Peace Be With You
Introduction
I want you to imagine that the risen Jesus was coming to visit you. Not a dream or a vision, but appearing to you physically. What would you do to prepare yourself? I suspect that one of the things that you would want to do is to get ready to listen. I doubt that you would be playing on your phone or doing housework as Jesus began to talk. You would especially want to hear those first words, assuming that Jesus wouldn’t waste any words. What would be the first things he said to you? Would you write them down? Record them on your phone? You definitely would take them to heart as this was a special moment.
For us, this is just imagination. But for another group of disciples two thousand years ago, this was reality. Jesus did appear to them physically and he spoke words to them. “Peace be with you.” But what did he mean by that? Was it just a generic greeting? Like when we see someone and say, “How are you doing?” Most of the time we are not seeking information about their quality of life, we are just being polite. Was Jesus just being polite? Or was he really offering peace to the disciples? And what would that even look like? That is what we are going to take a look at.
Peace For the Disciples
Let’s situate ourselves for a moment. At this point in the story, there had been rumours about the resurrection. Some women had claimed to have received a message from angels that Jesus was alive. And then Jesus began to appear personally, first to Simon Peter and then to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Things were getting real.
Now Jesus was appearing to the Eleven. His first words to them were “Peace be with you.” But what did that mean? Jesus never wasted his words, so it is unlikely that it is just a greeting. He probably was offering peace. But why and how?
The immediate need for the disciples was that they were scared seeing a man who had just been dead. Imagine if one of your close friends who had died suddenly showed up at your house. You would be rattled. The disciples feared he was, and pardon the expression, a holy ghost. So perhaps Jesus was saying “Peace be with you” to calm them down, helping them not to panic. We do see that Jesus reassured them that he was no ghost. He had a physical body, one that was even able to consume food. By the way, this is an important passage for us. The New Testament tells us that at the resurrection, we will receive bodies like Jesus, and this tells us that our bodies will be physical and not just spirits, and that we will even be able to eat. But is this all Jesus was interested in, to calm a momentary panic?
The truth is that the disciples would quickly realize that Jesus was not a ghost but their need for peace would not disappear. The resurrection of Jesus was the start of a new chapter, not just for them, but for the entire human race. They would need the peace of Christ.
The concept of peace is extremely important in Luke’s Gospel. In fact the word peace appears in Luke more than twice as often as all the other Gospels combined. This is an important them and it is not just about being afraid of ghosts.
What do you think of when you think of a peaceful life? Perhaps relaxing on a deck at a cottage far away from civilization, the only noises are the sounds of nature. That sounds wonderful but that is not the biblical concept of peace. Peace in Hebrew is shalom and it refers more to wholeness and it does not depend on the circumstances around us.
Think about what the future held for these eleven disciples. Persecution, arrest, prejudice, hatred, hardship, and ultimately martyrdom. And yet Jesus’ words, “Peace be with you” still stand. How? Because of the resurrection. In the resurrection, Jesus had defeated death. Paul quotes the Old Testament in mocking death, “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55). The resurrection of Jesus had created a new peace that could not be destroyed by physical circumstances. It was this peace that gave the disciples the strength to die the martyr’s death.
Peace For Today
Has life gotten any easier in the past two thousand years? Yes our technology and medical knowledge has grown exponentially. But there has been a price. Imagine two thousand years ago if a disease broke out in Wuhan province in China. The people living then in North America would not have known. It is possible that even people in the Roman Empire would not have known. Technology connects us in a way that everything everywhere affects everyone. It is not that life is better or worse, it is just different.
We are in the midst of a pandemic. People fear catching the virus. People fear losing their jobs. People fear a wider economic collapse. We need peace. Eventually this pandemic will be over and we will be in the new normal, whatever that may look like. But relationships will still break down. People will receive scary medical diagnosis. People will struggle with mental illness and addiction. We will still need peace.
Jesus walks into the midst of us, whatever our circumstances, and says “Peace be with you.” And he means it. He is not just being polite. He is offering peace. He is offering shalom.
The peace might not look how we expect. It may not include a radical change in circumstances. But it will be the same kind of peace he offered the Eleven. It will be peace that will be closely connected to his resurrection and his victory over death. It is very much like the old song, “Because he lives, I can face tomorrow.” Not because my life has gotten easier or more pleasant. Because he lives. The Eleven went through some scary times and so will we. But Jesus Christ is risen from the dead and he offers peace. It is ours for the taking.
Conclusion
I would never want to dismiss the emotions that we face when things are rough. The Bible doesn’t condemn those emotions, in fact it takes those feelings and turns them into Psalms. Even Jesus felt those emotions in the garden of Gethsemane the night before his crucifixion. All I am saying is that despair doesn’t get the final word. The final word is peace.
Jesus appeared to a group of scared and confused disciples. He didn’t make their lives any easier. In fact, he made their lives infinitely more complicated. But Jesus did give them peace.
That same Jesus gives us peace in the midst of our circumstances. Whether it is a worldwide pandemic or just a really bad day, Jesus offers peace. That peace is based in the resurrection. The resurrection that Jesus has already experienced and the resurrection he will one day share with us.
