We continue looking at Jesus’s post-resurrection encounters, and today we see Him coming to the disciples in John 20. This is one of my favorite passages from John. It talks about the disciples meeting together, but their doors were locked out of fear. I think that’s such a powerful image. How often do we lock the doors, especially the doors of our hearts, out of fear? But even there, Jesus can find us.

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There’s something haunting and beautiful about the quiet after Easter.

The lilies are still fresh, the echoes of “Christ is risen!” still linger, and yet we’re left with the very real question: What now?

In John 20:19–23, we find the disciples grappling with that same tension—not in celebration, but in fear. Easter had happened. The tomb was empty. The women had brought astonishing news. And yet the disciples were hiding behind locked doors.

“It was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear…” (v. 19)

They had heard the resurrection story, but it hadn’t become real for them yet. And so they locked the doors.

Isn’t that so often what we do?

We lock the doors of our hearts, our thoughts, our futures—not because we’re faithless, but because we’re afraid. We’re afraid of what might happen next. Afraid of what following Jesus might cost us. Afraid we’re not enough. We lock ourselves in because the outside world seems overwhelming.

And then, just like in the text, Jesus shows up anyway.

“Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’” (v. 19)

The doors were locked, but He came in.

That’s the miracle in this passage—not just that Jesus is alive, but that He enters into fear. He doesn’t wait for the disciples to come find Him. He meets them where they are. The locked doors don’t stop Him. The fear doesn’t stop Him. The confusion and disorientation don’t stop Him.

He just comes in. And when He does, He brings peace.

Not condemnation. Not frustration. Not a lecture on how they should’ve believed sooner.

He simply says, “Peace be with you.”

He says it twice.

The old hymn puts it perfectly:

“Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer.”

We carry so much unnecessary fear, anxiety, and restlessness. And yet the risen Christ stands among us, even behind locked doors, offering peace. He breathes the Holy Spirit upon His disciples. He commissions them. He sends them.

They were hiding. But He sends.

They were silent. But He speaks peace.

They were afraid. But He calls them forward.

At the end of the passage, Jesus does something striking. He breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” He gives them authority—specifically to the apostles, those entrusted with leading this newborn community of believers.

This is not a call to individual spirituality. It’s a call to community.

Jesus didn’t intend for us to follow Him in isolation. He established a church—an imperfect, often messy, but Spirit-filled body of believers who bear witness to resurrection in the real world. He gave authority and purpose to that church. He still does.

So yes, Jesus meets us behind our locked doors. But He doesn’t let us stay there.

He calls us to go. He calls us to community. And He calls us to peace.

Today, whatever fear you’re facing—whatever doors you’ve locked—know this:

Jesus is already standing in the room.

And He’s saying, “Peace be with you.”

Let Him in. Let Him breathe His Spirit over you. Let Him send you back into the world, not with fear, but with resurrection power.

Because Easter didn’t just happen once.

It happens every day.