Daily Devotion – April 25, 2020 – Pastor Brian Hansen
John 20:19
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
This Gospel story tells us that on that first Easter evening the disciples were gathered together in a house with the doors locked because of fear. I wonder if they feared being hunted down by the authorities and crucified next. Perhaps they were afraid of what Jesus might say or do if indeed he was really alive as Mary and the other woman reported. Maybe the fear that drove them to that locked house was a fear of the unknown and what might happen next. Perhaps it was their grief in losing their teacher and their friend that led them to that locked house. Fear is a powerful emotion, that can lead us into all kinds of different places.
As we experience the realities of this pandemic it is easy to allow fear to dictate how we live. Jesus show up in the locked room with the disciples not to shame or reprimand them but rather to offer them peace. Now the kind of peace that Jesus offers is not necessarily the kind of peace with which we are familiar. When we think of peace we often think of the absence of conflict. However, what Jesus is offering to the disciples is not the absence of conflict but rather the promise of God’s presence with them in the midst of it.
May the peace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be with you all!
Let us Pray:
God of peace, calm our anxious souls and still our fears. Help to sustain us through the uncertainty of these times and lead us out of the locked rooms of our lives for we ask in Jesus name. Amen
