April 27, 2003

Second Sunday of Easter

John 20:19-31

“Peace Be with You?”

     It was evening on that day, the first day of the week.  The disciples were behind locked doors, and who can blame them?  They saw what happened to Jesus just a few days before.  They were there when he was arrested and stood at a distance when he was tried and crucified.  They knew they were seen close to him, apparent accomplices to whatever crime Jesus was executed for.  They were afraid.  And to compound matters, there was the shocking news of Jesus rising from the dead.  Peter said he saw the empty tomb.  Mary Magdalene and some other women said they met Jesus walking and talking.  Afraid for their lives, afraid of the unknown, they locked the doors.  Wouldn’t you?

     But locked doors only keep out mortals, not the immortal Christ.  Suddenly, he appeared among them.  It’s a wonder they didn’t jump right out of their skins! 

      What did Jesus say to his shaken disciples - “Behold, I am the living Christ - bow down before me”?  No…he said what they needed to hear most of all -“Peace be with you.”  Words of assurance.  Words of comfort.  Then, their fears subsided and they began to rejoice.  He said again, “Peace be with you.”  And when he appeared to them a second time, this time with Thomas present, he said again: “Peace be with you.”

     Consider the source of these simple, but powerful words - the Son of God, risen from the grave.  “Peace be with you” - from the other side of death.  “Peace be with you” - from everlasting to everlasting.  “Peace be with you” - from the heavenly throne of God!  Jesus said the words over and over again.  This was the most important thing he had to say to them and he wanted his disciples to remember these words. 

     This wasn’t just a simple greeting.  What we see here is Christ’s God-given understanding of things.  He is saying, “I know things look pretty frightening from where you are, but believe me, everything is going to be all right.  God is in control even when you aren‘t.  So, chill.  Cool it.  Trust me.  Everything is going to be all right.”

     I remember hearing words like these from my mother and father when I was in scary places as a kid.  I’ve heard words like these from Kay when I’ve been in scary places as an adult, too.  Maybe you’ve heard reassuring words like these from the people you love and maybe you’ve even spoken them.  Hearing these words from Jesus reassures us all that when we say these things to each other, we tell the truth.  That’s because God is still in control.  In the end, everything really will be all right.  Jesus said so.  From the other side of death, having seen what’s there, he spoke to the troubled souls of frightened people and spoke words of peace.

     I recently finished reading a book entitled, “Seeking Peace”.  I read it as our country spiraled into a war with Iraq.  I wish I could say it brought me to a place of great peace, but it actually left me with the uneasy feeling that peace can be so elusive that we can search our whole lives and never attain it.  But now that I think about it, maybe that’s the way it is - left to our own devices, perhaps we can’t attain complete peace on our own.  Perhaps it is always just beyond our grasp. 

     Certainly, the disciples were seeking peace in those terrifying moments of the first Easter Day and maybe they found a little in one another’s company, or behind the security of the iron locks on those heavy wooden doors, but for the most part it eluded them.  It was in that uneasy place of incomplete peace that lost, locked-down, frightening time that Jesus appeared and spoke those words, those simple, powerful words - “Peace be with you.”  It was then that their fears melted into rejoicing and rejoicing into such reverence that their hearts and souls became ready to receive the Holy Spirit.  They couldn’t find their own peace, so Jesus imparted it to them.

     Herein, I believe, lies the path of complete peace, real and lasting peace, soul-deep peace.  It can’t be found by climbing a mystical mountain or chanting the right mantra or becoming one with Mother Earth, although such things may be helpful.  It is only found through trusting Jesus Christ.  He is there for us in the dark and frightening places, the locked-down places.  He is there to impart peace to the doubting heart that dares to believe, the soul that dares to trust.

     It was Jesus who sought out the disciples and not the other way around.  It is the Good Shepherd who seeks out the lost sheep.  It is the woman who sweeps the entire house to find a single coin.  This is the way of the Savior.  He is here for you now, in your dark place, your uncertain time.  He is here to impart the peace you’ve sought so long.  Let your doubts inspire you to reach to touch his nail-scarred hands.  Then rejoice in his salvation and let the Holy Spirit fill your life.

      Philippians 4:7: