John 20:19-21 Amplified Bible
Jesus among His Disciples
19 So when it was evening on that same day, the first day of the week, though the disciples were [meeting] behind barred doors for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them, and said, “[a]Peace to you.” 20 After He said this, He showed them His hands and His side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with great joy. 21 Then Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you [as My representatives].”
Word of God for the Children of God
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Many of us who have lost someone, suddenly or in an expected way; can recall evenings in the aftermath of loss when it felt difficult even to breathe. We sat there with others, grieving in a silence punctuated every so often by reflection.
On the Sunday evening following Jesus’ death, we can imagine His disciples going through a similar experience.
Maybe one casually said, Do you remember how excited and hopeful we were when He walked on water? Perhaps another sullenly added, I remember Him weeping at the tomb of Lazarus. I won’t ever forget it.
In all their reminiscence, they doubtless felt a stabbing awareness that they would never again on earth see Jesus’ face.
Of that they were convinced.
They were fearful of the future.
They had just witnessed Christ’s brutal execution, and they had locked the door behind them (John 20:19), mightily worried that they would be the next targets.
Jesus knew this.
Therefore, when He appeared quietly among them that night, the first word to come out of His mouth was “Peace,” or Shalom.
This was a customary Semitic greeting that came with warmth and without rebuke, blame, or disappointment.
Then He showed them His hands and His side. It was Him. The Jesus whom they were convinced they would never see again was actually standing among them!
“Peace be with you” gave the disciples an indication not simply that their gladness should be prompted by the awareness that He was no longer dead but of something far greater: that by His visible resurrection, Jesus had now come to bestow a new kind of peace as a result of His blood shed upon the cross.
And the peace with which He greeted them is the same peace that He gives to every pardoned sinner.
Shalom takes on a whole new meaning for those who discover this peace.
In our weary world, bowing under the weight of all that is difficult and broken, tainted by indifference toward or denial of Almighty God in all His majesty, we know that He still seeks us out.
Just as He came up behind Mary Magdalene at the open tomb (John 20:11-18) and the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35), so He pursues you and me in love, bidding us find peace in Him, the one at whose birth the angels sang, “Peace on earth, good will towards men” (Luke 2:14, CSB).
In the face of our fear, our world aches for any semblance of peace.
But longing for it and singing about it will not create it. Peace can only be found in Jesus’ words: “In me you may have peace” (John 16:33; emphasis added).
The resurrection doesn’t simply mean there is a Christ. It means that Christ is alive forever and that He gives us peace with the Father and peace in ourselves, today and forever. Whatever storms are raging around you or inside you, make sure you hear the voice of your risen Savior today, saying, “Peace be with you.”
Stuck in Fear, Sent Out With Peace
On Easter Sunday Jesus’ disciples gathered in a room and locked the door. They were so afraid that the people who had killed Jesus would want to get them too.
But Someone came in anyway, as if the door weren’t even there! And the one who came in was Jesus! He said, “Peace be with you!” And he might well have meant, “Peace be with you, you cowering scared, door-locking disciples.”
Then he showed them his hands and side.
For on them were the scars of battle between life and death, between God and the enemy. Jesus had taken everything the enemy could throw in his way and overcame brutality And there he was, alive! “The disciples were overjoyed.”
Then Jesus said again, “Peace be with you!”
And he gave his followers a mission:
“As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
Where was Jesus sending them?
Into the world, where people live and die.
Into the world, where men and women are easily overwhelmed and defeated.
Into the world, where it’s hard to experience true peace amidst total chaos.
Jesus doesn’t want his disciples hiding in locked rooms; he wants us out in the world with the message of life on our lips and acts of life in our hands.
And as we tentatively go forth into the chaos, he says, “Peace be with you!”
In the name of God, the Father God the Son and God, the Holy Spirit,
Praying …
Psalm 27 New American Standard Bible
A Psalm of Fearless Trust in God.
A Psalm of David.
27 The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom should I fear?
The Lord is the [a]defense of my life;
Whom should I dread?
2 When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh,
My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell.
3 If an army encamps against me,
My heart will not fear;
If war arises against me,
In spite of this I am confident.
4 One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold the [b]beauty of the Lord
And to [c]meditate in His temple.
5 For on the day of trouble He will conceal me in His [d]tabernacle;
He will hide me in the secret place of His tent;
He will lift me up on a rock.
6 And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,
And I will offer sacrifices in His tent [e]with shouts of joy;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
7 Hear, Lord, when I cry with my voice,
And be gracious to me and answer me.
8 When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You,
“I shall seek Your face, Lord.”
9 Do not hide Your face from me,
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not abandon me nor forsake me,
God of my salvation!
10 [f]For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
But the Lord will take me up.
11 Teach me Your way, Lord,
And lead me on a level path
Because of my enemies.
12 Do not turn me over to the [g]desire of my enemies,
For false witnesses have risen against me,
And the violent witness.
13 I certainly believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
14 Wait for the Lord;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the Lord.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 