Bible Study “Peace Be With You”
Share: Your highs (something that made you happy) and lows (something that made you sad) this week with others around you or write them down.
"Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again." An astounding discovery! The Easter news was spread to all who would listen. The disciples told people, who in turn, told people, and to this day, we hear the message — a message of weeping and then of joy that comes with the morning of a new day. We, like the disciples, weep AND then delight in the joy bursting forth in us. We too are called to bring this message with our lives, and, if necessary, with words, to those who have not yet heard it.
The women brought an account the men could not grasp. That evening, the exhausted band of men and women who followed Jesus, huddled in the locked room. They were terrified that they would be killed next. To their amazement, Jesus was right there in their midst proclaiming the Peace he had been teaching them to trust. Breath sweeping over the earth brought life in the beginning; now Jesus was breathing new life in the Holy Spirit.
Opening Prayer: Thank you, God, for the gift of Jesus and for the stories we have this Easter season to understand better what you call us to do. Amen.
Please open your Bibles to John 20:19-31 and read or read the scriptures below.
John 20:19-31
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
The Purpose of John’s Gospel
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe[b] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Reflection Questions:
- Why do you think the disciples were so afraid? (Jesus had been killed, were they next?)
- Why didn’t the disciples immediately recognize Jesus? (There must have been something "different" about him — no one recognizes him at first.)
- Why do you think Jesus said: "Peace be with you?” (Maybe Jesus knew that they were afraid or that we need to be at peace to think clearly and act appropriately.)
- What did Jesus do so these people would know he really was Jesus? (He showed them the marks of the crucifixion on his body.)
- What else did Jesus do? (He breathed on them.)
- Why didn't they think it was odd that Jesus "breathed on them?" (One word, in their language, meant breath, wind and spirit.)
- I wonder what you think verse 23 means? (The disciples were going to be the first "priests" of this new church. People would come to them with stuff that was getting in their way [things that bothered them and prevented them from being close to God and to one another] and the disciples would be able to tell them that their sins were forgiven.)
Additional questions:
- How do you hear this story?
- What do you think the person that wrote this would say to us today?
- What word or phrase stands out to you when you read this?
Click here for the young learner’s lesson
Videos (Click on the words or url)
John 20: 19-31 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vyDRZVXc9Y
Song
Open My Eyes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAh0avXdgJ0
Open My Eyes of My Heart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMn8vdlcwJE
Activities:
Create an icon: imagine what the words "Peace be with you" might have meant for the disciples. What did it mean for them? What words would you use? What does it feel like to be at peace, and what does it feel like when you are NOT at peace. Create a "Peace be with you" icon (click on ICON for examples) and draw or copy and paste the icon on the blank bookmarks (click on BOOKMARKS for examples)
Believe Acrostic: On a poster board, write B-E-L-I-E-V-E down the left side of the board and think about words for each of the letters that would help you BELIEVE or ideas of what JESUS has done for you to help BELIEVE and write them next to the letter. For example B - Baptized
Decoder: https://sermons4kids.com/seeing_is_believing_decoder.htm?fromSermonId=299
Word Search: https://thewordsearch.com/puzzle/3575448/peace-be-with-you/
Prayer: Thank you, God for sending us clues to help us come to believe. Guide us this week as we walk in peace with you and those around us. Amen.
