in the peace of his presence and to trust in the faithfulness of his presence and to be filled with the joy of his presence.
This passage is the peace of Christ’s presence on display. It’s the faithfulness of Christ’s presence on display. It’s the joy of Christ’s presence on display. So rest my friends, rest in the peace of Christ’s presence, trust in the faithfulness of Christ’s presence and be filled with the joy of Christ’s presence today.