“Peace Be with You”

“Peace be with you!” — John 20:19

That same Sunday evening, the disciples were together in a room with the doors locked. They were afraid that the religious leaders might come after them next.

While the two friends from Emmaus were telling their story, suddenly Jesus Himself was standing among them.

“Peace be with you!” He said.

The disciples were startled and frightened. They thought they were seeing a ghost!

“Why are you troubled?” Jesus asked. “Why do you have doubts in your hearts? Look at My hands and My feet. It is I Myself! Touch Me and see. A ghost doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you can see I have.”

And He showed them His hands and His feet, and His side, with the marks where the nails and the spear had been.

The disciples were so full of joy and amazement that they could hardly believe it. So Jesus asked them, “Have you got anything here to eat?”

They gave Him a piece of cooked fish, and He took it and ate it in front of them. Ghosts don’t eat fish! Jesus wasn’t a ghost or a spirit. He had a real body. He had really risen from the dead.

Then Jesus said, “Everything that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms had to come true.”

And He opened their minds so that they could understand the Scriptures. “This is what is written,” He said. “The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. And in His name, the message that people should turn back to God and be forgiven will be preached to all nations, starting from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”

“Peace be with you,” Jesus said again. “As the Father has sent Me, so I am sending you.”

The disciples had run away and left Jesus alone. Peter had said he didn’t even know Him. They must have wondered whether Jesus would be angry with them. But the first words He said to them were “Peace be with you.”

Jesus didn’t come back to tell them off. He came back to bring them peace, and to send them out with good news.

The promise kept: Jesus said, “Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms” (Luke 24:44). His suffering and His rising again were the promises of the whole Old Testament coming true.

Read it in your Bible: Luke 24:36–49; John 20:19–23

Dear Jesus, thank you for your peace. Thank you that you didn’t come back to tell your friends off, but to forgive them and send them out. Please give me your peace, and send me out too. Amen.