It was Good Friday (April 9) in 1945 that the famous German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer thought he would finally be freed from the Nazi prison camp where he had been held since 1943.
But that day ended up meaning only a change of prison venue.
The soldier who escorted him to the new prison pointed to the gallows in front of them and said, “Bonhoeffer, this is the end.”
But Bonhoeffer never waivered and rejected the soldier’s threat with his reply: “No, this is the beginning.”
“He had the assurance of God’s presence with him and he spoke a word we need to proclaim this Easter,” Rick Lance, executive director of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, recently shared with pastors in Shelby Baptist Association. “Death isn’t the end but only the beginning for those God has sent.”
Describing the post-resurrection passage in John 20:19–23, Lance said, “The Easter season is refreshing. It shouts to us about hope and this is a word we desperately need today.”
The disciples were huddled together, afraid and uncertain after the crucifixion, Lance said. But Jesus appeared to them and spoke words of assurance.
“The first word He spoke to them was ‘peace,’” Lance said. “This speaks of the promise of His presence that brings assurance in times of trouble.”
Recounting a pastoral visit to a family whose child had been in a serious accident and who was fighting for her life, Lance said he prayed God would give him a word of comfort for the family. But the father, a Christian layman, assured Lance the family was strong.
“We’re at peace with this,” he said. “We’re trusting the Lord.”
Lance said he was struck by the simple response, “We’re at peace with this.”
“I used to talk about being out of my comfort zone but now I often say, ‘I have peace with this,’” he said.
Lance also noted that John 20:21 is John’s version of the Great Commission.
“The Father sent Jesus and now He sent His disciples into the world,” Lance said. “The old adage is true that we’re saved to serve. We’re sent to do the Father’s work. (Sending) is a principle we’re going to talk much about this year in our convention ministries. It strengthens us in our work to know we’ve been sent.”
And with believers along the journey is the Holy Spirit, Lance added.
“The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament seemed to be given for temporary challenges but in the New Testament, He’s promised to be permanently with the people of God,” he said. “The presence of Christ through His Holy Spirit is the source of our power.”
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