Wednesday, May 01, 2019
Peace from Behind The Dark Confusion and Fear of Locked Doors
From prayer the morning of Tues., April 27, 2019:
On John 20: 19-30, where the disciples are praying behind locked doors for fear of the Jews....
Maybe I'm just dense and slow, but I've always been confused as to why, of all greetings, Jesus said "Peace be with you." I mean, why not, "Hello"? Lol. I mean, they all hadn't seen each other in 3 days after basically hanging out continually for 3 years. "Hello" and a hug seems appropriate to me :P
On top of that, "peace" is ingrained in me as an abstacted, universal principle of life with God. I also, similarly, most readily and easily tend to associate "peace" as something that comes along with the character of God. He "leads me beside still waters" because of who he is. So, that understanding of the "peace" of God has always left me confused as to why he would choose that particular abstracted principle to glean from the machinery of all of our systematic truth about Him to grab from the heavens like a star from a tree with which to address the disciples in that particular moment. Why not something like, "Hello everyone. 1600 years from now, don't focus TOO MUCH on the Cross; the resurrection is important, too!" Lol.
In prayer this week, it dawned on me like a flash of insight from a warm fire of dancing light: "Duh. He said 'peace', because the people he loves were anything but at peace in that moment."
I can only imagine the power at work here. They're hunkered down behind locked doors in fear because the rebellious guy they publicly allied themselves with as King was murdered by the authorities. They don't just have their lament over the death of the world they thought they knew to deal with. They also have to navigate a basic primitive fear of shameful death and a basic animal desire to stay alive. In the midst of all that confusion, suddenly standing among them is their dead King. And, he's not only standing there but speaking to them! And, with his words, he is directly addressing their deepest and darkest fears and insecurities in that moment. "Peace," he says. "Wait, you mean, you aren't dead?" While they're still processing that, it's as if Jesus is saying, with his very presence, "I am here. Your suffocating black hole of fear and darkness is a mirage. I am more powerful than black holes."
So, here they are blinking three times to make sure they're not dreaming, mouths agape and minds reeling - and he "breathes" that very power that overcomes the black hole of death upon them. In that power, he "sends" them out on a mission to procliam His divine and authoritative presence and life among them to the very people who are the reason the doors are still locked even though the disciples' living King is standing in their midst without coming through said doors first!
I suspect that would require a lot of rearranging of categories and worlds in the imagination. Haha. I also imagine that it's not something one would just understand fully in the blink of a moment. No wonder Pentecost - when these doors of fear were flung open in the power of love and life - was like 40 days later.
Maybe I'm just dense and slow, but I've always been confused as to why, of all greetings, Jesus said "Peace be with you." I mean, why not, "Hello"? Lol. I mean, they all hadn't seen each other in 3 days after basically hanging out continually for 3 years. "Hello" and a hug seems appropriate to me :P
On top of that, "peace" is ingrained in me as an abstacted, universal principle of life with God. I also, similarly, most readily and easily tend to associate "peace" as something that comes along with the character of God. He "leads me beside still waters" because of who he is. So, that understanding of the "peace" of God has always left me confused as to why he would choose that particular abstracted principle to glean from the machinery of all of our systematic truth about Him to grab from the heavens like a star from a tree with which to address the disciples in that particular moment. Why not something like, "Hello everyone. 1600 years from now, don't focus TOO MUCH on the Cross; the resurrection is important, too!" Lol.
In prayer this week, it dawned on me like a flash of insight from a warm fire of dancing light: "Duh. He said 'peace', because the people he loves were anything but at peace in that moment."
I can only imagine the power at work here. They're hunkered down behind locked doors in fear because the rebellious guy they publicly allied themselves with as King was murdered by the authorities. They don't just have their lament over the death of the world they thought they knew to deal with. They also have to navigate a basic primitive fear of shameful death and a basic animal desire to stay alive. In the midst of all that confusion, suddenly standing among them is their dead King. And, he's not only standing there but speaking to them! And, with his words, he is directly addressing their deepest and darkest fears and insecurities in that moment. "Peace," he says. "Wait, you mean, you aren't dead?" While they're still processing that, it's as if Jesus is saying, with his very presence, "I am here. Your suffocating black hole of fear and darkness is a mirage. I am more powerful than black holes."
So, here they are blinking three times to make sure they're not dreaming, mouths agape and minds reeling - and he "breathes" that very power that overcomes the black hole of death upon them. In that power, he "sends" them out on a mission to procliam His divine and authoritative presence and life among them to the very people who are the reason the doors are still locked even though the disciples' living King is standing in their midst without coming through said doors first!
I suspect that would require a lot of rearranging of categories and worlds in the imagination. Haha. I also imagine that it's not something one would just understand fully in the blink of a moment. No wonder Pentecost - when these doors of fear were flung open in the power of love and life - was like 40 days later.
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