John 20:21
Dive Deeper
“Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’”
John 20:21
Behind the Scenes
Today’s verse is part of one of the most powerful and dramatic scenes in the Bible. The disciples of Jesus are huddled in a room, fearful and unsure what is happening in their world. It’s Sunday and just two days before, their teacher, master, and messiah Jesus had been brutally beaten and crucified. This was a man they believe was going free them from their Roman oppressors and initiate God’s kingdom on earth. Now Jesus was dead, and they met in fear that they would be killed next.
Jesus, however, was not dead. God the Father raised Jesus from the dead that first Easter Sunday morning. The disciples heard this good news from some women at first and then it is reinforced by other disciples like Peter, but they were confused and unsure what to make of it. In the middle of their fear, anxiety, and confusion, Jesus suddenly appeared in the room. And he said, ‘Peace be with you.’
Peace is more than an absence of conflict. The Hebrew word for peace is Shalom, and it means a wholeness or restoration. Biblical peace means that our relationship with God is restored. It means that the Kingdom of God is here on earth healing relationships between humans and restoring creation. Biblical peace means steadiness in the storm, courage in adversity, and hope in darkness.
The resurrected Jesus brings this peace to all believers. It is not something we can generate out of our own strength. God sent His Holy Spirit to empower us and develop this fruit in our lives. God gives us this peace as well as a mission. God the Father sent Jesus to earth for a purpose. Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection means eternal life with God for those that say yes to Him. Just as God the Father sent Jesus, Jesus is sending us into the world.
We have a mission to love people as God loves us and to spread the news of Jesus to them. Jesus is the solution to our deepest needs. We are a broken people and Jesus is the one who can heal us. Life is hard. Following Jesus won’t take away our sufferings, but it does provide a deep inner peace as we live our lives and serve Jesus by reflecting His love out to the world around us.
Make it Real
If you are like me, there are many days when you struggle to have this peace of God. This is an area in which I need to grow, and I try to learn from God and other believers how to lay ahold of this peace. First, a person must have a relationship with God through Jesus. Saying yes to Jesus means that you believe that He rose from the dead and that you too will live forever with God. Once we take this step, God’s Holy Spirit comes to live in our hearts and walks with us through life. We may not always feel His presence, but He never leaves us.
Peace is a fruit that only God develops. It is not a one-time thing. We don’t go download a software update that gives us a lifetime supply of peace. I like to think of it as filling up with fuel. God’s Spirit continually fills us with peace as we walk with Him.
One way this filling occurs is through reading of God’s Word and praying to Him. As we read and meditate on the Bible, God teaches us about His love, justice, and faithfulness. Learning about God helps build a trust which can give a deep peace. We read about how God is at work healing and restoring the world. The amazing thing is that He chooses to use us to help accomplish this task.
The Psalms are particularly good to read so that the Spirit can cultivate peace within us. Psalms are the prayers of God’s people, and they can be brutally real. One type of Psalm is the lament, and they usually begin with people pouring out their despair and suffering to God. As they continue, however, they shift to praising God and thanking God and this type often ends with the writer expressing a hope and peace. Psalms provide an awesome example for us to copy in our own prayers.
Thanking God and worshiping Him on a regular basis helps to remind us of the ways that God has blessed us and protected us in the past. It helps to remind us of the ways God heals us and restores us. It reminds us that God continues to walk with us and will never leave us, even in our darkest hours. Doing this in a community of believers also surrounds us with friends that can bear our burdens as we help bear their burdens.
This world and life are tough, but God’s peace is possible and can be had by us. The apostle Paul had this peace even when he had to endure prison and abuse. Believers through the ages had this peace as they endured disease, relationship problems, war, and death of loved ones. We have this peace, and we also have this hope: that one day Jesus will return, and God’s peace will reign over all the earth and there will be no more suffering, death, or pain.
Johnny Spence
ACF Devo Team
End in Prayer
Father, thank you for the peace you provide. Help me read your Word, pray, and worship both in good times and bad. Lord, help grow this peace in me so that it flows out of me and to other people in my life. Thank you for all you have given me. In Jesus name, Amen.