Day 23: When Fear Breaks

Scripture: John 20:19-29:
19  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.”  20  When he had said this, he showed them his hands and
his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.  21  Jesus said to them
again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”  22  And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  23  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” 24  Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.  25  So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” 26  Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”  27  Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”  28  Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”  29  Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Fear is a fierce enemy. Fear is hard to break. It feels like an unbending bar of iron or an
unmovable mountain. Even though we can’t see it or hold it, fear repeatedly robs us. Fighting an invisible enemy is challenging, and therefore we will need the right tools. How is it that we can break fear with resurrection power, so that fear is not our master? The truth that I would like you to hear today is that resurrection power breaks fear not by removing all uncertainty, but by revealing Jesus in the uncertainty.

In our passage, the disciples are locked away for fear of the Jews. After seeing what happened to Jesus, it’s understandable that the disciples are afraid. It seems reasonable to them that the appropriate response to the threat is to hide and lock the doors. And this is what fear does.

Maybe the locked door you are hiding behind isn’t made of wood and iron. Maybe it’s the way you avoid hard conversations because you’re afraid of conflict. Maybe it’s the way you keep people at a distance because you’ve been hurt before. Maybe it’s the way you replay worst-case scenarios until you’re exhausted. Fear builds these doors quietly, and before you realize it, you’re living behind them. And if you keep living behind them, one day you’ll find you don’t know how to open them anymore.

Fear whispers that worry is a virtue. It tells us that worrying is responsible, that obsessing over what might happen is necessary, and that controlling others is the only way to keep ourselves from being hurt again. But fear doesn’t protect us. It can’t and it won’t. No, fear imprisons us.

As we encounter the disciples here, the first meeting of the church starts off in a not so great way. We might anticipate the churches first gathering as filled with power in the kind of worship that rocks and rattles the windows of the neighbors. The kind of gathering in which the word is so boldly proclaimed that tens of thousands of people come to faith in Christ. But that’s not the kind of gathering we get here. They are gathering not with an outpouring of faith, but with an outpouring of fear and trembling.

Into this room steps Jesus. He needs no key and no permission. His resurrection power could blow the doors off of any locked room. And into this room Jesus speaks, meeting their silence. He gives them the words they have forgotten to hear. Peace be with you. Jesus offers them proof as He extends His nail scarred hands to remind them that fear is no match for Him.

As the disciples encounter Christ, their fear-filled hearts are replaced by hearts of joy and peace. You see, fear does not like Jesus. Fear loves keeping us captive in the what-if’s and in the unknowns. Fear towers over us with the threat that God’s promises aren’t fully true for us. But as the power of Jesus breaks through, all of the unknowns and the what-if’s lose their threats.They are no match against the great I am.

And this is where the resurrected life becomes personal. Because when fear tells you that you are alone, Jesus reminds you that He stands beside you. When fear tells you your future is dark, Jesus shows you His scars as proof that your future is secure. When fear tells you it’s better to hide, Jesus pulls you into His safety. There isn’t a single lie of fear that the resurrected power of Jesus won’t challenge or break.

In this place, the disciples haven’t a word to say. There is no need. The Word is speaking, and He will put all of their fears in their proper place. Now you may be thinking, I wouldn’t have this struggle with fear if I could only see Jesus. And into our story comes Thomas. Poor Thomas has his legacy cemented as doubting Thomas. Even though the rest of the disciples testify to seeing the risen Jesus, it is not enough for him. He says that unless he can see and touch Christ’s wounds, he will not believe.

As much as we think we are unlike Thomas, we are like him in a lot of ways. We hesitate to trust the Lord unless we can confirm with our own abilities that things will work out. We struggled to trust when we can’t see the path forward very clearly. We don’t want to hold out hope for good news because of the fear of being let down again. Deep down, there is a fear that God will do things differently in His plan than we have in mind, and we don’t really want to see that happen.

Jesus meets Thomas in his doubts. Thomas wants evidence, but Jesus has something better in mind for Thomas. Jesus will give Thomas Himself. He loves Thomas enough not to let him stay stuck in that prison of doubt and fear. And He is even willing to forcefully challenge Thomas in his unbelief. It wasn’t as if Thomas was not believing at all, but Thomas wants belief to be on his own terms. Although Thomas’s terms are different from the Jewish authorities, they are no less rebellious or sinful. Thomas is demanding that Jesus be with him just as He was before He was crucified.

Jesus rebukes Thomas not for what he hasn’t seen, but for what he has already seen and failed to believe. Thomas has seen Jesus and His incredible miracles, but failed to believe the resurrection power of Jesus. Like Thomas, we too are relying on the witness and testimony of the disciples. And like Thomas, we too can dismiss their witness and testimony because we have not yet seen it with our eyes. We too can demand that God present evidence of Himself on our own terms.

And this, my friends, is at the heart of doubt. The heart of doubt suggests that whatever God has already done for us is not quite good enough. His past faithfulness was good, but not good enough for this trial. His past miracles were powerful, but not powerful enough for this unknown. His past presence was comforting, but not comforting enough for this fear.

The risen Jesus steps through locked doors, confronts trembling hearts, and meets doubting disciples, not to shame them, but to free them. This is the power of the risen life, in which fear loses its authority, doubt loses its grip, and the lies that once held us captive begin to crumble. Resurrection doesn’t erase uncertainty but it fills uncertainty with the certainty of Christ’s faithfulness and power. And this is how doubt is destroyed, not by perfect understanding, not by flawless faith, but by a Savior who shows us His scars and speaks peace into our fear.

As we enter this final week, remember that the same resurrection power that broke into that locked room is the power now at work in you. It is strong enough to break your fear, steady your faith, and lead you into a life where doubt no longer gets the final word?
Will you let this resurrection power lead you this week?

Pastor Josh

1. Where do you most often hear the voice of “not enough” in your life, and how does Romans 8:1 speak directly to that place?
2. How have you seen the Spirit bring life, freedom, or change in areas where you once felt stuck or defeated?
3. What difference would it make in your relationships—marriage, parenting, friendships—if you truly believed you are no longer condemned?