Luke 24:36, As [the disciples] were talking about these things, Jesus Himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!”
Jesus intimately fathoms the human race. Perhaps the disciples were at war amongst themselves, discussing whether or not Jesus truly was risen. Then He appears out of nowhere and says, “Peace to you!” and the disciples thought they were seeing a spirit—a ghost. Of course, Jesus was no ghost. He was risen! He did not appear and say, “Boo!” that is, “Fear me!” Rather, He appeared and said, “Peace to you!”
One could say the summation of human existence is war. We are constantly at war with ourselves. If there isn’t a war, then there are rumours of wars. There are even wars within our own homes and country. I am not speaking of civil war, though it could be characterised as such. There are wars in our homes—husband and wife fighting one another that it ends up in divorce, ripping the family asunder.
One could say there is a political war—right vs. left, conservative vs. liberal. Liberals wish to kill unborn infants; conservatives wish to protect them. Liberals wish to welcome illegal immigrants; conservatives want to keep them in order via the law in order to make them legal immigrants without necessary immigration law reform; and now liberals are ironically livid that the president wants to send all illegal immigrants to their sanctuary cities, which were built for them. Liberals want to abolish the Second Amendment and reconfigure the First Amendment, bringing thoughtcrime into reality; conservatives want to retain the First and Second Amendments. Needless to say, there is not much peace.
Yet there is peace in Christ. I could sit here and say both political sides of the spectrum should come to Christ, but they already do that and both sides misinterpret Jesus’ words in order to meet their own agendas. Rather, you alone should come to Christ for peace. Set aside your war and come to Christ to receive peace, who has died for you and is risen for you.
The Lutheran Column 