When the risen Christ said, “Peace be with you,” I believe He meant for us to hear those words also. It’s a pronouncement of well being and wholeness. The words spoken by Jesus to His disciples still need to be heard today, “Peace be with You.”
What do the words “Peace be with you” mean. It means that you can be at peace with your past. Jesus Christ can help you get past your past. Your past isn’t likely to be forgotten anytime soon. But with God’s help you can be at peace with it. When Jesus says, “Peace be with you,” it’s more than just a cliché’, it’s a pronouncement of peace over a person’s whole being. This is what I believe Christ would say to a person struggling to overcome a past that was not pleasant. He would offer to that person the spoken words, “Peace be with you.” God can speak wholeness into our past, and help us overcome it. Jesus can forgive your past and set you free from it. He has the authority to do so as given by God the Father. He makes it possible for us to be at peace with our past.
We can also be at peace with the present. We are living in uncertain times. People are skeptical about the future. There’s a prevailing attitude of fear and pessimism that’s rippling throughout our society. We see the war on terrorism unfolding with no visible end in sight. Everyday there seems more and more tension mounting, in particular, the Middle East and Korea. There are hot spots all over the world. People living side by side one another can’t seem to get along. Politicians can’t agree. The future of world stability and peace is uncertain. There is hope however. There’s hope and peace that surpasses and transcends everything that happens. It is found in the Lord. We don’t know what the future holds, but for the believer in Christ we know who holds the future.
Jesus can speak peace into your future. You don’t have to live in fear. When Jesus passed through the door and spoke those words, He gave the disciples a glorious future. To them He said, “as the Father has sent me, so I send you.” They were given a future mission beyond their wildest dreams. Jesus gave them a future. He gave them a part in a mission that really matters. Jesus commanded them to go, go into the world teaching and preaching good news to everyone they met.
What He did for them, He’ll do for us. The Risen Christ is still speaking. He is alive and well and His words are living and active. They can affect and impact every segment of our life. They help us overcome our past, deal with our present, and believe in the future.
We say during our church services, “The Peace of the Lord be with you.” Let’s not just say it but believe in it. Believe that, that peace which the Lord gives can be with you, at all times, no matter the situation.
