Peace to You

Or, The Comfort and Commission of the Risen Lord Jesus

If you’d seen your Master crucified on Friday, what would you want to hear on Sunday? According to Peter and John, Jesus' tomb was empty (John 20:1-10). Then Mary Magdalene came and said she had seen the Lord and that He gave her a message about ascending to heaven (John 20:11-18). If any seed of hope started to grow in your heart that Jesus was alive again, what would you want to hear Jesus say?

Remember that when the authorities arrested Him, you ran. The shepherd was struck and the sheep scattered (Matthew 26:31). Which would be heavier: your grief or your guilty conscience? What if Jesus really is alive? What will He think of how you handled the last few days?

The disciples only had to wait until Sunday evening to find out. What Jesus says first is not quite "Peace be with you," as the ESV translates, but more precisely, "Peace to you." The Greek (εἰρήνη ὑμῖν) may assume a verb, but it’s compact. Jesus is not expressing a wish; may peace be with you. He is making a declaration. The risen Lord who just purchased peace is now announcing it to the men who abandoned Him.

And what is this peace? A feeling of calm? That starts to scratch it. It’s not the absence of all conflict; there is great trouble, sorrow, and fear all around. Peace in verse 19 corresponds to shalom, a word of wholeness, of harmony. It describes a certainty that the important things are in the right place, and the rest of the things don’t matter or will be arranged in place at the right time.

When Jesus stands before His frightened disciples and declares "Peace to you," He is saying: the thing that was broken between you and God is now fixed. I fixed it. It is finished, and here I am to prove it.

In verses 19-20 John emphasizes the comfort of this peace. In verses 21-23 John describes the commission that flows from it.

The Comfort of Resurrection Peace (verses 19-20)

Jesus makes clear both His resurrection and His attitude toward them.

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. (John 20:19–20)

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the disciples were together behind locked doors... for fear of the Jews. Having arrested and crucified Jesus, would the Jewish authorities hunt down His followers? The disciples met together rather than separating, but not in the open.

Then Jesus came and stood among them. John doesn't say Jesus walked through the doors or simply appeared. Somehow, in a miraculous way, Jesus came through the physical barriers. The reason the disciples locked the doors is fear. Jesus appearing among them was startling if not a new reason to fear what He would say to them.

And he said to them, "Peace to you." Jesus promised this peace on Thursday night: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you" (John 14:27a). He immediately followed that by saying, "Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, 'I am going away, and I will come to you'" (verses 27b-28a). He's back just as He said. He didn't take His peace away from them, He secured it for them.

What a burden of grief He could have laid on them. Instead, peace first.

When he had said this, he showed them his hands and side. This confirms three things.

First, Jesus' identity. He is the same one who had been crucified and pierced on Friday. Second, Jesus' bodily resurrection. The disciples were seeing Him in the flesh, not a vision. Third, Jesus' peace. This is what makes His declaration so thick. His wounds bought and brought peace with God (see Isaiah 53:5). The scars are the proof of purchase; He made “peace by the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:20).

Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. They should have rejoiced. Jesus was alive, He was with them, and He declared peace to them even though they had deserted Him. The risen Lord replaced their confusion, their conviction, and their cowering with the comfort of one word: peace.

The Commission of Resurrection Peace (verses 21-23)

Jesus makes clear His intent to use them going forward.

Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit." (John 20:21–22)

Jesus restates His message: again, "Peace to you." The repetition means more than Hello. His wounds purchased their peace with God. Peace is a reason to rejoice. And peace comes with responsibility to announce it to others.

As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. Jesus already prayed this in their hearing (John 17:18). He hadn’t abandoned His plan even though they had abandoned Him. He commissions them. And He supports their commission: he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit."

The peace that comforted them now compels them. They are not merely recipients of His peace, He sends them as representatives of it.

“This peace is not merely to fortify the hearts of the disciples amid all the enmity and hatred of the world; they are to be possessors of the Lord's peace because as his witnesses and messengers they are to dispense this very gift of peace in a peaceless world.” (Lenski, p. 1369)

Conclusion

There is no greater comfort and no more compelling commission than what the risen Jesus gave that Sunday evening.

He found His men fearful and hiding. He declared them forgiven and showed them the proof of His victory. Then He sent them out.

We have reasons to rejoice this Easter morning.

Because the tomb is empty, death has no final claim on those who belong to Jesus. Peace to you!
Because He showed His wounds, we know the price has been paid in full, not partially, not provisionally, but completely. Peace to you!
Because He said "Peace to you" to men who had abandoned Him, we know that His grace is faithful. It does not shatter when we fail. Peace to you!
And because He sent those same failures out as His messengers, we know that our usefulness to God does not depend on our track record but on His resurrection. Peace to you!

The peace Jesus declared that evening is the same peace He declares to everyone receiving Him. It is not a wish. It is a fact, accomplished by His death and confirmed by His rising. It is for you who believe, it is for your children who believe. It is for our comfort, it is our commission from our risen Lord. Peace to you!

Charge

Jesus is risen from the dead, so all who believe in Him have peace.

MEDITATE on peace. "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts" (Colossians 3:15).

MEDIATE this peace. We preach the “good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all)” (Acts 10:36).

Peace to you!

Benediction:

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20–21 ESV)