Peace Be with You

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, even so I am sending you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

John 20:19-23

Can you imagine the trauma the disciples and the women who followed Jesus have just experienced? The betrayal by one of their own, the nighttime raid that takes Jesus away and scatters all the disciples, Peter’s denial, the injustice and brutal treatment of the mock trial, the horrific torture and crucifixion of Jesus by the Jewish leaders and the Romans, the gripping fear, the loss of a dream and purpose, and the heartbreaking death of their Messiah, their teacher, and their close friend. They have invested their lives and given up families and livelihoods to follow Him. What were they feeling? John tells us in John 20:19 they were in a locked room, afraid for their lives. Jesus was dead – what would happen next? We know, but they didn’t. Jesus had told them, but they just hadn’t understood what He meant.

And now, the women have told them they saw Jesus alive! The tomb was seen empty by Peter and John. The friends on the road to Emmaus have just told them they too have seen Him. Are the disciples stunned, numb, shocked, or doubting? Suddenly, standing with them in the locked room is Jesus! They can’t believe it! Luke says they thought He was a ghost. I don’t blame them! If I ever saw someone raised from a sure death, I would be beyond shocked, doubtful, skeptical, and even scared. But isn’t it so wonderful how Jesus speaks to them? “Peace be with you.” Remember the times Jesus has said He would give them His peace? On their last night together before His death, He said, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid" (John 14:27). Also, “I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). He shows them the pierce marks in His hands, feet, and side. Even in His resurrected body, His wounds are evident.

“He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds, we are healed,” says Isaiah 53:5. Jesus gives us His peace, the peace we need and that only He can give. He took on the punishment our sin deserves so that we now have peace with God, access to the Father, eternal salvation from God’s wrath, and His Holy Spirit. Look at His hands, feet, and side, permanently scarred for all eternity, and have peace. He is giving it to you too.