Peace Be With You

“Again he said, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.’” John 20:21  

Jesus appeared to the disciples on the evening of the resurrection. They were locked in a room for fear of the Jewish leaders. In just a few short days, their entire world had been turned upside down. Jesus had been arrested and crucified before they could fully process what was happening. And now they had their own future to consider. Would they be next? After all, they were his disciples. 

Perhaps they locked themselves in together to figure out a plan. Maybe the conversation started with, “What are we going to do now?” What happened next must have been the biggest surprise of all. Without so much as a knock on the door, Jesus appeared in the room among them to offer them peace. They weren’t looking for or expecting Jesus to show up, yet even the locked door could not keep Him away. Think about that for a moment. God was pursuing them even when they were not looking for Him. Often times we hide behind our locked doors to escape the chaos and confusion of life, but God shows up even in the midst of our anxious, worried, and fearful moments to offer us peace.  

“Peace be with you,” Jesus says. They were filled with joy as He showed them the wounds in his hands and feet. The peace of Jesus instantly calmed their fears. But the peace Jesus gave them was designed to do more than calm their fears. Immediately He tells them, “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” 

Jesus never intended for the disciples to stay behind the locked doors. He had a purpose for them beyond those doors. His peace would empower them to fulfill that purpose. 

The same goes for you and for me. The peace of God will move you from behind locked doors into His purpose for your life. God’s peace calms your fears to get you moving. His peace can give you the confidence to move forward—to talk to that co-worker about your faith, to pray with that person who keeps telling you about their troubles, to lead the group, to start the ministry, to step out in faith.