Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! Again, he said, “Peace be with you...” —John 20:19b-21a
We’ve all taken one more or doubled up, just to be sure. Maybe it was an extra bottle of water for the long day. Maybe it was the extra change of clothes when packing for an extended stay away from home.
Jesus doubles up here. He doesn’t’ offer one ‘Peace be with you...”, it’s two. I don’t know Jesus to be at a loss for words. If anything, he may be a little too precise. So, I don’t think he was repeating himself to fill air time. Instead, he is making a point. “No, seriously, guys,” he’s saying, “peace be with you!”
We Christians can certainly feel stress loads sometimes. We may think we need “double peace” in these moments. In actuality, we just need what the disciples needed when everything went upside down, and it’s this reminder: Jesus isn’t just with us; Jesus offers us abundant peace.
This doubling of peace also means something else we need to hear, which is that he gets us. In the thick of it all, yes, we do need to hear the same words twice.
From the foster dad of five little darlings, I need this just as much as you do. And here it is (again). Chill. Jesus has this. He’s got your peace, and then some.
PRAYER: Oh God, we may not feel that we have peace like a river (as the hymn goes), but, filled with joy, we have Jesus, Prince of Peace. And that is more than enough.