The disciples are exactly the same as us; in today’s Gospel account we find that the disciples are afraid and have locked themselves away in a room. Now they are hearing that Jesus is alive from the dead; if it’s true, what will He have to say to them? Perhaps they are thinking that Jesus might have good reason to come back to the disciples in a foul mood: ‘Where were you when I needed you, how could you have run away, did you not promise that you would die for Me?’ Maybe Jesus realizes that the disciples are confused and have not really taken in His gift of peace, and so He says for a second time, ‘Peace be with you.’ This is something for us all to take to heart. Jesus is speaking the same words of peace to us. This peace comes from the prince of peace. With this peace of Jesus gifted to us, we can be people at peace with ourselves, at peace with the Lord himself; and then become people of peace in our world, which truly needs peace.
It is easy to imagine Thomas’ disbelief when the disciples tell him their incredible story. We today often call him “Doubting Thomas”, as if we are thinking that we would have done much better than poor Thomas. But he had witnessed the horror of the passion of Jesus. Many of us would have reacted in exactly the same way as Thomas does in this Gospel passage. What once again, are the first words out of Jesus’ mouth? As the prince of peace, He says, “Peace be with you.” After Thomas and Jesus have a catch-up, Thomas says, “My Lord and my God!” Thomas has the privilege of being in the presence of our living Lord and he is inspired to salute Jesus in this way: “My Lord and my God!” Today, as we continue to be an Easter people, let us take the peace of Jesus deep into our lives and let us be true ambassadors of the Lord, taking His peace into the world.