The Resurrected Lord comes to His disciples in their fear. He brings them peace. But Jesus never acts alone. He works along with the Father and the Holy Spirit. The disciples were in fear after Jesus’ death. Even after receiving reports that Jesus rose from the grave, they were still holed up in fear. They did not believe Jesus—the words He had spoken to them that He would rise from the grave. So Jesus comes to them, to bring Himself to them, to bring them peace.
Three times in John 20:19-31 Jesus says, “Peace be with you.” His speaking it three times points us to the work of the Triune God—Father, Son, Holy Spirit—bringing peace. The Triune God does it in the Person and Work of Jesus. Jesus is God in the flesh. Jesus comes to give peace. He does it by giving Himself. He says to the disciples: “‘As the Father has sent Me, even so I am sending you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”
The peace the Triune God gives is peace that passes all understanding. It is peace not as the world gives but only as God can give. It is not peace of mind. It is not peace in everybody putting aside their differences and getting along. It is peace that is the answer to fear. We ought to fear being in our sins. We ought to fear if Christ remained in the grave. But the Triune God is the God of creation and the God of Resurrection. Christ is not in the grave. He is living and He brings peace. He forgives your sin and will raise you up on the Last Day.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
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2 comments:
Thank you for making all these comments, especially this: "It is not peace in everybody putting aside their differences and getting along."
The peace that Christ gives is in spite of our differences and exists even when we don't get along. The peace of Christ allows us to recognize those differences and address them. Because we rest surely in the peace that Christ won for us with God, we can talk about our disagreements and hammer them out. We need not fear them. We need not avoid them. For true peace comes not from agreements or unity and is not affected by them, but exists in spite of them, because Christ has gained it.
John 14:27--"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." Thank you, Paul, for your words!
Jeff, you're welcome. The comment about everybody getting along was made in response to people who talk about "peace on earth" or "world peace." I love those notions as much as anybody, but they ain't gonna' happen. They ain't gonna' happen because that's not true peace. When Jesus was born the proclamation of "Peace on earth" was made, which tells us that the only true peace is in Jesus. The Christmas event, Jesus coming into the world, was for the purpose of reconciling God to man. There's your peace. Unity in Christ brings peace, not dismissing differences. Thank you as well for your comments, as we all deal with these issues, don't we. As Christians we can deal with them in unity in Christ rather than from our own individual standpoints (what I want, what I think, what I feel, etc.).
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