“Jesus came and stood in the midst of them and said ‘Peace be with you’ “

The dominant feature in all Our Lord’s resurrection appearances was his masterly serenity.  As we read the Gospel record we are impressed not merely with the peace but with the power which the Risen Christ radiated – quite different from the placid and untried tranquillity of those for whom life has been easy.  For the peace of the Risen Christ, as the scars in his hands and feet and side testified, came not from an untroubled enjoyment of prosperity but from a triumphant victory over adversity.

On Good Friday he not only conquered the greatest enemy of all – the power of evil – but also faced and overcame the three great trials which this life holds for everyone – fear, and sorrow and death.

His victory over fear was gained in the Garden of Gethsemane as he faced in his mind all the horror and the agony and the shame of the Crucifixion.  Though he instinctively recoiled from what awaited him, he overcame his natural shrinking and steeled his will to drain the cup of suffering to the dregs.  From then onwards there was a calmness and authority about him which was nothing less than majestic.

Then there was the sorrow which Jesus experienced, and to which he was peculiarly sensitive because his love for others was so great – and never was a love so treated.  And so, when on Palm Sunday he came within sight of Jerusalem where, as he knew, the rulers and the people would soon be clamouring for his crucifixion, he wept over the city; not only because it had always rejected him, but also because he foresaw the siege of the city and the massacre of its inhabitants by the Romans.  And his sorrow was to become unbearably immediate and personal, a sorrow brought upon him by his own friends and disciples.  Peter would deny him; all would desert him; and one would of set purpose betray him.

And on the Cross came the final and utter desolation when he was deprived of the one comfort which he had always enjoyed – the sense of his Father’s presence and support.

Yet there is no record that he ever reproached his disciples afterwards for the way they had treated him; and the peacefulness of his last words on the Cross show that he surmounted his sorrow unembittered and with the same unruffled trust in God which he had always possessed and which he now displayed in the face of death itself.  “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit”, he said and settled down to die as a child settles down to sleep.

And after Jesus was raised from the dead, the same power with which he had serenely mastered fear and sorrow and death, he now communicated to those who belonged to him.  How surely were the fears of the Apostles calmed in the Upper Room that Easter evening!  One moment they were cowering behind a locked door, their ears alert to catch the sound of footsteps on the stairs which could mean that their hide-out was discovered; and then the next moment, when Jesus stood in their midst with his Easter greeting, “Peace be with you”, the whole atmosphere was transformed.  For the first time they knew that peace which he had promised them, not the external peace which the world is ever seeking, but an inner serenity of soul.

That inner peace has been the peculiar possession of the faithful Christian, especially in times of persecution.  So in the early days of the Church, when the Christians went in constant peril of their lives, the Sunday Eucharist began with the Risen Lord’s greeting to his own, “Peace be with you”.  And true it was that those hunted people were filled with a tranquillity that was unknown anywhere else in the Roman Empire.

The same peace of the Risen Christ which calms the Christian’s fear, also takes the sting from his or her sorrow.  How surely did the awareness of his presence bring comfort to Mary Magdalene at the tomb that Easter morning.

That same experience has been repeated through the centuries in the lives of Christians who have been bereaved.  When earthly comfort has been of no avail, the knowledge of the nearness and understanding compassion of the Risen Christ has brought peace and consolation to the broken-hearted, for nothing can separate either ourselves or our faithful departed from his presence and his healing love.

And the same realisation has brought peace at the last to many Christian souls who approach the valley of the shadow of death in company with the Good Shepherd, who illuminates their path so that it becomes for them a valley of light, and there is nothing to be afraid of in that.

The classic example of this in the New Testament is the martyrdom of St Stephen who “…gazed into heaven and saw…Jesus standing at the right hand of God…While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit’.  Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’  When he had said this, he died” – so closely and confidently did he follow in the steps of his Lord and Master (NRSV, Acts 7:55,59,60).

But what one notices about all those whom we have been considering – the Apostles, Mary Magdalene and St Stephen – is that they all had a close personal relationship with Our Blessed Lord.  They were not nominal Christians.  On the contrary, like all true followers of Christ, they had first made their peace with him by a realistic repentance; and both they and their lives were distinguished by a powerful and personal faith and love for him.

The Apostles believed in him and loved him enough to leave all and follow him.  Mary Magdalene believed in him and loved him enough to stand by his Cross and weep at his tomb.  Stephen believed in him and loved him enough to die for him.  So St Peter, in his letter to the Christians of the second generation, described their relationship with the Risen Christ in exactly the same way: “Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him…” (NRSV, 1 Peter 1:8, our emphasis).  So the inner peace and harmony which Christ bestows is bestowed only on such as they.

As St Paul puts it, “…the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7) – and the significant words in that assurance are the last three, “in Christ Jesus”.

That does not mean that one will be left unmoved by the troubles and sorrows and anxieties of life or be insensitive to them; but it does mean that deep down in one’s being, there will be an underlying sense of security, a sense of belonging, which adversity is as powerless to destroy as prosperity is incapable of creating; in a word, a sense of being inwardly at harmony with God and at home with him.

Easter prayer for inner peace

Lord Jesus Christ, give us that deep inner peace which comes from believing in you and loving you.  Strengthen us with your risen power that we may face with courage all the difficulties of our earthly pilgrimage, and bring us at last to our true home in Heaven, to share for ever your risen life.  Alleluia!  Amen.