And the story of Easter day continues. John says, "On the evening of that day, the first day of the week..." 

Imagine...just hours later, really, it is the evening of the day of Resurrection, the evening of the day which began in a garden, the evening of the day when Mary saw the Lord, the evening of the first day of the week. The doors are shut. The disciples are scared to death, and Jesus comes and stands among them and he says, "Peace be with you." He says it three times here, you notice. My guess is they needed to hear it! 

It is an amazing moment, even more direct than Mary's brief encounter in the garden. He shows them his hands...his wrists, really, where the nails had held his body to the cross. He shows them his side...pierced to prove to the Romans and the world that he was dea…