Peace

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

What images enter your mind’s eye when you hear the word “peace”? Do you picture cloudless blue skies over a quiet deserted palm-lined tropical beach disturbed only by the lapping of the rising tide, the whisper of the ocean breeze, and the occasional caw of a soaring seagull? Or, do you imagine a silent stony perch atop a tall Rocky Mountain overlooking a thick pine and aspen forest below alternately lighted and shaded by passing puffy clouds? Is your idea of peace a serene humble home on five or ten acres of land far, far away from the rush and bustle of urban life? Do you think of a world without crime, without war, without pestilence and hunger, and without hate?

All those visions of peace exist only in the imagination, and if by experience, they are only temporary. The quiet beach will soon fill with noisy sunbathers. The silent mountain scene gets interrupted by an unpredicted thunderstorm. The endless chores disturb the serene little farm house. As for peace in the world, you can forget that.

As Jesus faced the cross, He tried to prepare His disciples for what lay ahead. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). He offered His peace, unlike the peace that the world can give. We personally enjoy quiet peaceful moments in this life, but they are temporary and fleeting. The world knows no peace. The interval between World War I, “the war to end all wars,” lasted less than 21 years before World War II flared up. Since then the United States prosecuted wars in Korea, Viet Nam, Iraq, Afghanistan, along with several “peace-keeping” skirmishes here and there. Meanwhile, the Middle East experiences fighting periodically and consistently throughout the Muslim world. If that were not enough, rioting breaks out in almost every country all the time. Now the entire world lives in fear of a man-made global pandemic. The world knows no peace.

Yet Jesus said, “My peace I give unto you.” To whom was this gift directed? Jesus addressed a very specific audience, His disciples. His peace is not for the world. It is for His disciples only. On that night, He spoke only to the twelve, but He intends all of His disciples to have the gift, that means you and me if we are truly His disciples – believers, followers of Jesus. In His high-priestly prayer He said, “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine” (John 17:9, emphasis mine). Then, so as not to exclude those that would follow, He said, “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word” (John 17:20, emphasis mine).

The peace Jesus gives silences the most tempestuous storms of life, allays the deepest fear, and quiets the troubled mind. His supernatural peace confounds any false peace the world can offer. “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, emphasis mine). His peace does not exempt us from the affliction, pressure, persecution, tribulation, or trouble that comes as part and parcel with life in this world. Indeed, He requested, “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil [one]” (John 17:15, emphasis mine). Our peace comes from knowing that “[We] are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (John 17:16). “For our [citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20).

The world labors in vain for peace. The world alters language to stifle hate. The world blames the weather for rioting in the streets, so it implements draconian measures to curtail carbon emissions. The world cries, “Peace, peace; when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6:14; 8:11). The world knows no peace, but the believer in Jesus can know peace. As the axiom makes clear, “No Jesus, no peace; know Jesus, know peace.” One day soon, the world will know peace, but not now.

Every true believer, every Christian should know peace. If not, there can only be two reasons that a Christian does not have peace. Either they have not been “born again” and do not know Jesus personally, or they have momentarily taken their eyes off of Him like Peter did when he tried to walk on the water (Matthew 14:22-32). If you do not know Jesus, but you want to know peace, see my page on “Securing Eternal Life.”