Luke 24:35-48 3rd Sunday of Easter “PEACE BE WITH YOU”

3rd Sunday of Easter
Acts 3:13-15, 17-19
1 John 2:1-5
Luke 24:35-48

A. Text/Context
• It must be remembered that after the crucifixion and death of Jesus, a very tense situation prevailed in Jerusalem
• The disciples were hiding because they were afraid of arrest from the authorities or else all of them will be in jail waiting for execution
• They have no freedom. They must do clandestine meetings in closed doors because they are all overcome with fear
• Despite the news report that spreads all over Jerusalem that Jesus has risen from death, they were still scared, disillusioned, and confused
• They have no guarantee that the man they believe so much is still nowhere to be found
• They were troubled and so they badly need the assurance to be calm and peaceful
• It was in this very tense situation that the resurrected Jesus appeared and stood in their midst
• And what was his greeting? Peace be with you. The result of this is that the fear of the disciples was dispelled, and such fear was transformed into joy upon seeing Jesus
• Indeed, the news that Jesus has risen is true. When Jesus told them Peace be with you, the disciples rejoiced, and he showed them the wounds of his hands and feet
• And another thing that really proved that he is alive again is that he even asked for something to eat, and they gave him a fish and ate it in front of them
• Jesus who died, resurrected, appeared to them and is now eating with them, now prove that Jesus is both human and divine
• As the risen Lord, he is divine. As Jesus asks for food, he is human because he feels the hunger
• At this point the disciples have truly identified Jesus
• Jesus is now very much alive, and he further added that everything that is written about me must be fulfilled
• And this is the time that the disciples began to recall into memory everything that happened

B. Human Situation
• Now what is the relevance of the gospel message in our life as Christians?
• Why did Jesus say the words Peace be with you? What does it mean?
• The gospel today gives us a means on how to attain peace. And the way of the gospel to attain peace is to be able to overcome fear. The way to peace is freedom from fear
• If we are very afraid, we cannot do or decide anything. We cannot think well, we cannot act well, our decisions will not be clear, and we can even reach a point that we will still be scared even if there is nothing to fear anymore
• In a worst case we become paranoid and paranoia already has a thin borderline with insanity
• In other words, fear is very stifling. It stifles even our best decision because we cannot act in freedom
• We must not be afraid, because no matter how good or noble are our plans they will all be useless because we will never venture into the unknown
• And in that case we are already a loser. All because of fear and all those fears are all unfounded. Everything is just in the mind
• Imagine how much time and opportunity is wasted simply because of fear and shyness
• Another example is on the married life. If one of the partners commits a sin of infidelity to the other
• And despite the knowledge of it you refuse to confront the situation because you are afraid of trouble in the family and you will just ignore it
• So, you want peace because you want to spare yourself of the trouble of confronting your partner about it in a very diplomatic way
• So, what happens, the infidelity continues. There might be no exchange of words, no arguments but the pain of being betrayed lingers in your heart and the moment you are alone you will just cry
• Is that peace? There is no peace if you are disturbed.
• If in a family, you have discovered that your child is already into drugs and has become an addict
• So, you tolerate it out of fear and the addiction gets worse day after day, month after month and the situation worsens
• There will be no peace if the situation is getting worse. Your silence did more harm than good because of fear
• Sometimes, we really must cross the line towards the unknown
• Even in the economic improvement of our lives. We are afraid to invest, so we just save the money with barely 1.5% a year in a time deposit and you already lost it because of the rate of inflation

C. Challenge
• My brothers and sisters, one method can be applied so that peace can be attained in our life if we can do the challenge mentioned in the gospel today
• We are challenged to overcome fear and we need to be freed from it
• Remember that God is the giver of peace, no one else in this world can provide it. Do not be afraid to face and confront unpleasant situations, problems, and even risks because God is with us
• In the 1st reading in the Acts of the apostles Luke he said that I know that you have acted out of ignorance, but God has brought it to fulfillment
• We must not pretend to be ignorant of the problem when we know that the whole truth lies open before us
• If we pretend that the problem does not exist we will never be able to resurrect from the many problems that are killing us
• Let us not be misled that peace exists because there are no sound of guns that we hear, no sound of cannons that roar
• The real measure of peace is from the inside, the interior peace that the saints are talking about even in the midst of the noise outside
• When we ourselves feel peaceful inside it will be seen outside because what goes on upon the inside eventually shows upon the outside
• Peace can be attained when we have freedom from fear. When fear is eradicated, real interior peace will surely come

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Luke 24 verse 35-48

Luke-24-verse-35-48