Open
/Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." -John 20:26
The disciples are really afraid after Jesus’ crucifixion. They have good reason - the Judean leaders had worked with the Roman authorities to get Jesus, their leader, killed, and are worried they’ll come after them, too. And they’re also grieving, disoriented and thrown off course. What should they do now? So there they were gathered together in a locked room.
Suddenly, it seems, Jesus comes and stands among them. “Peace be with you,” he says to them. “Don’t be afraid.” These are words, not only of assurance but of forgiveness, and Jesus’ frequent use of the phrase “Peace be with you” is the origin of our “passing the peace” in church. We say “Peace be with you” to one another after communion to show our acceptance and forgiveness of one another as a way to prepare our hearts fully for communion.
When Jesus appeared among the disciples that day, chances are they were afraid that Jesus would be angry with them. After all, they’d abandoned him, denied him, betrayed him, fallen asleep on him - and in the end, run away. This was the first time they’d seen him since them. Probably to their great relief, instead of saying “Hey - where were you when I needed you most?” Jesus passes the peace with them. He assures them that all is well. This familiar story reminds us that we are forgiven.
The next thing Jesus does is to show them his wounds. Being willing to share our wounds is how we really get to know others, isn’t it? We come to know people more deeply when we know what hardships they’ve been through. With mere acquaintances, the weather or the Red Sox are much safer topics. But true friends know about our wounds, and this story reminds us to be open with each other about what is hard and painful in our lives, and to willing to listen to the pain of others. Jesus shows us how important it is to ‘go there’ with others - to share the depths of our experiences, because when we do that, we realize we were safe to be ourselves all along.
The last thing he does is breathe on the disciples to give them the Holy Spirit. Wow - we wouldn’t want anyone breathing on us these days! So especially now, we’re all too aware of what it is like to be locked behind closed doors out of fear. We know what it’s like to circle the wagons and pull inward. But this story reminds us that Jesus is able to come to us - even there - even when our doors are carefully locked. There is no place or situation in which Jesus’ love cannot meet us, cannot heal us, cannot share the wisdom of the Spirit with us. This story reminds us that we are never alone.
With these things in mind: that we are forgiven, we are safe and that Christ is with us always, how will we answer Christ’s call this Easter season to move out of our own locked places, to be open, to share ourselves (even the tough stuff) with others and to invite others to share their wounds with us? How will we be called to ‘go there’ and move more deeply into the life that truly is life?
