“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
After his Resurrection Jesus appeared to his disciples hiding in a room “behind locked doors.” To calm their fears he said, “Peace be with you.” Then, standing in front of them, with holes in his hands and a spear gash in his side, Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” He sent them into the world to do and say the same things that resulted in his crucifixion. That had to concern the disciples. But then he said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” and empowered them to reconcile sinners with the Loving God who created them. When others disciples feared going near Jerusalem, Thomas said, “Let us also go die with him.”
When Jesus appears in the room a second time it is Thomas who proclaims, “My Lord and my God.” Jesus knew those who did not know him and see his wounds after his Resurrection would believe in him on the strength of the faith of others. Those who come after us will believe in Jesus on the strength of our faith. Do we believe Jesus as “Our Lord and our God”? Do we proclaim that by what we do and say?
