Second Sunday of Easter

John 20:19-31

“Peace be with you” and again, “Peace be with you.” And again, “Peace be with you.”

Anytime we hear something repeated in Scripture we know to pay attention, and in today’s gospel, Jesus says these words not once or even twice but three times.

When Jesus finds his disciples on that first Easter evening, he offers this greeting to them. But his words are more than an elaborate “hello”; Jesus knows they are hiding and afraid and the first words he says are “Peace be with you.” There’s actually no verb in the Greek phrase, and scholars say his words are better translated as “Peace is yours.” or “Peace is with you.”

It's not wishful or aspirational; it’s a declaration:

“You are my disciples and with me, you have peace.”

“Peace be with you” is easy to say here int he pews, but sometimes it’s hard to believe and harder still to feel. Maybe for some of his followers, seeing Jesus resurrected - risen from the dead- frightened them even more than seeing him crucified. The dead are supposed to stay dead after all.

After his declaration, Jesus spends time with them and shows them his hands and side. John the Evangelist says that they rejoiced then

and we remember that Jesus promised:

“I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” (John 16:22 NRS)

But in the “both/and” world that we live in I imagine that the disciples both experienced joy and had questions and lingering anxiety.

After all, the political leaders were still angry at Jesus’ followers and the disciples’ future was uncertain.

As Jesus reminded them of their purpose - to be sent out, just as God had sent Jesus - they had to be wondering whether being like Jesus would mean they would die the death that Jesus died.

So, Jesus repeated this assurance to them again and in that moment, perhaps they were able to recall when he told them:

“in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!" (John 16:33 NRS)

Jesus’ promises joy and peace that come out of knowing Him as Lord. And God’s promises are neither arbitrary nor can they be compromised by circumstances. We can rely on God’s Word to us, even when we face uncertainty, or we feel afraid.

The disciples who were with Jesus on that first Easter evening were excited to tell their friend Thomas how they had seen the risen Lord.

Do you remember Thomas? He was the one who spoke up when Jesus was telling the disciples about the way to the Father and he told them, “You know the way to the place that I am going.”  It was Thomas who said, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" (John 14:5 NRS)

Often mischaracterized as “doubting Thomas” he wasn’t with the other disciples on that first night. We don’t know where he was or why he wasn’t with the other disciples when Jesus appeared, but he wasn’t.

So he missed it all. He missed seeing the risen Lord. He missed seeing the marks in his hands and side. He missed hearing Jesus’ declaration of peace and reassurances.

So, it isn’t that surprising that when the other disciples told Thomas that they had seen Jesus, Thomas doesn’t believe them.

Really, he’s not so unlike the disciples who heard the women’s proclamation that the tomb was empty in the resurrection story that we heard on Easter morning. Luke said most of the disciples judged the women’s words to be “feverish babbling.” They didn’t believe them either.

Here, Thomas speaks up for himself again and tells the other disciples he wants the experience they’ve had. He wants to experience the risen Lord - to see Jesus - for himself.

The next time Jesus finds the disciples together, Thomas is there, and Jesus doesn’t chastise or ridicule him.

Instead, he repeats his assurance of peace a third time and offers his body to Thomas, inviting him to touch the very marks that Thomas had wondered about. And his invitation provokes Thomas’ confession of faith, “My Lord and my God!”

Faith in John’s gospel is always about knowing Jesus. It is never an intellectual exercise, believing is about being in relationship with the risen Lord and knowing Him.

Jesus appears to the other disciples and to Thomas and doesn’t demand anything.

He meets them where they are.

He invites them to see him, to listen and to follow.

He offers his own body so that they can satisfy their questions.

He promises joy and peace amid uncertainty - “a peace that comes in the midst of conflict and threat rather than as the absence of such.”[i]

Someone this week imagined the disciples were like the refugees in Mariupol, Ukraine. Shell-shocked, living in hiding, subsisting but not thriving, fearfully listening for foreign soldiers knocking on the door. To those who have lost everything, Jesus says, “Peace is yours.”

Here in our corner of the world, few of us have experienced the fear of being refugees or the difficulty of living in war-time conditions, but we still know conflict, fear and condemnation. We know the emptiness of loss. And we know the terror of loneliness and isolation. And to each of us, Jesus says, “Peace is yours.”

This healing and reconciling peace is ours that we may be witnesses, that we may go out, sent like Jesus, to a hurting world and share the stories of how God has shown up behind the locked doors of our hearts and lives and given us peace.

Let us pray…

Good and gracious God,

Thank you for your Son Jesus, whose very presence brings peace into a hurting world overcome by fear.

