So what comes next ?

From Helen

Life is full of moments of excitement and anticipation. There are so many times when something exciting has happened that we can’t help but be excited.  Holidays, new jobs, nice meals out, seeing family and friends you haven’t seen for a while can all be moments that we look forward to. Maybe even get excited about. 

I was thinking about this when I looked at the gospel for this morning. The disciples had been through the mill. They must have had such a mix of emotions and in such a short time. They had followed Jesus, they had trusted Him, He had died but then He had risen from the dead. It was all a bit confusing to say the least. The disciples had moved from apprehension to sadness to joy to confusion and as they waited to see what would happen next they must have felt a mixture of anticipation and excitement. 

The disciples were waiting to see Jesus. It isn’t easy but try and put yourselves in the disciples shoes for a moment. How would you have felt on seeing Jesus? Maybe you would have thought immediately of questions such as ‘What is going to happen next ? Is there going to be a new start for Jesus’ ministry? Are we going to go to the Temple and overthrow the people who had killed him? Maybe we are going to watch Jesus take over the political power in the world and rule himself?’ 

Jesus who had been through so much with and for the very friends that he was speaking to – Jesus, who had confounded their expectations by rising up from the grave – Jesus, who was now standing amongst them and confounded them again by offering the simple words… ‘peace be with you’

Incredible, no immediate ideas for the future, no action plans to discuss! Amidst all the excitement and anticipation, the wonder of what might happen next Jesus stood and said ‘peace be with you’ and the disciples could have been forgiven for thinking ‘what else do you want to say to us?’ 

After all the emotional turmoil, now full od excitement the disciples may have felt a bit let down to be honest. 

But then Jesus said something more, He told the disciples that they had work to do. He did this by saying,‘ As the Father has sent me, so I send you’.

Jesus, through his victory over death, and the gift of the Holy Spirit that would come to all his followers at Pentecost was handing over the earthly ministry to those followers – as they received the peace of Christ, so they were to share it with others. They were to do as Jesus did. In the same way that He had been sent so He was sending them out to make a difference to the lives of others. To help people to find their way to a relationship with God. To know healing, to know the way that lives can be changed. Jesus was giving them a job to do they were to go out and they were to proclaim peace. 

As we begin to put Easter behind us, as we finish off the easter eggs and chocolate it’s time to get back to some sort of normality – no more Lent disciplines for this year, no drama of the Holy Week services in Church – but what there is remains a reminder of the celebration of the risen Lord Jesus… Because of that first Easter Day we are different, our lives have been transformed, and each Easter Day is a wonderful reminder of that fact, but it is also a commissioning to live transformed lives, to go out from here and share the peace of Christ with others…. ‘As the Father sends me, so I send you…’ we are in on the action plan !

In our gospel reading we also heard of Thomas. Poor Thomas, I often feel sorry for Thomas, who will forever be known as doubting Thomas. But put yourself in his shoes, maybe you wouldn’t have been swept away with all the excitement and anticipation of the others, maybeyou would have wanted to step back for a moment and be sure.  Maybe, that would seem to be the most natural thing to do. We are all different and maybe we would have wanted to calm everyone down and be sure, maybe we would want convincing because we had been hurt once and we didn’t want that to happen again.

I remember being in a service once when the preacher decided to preach a long sermon about Thomas. It was a historical type of sermon, and at the end of the service a little boy who was 4 went up to the preacher looked at him very seriously and said, “Thomas is a train not a man.” 

Back to the disciple Thomas, and not the tank engine.  Maybe Thomas with his doubts is perhaps the most comforting disciple. After all, the reaction of Jesus to Thomas and his doubts reminds us that in times of doubt, times of questioning, times when things don’t seem to make perfect sense, Jesus is there waiting for us to approach him, and we can know from Thomas and Jesus that whatever we may have done to Jesus, or not done to him or for him, he waits with open arms to welcome us back… 

Thomas is the inspiration that reminds us that the peace of Christ is a peace that passes all understanding, and a peace that is always available to us.

Just as those early disciples must have stood before the risen Jesus and wondered what comes next, so we can stand, firm in our faith, wondering what comes next, but knowing that God is with us, and assuring us of his peace.

We can remember that In all things and at all times we have been redeemed by a Saviour who offers to each one of us in all circumstances the simple words, ‘Peace be with you’. We can also remember that as often as we remember that Jesus died for us so we  can remember that Jesus rose again for us so that we can know His peace, and so that we can go out and share that peace and the difference that God makes in our lives with others. May we  sharethe peace of God in all that we think and do and say. AMEN