The Peace of Christ
In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus appears to his disciples in the locked room only once, but in John’s Gospel he comes to them twice. Both times, his greeting to them is “Peace be with you”. Today, I would like us to think a bit about this word peace and what it means in today’s world, in the history of the people of Israel, in the Gospel, and for us.
What does peace mean in today’s world? After a busy day and perhaps a difficult day when things might not have gone just as we might have hoped, it is good to look forward to a bit of peace and quiet. Peace here means freedom from disturbance or dissension. In people’s spiritual lives, whether they are Christian or not, it means freedom from inner turmoil and conflict and freedom from a disturbing sense of guilt. The other important meaning is freedom from war. A country which is not at war is at peace, which in turn brings prosperity.
However, in Hebrew thought, peace meant something different and had a much more positive concept. The word peace did indeed mean the absence of war or even victory in war, but it meant much more than that. It meant something like “a state of well being”. The word Shalom for the ancient Israelite designated all that makes for wholeness and prosperity. We read in Isa. 55.12
“For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands”
and in Isa 48.18
“O that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your prosperity would have been like a river and your success like the waves of the sea”.
Peace, or Shalom, was not a personal and spiritual condition but rather a gift from God which brought fertility and growth in husbandry and family. Having large herds and crops was a sign of peace as was having children and a strong and united family. Peace was about having health and strength throughout life.
The wholeness of peace was both material and spiritual. Peace was not just about the absence of war and inner conflict. Peace was lived out as a social and relational concept. Harmonious relationships between nations, family and covenant partners were a sign of peace and injustice and oppression destroyed it.
When Jesus stood among his disciples and said “Peace be with you” he meant all of these things. His ministry was a ministry which brought peace or Shalom. Peace in the gospel was also a sign of spiritual and physical wholeness as in Luke 7.50 when Jesus says to the woman, the sinner, who had bathed his feet with her tears “your faith has saved you, go in peace” or to the woman healed from a haemorrhage “Daughter, your faith has made you well, go in peace”
The early Christians based their whole ministry on this concept of peace and indeed Paul and the early Church taught a Gospel of Peace. In their teaching, peace can be acted out by unselfish concern for one’s neighbour both within and beyond the Christian community. As Paul writes to the Ephesians:
“I beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace”
Peace also removes the causes for conflict as the Christian promotes spiritual and social relationships. In James’s letter we read:
“And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace” (James3.18)
Peace is also a sign of inner calm and serenity and of being in relationship with God; of being a recipient of God’s peace. As Paul prays:
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing” (Romans 15.13)
When Jesus stood among his disciples and said “peace be with you”, he meant all the things we have said, but he meant even more than all this for here we have the risen Christ standing among them and this makes all the difference. If we are not talking about the risen Christ, then, all this teaching from Paul and James and indeed Jesus himself would be just good and wholesome advice for healthy and happy living, or the teaching of a Gospel which could find approval and resonance in other religions. But it is the risen Christ that stands among them. With the resurrection the word peace takes on a new depth of meaning.
The death and the resurrection of Jesus break down all barriers between God and humans. The barrier of sin which stands between us and God is torn down as is the barrier of death itself. Thus, Paul can write:
“… we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we obtained access to this grace in which we stand” (Romans 5.1)
Jesus’ death and resurrection also break down the barriers between human beings. The barriers of race, culture, social position which separate us from each other no longer exist.
“For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us” (Eph. 2.14).
In the peace of the risen Christ there is true unity but it is in unity that we receive peace, and this brings us back to our Gospel passage.
The disciples were together in the locked room, but the first time that Jesus came to them Thomas was not there. He had not seen the risen Lord but more importantly, he had not received from him the very special blessing of peace in unity with his fellow disciples. Christ’s Peace, we have seen, has a special relational quality and if unity is promoted by peace, the peace of the risen Christ is promoted and better understood in unity. This may be why Thomas did not believe.
Today, as we share the peace of the Lord, the risen Jesus comes amongst us, just as he came amongst his disciples. As we share his peace and all that that means, we are brought to faith. We become those whom Jesus blessed because we believe without having seen him or touched his wounds:
“Jesus said to Thomas “have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe”.
A little later on when we have professed our faith and prayed together, the celebration of the Holy Eucharist will begin and the Liturgy starts with the words:
“The risen Christ came and stood among his disciples and said “peace be with you”, then they were glad when they saw the Lord. Alleluia. The peace of the Lord be always with you”
This is apt and fitting because the sacrament of Holy Communion is about two things:
Firstly, it is about the body of Christ as the presence of the risen Lord Jesus among us and secondly, it is about his disciples who are the body of Christ, bound together in unity and faith. This is true peace.
As we share the peace with one another let us call to mind that this peace is not just peace as freedom from disturbance and dissention, that this peace is more than the Hebrew idea which speaks of wholeness and well being, that this peace is more than peace among the nations. It is peace in which we are reconciled to God and to each other through the resurrection. It is in this peace that we attain an inner serenity which passes all understanding. It is in this peace that we strive for peace among the nations, that we seek to build up spiritual and social relationships with unselfish concern. We share the peace of the risen Lord who has reconciled us to God and to man and who unites us in his body and blood. We share the peace of the risen Lord on which our faith and hope are founded.
Reverend Christine Bloomfield, Strasbourg Anglican Chaplaincy.
19th April 2009. Second Sunday of Easter 2009
Gospel, John 20.19-31
