Shalom

Jesus has been dead for 3 days. But his body is missing. There are rumors brewing in Jerusalem that Jesus has resurrected. Some time later, Jesus shows up in a room filled with his disciples and says one phrase that summed up what just happened. "Peace be with you." According to Luke, these are the first words of Jesus to his disciples. Of the variety of things He could have said, why did He say, "Peace"?

Throughout the Bible, the word "peace" is used in the place of the Hebrew word, "Shalom." I believe this is one of the most underrated biblical words. To be honest, when I read the above story, I didn't dwell on "Peace be with you" because I thought it was some sort of greeting. However, I have come to realize that this one word can change the entire PURPOSE of a Christian.

Shalom means peace. We typically understand peace as "no chaos." But the authors of the Bible understood peace as "harmony" or "perfect relationship." So, to have peace with God means, "to be in perfect relationship with God." But, that's not the full extent of Shalom. The Bible demands we restore our Shalom with everything else. This means, we are called to restore our relationship with others, ourselves, etc. If there is cancer in our bodies, that means Shalom in our bodies was disrupted. If there's a fight with a friend, that means Shalom in our friendship was disrupted. If someone is treated as a slave, Shalom was disrupted in society. If there is no rain and people are suffering, shalom with nature was disrupted.

God intended the world to work a certain way. Anything that does not look that way is disrupted Shalom. We call this sin. Some would even say the opposite of sin is shalom.

This "shalom" is the reason our journeys do not end at salvation. From the day we are saved to the day we die, we are called to do whatever we can to restore the shalom in the world. Some are called to restore the shalom of people with God - we call this evangelism. Some are called to restore the shalom of relationships - we call this forgiveness. Some are called to restore the shalom of societal systems - we call this justice. Some are called to restore the shalom of nature - the Eden project is a good example of this.

We do this all this as an overflow of Christ's love. Because if we do all this, and have not love, then they are just clanging of cymbals. Jesus' death on the cross was to defeat sin - the sin that brought destruction to shalom on so many levels...

After His resurrection, Jesus eagerly announces to His disciples, "SHALOM to you." This one statement is packed with God's longing of wanting to restore all things back to the way they are supposed to be. Jesus is staring at 11 disciples, who are the first of many people to go and bring Shalom into the world.