Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. 20 As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! 21 Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” John 20:19b-21
I know it may sound redundant, but Easter is all about love, and that love expressed by God is expressed to us in many ways. One of those ways is giving us peace. not the kind the world gives as described in John 14:27, but the kind that is Jesus Himself. A gift from Him as a result of His death and Resurrection.
Once again this fallen world is in great need of such peace. It’s a peace that passes all our understanding (Phil. 4:7) because it even exists in the most worst of times. We rarely think about it, but Jesus exhibited this peace while hanging on the cross. In the midst of being suspended between heaven and earth on a cursed tree in anguishing pain He was able to pray for those who were so brutally against Him. He thought of His mother and made provision for her care from His dear friend who embraced Jesus’s love for him. He was willing to endure separation from His beloved Father to take on the sins of this world. After He knew all was accomplished, He surrendered His Spirit and then bowed His head and died. All in a peace that confounds us.
What we need to remember is that those who have accepted Him and His forgiveness have received the same Spirit He embodied, Holy Spirit. Take today to read and meditate on Scripture about His peace. Seek Him, embrace Him and allow Him to give you the same peace He gave Jesus so we could experience and know Him better. In these trying times this gift of peace will not only empower you, but point others to a relationship with Jesus.
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