When someone says, “Peace be with you,” or “Peace” or “Shalom” – what does it usually signify? Does it create trust? Calm? Is it significant or meaningless? Why do you think Jesus opens with these words?
“You have to suffer to be beautiful” is a truism that can be interpreted in several ways, as Buechner illustrates. In what ways have you seen or experienced this, either in terms of surface beauty, or in terms of a deeper beauty?
Jesus’ post-resurrection body is not a perfect, made-over human body – it shows his scars and wounds. We, too, have scars and wounds that we seek to hide from one another. How would our lives and our community be different, if we met one another with our wounds and scars fully visible? How would it be uncomfortable?
Post-resurrection, Jesus’ friends and disciples are a wreck – hiding and fearful, crushed and questioning. They are not looking for Jesus – but Jesus finds them. Can you think of a time when this happened for you? How did it impact your faith, to know that Jesus is looking for you?