PEACE

Peace is one of those words that has come to mean so many different things that it often seems to mean little of anything. But it is one of those words that we need to reclaim and renew, particularly when we have heard it uttered by Jesus.

He insisted that He was not talking about peace as the world around Him might have understood it or offered it. His peace is a gift—a gift worth holding onto.

In Jesus’ understanding, experiencing peace is the opposite of being afraid, the opposite of troubled hearts. As Jesus would make clear in the rest of this discourse, such peace was not dependent on external circumstances.

At least as often as the world around us offers or proclaims peace, the world also takes it away. When it comes, peace almost always feels like a temporary lull rather than an ongoing reality. But the peace that Jesus gives has substance and will remain even amid fear and persecution, disappointment and grief. Again, we must remember that Jesus was saying this within hours of His urgent prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane, His betrayal and arrest, the mocking trials, and ultimately His cruel crucifixion. It was hardly the context for “Do not let your hearts be troubled” and “Do not be afraid”—except that those words were exactly what was needed—for His troubled heart and for His disciples’ hearts that were about to be also greatly troubled. As Jesus and His disciples left the upper room and headed out into the night (see John 14:31), Jesus gave them the promise and possibilities of peace to prepare them for the troubles and fears they were about to confront.