“When You First Met Jesus”

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” John 20:19-23

The first person to meet Jesus on Easter Sunday was Mary Magdeline. She was at the tomb and Jesus told her to go to His disciples and tell them that He had risen from the dead. That evening, Jesus came to the disciples. After He showed them His hands and side, they were convinced that He wasn’t a ghost and that He really had risen from the dead, body and all. And they were overjoyed.

Do you remember what it was like when you first met Jesus? When you asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, you were probably overjoyed as well. I know I was. I was 13 years old at the time and I couldn’t wait to tell my friends that Jesus is alive and that I was one of His followers.

In time, our joy tends to cool off a bit. We get used to having Jesus around and the excitement wears off. We even start to take Him for granted.

In the book of Revelation, Jesus has a message for the church in Sardis that applies to all of His followers:

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. Revelation 2:4-5

Jesus knows our hearts. He knows when we are no longer overjoyed to be with Him. He knows when we have forsaken the love we had for Him at first.

Whenever this happens, we need to ask for forgiveness. Then we need to ask the Holy Spirit to fill us with love for the Lord again. This is how we repent and come back to Jesus.

For the next few weeks, I’ll be preaching a series of sermons on the appearances that Jesus made during the forty days before He ascended into heaven. It is my prayer that our joy and love for Him will be rekindled as we reflect on His Resurrection. 

In Christ,

Pastor David