Friday, August 31, 2018
John 20:19-20 Jesus came and stood in their midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you." When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side.
THE PEACE CHRIST GIVES HIS PEOPLE . . . THEY GIVE AWAY
Jesus' first words to His assembled disciples were a common word of greeting: "Peace be with you." But now those words were far from common coming from the lips of the risen Savior. Jesus did not merely wish them some external peace, but rather gave them abiding peace within.
Jesus paid for this peace when He was crucified, when He laid down His life to pay the terrible price of sin. Now on Easter evening, Jesus offers the very receipt, the evidence, of the peace He won: "Look at my hands and my feet, your debt before God has been paid in full."
The peace Jesus gives doesn't change the world around us. This peace changes us within, removes our fear even though trouble and danger still threaten, gives us peace by giving us faith's confidence, making us confident of our Lord's living presence and His victory over any danger which may threaten-- even death. For this is not merely a peace that chases stress and worldly anxiety; but a peace of heart and mind that comes from the message of sins forgiven.
As Luther says: "This peace is nothing else than that the heart is certain that it has a merciful God and the forgiveness of sins, for without this it can neither stand in the time of need and danger, nor be satisfied by any earthly fortune."
"Peace be with you." When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Christ's wounds are themselves the evidence of His victory; of the peace that has been gained for us through His death. Those wounds tell us that the war is over and the two-fold victory is won: Satan's power has been crushed, sin and death have been overturned; and now we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now this peace, peace with God through Christ, has been given us so that we disperse it to others, for Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you."
The highest love we can show our LORD is to follow His command. The greatest act of love we can show to other people is to show them Christ's love-- to direct those who sorrow under sin to His wounds.
