In John 20:19-21 we have the word "peace" in a twofold sense, first, as applied to the inner life, and second, to the outer life of the Christian disciple. "Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when He had so said, He showed unto them His hands and His side."
Here we have peace in its blessed application to the inner life. All was finished. The battle was fought, the victory gained. The Conqueror was in their midst—the true David with the head of the Philistine in His hand. All possible ground of anxiety was forever removed. Peace was made, and established on a basis which could never be moved. It was utterly impossible that any power of earth or hell could ever touch the foundation of that peace which a risen Savior was now breathing into the souls of His gathered disciples. He had made peace by the blood of His cross. He had met every foe. He had encountered the marshaled hosts of hell and made a show of them openly. The full tide of Jehovah's righteous wrath against sin had rolled over Him. He had taken the sting from death, and spoiled the grave of its victory. In a word, the triumph was gloriously complete, and the blessed Victim at once presents Himself to the eyes and to the hearts of His beloved people, and sounds in their ears the precious word, "peace."
And then notice the significant action. "He showed unto them His hands and His side." He brings them into immediate contact with Himself. He reveals His Person to their souls, and shows them the unequivocal tokens of His cross and passion—the wondrous marks of accomplished atonement. He is a risen Savior, bearing in His body the marks of that death through which He had passed for His people.
This is the secret of peace. It is a great deal more than knowing that our sins are forgiven and that we are justified from all things, blessed as all this assuredly is. It is having before our souls—before the eye of faith—the Person of a risen Christ and receiving from His own lips the sweet message of "peace." It is having in our hearts that holy sense of deliverance which springs from having the Person of the Deliverer distinctly presented to our faith. It is not merely that we know we are forgiven and delivered, but our hearts are livingly engaged with the One who has done it all, and we gaze by faith upon the marks of His accomplished work. This is peace for the inner life.
But this is not all. "Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you." Here we have the outer side of the Christian. It is all, from first to last, wrapped up in this one grand fact: he is sent into the world, as Jesus was sent by the Father. It is not a question of what he has to do or where he has to go. He is one sent by Jesus, even as Jesus was sent by the Father, and before he starts on this high and holy mission, his risen Lord insures him with perfect peace as to every scene and circumstance of his whole career.
What a mission! What a view of the life of a Christian! Do we at all enter into it? Let no one suppose for a moment that all this applies only to apostles. This would be a great mistake. The passage on which we are dwelling does not speak of apostles. It speaks of "disciples," a term which surely applies to all the children of God. The very feeblest disciple is privileged to know himself as one sent into this world, as Jesus was sent of the Father. What a model to study! What a place it gives us! What an object to live for! How it settles everything! It is not a question of "view"—of opinions, dogmas, or principles—of ordinances or ceremonies. No, thank God, it is something quite different. It is life and peace—life in a risen Savior, and peace for that life, both inward and outward. It is sitting at the feet of a risen Savior, and then going forth to serve Him in this world, as He served the Father.