Troubled Hearts and Doubtful Minds
The gift that the Lord first gives to His disciples after His Resurrection is peace. " Peace be with you." This peace is not just the warm, happy feeling that comes when the sun shines on our faces and the gentle breeze breathes on our skin. This peace is the calming sense that overcomes us, easing troubled hearts and convinces doubtful minds. The feeling of knowing that all will be well, according to the plan of God. The knowledge that the victory has already been won. The hope of eternal life and the "resurrection of the body." Jesus showed the disciples His wounds, emphasizing that He is flesh (not a ghost) and that He is truly risen. He then also "opened their minds to understand the Scriptures." In doing so, He was strengthening and encouraging the disciples, moving them to belief and faith, and instilling hope in their hearts, hope and knowledge that all He had shared with them and all that was foretold about Him in the Scr...