Dear Friends,
Peace be with you!
This is the consoling message that the Risen Christ offers, first to His disciples locked in the upper room out of fear and, through them, to you and to me: that the joy of Easter Sunday is found most fully in the gift of God’s peace.
The peace that the Risen Christ offers to us is one that the world hardly knows and cannot give on its own. It is a peace that comes from knowing that there is a love that is stronger than all things, even death itself. It is a peace that comes from knowing that the presence of God can make its way into every moment of our lives, even when everything or everyone else is locked out by fear. It is a peace of knowing that the thing we fear the most really holds no fear at all.
The peace of Easter Sunday is knowing how precious we are to God, each and every one of us. On the Cross, God’s true judgement on the world is revealed. And what is that judgement? That we are worthy of His love, even to the point of death! When Jesus came into the world, He loved us – and He loves us to the end. Even on the Cross, He pleads and begs forgiveness and salvation for His people, promising the thief at His side that this is the day they will be together in Paradise.
The Passion and Resurrection of Jesus are not the end of the story. In many ways, they are just the beginning! Because Jesus has Risen, He is able to fulfill perhaps His greatest promise of all: that He will be with us always, even to the end of the age. There are no limits to how far the love of God will go to seek us out, to find us, to be present to us, and to celebrate the moment when we return home.
Jesus is no longer just a teacher. He is no longer just a healer. Jesus is our Salvation. He is the Crucified and Risen, the Lamb both standing and slain, the light that has shone in the darkness – and the darkness has not overcome it!
Jesus lives. And because He lives, we may know the true peace that drives out fear. We no longer need to be afraid to place our hope and trust in him. Do not be afraid that there is no place for you in eternal life – He promises that He has prepared the place for you Himself. Do not be afraid that there is no freedom from sin and death – He has already overcome it by His sacrifice on the Cross. Do not be afraid that He will abandon you in the sorrows and sufferings of this life – He has risen so that He can be with us always.
In the darkness we have known in our world, there is sometimes talk of a “new normal”. Maybe it truly is time for one – not built on confrontation with our own mortality, but built on an encounter with the opening of eternal life, with the one who is Risen and shines a light in our darkened world and gives us the peace of hope.
This Easter season, let the horizons of our hearts open ever wider. Let the peace and the joy that come from knowing that God is with us – God is always with us – transform how we live our lives and, in turn, the world around us.
Peace be with you! Alleluia!
The Rev. Fr. Christopher Ford is the pastor of Notre Dame of Easton Church.
