Peace be with you
Luke 24:36–49 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37But they were terrified and frightened and thought they were looking at a ghost. 38He said to them, “Why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41While they still did not believe it (because of their joy), and while they were still wondering, he said to them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”
42They gave him a piece of broiled fish and some honeycomb. 43He took it and ate in front of them. 44He said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.”
45Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. 46He said to them, “This is what is written and so it must be: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. 49Look, I am sending you what my Father promised. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
If we walk in the light, just as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7). Amen.
We were in the hospital room of my mother-in-law, Sue. We were told by the doctor that she was dying. The pneumonia had taken over.
The whole family was there. My wife, Shelley, her dad, Jerry, her sister, Becky, her brother Patrick, their spouses, and all the grandchildren. Everyone had tears streaming down their cheeks. I led the family in prayer and a reading of resurrection comfort from God’s Word.
After Sue had been called home to heaven, we went to the funeral home. Sue’s eternal home had been prepared for her by Jesus. Now Jerry had to make preparations for Sue’s Christian funeral.
We sat in the office at the funeral home where the funeral director asked for information for the obituary. Jerry, Shelley, Patrick, and Becky sat in silence. They were still in shock. They couldn’t think. They couldn’t speak. I finally spoke up and volunteered to write the obituary. I told the funeral director that I’m a pastor so I kind of write for a living.
The shock and silence didn’t end with the funeral. Sue would fill their house with Christmas decorations. Jerry puts up an undecorated Christmas tree. It took Shelley a long time to be able to concentrate to read novels again. The grandchildren miss their grandmother terribly.
Almost every one of you has felt grief like this. Death robbed you of someone close to you. The pain is raw and fresh. A well-intentioned word can bring you to tears. A hymn can cause you to choke up. A picture can feel like a punch in the gut. A memory can feel like someone is clawing at your heart.
You miss talking to your sibling whom you shared a room with growing up as kids.
You lost your mom whom you used to pour your heart out to.
You miss doing projects with your dad.
You grieve the death of your child because there is nothing much worse in our world than burying a child.
You miss the smile, the smell, the soft snoring at night from your spouse with whom who shared a bed for decades.
Satan loves all this!
Satan uses his close ally of Death to throw our lives into turmoil.
Satan uses your grief to rob you of the peace that Christ’s resurrection brings. He wants your tears to be so heavy that you cannot see the open tomb in front of you. He desires your mind to be so clouded that you do not notice the dead Christ defeating death for you. He enjoys seeing you so overwrought with sorrow over what you lost that you cannot think about what Christ has gained for you.
Satan needs for you to be so consumed with anger that you are enraged at God for what he has allowed to be taken from you. Your anger leads you to question how God could call himself loving when he was so unloving in taking away this precious child of yours. If God really cared about you, he would have let you hang out longer with your sibling. If God was merciful, he would have shown mercy healing your spouse from their disease or mercy allowing your parents to wake up from their sleep.
Satan craves for your guilt to overwhelm you. What could you have done differently? What did you say in anger that became the last thing your loved one heard? How could you have rescheduled your job so that you could have spent more time with your spouse, parent, or child? You learned the hard way that there will always be another meeting, but there may never be another time to sit down together at the dinner table or play catch in the backyard or just say, “I love you.”
This grief, anger, and guilt can wreck your marriage. They can destroy your relationships with your family and friends. They can create a barrier between you and your Christian brothers and sisters. They can drive you away from your faith in God as being a merciful Father in heaven.
Satan delights in all of that!
Satan uses death to fill our lives with darkness. We heard St. John tell us today that God wants us to live in the light. “God is light. In him there is no darkness at all. … If we walk in the light, just as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:5, 7).
When you are feeling the darkness threaten to overwhelm you, know that Jesus was born in the darkness to be the Light of the world. Jesus died in unnatural darkness on Good Friday to bring light and salvation into the world. As light was beginning to dawn on Easter morning, Jesus was alive and walked out of the dark tomb. The light of Jesus shines into the darkness of Death and the Devil.
After Jesus’ death, the disciples were filled with doubt, fear, and confusion. When we have a loved one die, we, too, are often filled with doubt, fear, and confusion. Christ’s resurrection from the grave changes everything! Faith replaces doubt. Trust replaces fear. And confidence replaces confusion. All because the Son of God who died is now alive! Because he lives, we will live, too!
