The first Easter was met, not with joy, but with dread. The disciples, scared witless of the Jewish authorities, had locked themselves in a room. The sun was setting and the air was growing cool. If the Jewish authorities were to attack them, now – in the evening of the day – would be the opportune time. The disciples, however, were not attacked. Instead, Jesus walked through the locked doors and appeared to them saying peace be with you. Seeing Jesus, the disciples were in awe. Again, Jesus said peace be with you. But one of the disciples, Thomas, being absent, did not receive this peace. Therefore, Jesus appeared once again, eight days later and said to them peace be with you.
The phrase peace be with you is repeated a total of three times in today’s Gospel. I will make three points regarding this phrase. First, Jesus’ peace is inextricably linked to his wounds. Immediately after saying “Peace be with you…he showed [the disciples] his hands and his side” (Jn 20:20). After seeing his wounds, the disciples were glad – partly because they were able to confirm Jesus’ identity through his wounds, but more importantly, the disciples were glad because they understood that the wounds of Jesus bring us his peace. We cannot receive Jesus’ peace without first seeing his wounds. As the prophet Isaiah states, “he was wounded for our transgressions…and by his stripes we are healed” (53:5). The mystery of suffering is ultimately resolved in the wounds of Jesus. Suffering exists; suffering is evil; but through the suffering wounds of Jesus we receive God’s peace.
Second, the phrase peace be with you reveals Jesus’ role within the Holy Trinity. The three-fold repetition of the phrase peace be with you makes clear that Jesus speaks for the three persons of the Holy Trinity. Elsewhere, we hear that the Father speaks through the Son (Heb 1:2). Also, the Nicene Creed states that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son. Thus, Jesus is the mouthpiece of God. Not only does Jesus speak the Word of God, but the Breath of God – which is the Holy Spirit – proceeds from Jesus. How do we know this? After saying peace be with you, Jesus “breathed on [the disciples], and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’” (Jn 20:22), thereby showing that the Holy Spirit proceeds not only from the Father, but from the Son. In other words, Jesus is the vital link between humanity and God – the divine bridge by which we can share in the life of the Holy Trinity, a life of divine and eternal peace.
Third, the phrase peace be with you heals our wounds of unbelief and allows us to confess Jesus Christ’s true nature. Remember that Thomas was not present when Jesus first appeared to the disciples. When the other disciples told him about Jesus’ appearance, he doubted, saying “unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe” (Jn 20:25). St Gregory, commenting on this passage, states that “the Divine mercy ordained that a doubting disciple should, by feeling in his Master the wounds of the flesh, heal in us the wounds of unbelief”. After hearing Jesus say peace be with you and after placing his finger in his hands and side, Thomas is the first disciple to confess Jesus as both “my Lord and my God!” (Jn 20:28). Prior to this point, many had called Jesus Lord, thereby acknowledging his human lordship; many had called him the Son of God, thereby acknowledging his equality to God. But Thomas – doubting Thomas – is the first to affirm Jesus’ humanity and divinity in a single breath, “my Lord and my God!”. Jesus’ peace is the means whereby we too can confess him to be our Lord and God.
I have yet to mention that today is Divine Mercy Sunday, yet implicitly the phrase peace be with you communicates perfectly God’s Divine Mercy. Through God’s gift of peace, all of our wounds and sufferings are made channels of God’s grace; through God’s gift of peace we are able to share in the life of the Holy Trinity; and through God’s gift of peace, our doubts melt away and we are able to cry out my Lord and my God! What greater mercy is there than God’s peace? For through this peace, our wounds are healed, our doubts are assuaged, and we are made partakers of the divine nature. Indeed, through God’s peace we no longer live in fear and dread, but live in the joy of Christ’s resurrection.
Ian Mahood – St. Joseph Seminary, Edmonton, Alberta