Imagine you are with the Disciples and it’s Easter Sunday. But you don’t know that because you don’t know Jesus has risen. Not yet. What you do know is that Jesus died. He was betrayed and falsely convicted. He was brutally beaten and whipped. Then he was crucified and stabbed with a spear to insure he was dead. His lifeless body was taken off the cross and placed in a tomb. The only thing is –you weren’t there. You ran. You hid. This wasn’t the way you thought it would be.
On this Sunday you and the rest of the disciples are hiding because you think you may be next to be crucified. You are questioning all you have come to know over these last 3 years. To say that things were chaotic, uncertain, and fearful would be an understatement.
The women who had gone to the tomb this morning returned and told a fantastic story. The tomb was open!? Two mysterious men asked them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” (Luke 24:5, ESV) Later two of the disciples had a mysterious encounter with a man on the road to Emmaus. He walked with them and listened to the story of the events of Jesus’ life and death. When he broke the bread before them, suddenly they realized it was Jesus. And then he was gone.
Chaos, confusion, and fear overtook the disciples at the Passion of Christ. Save for John and the women at the cross, they all abandoned Jesus. They fled from the Garden. And one (likely Mark) left his cloak behind instead of being caught. Peter denied him. They worried they would suffer the same fate. It is in the midst of this chaos, confusion, fear, and even guilt, that Jesus appears.
Look at Luke 24:36-39a, “As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see.”
While they are trying to make sense of the mysterious events of this first Easter day, suddenly Jesus is standing before them. He speaks to them. They touch him. He’s not a ghost. He eats in front of them. He’s real! He’s alive! This is the third time Jesus has appeared to his friends and disciples this Sunday morning.
His first words to them could have been, “Well, what a lousy, faithless lot you all turned out to be!” But no! Jesus appears and the first thing he says is “Peace to you.” Shalom. It is a stunning proclamation. In the midst of all of this turmoil, He proclaims peace to their troubled minds and hearts. Peace to their disappointment and doubt. Peace to their fear and failure. He proclaims peace into their lives right where they are, right at the moment they most needed it.
There is something for us to learn in this greeting. Jesus comes to the disciples as he comes to us –right where we are, in the condition we are in. He comes to us in our struggles and fear and worry and doubt and depression and failure and disappointment. Did the disciples have it all together? No. Do we? Not usually. Did Jesus recoil at their condition? No. Nor does He recoil at ours. He proclaims peace in the midst of the most difficult times and to the most sinful of sinners. J.C. Ryle said it wonderfully when commented:
“Where is the sinner, however great his sins, who need be afraid of such a Savior as this? Where is the backslider, however far he may have fallen, who need be afraid of returning? Where is the saint who ought not to love such a Savior, and to pay Him willingly a holy obedience? Where is the professing Christian who ought not be forgiving toward his bretheren? (Luke, Vol 2, Ryle, pg 511)
St. Paul calls it the “Peace of Christ passes all understanding” (Phil 4:7) and we see it on full display here. No matter what you are carrying today, no matter your regrets, failures, frustrations, grief, or worry, the Resurrected Lord still comes and still proclaims “Peace.”