Shut door? No problem for God.
Taken from a Red Rock News Religion Column (4/5/24)
Rev. Dona Johnson | April 7, 2024
Jesus appeared to the disciples on the first evening of Easter Day. After Jesus’ resurrection, we are told the disciples locked themselves in the upper room, the same room where Jesus had shared the last supper with them only days earlier. Knowing the intense bitterness of the Jews, the disciples feared for their lives. And as we all know, fear if left unchecked can be paralyzing. Suddenly though without a knock or forewarning Jesus appears. Stunned by what they saw, the door still locked behind them, they thought the figure was a ghost. At this point the disciples were not crediting any of what they saw as a resurrection. Resurrection was unheard of, not an option to consider. So, Jesus reassured them by showing them the nail marks in his hands and feet. Their hearts were pieced with the inconceivable reality that it was Jesus that they saw.
Jesus continued to reassure them with these words, “Peace be with you.” His greeting meant far more than the absence of conflict or trouble. The peace he offered them is not the fleeting peace of the world. No, it is a peace not dependent on external circumstances. This peace is a spiritual peace that only Christ can give. And if you have ever been blessed to feel and sense this peace in your life—you certainly know it is a peace like no other peace you’ve ever experienced. It is a Christ-given serenity—a deep knowing that whatever trouble you may face in this life—God is with you in the thick of it.
Without any further conversation, Jesus commissions them, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” Jesus equips them with everything they will need. He breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Amazingly, Jesus’ breath is the same breath God breathes into the nostrils of man—and God breathes his Spirit into humanity (Gen. 2:7). In effect, as Jesus breathes on his disciples, equips them with the Holy Spirit, they too become a new creation, life from death. They are to go into the world to proclaim a ministry of repentance and forgiveness. And what we know now that the disciples didn’t know then is that the disciples were in for a headwind of resistance. They were eventually martyred for keeping alive the Good News—the risen Lord Jesus Christ.
If sin and death could not hold Jesus in the grave, then moving through a shut door is a piece of cake. God does not stop for a shut door. His reach and his power extend far beyond our comprehension and our capacity. God’s love can penetrate anything that appears to us to be stubbornly strong and resistant. God’s love can pierce the most hardened of human hearts.
In our lifetime doors will open and doors will close, that’s a given. And it’s so easy to stay fixated on our losses—what could have been. Often when a door shuts and we are left in the wake of a lost opportunity, or we are disheartened by dreams unfulfilled, or we feel disparaged by the injustices we see in the world, or we feel as if all our options have run their course and then you wonder why it seems like good people always finish last, don’t throw in the towel, not yet. It’s not over. To many, a shut door means failure. But if you turn your focus away from the closed door and look in the other direction, you will see a variety of open doors before you—possibilities you never dreamed of or imagined. So take heart, God does not stop for a closed door. We who believe live in the promise and power of the risen Lord—Jesus.
Prayer: May each of continue to risk and welcome
new opportunities in our lives—for we live in the
resurrection power of the risen Jesus! Amen.