Easter Week 2 - “Peace Be with You”

Christ Church Elders
4 days ago
2 min read

Scripture Reading

John 20:19, 24-31

Big Idea (For Parents)

In his resurrection, Jesus inaugurates a new creation that not only ends with Sabbath peace (like the Sabbath 7th day of the original creation; Genesis 2:2-3), but also begins with Sabbath peace in his resurrection victory as the first day of a new (creation) week (John 20:19; cf. John 20:26 where “eight days later” again alludes to starting a new 7-day cycle). That’s why the apostolic church recognized that Christ’s resurrection moved the weekly Sabbath rest day from the 7th day, Saturday, to the first day of a new week, resurrection Sunday—“the Lord’s Day” (Acts 20:7; Revelation 1:10). Living into resurrection peace is therefore (in part) an outflow of practicing weekly Sabbath as the blessing God intends it to be.

Family Reflection

(Read aloud or summarize)

The idea that amidst all the sin, death and need around us we can peacefully rest in Jesus’ resurrection can be hard to accept. Thomas doubted it. In love, Jesus appeared bodily to Thomas to ensure Thomas would rest—Sabbath—in Jesus’ peace. John recorded Jesus’ appearance to Thomas so that although we don’t now see Jesus bodily as Thomas did, we too might have deep, restful peace in the new creation Sabbath Jesus achieved for us.

God delivers this peace to us, in part, through weekly Sabbath rhythms. We’re tempted to live like everything’s up to us, so we worry and overwork ourselves instead of trusting God and therefore following his instructions for set times of work and set times of rest, or “Sabbath.”

But when Jesus rose from the dead, he began a new creation in which peaceful Sabbath rest comes not only at the end, but also at the beginning, on the first day of a new week—Sunday. We ourselves are new creations through faith in Jesus, and our new lives in him therefore also begin in Sabbath peace. Thus, when we work, we work out of rest. We enjoy restful peace at the beginning of our new lives that carries us through to the ultimate peace at the end. We live out and reset into this pattern every Sunday as we recenter ourselves in Jesus’ peace through church worship and other Sabbath practices. By this, Jesus shapes our lives from the outside in and fits us as those who can more fully enjoy his resurrection peace.

Discussion Questions

(Choose 1–2, adjust for age)

1- Why is it sometimes hard to rest or feel peaceful?

2- What is something that helps you rest or feel peaceful?

3- What are some Sunday practices that God has given the church to help us rest in Jesus’ peace?

Practice—Sabbath Rest

As with all things, we best live into God’s plan for our Sabbath rest when we are intentional to prepare for it. As a family, think through anything you should do prior to this coming Sunday in order to have a more restful and peaceful Sunday Sabbath. Looking ahead, build in any needed reminders so you can to continue to plan ahead for more restful and peaceful Sunday Sabbaths throughout Easter season (and beyond!).