John 20:19-31
Once again Jesus just materializes in their midst! I wonder if they got used to His unannounced and sudden appearances. Or, perhaps some of them, whose hearts had stopped thought, “Man! I wish He wouldn’t do that! I could picture Jesus smiling, knowing perfectly well what they were thinking, saying, “Peace be with you“. He is on record as wanting peace in our hearts but an observation about Jesus I have, that seems like a contradiction, is that He is a disrupter. Things do not remain the same when He is present. This passage highlights this observation.
The disciples were, as far as we know, gainfully employed three years ago, minding their own business, hoping that the Messiah would come and redeem Israel. Each day for them looked pretty much like the previous one. But, for the past three years each day had unfolded as a surprising adventure. Whether they realized this or not is doubtful, but they were daily privileged , in watching Jesus, to see what God the Father was like and how He wanted to relate to mankind. Like Adam and Eve, they were again walking in unhindered view and relationship with God. Instead of grasping that they were experiencing an aspect of Eden, their hearts were pining for a new golden age of Judaism in which their association to Jesus would insure significant opportunities for them.
But, instead of taking their places in a royal court, this passage finds them in hiding because the One they had hoped would usher in the new era had just been murdered. They had lost their best friend as well as their highest aspirations. Their dreams were now utterly crushed because the so-called Son of Man was not powerful enough to overcome the Jew’s religious regime or the Roman’s political one. The disciple’s circumstances were now stark barren of hope. The system, as usual, had won. In the unseen realm, Death too was gloating over his most recent victim. And, to make matters worse (if it were possible), their lives were endangered because of their association with a Man, who claimed greater authority than Caesar himself.
I suspect all disciples (not just church attenders) – those who have become authentic followers of Christ, have wondered as they surveyed their disrupted lives, “What have I got myself into?!” What kind of God would lead me into circumstances so heartbreaking and dangerous and then come and say, “Peace be with you.? Are you kidding?!” Well…its the same God, who is also called the Prince of Peace who said, “Do not think I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword“. He is the same kind of God who says that “he who has lost his life for My sake shall find it.
Question: I wonder how many people, who, over the years, have invited Jesus into their hearts on the premise that He had a “wonderful plan for their lives” came to a place of total bewilderment as they took stock of the not-so-wonderful way this plan was playing out?
In the midst of the disciple’s worst nightmare, Jesus shows up and says, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you. Receive the Holy Spirit….Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed…..these things have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name“.
I see God, as One reserving His right to appear suddenly or to ask us to trust in His presence even when He seems quite absent. Like the disciples, because our view of what He is actually doing is often flawed, He must come and disrupt our peace and even break our hearts if need be in order to rescue us from any misplaced expectations and affections. In His loving sovereignty, He comes and says, “Peace be with you. As you are working your salvation out in the midst of various trials go out and, as heralds of peace, BE the good news – let your light shine before men by trusting in My presence, acknowledging that the world-system will not prevail and that neither death nor trials will have the last word. It will be you, whose story I am writing in the presence of an unbelieving world, which will be read so that others may see and believe that I am the Christ and they too will find life in My name.
Father, do what You must to adjust our vision to see the world through the lens of Your kingdom. In the midst of our circumstances, whatever they may be, help us to glorify You by living in a supernatural realm of peace and joy and love. For Your name’s sake. Amen.