It is Easter Sunday night and the disciples are so worried about what life had done to them and what life might do to them that they locked themselves tightly up inside and locked the cruel world tightly outside. But suddenly, a beam of blinding light splits the room and then it is not light at all, but the bright figure of Jesus striding among them saying: “Peace be with you” (Jn. 20:19).

We need peaceful Jesus in our lives. Those of us who are in a hot sweat over life’s problems need to hear Jesus say: “Peace be with you.” Whenever we feel as useful as fungus on an oak tree, we become like the disciples and break out in a sweat, throw a tantrum, slam the door, lock it tight and shout: “I don’t want to talk to anyone.” In a hot sweat over life’s problems we see only the problem and not the great Problem-solver who penetrates closed doors and stands next to us saying: “Peace be with you.”

Usually, we think of peace as the absence of something: the absence of war, the absence of conflict or the absence of fear. But in Christ’s dictionary, peace is not the absence of something but the presence of somebody! Peace is the presence of Jesus. When the disciples saw Jesus “they rejoiced greatly!”

You might have so many problems that even your sundial is slow – “Peace be with you.” You might feel as if you are a bounced check in the checkbook of life – Peace be with you.”

Whenever you feel that you are on a fog bound ship that is about to sink, remember that there is another captain in charge. A captain who will not let you flounder or sink, but who will restore you to safety. A captain who parted the sea, rolled away the stone, and who penetrates closed doors. Whenever you feel that you don’t even have enough energy left for an “Alleluia Jesus comes to offer you the power and peace of His Spirit so that “in everything you can be more than a conqueror through Christ’s who loves you” (Roms. 8:37).