According to
the Fourth Gospel, when Jesus first appeared to his disciples in the locked
room after his resurrection, he said simply, “Peace to you.” (John 20:19) After
such a series of momentous events, it would seem other words would have been at
least as appropriate. I can imagine lines like, “Hey guys, surprise! I’m back!”
or “Why the long faces? This was just a temporary interlude in the greater
plan!” Perhaps even, “Victory, everyone! Bring out the fish and chips and let
the party begin!”
In reality
the disciples didn’t need a party or a theological lesson on the eternal plans
of God. They needed what the Risen Lord gave them, peace. In the previous eight
days they had gone from the high of a celebration as they entered Jerusalem
through Jesus’ claim over the Jewish Temple to a memorable supper that stated
out joyful and ended in grief and blame until they were finally the audience to
their own failures, the trial and crucifixion of Jesus, and his death and
burial. No wonder Jesus offered them peace. They were emotional and spiritual
wrecks, afraid of the Jewish authorities and ashamed of themselves.
Jesus
offered them peace. Perhaps it was a matter of perspective. Sample headlines
from around the world reveal concern over the Ebola virus getting out of Africa
and Russia testing illegal missiles. There is conflict in Ukraine and Nigeria. There
is chaos on our border with Mexico and there are refugees caught in the war
between Syria and a variety of rebels. Israel and Hamas continue their
fighting, and Kim Jung Un says he and North Korea are prepared to take on the
world if they should threaten him.
That’s
today. The first disciples faced Jews who wanted all followers of Jesus dead.
They lived in an Empire that asked only for taxes and obedience, but woe to
anyone who refused either. In case of famine, you moved or starved. In case of
disease, you hoped for the best. In the east the Parthians stopped Roman
expansion in that direction and in the north the Germanic tribes were a thorn
in the Roman flesh. As many as one out of every three people on the Italian
peninsula was a slave. (Ancient History Encyclopedia) The rough times were hard
to escape.
Jesus came
to those first disciples and offered peace. In the midst of all this potential
pain and suffering, Jesus offered peace. Perhaps it was and remains a matter of
perspective. I remember an episode in which I hit someone’s thumb with a hammer
while building a porch. His kind and generous words were, “Don’t worry. It’ll
stop hurting tomorrow!” Peace can be a matter of perspective.
Some of us
see pain and suffering in the moment to be ended by healing or the
inevitability of death. Historians give us a bigger picture and help us see the
human condition across the great sweep of time. Then Jesus shows up in the
middle of all this chaos and say, “Peace to you.” It is a matter of
perspective.
God calls us
to see our moments, our lives, and history itself from his perspective. We are
born, but life existed before us. We live and die, and life will go on after
us. Time began with creation and time as we know it will cease when the created
order also ceases. Yet God was here before the beginning of time and he will
continue after the created order is finished. He tells us to be at peace. He
asks us to see things from his perspective.
In the book
of Hebrews, the writer says,
“To have
faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we
cannot see.” (Hebrews 11:1)
Faith allows
us to go beyond the five physical senses and see the world and time in which it
exists from a new perspective. That is what Jesus was offering his disciples, a
different perspective on what they were experiencing. They were being invited
to see events from the heavenly Father’s perspective. Only from there could
they find peace.
