Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give it to you.
Peace that the world can give is fickle and finite. It is a peace that as inherently limited and incapable of lasting. The reason is that the peace of the world is based on a chance combination of desirable circumstances. This implies that it can be just as easily undermined by chance occurrence, in areas ranging from our emotions to the economy, from storms to the stock market.
The peace that Jesus promised was different, and therefore he could legitimately command, "Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid". He did not tell them this because things were suddenly about to get easy for them. They were about to experience all of the heartache of seeing Jesus "going away" from them, by the way of the cross, to his Father. They were not going to enjoy a simple lack of conflict in the world. Rather, the conflict between the ruler of that world and Jesus was about to reach its peak. Instead, Jesus spoke about a peace that was possible with a perspective that was bigger than the obvious and the immediate, that had an eternal horizon. It was a realization that the ruler of the world had no power over Jesus, even when he seemed to be at the peak of his power.
You heard me tell you,
'I am going away and I will come back to you.'
If you loved me,
you would rejoice that I am going to the Father;
for the Father is greater than I.
The peace Jesus gave was based on trust that, even if he was going away, he would not abandon them, would not leave them orphans, but would come back to them, and be with them always (see Matthew 28:20). It was a peace that deepened the more they themselves loved Jesus and learned how good it was, not just for Jesus, but for them, that he was going to the Father, bringing his human nature to heaven, there to be exulted.
And now I have told you this before it happens,
so that when it happens you may believe.
The posture of peace is one we can maintain only when we aren't surprised to see the darkness that is still present in the world. Even after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus and the sending of his Spirit it remains true that, "In the world you will have tribulation". But this need not shake our peace when we continue to remember that he went on to say, "But take heart; I have overcome the world" (see John 16:33). Jesus did not promise that there we would not encounter evil, but that he would make all things work together for the good of those who loved him and were called according to his purpose (see Romans 8:28). We don't have his kind of peace because we can perfectly control our circumstances or because we know exactly what the future holds. If we have it, it is because we know the one who holds the future, the one who makes those circumstances produce good beyond what we could ever guess. Peace is, in a way, recognizing this divine conspiracy that is at every moment undermining every gain the darkness seems to make.
He has no power over me,
but the world must know that I love the Father
and that I do just as the Father has commanded me.
The reason Jesus was able to perfectly demonstrate his love of the Father and walk in perfect obedience to his will was that his own heart had enough peace so as to not be shaken by circumstances. When, in his human nature, that peace was threatened by natural repulsion for suffering and death, he refused to give in to anxiety or fear, but turned to his Father, and was strengthened by an angel (see Luke 22:43). From what Jesus himself did and demonstrated it follows that the peace he promised us is a genuine possibility, but one that requires us to make an active response. We are free, if we choose, to let our hearts be both troubled and afraid. But we are also free to avail ourselves of the peace that can transcend such trouble and fear, that he himself never ceases to give to those who ask. Like the other fruits of the Holy Spirit, peace is not simply an optional nice-to-have extra. It is necessary for mission, required if we want, as friends of Jesus, to make known "the glorious splendor" of his kingdom.
Chris Tomlin - Resurrection Power
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