Rev. George Miller
April 12, 2026
John 20:19-28
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been
intrigued by this verse- “And the great Church victorious shall be the church
at rest” from “The Church’s One Foundation.”
It sounds like an oxymoron; a paradox. Like
saying “The more I learn the less I know.”
Who would ever think that rest can equal
victory; that calm can be the conqueror?
Perhaps we can. As Children of the Resurrection. As recipients of the Holy Spirit. As the forgiven and the lost sheep that was
found.
Last week we came to the tomb and stood in
the garden with Mary Magdelene. Now we
stand with the disciples, so afraid.
Though the doors were locked, that did not
stop Christ from entering their existence.
And instead of the Resurrected One saying
“What’s wrong with you?” or “Snap out of it!”, Christ says what they most need
to hear- “Peace be with you.”
Here the disciples are, lost in a valley
of fear and confusion, and their greatest hope appears in a way that defies logic
and speaks these words “Peace be with you.”
It’s like Genesis when God says “Let there
be light” and the waters find their place.
“Peace be with you” and “Let there be
light” are so similar in the calm they can create.
“Let there be light” brings order to
unknown chaos. “Peace be with you”
brings comfort to a situation that feels out of control.
Christ says these words of peace- though
he was the one betrayed, denied, and abandoned.
Though resurrected, Christ still bears the marks of where he was
wounded.
Instead of allowing his wounds to lash out
and hurt everyone in that space, Christ uses those wounds as incarnate
understanding.
“Peace be with you,” he says. The disciples rejoice. “Peace be with you,” he says again.
This is not a peace that implies laying
around or to stop evolving. This is a
peace that will empower the disciples to go out, forgive, be the hands and feet of Christ, and
for Peter to feed his sheep.
This peace that Jesus talks about is a
calm that comes from the kingdom; a sense of peace that comes from a focus on
who one is and what they are gifted to do.
I’s a peace that says “The storm is over,
discover what the rain has made.”
When studying the words of scholars, there
was one writer who said closed doors no longer matter to Christ because “he is
the door.” Jesus is the door through
which we can enter and experience all that God has promised.
Upon reading these words, an image
appeared in my mind- a bridge. Imaging
Jesus as a bridge; a bridge over troubled waters.
All the verses in John that reference H20-
the Wedding, Jacob’s Well, the Bethzatha pool.
The walking on water, the tears Jesus
weeps, the feet he washes. The Living
Water he speaks of to the Samaritan Woman and Festival Crowds.
So many ways Christ is a bridge for
us. When we’re weary. When we’re full of tears we cannot shed. When
situations are too much and friends seem too few.
These feelings the disciples may have felt
hidden in that locked room unsure about tomorrow.
Imagine the storms that raged inside them;
the worries they feared. Then Christ
Resurrected appears before them and the 1st thing he says is
“Peace.”
Peace, as in comfort and calm. Peace, as in lying down in green pastures and
being lead beside still waters. Peace,
as in a table prepared and a cup overflowing.
It is from this peace that Christ grounds
them, centers them, and sends them out into the world.
It is from this peace that Christ invites
them to receive the Holy Spirit and it is from this Peace that he encourages
them to forgive.
It is from this peace that Thomas is able
to believe. It is from this place of
peace that Simon is told to tend and feed the sheep.
As descendants of the disciples, we also
have been given a legacy of peace. We
get to choose every day to receive it and remember what it means.
When we allow this peace to wash over and
inhabit us, we find ways to live so that we can tend, we can feed, we can
forgive, not because we must, but because we may.
Christ Resurrected is our way, is our
door, and he can also be our bridge.
The Peace of Christ gives us peace and
rest, so that we can dream, we can feel at ease, we can be victorious.
For that, let us say “Amen.”
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