Today's Reading: Luke 24:36-49
Daily Lectionary: Exodus 15:19-16:12, Hebrews 10:1-18
Jesus Himself stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” (Luke 24:36)
“Peace” or Shalom, is the typical Jewish greeting. Peace entails not just an absence of conflict but a wholeness, a completeness expressed in Psalm 23:1 “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall lack nothing.”
So often, God’s message contradicts our experience. For example, our instinct is to give to those who will give back, but Jesus says to give to those who cannot repay. Our instinct says that we should defend what’s ours and strike back when struck, but Jesus teaches us to turn the other cheek. And on this Easter evening, when Christ appears to His frightened disciples, His greeting of “peace” is an occasion for consternation. He goes on to assure, comfort and encourage them. He even uses reasoning, pointing out that a ghost has not flesh and blood as the risen Christ obviously has. To show He is not a ghost, He eats a piece of fish with them.
This is a line that spirits may not cross. No spirit can control or influence the physical world, except through the actions of sinners allured by temptation. Even a piece of fish is beyond their powers! Therefore the best Christian traditions have never blamed famines or disasters on witches or devils. Devils are creatures of opportunity, using disaster to raise doubts in our minds, and injure our faith. but, they have no power to threaten or reward us by any material means. And while there are witches in the sense of those who seek occult power, this is more imaginary than real on their part, a delusion that may lead to perverted thinking and acting, particularly with respect to the body.
And Christ, who had just descended to Hell to proclaim victory, now enters the Upper Room to declare peace to His disciples. This is a peace that transforms death into the gate of paradise. This is a peace that assures us that we will receive all we need for this life as we follow our Prince of Peace, extending that peace, that wholeness, to others.
Almighty God, who through the resurrection of Your Son secured peace for our troubled conscience, grant to us this peace evermore, that trusting in the merit of Your Son, we at length will come to the perfect peace of heaven; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Collect for Easter Tuesday)