Jesus, the resurrected one, enters a locked room and says, ‘Peace be with you’. Can you imagine the disbelief and the exhilaration of that moment for the disciples as they gather scared and thrown off completely by the circumstances that have transpired since Jesus death. Their Rabonni is not there – in fact he is nowhere to be found, he has outgrown the tomb, it has served its purpose and now – now what?
I have a bit to say about the ‘now what’ in our ‘gathered church online’ service this week. For some you might watch it live or later and for some you’ll get the message delivered to you. But for all of you I want to say…. the world the disciples found themselves in was a confusing and chaotic place – a place lacking ‘peace’ ( by that I don’t mean the absence of chaos and confusion). This situation is not so unfamiliar to us. We are faced with questions like – where is Jesus? What now? Is it possible that Jesus really has risen and has inaugurated a new way of being? Can I believe the reports of others who claim to have encountered Jesus personally?
Into this place Jesus comes, into our set of circumstances Jesus steps in. It is the way of Jesus – to step into our locked rooms and chaos and declare peace.
He doesn’t say – ‘now everybody just calm down, its going to be okay, take a deep breath – a bit of self-help. No he says, if I might change the wording just a bit, ‘peace is with you’. When Jesus arrives he is offering the breath of life and rest in him. When Jesus steps in we encounter the risen Lord, the wholeness, the completeness of God, the fullness, the ‘everything of God’ is in their midst.
Jesus ‘sees’ his disciples, he does not rebuke them, rather just comes into their lives and brings everything they need for life, then he sends them, breathes on them they are filled with the Holy Spirit, they are authorised. A transformation takes place -they have gone from unbelieving believers to being fully alive and activated for mission. Peace is with them.
It is, I believe, the same for us. Jesus is not in the business of condemning us for where we are at in our faith, our lives and how we are reacting to the circumstances before us. He is in the ‘peace’ business – the ‘transformation’ business – the ‘breath of life’ business – the ‘activation’ business.
The whole deal, with the one we call ‘doubting Thomas’, is that Jesus is willing to do what it takes to help us all to come to that same point of confession as Thomas “My Lord and my God”.
I believe that when Jesus steps into our lives ‘as they stand’ and we come to that same point of confession, then we enter into a whole new world. A world in which we think and act as resurrected people. A world in which no problem is too great . A world where God is the author of all the solutions to every problem. A world of ‘peace’.
Our prayer for you is, that right now, ‘peace is with you’ and a whole new vision for life unfolds before you. One with Jesus at the centre – the author and perfecto of our faith.
Blessings friends
Mark and Marie