Peace, Sweet Peace

John 20: 21

Jesus therefore said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

Jesus appeared to his disciples after his crucifixion and ascension. First of all, how cool is that? I would like to have been there. Today’s verse comes from one of those visits. When he first appeared to them he said, “Peace be with you” (v. 19) and showed them the holes in his hands. The scripture says that then the disciples rejoiced. Well, I guess so. So then he said again, “Peace be with you” before he launched into what he wanted to say to them. 

One of Jesus’ many missions in coming to earth was to bring us peace. He is called the Prince of Peace because that is one of his anointings. Jesus spoke the same kind of message to his disciples as he was preparing them for his departure. He told them, “I go away and I will come to you … I go to the Father” (John 14: 28). He told them that his time was at an end but before he revealed the end he said to them, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you” (John 14: 27). 

You see, Jesus is always, and I do mean always, sending us his peace. This is important to know because there is always peace where Jesus is. If you are entering a business deal and there is not peace, then you can bet Jesus isn’t in it. If you say something and peace flies from you, then you might want to rephrase or apologize. Even in decision making, you can follow peace and if you don’t have peace, wait until you do. There may well be a third option that you aren’t considering.

Also, when you are in difficult times, pursue peace. Let Jesus come in and minister peace to your heart. He is the author and thus the source of peace. If you are in trials or your heart is challenged then he is that peace that you need. Seek him and find peace.

One Touch

Matthew 9: 31

They went out, and spread the news about Him in all that land.

Do you want to know how to evangelize the world? Here is an evangelism revelation. There were two guys in this story who spread the word about Jesus throughout the whole land. Were these just two of the best evangelists ever or is there something else going on here? And most importantly, what can we learn from their story?

The backstory is that two blind men pursued Jesus and healing. When Jesus asked them if they believed he was able to restore their sight they answered, “Yes, Lord” (v. 28). Jesus then touched their eyes and said, “Be it done to you according to your faith,” and the men’s sight was restored (v. 29 – 30). Clearly there is a faith message there but we also see in this example of Jesus’ ministry how we can spread the good news about the Kingdom of God – heal a few people.

What? Me? Well, isn’t that the ministry Jesus has left us with? Look at Ephesians 4 with me, “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ” (v. 11 – 12, emphasis added). God has established these ministry positions in order to equip the rest of us for the work of Christ. We, the body, carry out the divine commission. Jesus has also empowered us for this service. “And having summoned His twelve disciples, He gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness, ‘Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons’” (Matthew 10: 1, 8). The only question we have to answer is, “Am I a disciple of Christ” because all who are Christ’s disciples are anointed with his authority. 

God gave Jesus the power to heal and Jesus gave it to us. “So Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you’” (John 20: 21). As we see from the experience of the two blind men, one touch from God will change a person forever. They become the voice heard in the desert. The steps to world evangelism are first that we must allow Jesus to touch us, and I mean really touch us. It is his ministrations to our heart and receiving our own miracles that make his word like a fire brand in our mouths. We need to seek that personal touch and live in it. Then we extend his grace to others. We lay hands on the sick and they recover, not because of our faith, not because of our healing anointing but rather by the blessing of the Lord. Jesus said, “The Father abiding in Me does His works” (John 14: 10). So, we need not have performance pressure. It is Jesus within me who does the works and whoever Jesus touches will want to tell the world.