Peace Through Forgiveness

Colossians 1:9-20; John 20:19-23

The greeting of “Peace” has its roots in the ancient Hebrew greeting of “Shalom” which means harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare and tranquility.  To be at peace means to experience a life where things are as they should be. At its most basic, when people greet one another with the word “peace,” it means “you don’t have to be afraid of me and I wish you well.”

In our Gospel text this morning the disciples are huddled together behind locked doors and feeling far from peaceful.  At this point, the disciples were feeling like they might never again know what true peace felt like.  Their lives had taken a drastic turn.  Just days ago they were walking with Jesus and listening to his parables and watching him perform miracles.  Then, in what seemed like the longest night ever, Jesus is arrested and crucified.  Now the women are saying they had seen the Risen Jesus but how could that be.  Even John and Peter who had seen the empty tomb are not exactly sure what to think.  All they know is if they are seen in public they too could be arrested and hung for being a follower of Jesus.  They are nervous and scared.  Suddenly Jesus is standing among them and greets them with, “Peace be with you.” It is Jesus way of saying to them, do not be afraid, life is now as it should be.

Peace be with you…and then, “he showed them his hands and his side.”  He wants them to see I am the one who died. I am the one you abandoned. And I am the one who was “pierced for your transgressions” (Isaiah 53:5).  I am the fulfillment of what I promised while I was with you.  I can offer you a peace that is more than this world has to offer.  Jesus stands before them having won the victory over sin and death and says now through me you are forgiven and because of me you can have eternal peace.

As Paul wrote, “Christ reconciled us both to God through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.” All the hostility between God and us was absorbed on the cross. Here, look at my side and my hands. I made peace with these. Justice was satisfied with these. Peace between you and God (and me) was established with these.

God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.  Colossians 1:20

Jesus was there offering the peace which comes with the knowledge that one is forgiven, the peace that only forgiveness and reconciliation can bring.

“Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).

The scriptures say the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.  I was thinking about this and wondered if I were the disciples would I be glad to see Jesus.  We know that Mary and the other women had seen the risen Christ and told the disciples he had risen just as he said.  Peter and John had seen the empty tomb but they had not yet seen Jesus.  Think about the last time they had all seen Jesus…he had asked them to pray and they fell asleep.  He was arrested and they scattered, leaving him to die on the cross.  How would they feel seeing him again?

I know it is hard to believe but I was not the perfect child.  (Haha) When I was a kid and had disobeyed my parents, I was never in a big rush to see them.  I remember riding my bike where I wasn’t suppose to go, and my Dad, on his way home from work saw me.  That was the longest and scariest ride home for me.  I parked my bike and went in for supper.  When I saw Dad, I was ashamed and embarrassed (and frustrated that I had been caught).  I was not overjoyed to see him nor was I excited about receiving my punishment.

So why are the disciples overjoyed to see Jesus?  They were not ashamed or embarrassed but overjoyed.  They rejoiced that Jesus was before them.  Maybe they remembered now, all that he had taught and the promises he had made.  He had come not to condemn, but to save the world.  His forgiveness was poured out on the cross and as he stood before them now he began with “Peace be with you.”  They understood that they had been forgiven and that they were back in a relationship with Jesus, not only their teacher and friend, but their Savior. The joy they experienced was the forgiveness that came as Jesus offered them peace.

Now comes the hard part.  Jesus says to them, “As the Father sent me, so I am sending you.”  This is it.  They have been in hiding, fearing for their lives, and now that Jesus has come to them, they have work to be done.  There must have been a reality check when they consider he is sending them, just as the Father sent him, I mean look what happened to Jesus.  They are being sent into a world that rejected the Son of God to tell the same message he told.  This will not be easy!

Jesus knows this and at that moment, “he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”   This was the empowerment they needed.  It is the risen Christ who brings not only the knowledge of forgiveness, but who imparts the ability to forgive.
They would not be able to step out by they own power but through the power of the Holy Spirit they could do what Jesus called them to do.

As forgiven and empowered followers of Christ, Jesus calls them to go out into the world and proclaims “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

What is this all about?!

Christ works through the power of the Holy Spirit to send the disciples into the world that isn’t welcoming.  But just as Jesus has brought them peace through forgiveness, so the disciples are to show and preach forgiveness to others.  If the people receive the message of forgiveness through Jesus Christ they too will find peace.  By the power of the Spirit, Christ is present both in forgiving the sins of the world and in forgiving through those who share His message.

As we each come to know and follow Jesus we too experience peace when we realize we are forgiven through His death and victory over the grave.  As we receive this peace, we too are empowered by the Spirit to share the message of forgiveness.

We cannot forgive on our own power!  We are too human.  Our earthly thoughts and feelings are more likely to want revenge, to hold grudges, and to seek justice.  We can though offer forgiveness through the power of the Spirit working within us as we share the message of the cross.
Some people will accept the good news of Christ’s sacrifice and God’s forgiveness, and some will reject it.  As Jesus said their sins will be “retained.” Jesus’ sacrifice was offered to all people, BUT at creation we were given free will and thus we are free to respond to Jesus grace and forgiven with acceptance or to refuse it.

Last fall, my Dad was reading one of Corrie Ten Boom’s books and he was truly moved by the stories she shared.  In one of her books, Corrie Ten Boom tells of meeting the guard from the concentration camp where she and her family had been held by the Nazis. She had been speaking at a large church meeting, and after the meeting he had come forward. He put out his hand to her, and she instinctively pulled back, remembering the horrors to which that hand had been put or in which it had cooperated, but then, she testified, something came over her, she knew not what, and she reached out and grasped his hand and extended her forgiveness as the tears rolled down his cheeks.

This story is hard to believe for some people.  Some people cannot imagine even the possibility of forgiving such horrible treatment and acts of murder but through the grace of God at work in Corrie or anyone of us, forgiveness can be offered to another.

As Corrie experienced and we must all understand, as humans, we cannot muster up the grace to forgive others offenses BUT through the power of the Spirit, through the breath of Jesus who empowers us beyond our human abilities, we can forgive – even the worse of sinners.  Forgiveness is the work of God and can only be done by us through the grace of God at work in us.

Jesus freely offers you forgiveness. On behalf of our Savior we can offer the same. Forgiveness through Jesus is free for you, for me, for our family, for our neighbors, our friends AND our enemies. It is through receiving forgiveness from Christ that we find peace and through that peace, we offer forgiveness to others so they may find peace.