Thank you for your grace that finds us, forgives us and invites us into life with you.

May we always bear witness to the difference your peace and presence makes in our lives.

In Jesus’ name.

Amen.

[i] Duane A. Olson, “The Church in Mission: Gospel Texts for the Sundays of Easter (Series C). Word and World, Volume XV, Number 2. Spring 1995.219.

Palm Sunday

Luke 19:28-40

Remember when Jesus was teaching and some of those listening warned him about the Galileans who had been killed by Pilate? (13:1)

Or later when they warned him to flee because Herod wanted to kill him? (13:31)

Time and again, people “in the know” – leaders in the towns and villages where he was preaching and teaching - shushed Jesus and his followers, warning them to know their place, to keep their heads down and stay out of trouble.

Here again, after the crowds burst into praise and shouts at his arrival in Jerusalem, some of the Pharisees come to Jesus and tell him to order his disciples to stop:

“Jesus, get your people under control.”

I am all for good order and I like knowing what to expect. But this isn’t about decorum. This is about fear.

I wonder what they were afraid of. Were they worried the Roman soldiers would report the parade to the governor? Were they afraid the assembly would become violent? Why was the crowds’ joy and fervor so unsettling?

We don’t know. Maybe they were protecting themselves or even trying to protect Jesus.

But Jesus is unwavering. Once again, he asserts God’s dominion and kingdom, declaring

“If these [people] were silent, the stones would shout out.”

The promise of God to raise up a deliverer for God’s people cannot be thwarted or silenced by human fears, doubts or disbelief.

When we hear Jesus say, “The stones would shout out” we don’t expect the stones to audibly cry out.

But consider the cries of creation that the psalmist describes when “[the meadows and valleys that] shout and sing together for joy” in Psalm 65 (v. 13) and how Saint Paul tell us that “the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains [for the glory of God to be revealed.]” (Romans 8:22) And then, imagine how the stones that make up the arid landscape of Israel might shout in joyful praise at Jesus, the Living Water sent by God, arriving in Jerusalem.

On this day, the whole of creation, including humankind, recognize Jesus is King and God has fulfilled God’s promise of a Messiah, Lord and King.

The stones would shout out.

Imagine the stones that bruised the Gerasene demoniac (Mark 5); the stones that fell from the hands of those who accused the woman of adultery (John 8); and the stones that were thrown against the prophets who came before Jesus (Luke 13:34). Those stones bore shame, judgment and punishment. But, when Jesus enters Jerusalem, he comes as the Savior who heals every ill and promises forgiveness and mercy.

The stones would shout out.

Imagine how the stones in the fortifying walls around Jerusalem or the walls of the Temple itself might shout to proclaim Jesus is Lord.

Imagine the bloodshed and agony those stones have witnessed - especially by the time of Luke’s writing, after the temple had been destroyed in 70 CE. Today the Western Wall of the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem is a sacred space where the stones literally hold millions of prayers in notes placed there in the wall’s crevices each year by visitors.

When Jesus enters Jerusalem, he comes as the Prince of Peace and one who will conquer death.

The stones would shout out.

Each of us too is invited to add our shouts of praise as we enter this Holy Week. Whether it’s the glory of creation, the beauty of forgiveness and mercy, the hope of healing or the victory of God over death and evil, may you remember how God’s presence has made a difference in your life and experience.

Name the ways God has brought you through the rocky and stony parts of life, when you have received grace and healing, and where you have experienced new life in Christ.

If we were not here to tell the story, to shout the glad hosannas and to sing and praise God, the stones themselves would shout out to proclaim the Jesus we know as Lord and King, as Messiah and Healer, and Prince of Peace.

But thanks be to God, we are here to tell the story.

This story, the story of Jesus’ last week begins today and continues on Maundy Thursday when Jesus gathers with his disciples one last time. We’ll tell the story of Judas’ betrayal and hear Jesus’ command to love one another. We will share in the Lord’s Supper together. And we will be here on Good Friday when the very same crowds, including all of us, who are praising Jesus’ name this morning will cry out, “Crucify Him!” and he will be put to death on a cross. And then, one week from today, we will be here to tell the rest of the story.

I hope you will gather with us for all of it.

Let us pray…

Holy God,

Thank you for your Son Jesus coming to us with grace and mercy.

As we enter this Holy Week, help us tell the story of your Son faithfully and to see how the whole of creation witnesses to your redeeming love.

May your Spirit give us courage to never be silenced by fear or doubt but always shout your praise and proclaim your Good News.

In Jesus’ name we pray.

Amen.