Peace!

Peace!: Easter 2025

In the thin light before dawn, Mary Magdalene made her way to the tomb, grief hanging heavy on her shoulders. Death seemed to have had the final word. But what she discovered was the first whisper that death’s verdict was being overturned. What unfolds next in John’s account is holy commotion—disciples running, burial cloths abandoned, angels appearing. The garden where death appeared to triumph now blossoms with new life. Meanwhile, behind locked doors, the disciples huddle together. These men who once walked dusty roads with audacious hope now breathe the stale air of dread. Death had not only taken their Lord but threatened to claim them too. And then Jesus stands among them. Notice his first word: “Peace.” Not explanations, not instructions, not even “rejoice,” but “peace.” While death creates chaos, Christ creates peace. While death separates, peace restores. While death instills fear, peace births courage. “Peace be with you,” he says, showing his hands and side—the very places death thought it had secured victory. But these wounds are no longer death’s trophies; they are peace’s evidence. What death meant for destruction, God transformed into the birthmarks of a new creation. This is Easter’s magnificent reversal: death, the great silencer, is answered by peace, the great restorer. The disciples had seen death do its worst. Now they witness peace doing its best, as the Prince of Peace stands breathing among them, undefeated. Easter isn’t merely about an empty tomb but about how peace fills the void death creates. It’s about the God whose first resurrection word to terrified hearts is not condemnation but reconciliation. Today, as resurrection light floods the world, hear the living Christ speak into your own chaos and fear. See him standing in the middle of all that feels final and fatal, offering not judgment but the word your soul most desperately needs: “Peace be with you.” 

Caleb McCaughan, Pulpit Minister

Dinner Table Conversations: 

Adult & Teen Table Talk: 

• In John 20, we see different responses to the empty tomb – Mary weeping, Peter puzzled, John believing. Which disciple’s reaction do you most identify with in your own faith journey, and why? 
• Mary Magdalene didn’t recognize Jesus until he called her name. When have you experienced a moment of recognition where God suddenly became real to you in a new way? 

Little Learners’ Table Talk: 

Jesus said “Peace be with you” to his friends. What do you think “peace” means? How does it feel when you have peace? 

Mary was sad when she went to Jesus’s tomb, but then something amazing happened! How do you think she felt when she saw Jesus alive again?