Barry Wills
Deacon Board Chair
Shiloh Bible Church
Peace To You
It was Saturday. Not just any Saturday. Yesterday Jesus died.
What did that mean to those who followed him? The Bible only gives us hints, but they are helpful. The ladies’ who followed Joseph and Nicodemus to the tomb were resting, according to the tradition of the Sabbath (Luke 23:56). After that, our clues come from what we find the disciples doing on Sunday: The disciples on the road to Emmaus uttering the sad words, “We had hoped” (Luke 24:21); The disciples locked in a room together “for fear of the Jews” (John 20:19). Hope was gone, fear took its place. What did they need?
Jesus knew. When he appeared to the disciples, Jesus’ first words to them were, “Peace to you.” After he showed them his hands and his feet, he repeated himself, “Peace to you.” Peace was what they needed. And in our uncertain times, when the things “we had hoped” to do are at best question marks and at worst altogether gone, and when we are locked in our homes for fear of the coronavirus, peace is what we need, too.
So where does peace come from? How do we find it? Isaiah, speaking to the Lord, says: “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.” (Isaiah 26:3). And the writer of Hebrews reminds us that we can be content with what we have because Jesus has promised never to leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Possessing Him is better than anything “we had hoped” to have or do. In our tribulation we do well to remember the words Christ Jesus spoke to his disciples just before his crucifixion: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). Jesus could speak peace to his disciples that first Easter because he had overcome death. They could see it. There he was in front of them.
So take hope. Friday is past, but Sunday is coming.
Let our prayer for each other today be that of the Apostle Paul for the Thessalonians: “Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all.” (2 Thessalonians 3:16).
And that’s my prayer for you, today.