John 20:19-33
Across the street from the house where I live, there are two enormous tulip magnolia trees. Right now, they are in full bud, not yet opened, and I have been looking at them all day because we are in the midst of a winter-mix downpour. My car windshield is covered with slush. But the magnolia buds, as the hours pass, continue to open more fully and, now, at the end of the day, their lovely dark pink color is starting to emerge. In the middle of a cold, sleety day, they’re continuing to open their beauty. I’m sure there’s an explanation any biologist could tell me about. Still, they encourage me.
The Scripture for this week tells of a group of frightened people, huddled together in a dark room with the door locked. Like a noir film about an underground movement that has been discovered. But this is an actual story about flesh and blood people who have come up against the political and religious authorities. Their leader, in whom they had placed all their hopes, has been killed most brutally. They have heard rumors from a few of the leader’s close friends that he is not dead, and they are bewildered and unsure of what to believe. And then… Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace be with you.
All the terrifying realities that surround the group are still true, but everything has changed because he is alive. Once he has eased their fears that he might be a ghost, I imagine them crowding around, maybe pushing a little to be closer, comforting themselves with touch – his hands, his side. It really is him! He is reminding them where peace is to be found. Fear is not needed. Once restored, they upended the world, sharing that Peace.
Through all the years since, countless ones of us have received that “Peace be with you.” St. Francis, leaving all security behind to be with the poor; John Woolman, traveling up and down the east coast of the U.S., persuading Friends to release their slaves; Harriet Tubman, a conductor of the Underground Railroad, risking her life to free others; and as told in Descent into Love, Killian Noe, responding to her own heartbreak by creating a place of welcome and belonging for those outside.
Our late dear friend, Kayla McClurg summed it up: “Peace becomes the password for entering into resurrected life. When peace is embraced, doors no longer need to be bolted shut between us; the absence of forgiveness shall no longer separate us; no longer shall doubt prevail. Peace can blossom into fullness in our midst.”
– By Carol Martin
