A Meditation for our second week of Eastertide in 2026

What I would give to hear the risen Jesus say to me, “Peace be with you”. This is how Jesus greeted the disciples after His resurrection. In the darkness of that day, He appeared to them where they had locked themselves away. He said it a second time before anyone else spoke. As I read these words, my mind brings me back to the beginning of the Jesus story. In the dark of night, the angels from heaven appear to the shepherds in the fields, telling them to not be afraid. The heavenly host then sang out. “Glory to God in the highest! And peace on earth! God’s desire for all peoples!”

How I imagine their proclamation echoing through the heavens forever. Within my calm, quiet, and silent moments, it feels like I can even hear whispers of this praise rising from somewhere deeper within myself I have yet to reach. As Jesus stood among His friends; He was proclaiming peace over each one of them. I know He proclaims peace over me too. But to hear it! I need His peace to survive, live, and thrive in this life.

Jesus will overcome the death that lives within me. His death was the end of death. Not just death in the biological sense—how trite for the One who was before all things. The life that Jesus gives me takes the place of death. It takes the place of all that leads to death. The life of light we have in Christ is not a life that elevates at the expense of others or of creation. It is light casting out darkness. It is a life that our God cultivates and sustains within us that amplifies love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

For me to live the reality of all I have in Christ comes at a cost. Each day I must reject death and choose life. I struggle to reject the ways of death within me and all the ways of our world that lead to death. Look, it is far easier to simply exist in streams of our world and accept that all ends in death. Their waters are fast, and the work of choosing life seems to get harder every year. Yet the voice of Jesus finds me as I fight my way through these currents to the shallows: “Peace be with you.”

In the midst of these currents, Jesus is standing on a rock of dry ground. He is calling out. “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me. For I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Indeed, My yoke is pleasant, and my burden is light.” Each person in that room with Jesus was transformed by the life Jesus proclaimed and promised. They would live and proclaim life in a world built upon death, and death would find them. We are hidden away in Christ and His life. The life we have in Christ has overcome death and has overcome the world.  For to die in Christ is to share in His resurrection and to join the chorus that proclaims glory to God and peace on earth.

May the peace of Christ reign forever in your heart, soul, mind, and life.