The Peace of the Risen Christ

Fear is often an unwelcome visitor in our lives. Whether it is being afraid of the cancer that is robbing us of years with our loved ones, or it is being afraid of the unseen predators who may stalk our children when they are playing in the front yard, or it is being afraid of the bank repossessing our house – fear corrodes our confidence in God’s authority over our lives.

Fear sucks the life out the soul.
Fear paralyzes us in place.
Fear causes us to cower in darkness.

The disciples were afraid. They had seen Jesus arrested in Gethsemane. They had heard about the kangaroo court Jesus was subjected to endure. They had listened to John’s recounting of Jesus’ death on Golgotha’s hill.

Now the disciples thought the Jewish religious leaders and the Roman soldiers might be coming for them. So they hid themselves behind a locked door on Easter evening.

Just then Jesus appears among them. The first thing He says is, “Peace be with you” (John 20:19).

Peace is the opposite of fear.
Peace is the absence of fear.
Peace is the replacement for fear.

At Epiphany Lutheran Church in Racine, WI, where I serve, we have two new Easter paintings. They were created to appear like the stained glass windows we have throughout our church. I discussed the first painting last week in this How Great Thou Art blog post. The second painting portrays the peace of the risen Jesus.

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The sealed tomb could not keep the dead Jesus within its walls. The locked door could not keep the risen Jesus out of the room.

Before the disciples were afraid because Jesus was dead. Now they were afraid because Jesus was alive! St. Luke reports that Jesus said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?” In order to calm their fears and provide certainty for whom He was, Jesus then showed them His hands and feet. He appealed to them to touch the wounds that proved the authenticity of His Person and reality of his crucifixion and resurrection. (If you look closely, you can even see a hint of light coming through the wound on Jesus’ right hand.)

There is a plate of fish in the painting because, though they somewhat believed, they were still bewildered and confused. In order to confirm that he wasn’t a ghost, Jesus asked them for a fish to eat.

In order to drive the fear far them their hearts and fill them with peace, Jesus breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). The breath of Jesus and the wind of the Holy Spirit are represented by the wafting wisp of smoke from the lamp near Jesus’ right hand.

The image of the resurrected Christ with His beloved disciples on Easter evening is a firm statement that they could now relax …and so can we.

Fear may fill our world, but it doesn’t have to fill our hearts! Hysteria is not from God! Panic is a tool of the devil! That’s why St. Peter, who saw the risen Christ that Easter evening wrote decades later: “Cast all your anxiety on [Christ] because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

Of course, Peter’s plan doesn’t make any sense at all if the crucified and buried Jesus had stayed buried. A dead Messiah is no Messiah.

But a risen Christ invites us to cast all our anxieties on him!
A risen Christ has conquered death!
A risen Christ has crushed sin!
A risen Christ has defeated the devil!
And that all means that a risen Christ can easily handle our fears, too!