SENT OUT WITH PEACE
It was the first day of the week, and that very evening,
while the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood among them. “PeaceG1515 be with you!” He said to them.
After He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Again Jesus said to them, “PeaceG1515 be with you.
As the Father has sent Me, so also I am sending you.!”
John 20:19-21
The disciples, minus Judas the betrayer and Thomas who was absent from the meeting, were gathered together with the doors locked because they feared the Jewish leaders would have them arrested for following Jesus. Suddenly, Jesus inexplicably appeared in the middle of the room. Chuck Swindoll has an interesting observation about the difference between Jesus’s resurrected body and that of Lazarus whom He had raised from the dead:
John includes this detail to illustrate for the first time in his narrative the different nature of Christ’s resurrected body. Lazarus had been revived from death and restored to good health, but he lived with the same limitations, suffered illness and injury, and eventually died again. The resurrection of Jesus was fundamentally and profoundly different. It was, in fact, superior. His resurrection body, while still completely human, possessed supernatural qualities. He was raised to a new kind of life, never to die again. (54)
Luke tells us that, at first, the disciples thought Jesus might be a ghost. After all, He had just miraculously appeared in the middle of the room without walking through the door. One of our Sunday school teachers, Jerry Hines, believes that in our resurrected bodies, we will be able to travel at the speed of thought! However, after Jesus said, “Peace be with you,” and showed them the scars in His hands and feet and even ate in front of them, they knew they were seeing Jesus in His resurrected body. Once they joyfully realized that it was truly Him, Jesus once again pronounced His blessing on them with “Peace be with you.” Jesus then tells them that He is sending them out just as the Father had sent Him to them. Throughout His ministry, Jesus proclaimed that He only said what the Father had told Him and did what the Father had Him do. He then tells the disciples, “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How can they have peace when the threat of arrest and possibly even crucifixion looms over their heads? How can they be sent out when persecution is eminent? Jesus is sending His disciples out to go where God leads them and do what God shows them in the power Jesus gives them. What power is this? Verse 22 makes it clear:
John 20:22 When He had said this, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
This verse holds the key. Just as God breathed life into the first man, Jesus now breathes the Holy Spirit into His followers. He is sending them out not in their own power but with His power infused in them. When we place our trust in Jesus, surrendering our will to His, the Holy Spirit comes to reside in us. The Holy Spirit is the one who empowers us not only to remain at peace but to have the power to manifest all of the Fruit of the Spirit. We are sent out to be a “light” to the world. That light shines brightest when we are more and more like Jesus, when we are exhibiting the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives.
Are we going out into the world intentionally as Christ’s instruments to proclaim the Gospel, the Good News that we can be at peace with God and have the peace of God? Are we secure in the peace that Jesus has given us, knowing that when He sends us out, He empowers us to do what He calls us to do?
Father, You have instructed us to go into all the world and make disciples (Matthew 18:18-20). By the power of Your Holy Spirit within us, help us to go boldly, being confident that Your peace is always available to us because You are with us always.