Peace Be with You

I can imagine how they must have felt - each one of them abandoning their master, throwing out their mission, disregarding their lifetime commitment - only to save face in the moment; after all, nothing is more sacred than self! Now sitting in a room together - probably with little conversing, a bit of fear mixed with desire and hope in seeing the master once more. Leaning their elbows on their legs, looking down at the floor, palms sweaty from nerves ... what will he say to us? What does he think of us now? What is going to happen?

I can imagine it no greater though than my son probably could after an event that took place this morning. The occurrence is always daily when he teases, aggravates, and/or is just plain mean to his sister. I'm trying to deal with these particular actions head on. Today he got to eat his muffin before his sister since he finished his grapefruit first. He proceeded to rub it in his sister's face that that was the case. So I sent him to his room. Not sure how I would handle this effectively, I left the kitchen myself and went to dry my hair. I know it was the Holy Spirit that, in that instance, reminded me of how deeply I love my son. I, by the grace of God through the working of the Holy Spirit, did what I am completely incapable of doing. I went to Drew's room, knelt down to his level so I could look directly into his eyes and be close to his face, and said, "I was just thinking about how much I love you." That is certainly NOT how I usually respond, and he must have been utterly shocked. I think he got the message after we spent a few minutes talking about how God longs for us to act towards others. I believe he actually understood much more than if I had come back into his room and yelled at him or punished him in some other fashion. (I was tempted to not allow him to finish his muffins, but now you can see how God changed that plan.)

So the disciples are preparing for Jesus to lay into them about how they failed him, a rebuke most certainly deserved. They are seated together in a room after hearing that the risen Christ was back in town, and in through a closed door walks their master, Jesus. Hearts pounding with joy and fear, I'm sure, he speaks to them, "Peace be with you." What?!?! Wow!!!! The love of God ... can you imagine how they felt at that moment? Probably much like my son did this morning when I declared that I loved him despite his failure. And just as I encouraged my son to go forth and do the right things with God's help, Jesus commissions his unfaithful followers, blessing them with the presence of the Holy Spirit to do the work of Christ.

How often we get caught up in our own failures. It can paralyze us and prevent us from doing the work of Christ. We can beat ourselves up. Now don't get me wrong - I think we need to be alert to our sins, confess them to our Lord, and turn from them. We should then, as Paul encourages us, forget what is behind and move toward what is ahead (Philippians 3:14).

THERE IS THEREFORE NOW NO CONDEMNATION TO THOSE WHO ARE IN CHRIST JESUS, WHO DO NOT WALK ACCORDING TO THE FLESH, BUT ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT.

(Romans 8:1)

Praise the Lord for His great mercy and love.