Peace

John 20:18-21 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her. 19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I send you.”

NOW it’s the disciples’ turn to see the risen Lord. Other gospels record the disciples doubted Mary’s resurrection news. But weren’t they expecting Jesus to rise from the grave? Wouldn’t Mary’s excited announcement cause them to remember the several times Jesus spoke to them as he prophesied in Matthew 20:18 “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death 19 and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!” They had heard Jesus tell them what would happen. They had heard Mary tell them what did happen. But their hearts and minds were not ready to see Jesus walk through the door.
   Why were they so dull to understand, to not believe? The answer is in Luke 9:45 But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it. The disciples followed Jesus with the hope he was the Messiah of their learning. In other words, they expected Jesus to act in God’s power to restore the throne of David to Jerusalem and Judah. Jesus’ death – and certainly a resurrection from the dead – was never in their “Messiah mindset”.
   When Jesus spoke such words, the disciples did not want to learn more. They were even afraid to ask him about it. (Mark 9:32) To stop and consider Jesus’ prophecy might change what they knew about Jesus. And they were not ready for that. God’s timing to fully reveal Jesus would only come that night of Jesus’ resurrection.
   Jesus’ “Peace be with you!” is the meaning of the Hebrew greeting “shalom.” Jesus spoke a great peace of mind, heart and soul into his disciples. In essence they were born again that night into the Kingdom of God as the King fully revealed the peace of his resurrection power to them.
   This is what God does. As he has chosen you to be his disciple, he pursues your mind to teach you,  your heart to know him and your soul to be saved in him. A sinful mindset is our heritage from Adam. It may keep us from God for a time. But there comes a day when the Holy Spirit reveals the gospel’s truth to you. From Heaven God delivers his peace to renew your mind to a faith in the risen Jesus. You know you belong to the Living God. Your saved mindset is God’s gift to you.  
   About 40 days after Jesus met his disciples, he commissioned them to  be disciple-makers. Ten days after that the Holy Spirit empowered the disciples to begin the church that extends throughout the world today. The pattern remains the same. Saved into God’s peace, we must work to speak the peace of his salvation into a violent, broken world. Many will doubt. Many will believe.