Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” –John 20:26b

Our Bible study was thoughtful this week, so much so, it is still with me. The main text on the table is our lesson for Sunday, John 20:24-29 and the story of Thomas encountering the resurrected Jesus for the first time.

We began as we often do, looking at the passage just prior, and in it we found the disciples behind locked doors: afraid, uncertain, trying to make sense of everything that had just happened. And honestly, we didn’t move past that moment too quickly. We lingered there. Because it feels familiar.

What must it have been like to live in that space between grief and hope? Between what you thought you knew and what you were being told might be true?

We found ourselves circling back repeatedly to Jesus’ words: “Peace be with you.” Not as a simple greeting, but as something deeper, as something offered right into fear, confusion, and even failure.

And then there was that startling moment: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you… Receive the Holy Spirit… If you forgive, they are forgiven…”

That’s a lot to carry. Peace. Calling. Forgiveness. The Spirit. All given to a group still trying to catch their breath. What an amazing sense of responsibility. And had they known this mission would befall them, chances are good they might have changed their mind when Jesus first asked them to follow.

This Sunday, we turn to Thomas, the one who couldn’t quite believe it yet. And maybe that’s where many of us find ourselves too. Not opposed to faith, not closed off, but needing something more. Something real, a tangible hope. Something we can trust.

I’ll be honest with you: I’m still listening for where this sermon wants to land. Maybe that’s part of the invitation. To resist rushing to easy answers. To honor the space between fear and faith. So, I hope you’ll join me Sunday in person or on YouTube, bringing your questions, your doubts, your hopes, and maybe even your locked doors. Because if the story tells us anything, it’s this: Christ meets us there.

Brett