Peace is a gift Jesus wants his followers to enjoy: “Peace be with you” is Jesus’ repeated greeting (Luke 24v36; John 20v19, 21, 26). Most New Testament letters begin with a greeting wishing peace to the readers: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:2) It’s a frequently expressed prayer of New Testament writers for their readers throughout their letters: “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.” (2 Thessalonians 3:16) Peace is the desire & need of the world - the usual Jewish greeting was to wish peace to others, and still is, as also for Muslims. Most of us would like to experience inner peace - indeed it’s the central theme of New Age & related movements.

Jesus understands that we are not naturally at peace within ourselves: “He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?’” ( Luke 24:38) Luke records three times previously Jesus saying to his disciples “Do not be afraid” (Luke 5v10; 12v7; 12v32). Luke also records in Acts that Jesus said this on two occasions to St Paul. It’s said by God or angels or leaders to others 41 times on the Old Testament too, so the need for peace is common. So how can we find peace? Today’s passage from Luke gives us Jesus’ answer.

1. Fix your eyes on Jesus. In view of their fear & lack of peace Jesus says: “'Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.' And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.” (Luke 24:39-40) He went on to eat a piece of fish before them, so they could see he was real. Now this was a one off, clearly. You cannot physically look at Jesus anymore, much less watch him eat, but the principle is still true that we need to turn our attention away from ourselves and our fears and suspicions onto Jesus himself. The writer of the letter to Hebrews puts it this way: “... let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith... ” (Hebrews 12:1-2) “Keep your eyes on Jesus” is another way of translating this injunction. If we are thinking about our worries and concerns, about problems and difficulties, we are almost bound to lose our inner peace. That, according to Matthew, is what happened to Peter earlier. Peter had seen Jesus walking towards the disciples on the water of Lake Galilee. They’d been afraid it was a ghost, but Jesus had reassured them calling, “Do not be afraid!” Peter asked Jesus to call him to walk to him on the water and incredibly got out of the boat & started walking. “But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’” (Matthew 14:30) All the time he looked at Jesus he walked, but when he looked at his circumstances instead of concentrating on Jesus he began to sink. Isn’t that what happens to us too. We start to fix our thoughts & attention on the things that rob us of peace, and our peace disappears. Let’s learn to concentrate more on Jesus himself - that’s the way to experience his peace.

2. Exercise trust in God. It’s as we concentrate our attention on Jesus himself that our trust in him can grow, and it is trust in Jesus we need if we are to be at peace. Little children trust their parents to look after them and to deal with things, and so they are not worried. Until, of course, we parents fail them and they begin to see that we don’t have all the answers, and cannot protect them from everything which might cause them fear. God, though, is infinitely able to look after us, and has promised us his unconditional love to us, so we can be sure that whatever comes our way is something he is permitting for our good. On the night before he died Jesus said this to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” (John 14:1) This is a command that we should exercise trust, even when it goes against our feelings. Jesus has shown us that God is trustworthy, and we must take the conscious decision to trust him, whatever may be happening. As we do that he will give us his peace. In the light of that trust we can then bring our concerns, which are robbing us of peace, to God. So St Paul teaches us: “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7) If we are exercising trust in God we can commit to him in prayer everything we are doing and all our worries. This trusting commitment of everything to him will lead us to a deep peace, which is beyond human understanding. Paul is teaching here out of personal experience too.

3. We need to absorb the message of the bible. Having expressed his disappointment that his disciples are fearful and untrusting towards himself, Jesus turns to the bible as the means to deepen their trust and so restore their inner peace. “Then he said to them, ‘... everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures...” (Luke 24:44-5) The bible gave the disciples a fresh perspective on what was making them fearful, so they could be at peace again.
It is as we absorb the message of the bible that our trust in God grows, because it’s a series of books whose chief message is that God is always to be trusted. That is seen in the experience of the people whose stories it tells as well as in its direct teaching. Thus, for example, St John tells us that he wrote his gospel: “... so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing this you may have life through his name.” (John 20:31) Believe here is the same as trust, because it’s not about learning facts, but discovering a personal relationship with God through Jesus. The bible’s aim is to lead us to put our trust in Jesus, so that we can experience God’s profound peace in our innermost being, so we need to read and absorb the bible’s message.

Luke ends this story of Jesus with his words that his disciples should share the good news about him with everyone else. “You are witnesses of these things.” (Luke 24:48) When we have discovered that deep peace which only Jesus can bring to us, it should be natural to want to share it with others. There’s even a sense in which witnessing to the peace of God in our lives affirms and strengthens that peace, so we could almost say it’s a fourth step in enjoying God’s peace. Our friends & neighbours are certainly wanting to find true peace, and our world desperately needs it. If we’ve found it in a relationship with Jesus, as we fix our attention on him, exercise trust in him, and absorb the bible’s message about him, we should share this secret with others. We have the opportunity in particular to introduce others to Jesus next Friday at our “Night of Colour”. One way to invite people would be to ask them if they’d like to find the key to deep inner peace....
My prayer for you is that of the writer of the little letter of Jude: “May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance.” ( Jude 1:2 )