John 20:19-31
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Peace Be with You
What does peace look like?
Sometimes it’s easier to pinpoint when you don’t have peace, than it is to know when you do.
Think about those disciples on that first Easter evening. John tells us that they were hiding behind locked doors for fear of the Jews, which is totally understandable! They had just seen their teacher, their mentor, their leader, their friend be brutally executed after a farce of a trial just a few days earlier. They must have been trying to cope with a flurry of emotions:
Fear that they might suffer a similar fate. Fear that maybe the Jews would sic their attack dog, Saul on them, putting them in prison or worse.
Guilt that they didn’t do more to help their friend. Guilt that they literally ran away just hours after each of them boldly boasted that they would rather die than desert Jesus.
Confusion. Had it all been a lie? Was Jesus for real? What about all the things he said he was going to do? Was he really the Messiah, or were we mislead? What about what Mary said, and the other women, and the 2 disciples who returned from Emmaus? What are we to make of an empty tomb? Where is Jesus’ body?
Aimless. Where do we go from here? What did the last 3 years of our lives mean if this is where it all led?
Alone. There they sat, the saddest 10 people in Jerusalem, locked behind closed doors, feeling like the world outside their window was out to get them, that few, if any, could understand or commiserate with them.
Can you? Can you commiserate? How many of those same emotions do you feel?
There are lots of things to be afraid of. The number of people I know personally and locally who have come down with COVID has quadrupled in the last week. What’s our future going to be? What about my loved one who isn’t doing so well?
No matter how hard you try, you just can’t seem to shake your sin. There’s that one person in your life who just knows how to push your buttons, and you can’t help lashing out or thinking less of him. You messed up. You missed an opportunity to be decent and you knew it, but you blew it. Am I not a good enough son or mother or friend?
Where is God in all this? What’s going on? What does it all mean? Where do I go from here?
No one can understand what I’m going through. I have no one to turn to, no one to confide in, no one to help me with this struggle. I don’t even know if anyone sees me, or, if they do, if they care.
Peace is elusive. There are so many things that fight against it. I don’t see peace when I turn on the news or scroll through social media. I don’t find peace in my comments or messages. I don’t always feel peace in my heart. But then Jesus walks through the doors we’ve locked in fear, and he says, “Peace be with you.”
Imagine how impactful those 4 words would have been to Jesus’ 10 disciples on that first Easter evening, or to Thomas a week later!
They were afraid of the Jews because of what the Jews were able to do to Jesus. They did their worst to him, and yet there he was! It wasn’t a dream. They hadn’t imagined it. The Romans really did pound nails through his hands and thrust a spear into his side, but even those fatal wounds couldn’t keep Jesus from standing – alive – in front of them. His presence gave them the peace of knowing that nothing – no power in heaven or on earth or under the earth – could ever conquer their Lord.
And what may have been even better is that when he walked into that room, he didn’t wag a finger at them. He didn’t say, “Oh, you of little faith! You blockheads! I told you! I told you I was going to rise from the dead. Why didn’t you believe??” Or maybe worse, “Where were you when I needed you the most? What happened to, ‘I’d rather die than desert, Jesus’?” There was none of that – not even a look of disappointment in his eyes – just a love and a peace that didn’t hold their sins against them, i.e. that didn’t even mention them.
They didn’t have to wonder anymore, either, whether the women were telling the truth, or whether they could count on Cleopas and the other disciple who returned from Emmaus. They didn’t have to wonder what had happened to Jesus’ body or why the tomb was empty. The answer was staring them in the face, giving them the peace that came with remembering that this was all part of God’s plan; that everything that had happened had been part of his promise; that nothing had ever been outside of his control.
That brought meaning and purpose back to their lives. They didn’t have to fear that they had followed the wrong guy, that they had wasted the last 3 years of their lives. They could go forward with his commission, with purpose and know that it was what they were supposed to do – they were to go and bring this peace that Jesus had given them to the world.
And they wouldn’t have to walk that road alone. Jesus wouldn’t always be there to sit down with them every Sunday night for some fish fry, but that’s why he gave them his Holy Spirit to live in them and to give them the power to do what he had commanded – to be at peace, and to share that peace.
When Jesus walked into that room and said, “Peace be with you,” he changed their lives forever.
Now, you’ve probably heard me say it before, and even though it’s a little trite, it doesn’t make it any less true: “Peace is not the absence of danger; it is the presence of Jesus.”
That was certainly true for those disciples. The Jews would still oppose them. They’d still live with fear and guilt, with doubt and depression. They’d still feel alone, but Jesus was with them, and that’s where true peace comes from.
Peace is not the absence of danger, but the presence of Jesus. It was true for his disciples. It’s true for you too.
What are you afraid of? Is it more dangerous than death or more oppressive than the grave? Jesus is greater! And his resurrection gives you the peace of knowing that he is stronger than whatever scares you; that Jesus is more powerful than anything that can oppress you.
What are you ashamed of? Is it something you did? Or maybe something you didn’t do? Are you afraid that your friends will think less of you if they knew? Or that you’ve lost God’s love? Then hear the words of Jesus, “Peace be with you!”
There’s no rebuke in those words. He doesn’t want you to wallow in self-pity. He wants you to live in the peace of knowing that he doesn’t hold your sins against you. His resurrection is the assurance that those sins have been paid for on the cross; that they’ve been forgiven and dealt with; that in God’s eyes, they’re not even worth mentioning anymore.
What questions are you asking? What direction are you seeking? They all find their answer in Christ. Even “Doubting Thomas” got the answers he was looking for. And thank God that Thomas doubted! Thank God that Thomas had such understandable reservations about Jesus’ resurrection, because those reservations, that doubt, gave God one more opportunity to display his power and to promise his peace; to assure you that no nail marks in his hands could ever cause you to slip out of them. Because God still holds you in his loving hands today, giving meaning and purpose to your life.
There’s an ancient tradition about Thomas. It’s said that Jesus had so thoroughly swept away Thomas’ doubts and skepticism, that Thomas, of all people, traveled all the way to India with confidence in the good news of Jesus. If that’s what asking questions does for us, then may we all doubt like Thomas, so that we can all see the meaning Jesus gives us in this – to take the peace that he gives us and to share it with the world around us. We have a purpose. We have an aim in this life.
And we’re not alone as we carry out that purpose, either. Jesus may not appear hear today and hold out his hands to you and invite you to put your hand where the spear pierced his side, but he gives you the same gift today that he gave his disciples then. He gives you his Holy Spirit every time and everywhere you hear his Word. That’s his promise to you.
We may not see the nail marks or feel where the spear pierced his side, but he does invite us to take and eat, to take and drink the very same body and blood that was pierced and shed for you. He may not stand here today, but he is nevertheless really present in the sacrament, where he gives you the peace of knowing all of the above:
That by his resurrection, he proves to us his power in life and in death.
That by his resurrection, he assures us of our forgiveness and frees us from our guilt.
That by his resurrection, he answers our questions and gives purpose and meaning to our lives.
And that by his resurrection, we have the promise that nothing in this life – not even death – can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
That’s what peace looks like. It’s not the absence of danger. It’s the presence of Jesus.
Peace be with you.
Amen.