"Peace be with you."
But they were startled and terrified
and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
Jesus sometimes visits us with a peace we aren't quite ready to receive. He came to his disciples across the waves in the storm but we were terrified and mistook him for a ghost (see Matthew 14:26). He came to the disciples after his Passion, but even though they the reports of his resurrection had started to trickle in they were still "startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost". The authorities had put their leader to death and at any moment they might be next. Not only that, they themselves had abandoned Jesus, leaving him to his fate. In many ways the situation seemed unsalvageable.
Then he said to them, "Why are you troubled?
And why do questions arise in your hearts?
Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.
What helped the disciples to get beyond their fear and their preoccupation with their own mistakes? It seems that a large part of the answer was to be found in the wounds of Jesus. He did not come to them as a ghost, angry, or otherwise. He was solid, made of flesh and bones. He was not merely a spirit with no contact with the human reality of suffering. He was not some Platonic soul who had shed the body and could thus no longer relate to the bodily reality in which his disciples still lived. Rather, he was one that had been through the worst imaginable suffering, but he emerged at the far end triumphant. That he still bore the wounds served as a proof of his love. They were trophies of his victory that demonstrated definitively that no sphere of reality, whether physical or spiritual, was left unredeemed by his victory.
For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering (see Hebrews 2:10).
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin (see Hebrews 4:15).
Because of the wounds of Jesus our fear does not need to have the last word. Because we share in flesh and blood "he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery" (see Hebrews 2:14-15). His flesh and blood, and in particular his wounds, are the keys that conquer can our fear. And once that fear is gone, what is meant to take its place? According to the author of Hebrews the answer is confidence! "Let us then", he writes, "with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (see Hebrews 4:16).
We might think that after a spiritual restoration like this we would be ready like those leaving a pep rally or after hearing a motivational speaker to go forth and live the Christian life and evangelize the world. But Jesus instead brought his disciples, "still incredulous for joy" back to earth by sharing a meal with them. He channeled their joy into what must have been the greatest bible study of all time. Through this he established them in a context that was not merely fleeting, a way in which they would be able to rely on him to draw strength even after he withdrew from them physically in the Ascension. Even today Jesus still opens the minds of those who sincerely seek him to understand the Scriptures. He does not do this only or primarily for scholars. He is deeply committed to helping us to learn our story, which is really his story (and therefore the true meaning of history). It is meant to be the foundation of our lives.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (see Second Timothy 3:15).
There were two obvious things that made the early disciples described in Acts so bold, and they were deeply interrelated. The first was the leadership and guidance of the Holy Spirit. The second was understanding the Scriptural context that made sense of their lives and provided the interpretative key to history. May we too learn to become docile to the Spirit and find Jesus in the pages of his word.
Now I know, brothers,
that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did;
but God has thus brought to fulfillment
what he had announced beforehand
through the mouth of all the prophets,
that his Christ would suffer.
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