Easter I- John 20:19-23

The Gospel for the First Sunday after Easter is John 20:19-23. The risen Christ appears to ten of the apostles (Thomas is absent). When He comes, Jesus blesses the disciples with divine peace. Despite reports of the Resurrection, they are still fearful and timid, and troubled by guilt. When the risen Lord comes to where they are locked in, He brings greetings in the common Jewish manner, saying, “Peace be with you."

This Biblical greeting is an implied prayer for God’s peace. Christ's prayer for peace has a special meaning in light of His resurrection. It is a blessing from the risen Lord, who is the embodiment of God’s peace. After all that has happened, the disciples have a special need for His peace and assurance. They need His forgiveness and encouragement.

Christ does not stop with reassuring words. Jesus adds a mission or a call to action. As the heavenly Father has sent Him, likewise Christ sends the apostles (and through them, His whole Church). Jesus brings peace through His resurrection victory over sin and spiritual death, and He asks His disciples to share that peace with others. Jesus the Christ is risen and alive, and His peace is to be spread. His followers are to continue His work in the world. Christians are called to share the peace that comes through faith in the crucified and risen Lord with all people.

Good Friday- Isaiah 53, John 19

 Good Friday always seems like a time to read, hear, and meditate upon the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ and to pray quietly and deeply. Let us briefly emphasize two of today's readings. Isaiah 53 is one of several passages which speaks of the Suffering Servant of God. This Messianic figure bears horrible sufferings innocently for the redemption of God's people. In the end, He also overcomes suffering and is honored by the Lord God. Jesus Himself alludes to such prophecies and applies them to Himself and  His work (Luke 24:26-27). Later, the Apostles (I Peter 2:22-25), Evangelists (Matthew 27: 12,29; John 12:38), and Christians down through the centuries have seen these prophecies fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

We see Isaiah's prophecy made personal and concrete in the Passion account from John 19. Jesus is holy and innocent. He deserves all honor, respect, and love. Yet, He humbly and quietly accepts rejection, insults, physical abuse, torture, and an excruciating and slow death to deliver people from sin, death, and the devil. He suffers for our transgressions. He lays down His life for His sheep. Jesus restores balance to a fallen creation. He overcomes the imbalance and disorder caused by sin. He does something that we humans could never do for ourselves. He atones for our sin; He graciously reconciles sinners with divine righteousness. Only through Christ's suffering and His perfect offering on the cross does divine goodness decidedly triumph. Because of His redeeming work, it is "Good Friday" after all. Thanks be to God!

Easter I- Resurrection Peace- John 20:19-23

In the Gospel for the First Sunday after Easter (John 20:19-23), the risen Christ appears to ten Apostles and blesses them with divine peace. Despite reports of Jesus’ resurrection, the disciples remain fearful and timid. The risen Lord comes to where they are hiding, and He brings greetings in the common Jewish manner, saying “Peace be with you.” 

In Scripture, this greeting is an implied prayer for God’s peace, and this implied prayer has a special meaning in light of Christ’s resurrection. At Easter, the common greeting becomes a specific blessing from the risen Lord. Jesus is the embodiment of God’s peace. He reconciles repentant and believing sinners with the heavenly Father. After everything that has happened, the disciples have a special need for His peace. They have not been very faithful. Even after hearing of His resurrection, they are still fearful. So they need to hear reassuring words directly from Christ. 

Jesus shares His resurrection victory over sin and spiritual death with His disciples. Through His Cross and Resurrection, Christ has accomplished the reconciliation of penitent sinners with God. This is true peace, and Jesus shares this divine peace with the apostles. And this peace is not limited to the apostles alone. As the heavenly Father has sent Him, likewise Christ sends the apostles and through them, His whole Church. Jesus Christ is risen and alive, and He wants His peace to spread through His followers.

Christ’s words of greeting remind us that divine peace is part of the Gospel. In Scripture, peace has many implications, and people often have limited or superficial understandings of peace. We need to see peace as a spiritual condition involving the relationship between God and human beings. We also need to realize that the resurrection of Jesus is the high point of scriptural teachings about peace. Faith in Christ can contribute to other types of peace, but most importantly, the risen Christ offers us peace with God. He overcomes our fallen estrangement from God; He offers us new eternal life in God’s holy and merciful presence. And the peace of His resurrection is not some private possession. It is not a secret that we are to keep to ourselves. The risen Christ wants us to share the joy of His spiritual peace with others. When we have living faith in Him, we can begin to share in the peace brought by His resurrection victory over sin and death.

Easter I- Shalom- John 20:19-23

The Gospel for the First Sunday after Easter is John 20:19-23. In these few verses,  the risen Christ comes to where the timid and fearful disciples are hiding. He greets them in the common Jewish manner, saying “Peace be with you.”  This greeting is an implied prayer for God’s peace that acquires a special meaning in light of Christ’s resurrection. The greeting is now a blessing from the risen Lord. Jesus is the personification of God’s peace, and He has established a new relationship with the heavenly Father for all who truly believe in Him.

The fearful disciples need to hear these reassuring words, but Jesus does not stop there. Jesus wishes them peace a second time, and this time, He adds something. He gives them a mission. As the heavenly Father has sent Him, likewise Christ sends the apostles and through them, all His Church. Jesus shares His resurrection victory over sin and spiritual death with His disciples. He shares His Good News of peace with God, and He asks His followers to share that spiritual peace with others.

Christians still need to hear and believe this two-fold message of peace with God through the crucified risen Christ. First, despite our failings, Jesus Christ still offers us true, deep, and lasting peace. He brings us renewal, reconciliation, and hope. He simply asks us to accept Him and His message in faith. Secondly, as people who have received such peace from Him, He asks us to share this good news with others who need to receive the same divine blessing. These two points are the perennial message of Easter for us and for all people.

Trinity III- Christian Individualism

One can hear all sorts of things about the individual human being. Some people stress the individual in all areas of life. Some others react by downplaying the importance of the individual; they may stress the human group- family, community, society, nation, or humanity. Depending on the circumstances, both emphases can be appropriate.

However, in light of today's Gospel from the beginning of St. Luke 15, let us think a bit about the spiritual value of the human individual. One lost sheep is important enough to leave the rest of the flock to find. One soul that repents leads to heavenly rejoicing. This passage points to a general teaching of Scripture: the supreme human value of the individual soul and his/her relationship to God.

Scripture is the basis of any true Christian individualism. While the value of each person may have an impact in all areas of human life, Christian individualism is not about philosophy, politics, economics, psychology, or societal building blocks. True individualism is spiritual; it is about God the Father reaching out in grace through Christ and the Holy Spirit to save individual souls that He created in His image- souls that He seeks to bring into fellowship with Him.