Jesus in the midst.

Reading: John 20:19-22 “Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, 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.

So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

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

Three days earlier Jesus was crucified at Calvary’s cross. Now Jesus had risen from the dead. The disciples were gathered in a house behind locked doors. Yet, Jesus walked through that locked door and stood in their midst. You could say that “house” was the first church building where the resurrected Lord was in the midst of His people. And here we are today in another “house of God,” and again Jesus is in the midst of His people!

1^ST POINT: JESUS IN THE MIDST OF US.

This phrase is the heart of our Christian faith: “Jesus in the midst.” It is a major theme in the bible. God is eternal, and Jesus is God so that He is also eternal.  He has always been in the midst of all that God is and done.

At creation, when there was not much more than “mist,” Jesus was in the midst of it all. “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” Genesis 1:26.

          Notice also:

“And in that day … you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the land” Exodus 8:22.
“For the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and give your enemies over to you; therefore your camp shall be holy, that He may see no unclean thing among you, and turn away from you” Deuteronomy 23:14.
“Why should You be like a man astonished, like a mighty one who cannot save? Yet You, O Lord, are in our midst, and we are called by Your name; Do not leave us!” Jeremiah 14:9

As a baby, Jesus was in the midst of the shepherds and the wise men.

As a boy, Jesus was in the midst of the teachers of theology in the temple.

As God the Holy Spirit, Jesus is in the midst of His people. “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them” Matthew 18:20.

At Calvary, Jesus was in the midst of sinners. “Where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the centre” John 19:18.

As a Lamb in Revelation, Jesus is in the midst of the throne of God.

At our resurrected Jesus is in the midst of the churches.

And now, on the evening of the first Easter Sunday, Jesus “stood in the midst” of His disciples (John 20:26).

          Why is this theme repeated? Because this is the key to the Christian life!

As we gather in the House of God, our deepest desire is that Jesus will be in our midst. As a matter of fact, you can have Jesus in the midst of your life. There are some people who have no room for Christ. There are others who have some room for Christ. But, Jesus deserves every room. 

The word “midst” comes from the word “middle.” Sometimes even Christians can leave God out of the midst of their lives, tagging Him maybe at the end of the day. But, He should be in the midst of our work life, in the midst of our hobbies, in the midst of our family, in the midst of our ministry, etc. No Christian can be spiritual, powerful, and growing unless Jesus is in the midst of all of their life.

2^ND POINT: THE REASON WHY JESUS NEEDS TO ME IN OUR MIDST.

“And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit” John 20:22.

          You cannot help but to think back to Genesis 2:7 “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” The breath of God brought us life, now He breaths afresh on His disciples to give them the breath of the Holy Spirit on their lives.

          It was the breath-like wind of the Holy Spirit that blew upon the disciples at Pentecost, and it is that same powerful breath of God that will give power to our lives today. I like this fact: we do not have to be gifted or capable or have great abilities, just availability! How wonderful that God does not send us to do something that cannot be done, for there is nothing that He cannot do through us!

In Ezekiel 37 we see the dry bones of an old battlefield come together as skeletons, and then organs and tissues and skin are added, but they laid there like corpses until verse 9:

“Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army” Ezekiel 37:9-10.

They had no power of themselves, the power was in the breath of God.

Conclusion:

a.      There is nothing we cannot do, if Jesus is in the midst of us. Verse 21.

b.     There is nowhere I will not go, if Jesus is in the midst. Verse 21.

c.      There is no limit to what God can do in this church, if Jesus is in the midst of us.  

d.     There is no peace I cannot find, when Jesus in the midst makes us peaceful! Verse 19.

e.      No joy escapes us, because Jesus in the midst makes us joyful! Verse 20.

f.       No job in the church should ever go undone, for Jesus in the midst will make us useful!

        But absolutely nothing will be accomplished without the powerful presence of Jesus in our midst!