Peace With Us

"Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you." ²⁰ When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord."

John 20:19-20

Despite hearing multiple eyewitness accounts of the resurrection of Jesus, the disciples huddled behind locked doors for fear of the Jews.  To these unbelieving and hard-hearted disciples Jesus appeared in the midst and said, "Peace be with you."  Jesus identified Himself to them by revealing His pierced hands and side.  Never before had a victim who died by Roman crucifixion had the opportunity to scar because no one had ever risen from the dead.  Seeing the wounds of Jesus confirmed He was their Messiah who suffered on the cross and rose again.

I have found a tendency when talking about surgeries, scars, sport or work injuries, one story begets another.  While one person describes the pain or displays a scar, the onlookers connect what they hear with experiences or stories of their own.  One thing we do not see is one of the disciples weighing in with with a grin, "That's nothing.  Look at what happened to my leg when Peter gaffed me."  There was no comparison possible to what Jesus had gone through on Calvary and how He stood there before them and declared, "Peace be with you."  Jesus had already given His peace to them before His crucifixion, and there He was risen with a glorified body, peace, joy and everlasting life intact.

The disciples did not consider comparing their past pains or injuries with Jesus, yet it is possible for us to do so implicitly.  Jesus conquered sin and death and brought peace with Him as the Prince of Peace:  to refuse the sufficiency of His grace and peace is to wrongly claim our pain or suffering is greater than His or mightier than He.  Jesus lives and His peace remains without interruption for all those who believe, for all those who rejoice in His salvation.  Unbelief and hardness of heart is what led to the disciples sequestering themselves behind closed doors in fear, and we can suffer from the same sinful maladies.  We do not believe the peace of God that passes understanding is with or for us, and thus we cannot receive.

Praise the LORD Jesus came to them without invitation by His grace:  Jesus knew where they were, how they were feeling, what they needed and how to meet that need in Himself.  How we need Jesus, and how we ought to love Him!  In Him we have peace with God and a Saviour who loves us more than words can express.