Luke 24:36b-48
Brokenhearted, two disciples met a stranger on the road as they headed home to Emmaus. They only recognized that he was Jesus once they invited him to stay and broke bread together. The truth of the resurrection reality broke open in breaking bread with the stranger. They had new vision.
Jesus left suddenly and they rushed back to Jerusalem to tell their friends that he was risen. In that gathering, Jesus appears again and they are afraid. What a mix of jubilation and fear in this moment of revelation! Unsurprisingly, Jesus’ first words are “Peace be with you.”
Did they remember his promise to ask Abba to give them the Spirit, the Spirit of truth and power and wisdom? One way to describe the Spirit is that it is a relationship. In essence, it is Jesus’ own communion with Abba’s empowering will. He had assured the disciples that the Spirit would remind them of everything he had said and continually teach and empower them. Then he offered a crucial core gift. “My peace I give you,” he said. “Don’t let your hearts be troubled, don’t be afraid.” Did they remember this now and sink into a deeper place, a place of trust beneath all fear?
Surely in this moment of experiencing his living presence, Jesus gift of peace held new meaning. His peace is no small thing. Could they feel it as touched his broken places, his wounded hands and feet, and then ate together. Always with Jesus, the extraordinary and ordinary. His friends were witnesses, they always had been, but now witnesses of the next chapter of his eternal story. Equipped with his peace. Stay, he said then, wait for the fulfillment of that other promise — the gift of the Spirit.
It seems to me that these gifts are the key to following Jesus, to being able to follow him in fulfilling God’s dream for the world. Perhaps his gift of peace is most precious to me because it gives me the strength and courage to turn to the Spirit, to live in the Spirit, to trust the power of the Spirit. It steadies me to remember it is his peace. His peace softens my fears and fortifies my hope. However my call shifts, I can trust the power to pursue it will come and, whether I understand the fruits or not, there will be fruits
– Ann Dean
Reflection Questions
- What is your experience of communion in breaking bread?
- Can you remember a time of peace transforming fear?
- Do you have a practice for opening more fully to Jesus’ gift of peace?
