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The Salutation of the Risen Christ

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The Salutation of the Risen Christ

6 minuten leestijd Arcering uitzetten

“Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you” (Luke 24:36).

We were privileged to commemorate the resurrection of the Savior on Easter Sunday. But the great question is, did we have the profits and fruits of this commemoration for our own souls in an experimental way, as did those to whom the Lord Jesus revealed Himself after His death? Perhaps you will ask, “What are those blessings flowing forth from a risen Christ?” This you can read in God's Word.

By and through Christ's resurrection He makes His people partakers of that righteousness which He has purchased for them through His death. He applies what He has merited for them. We must ask ourselves, “Have we received that righteousness by faith?” Without His righteousness we are the most miserable creatures. If we die as we are born, that is, in our own unrighteousness, we shall lose our soul and body for ever and ever. Are you concerned about it? Is the question, “How shall I be righteous before a holy, just, and longsuffering God?” the most important question in your life? Has it ever truly been Easter for you?

Listen then to the salutation of the risen Christ to His disciples. His disciples had been in very sad circumstances. The oppressions, afflictions, and fears in their hearts of the last days, and the departure of Christ's presence, had left them with little of the hope and comfort of former days. Although they were together and not alone, all was dark within and without. Do you also know of such times? Perhaps in former days you were gladdened by His presence through His work and Spirit, but at the moment it seems to you as if the past were only your imagination, and you therefore fear that you have deceived yourself. This changes at once if Christ Himself comes in His sovereignty through barred doors.

The disciples had shut the doors on account of their fear of the Jews. What a faithful Mediator He then proves to be, for He knows the frames of all His people. He came unexpectedly. It was Jesus who was personally present to teach and to bless them. From where did He come, and how was it possible that He came? Christ's all-knowing, mediatorial heart knew all the thoughts of fears of His disciples. They were terrified and affrighted, and they supposed that they had seen a spirit. But He rebuked them, and He set their hearts at ease. He was not a spirit, but He was their personal Savior. It was He who lives and is alive for evermore.

Christ, in the midst of His children in the night of His resurrection, will never leave nor forsake His own in all their afflictions and tribulations. He knew how sorrowful they were when He was taken captive. In all their mourning He presented Himself in the midst of them to comfort them. By taking away their many doubts and darkened fears, He strengthened their fading faith. How different it became when He united His disciples with an unbreakable bond of His love. It was a bond of one Spirit, a bond of true faith, firm hope, and ardent love, revealing that He was always with them, no matter what sad and sorrowful circumstances there may be. He spoke to them, saying, “Peace be unto you.”

It is a voice of tender love and mercy to those with a broken and contrite heart. It is the salutation of peace by the risen One, by Jesus, to poor sinners. Peace! What a wonderful word it is for those who are convicted by the Holy Spirit. It is in the way of true conviction that God's people learn to confess that they have forsaken their Creator. They come to know that peace can never be found outside of God and Christ. On their side all hope falls away. An offended Judge must condemn them; the holy law accuses them. Even Satan and their own consciences point to their many transgressions and iniquities.


This peace with God, merited by Jesus Christ and flowing forth from Him, is applied by the Holy Ghost to those who are poor and of a contrite spirit and tremble at His Word.


Have you ever become such an undone and hell-worthy creature? In such a way of great need and under the threatening of eternal death, it becomes impossible for such a convicted sinner to be saved from his side. Only Jesus, who conquered death and triumphed over all powers of sin, Satan, and hell by His resurrection, can give deliverance. He can give peace, merited by His blood shed on the cross, in the hearts of condemnable sinners, cleansing them from all their sins. It is a peace from Him who has given complete satisfaction to all the demands of a righteous God, a God who cannot and will not renounce His justice nor permit sin to go unpunished.

This peace was possible because Jesus had borne the punishment and was wounded for their transgressions and was bruised for their iniquities. The chastisement of their peace was upon Him as the substitute for all His elect. There was peace because He, in the way of suffering and dying, satisfied the offended justice of God. God the Father justified Him, and in His resurrection all His people were justified.

This peace with God, merited by Jesus Christ and flowing forth from Him, is applied by the Holy Ghost to those who are poor and of a contrite spirit and tremble at His Word. What a blessing and unspeakable benefit it is to look upon Him with an eye of faith when it pleases Christ to reveal Himself. These moments were unforgettable for the disciples, because then the bank of clouds, lying so low on the horizon of their hearts, was taken away. As He stood in their midst and said, “Peace be unto you,” they may whisper, “He is our Peace.”

Have you ever put the weapons of enmity at His feet? Have you learned that you are an enemy of God, a rebellious person, with no peace in your heart because of your guilt? Have you ever acknowledged the sentence of death? Did you ever, like the publican, cry for mercy? Have you ever been humbled before a holy and righteous God? Were you truly sorrowful for your sins? If so, at God's appointed time you shall hear with the disciples that salutation of the risen Savior, who merited peace and who in His resurrection will apply it, for in His resurrection He justified all His people.

Is there a need for this salutation in your life? Is there no need for peace? Then ask the Lord to open your blind eyes and to enlighten your understanding before it is too late. Shall it be well for time and eternity, then we stand in need of that peace merited by Christ's humiliation and applied to our hearts by the power of His resurrection in His exaltation.

Rev. J. C. Weststrate (1919-1998)

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Bekijk de hele uitgave van zondag 1 april 2001

The Banner of Truth | 28 Pagina's

The Salutation of the Risen Christ

Bekijk de hele uitgave van zondag 1 april 2001

The Banner of Truth | 28 Pagina's