This is a promise we need to hear again and again. This was a promise Jesus had told his disciples. But they needed to hear it again.
That’s exactly what Jesus was doing in the locked room on Easter evening when he appeared to his frightened disciples who were hiding from the Jews. They were discussing how the women, Peter, Mary Magdalene, and the Emmaus disciples, had all seen Jesus alive. They were undoubtedly feeling grief that their Rabbi and Messiah had been killed. They were feeling guilt because they had all run away from Jesus when he was arrested in Gethsemane. They were feeling confusion because they were wondering how God could love his Son and yet allow him to die such a brutal death.
Amid all this fear, guilt, and confusion, Jesus is standing among them and gives them what they need most. He says, “Peace be with you” (Luke 24:36). He gives them a solid place to stand in front of the judgment seat of the Almighty God. The crucified Christ has made the atoning sacrifice for their sins. The death and resurrection of the Son of God had always been a part of God’s salvation story from the very beginning. “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms” (Luke 24:44).
Luke explains, “Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45). I imagine Jesus doing a Bible study with his disciples. He leads his learners through Old Testament passages that pointed to his suffering and death. He could have reminded them of Psalm 22 where David wrote about Jesus’ crucifixion with these words: “They have pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones. They stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them. For my clothing they cast lots” (Psalm 22:16-18). Or Isaiah’s prophecy of the Suffering Servant. “We thought it was because of God that he was stricken, smitten, and afflicted, but it was because of our rebellion that he was pierced. He was crushed for the guilt our sins deserved. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4, 5).
Then Jesus could have pointed them to Psalm 16 that prophesied his resurrection. “You will not let your favored one see decay” (Psalm 16:10). Again, in Psalm 22, the Suffering Savior prays for deliverance “from the lion’s mouth” (a metaphor for Satan). This prayer is followed by a hymn of praise where the Messiah thanks God for hearing his prayer and delivering him. “Save me from the mouth of the lion. From the horns of the wild oxen you have answered me. I will declare your name to my brothers. In the midst of the congregation I will praise you” (Psalm 22:21, 22).
After the Bible study is over, Jesus shows the disciples his hands and feet. “Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” (Luke 24:39). These marks of his passion are the certainty of the resurrection of the flesh on the Last Day.
After the disciples received Jesus’ peace, Jesus wanted them to share that peace with others. He told them, “You are witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:48).
After you have received Jesus’ resurrection peace, Jesus wants you to share that peace with others. Jesus says to you, “You are witnesses of these things, too.”
You can lead people who are hurting, grieving, or broken in a Bible study.
For the parents grieving their infant dying in baptismal grace you can remind the parents their daughter has been spared this world’s present evil. “No one understands that the righteous one is being spared from evil” (Isaiah 57:1).
For the believing child who died in his sleep after a long bout with leukemia, you can remind the parents that their son woke up in his own room in the mansion of heaven. Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2).
For the friend grieving the loss of a sibling, you can remind your friend that their Christian sibling has been gathered to God’s people. It was said of both Abraham and Ishmael, “When he breathed his last and died, he was gathered to his people” (Genesis 25:8, 17).
For the friend whose spouse has died and misses him or her terribly, you can remind your friend that their Christian spouse is seated at the banquet feast of Christ in heaven. The psalmist declares, “You set a table for me in the presence of my foes” (Psalm 23:5).
For the family who watched their parent suffer with dementia or struggle with cancer, you can remind the family that their believing parent has departed and is now at peace with God. We can say with aged Simeon, “Lord, you now dismiss your servant in peace” (Luke 2:29).
Satan wants to use your grief and guilt to turn you away from God. He wants to drive a wedge between you and your heavenly Father. God wants to use your grief, so you come to him for comfort. He wants to remove your guilt and replace it with his precious words of forgiveness. He wants to calm your anger at him and teach you that everything he has done has been for the eternal benefit of your loved ones (Romans 8:28).
You may not understand that now, but by the grace of God, your loved one in heaven is appreciating that eternal benefit right now.
This is the peace that the resurrected Christ gives to you. He is with you, speaking to you in his words, showing you the wounds of his passion, bringing you this much needed resurrection comfort. During the season of Easter. In the hospital. At the cemetery.
Jesus says, “Peace be with you.” Amen.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7). Amen