“Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.'” (John 20:19)

“So Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.'” (John 20:21)

“Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.'” (John 20:26)

It is striking that when the Lord Jesus first appeared to His disciples after His resurrection from the dead, He repeatedly shared this same message: “Peace be with you.”  If He’d said it once it would have been important; as He repeats it THREE TIMES it should really have our attention!  

What is the message of the risen Jesus to His people? “Peace be with you.” This was a word that those first disciples sorely needed: they were hiding in fear, living in doubts and uncertainties after the events surrounding His death. But in the midst of all that He appeared, and His message was that there was peace for them; because He was alive!

This is actually what Jesus came to give each of us. “Peace”, “shalom”, connotes not only the absence of conflict in a life, but also a “wholeness” that comes from a right relationship with God. We broke that “peace” with God through our sin, but Jesus came to die on the cross, not merely to “forgive our sins”, but also to restore us back to that “wholeness,” that “peace” in our relationship with God.

Thus, this three-fold message of Christ was not only for those original disciples in the upper room. It is for each of us today. What would Jesus say, were He stand before YOU today? It might well be these very same words: “Peace be with you.” You truly can have peace with God, and peace in any situation in life, as you turn your life over to the resurrected Lord Jesus.