It was still the first day of the week. That evening, while the disciples were behind closed doors because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities, Jesus came and stood among them.
He said, “Peace be with you.” John 20:19
“How was your week?” This is greeting is so often used when friends see each other. Measuring our weeks has become very basic; for us, it begins on Sunday.
But for St. John in his Gospel, this first day of the week is unlike any other. It is the day of Jesus’s Resurrection when everything about this week and all coming weeks is going to be different. In fact, for St. John, it’s a new creation.
Imagine being part of a week like this one! That’s what the first disciples experienced. That’s why there is a garden, a new Adam and a new Eve in the morning; and in the evening, St. John has us feel the breath of peace and the giving of the Holy Spirit. It is like the story of the creation of Adam when God took up the clay of the earth, made a nose out of it, breathed into it and Adam was created. Jesus’s breath over those disciples—and over each one of us—makes a new creation in God’s Holy Spirit.
So let it happen way inside you. You are a new creature. This is a new way of living!
These Firestarters are from a new edition of The Bible Through the Seasons being developed for families with children. For the Firestarters in the original edition, I recommend the ebook. You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or table!. Click here to visit the website for more information.
The Bible Through the Seasons 