When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors were locked where the disciples were, for fear of the Religious authorities, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” John 20:19-22

While fear whispers and hope waits, Jesus comes to  his disciples behind locked doors. Shut against temple soldiers, who came for Jesus in the garden at Gethsemane . . . Locked for fear of being arrested, imprisoned, or worse. The days after the death of Jesus, were a traumatic time for first century Christ followers. Questions were being asked, fingers pointed, with so much left unknown. Their fear was real and fully justified.

Processing the trauma of Jesus’s death, and then stories of his resurrection, left his friends uncertain and afraid. The safety of a locked door, provided security. Behind the doors was space to process and analyze what was happening, to make sense of sightings of Jesus. It is a place to be with other questioning souls.

Today there are many in our nation, hiding behind locked doors, seeking protection and processing their trauma. Immigration laws that once made sense, and gave clear guidance, have been upended. Promises of an earlier time, discarded. Cruelty has become a driving force in our immigration policy, and scapegoating immigrants, it’s excuse. The fear and terror behind those locked doors, diminishes us as a nation. Cruelty and retribution are not justice. Scapegoating, is not a just cause.

Hiding behind their locked doors, the disciples were surprised to find Jesus among them.  He came to bless and  reassure his frightened friends, that he has not abandoned them. For they have been visited by the risen Christ,  who is there to journey with them, into the future.

Today, people of Faith are reaching through other locked doors, to bring hope. Sent by the Holy Spirit, following in the footsteps of Jesus, they are offering grace in tumultuous times. Moving beyond hate, generated rhetoric of today’s Trump Administration, they come as beacons of hope, resisting injustice, bringing  gifts that sustain both physically and emotionally.

Jesus breaks through all the locked doors we tremble behind. Wanting us to know, in our most desperate times, we are not forgotten . . . Offering each troubled soul, a word of peace, comfort, and of hope.