#DailyDevotion The Peace Of Jesus
Joh 14:27-31 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (28) You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. (29) And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. (30) I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, (31) but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.
Jesus is leaving his peace with his disciples and giving it to them. Now, not only is the peace that Jesus leaves and gives different from the peace the world gives, he gives it differently. Let’s look at how the peace Jesus gives is given differently. Well for the one, the peace the world gives is never permanent. Those who give peace can be fickle. At any moment they can change their mind and change their terms. Which leads us to why they give peace in the first place, they hold something over you. Those who give peace do so at a cost to you. You have been defeated in some way or fashion by them. They only give peace on their terms. You will most likely have to give honor and or tribute to them. There are terms that must be met. Jesus’ peace is not like that.
Instead, when Jesus gives and leaves us his peace it is a one defeated (or so it seems). Paul writes, Rom 5:6-11 “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly…(8) but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (9) Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. (10) For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. (11) More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” Again Paul writes, 2Co 5:19 “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”
This is a peace that is beyond all comprehension. We can know and believe Jesus has done this by the Holy Spirit, but why he would do such a thing is still beyond us. We simply rejoice in it. Jesus didn’t come to us with terms that must be met first by us before offering us his peace. Jesus meets the terms of peace. There isn’t a list of conditions to be met to keep the peace that can change. We simply confess and recognize that God has a right to angry and wrathful with us because of our sins. Jesus’ blood made peace between God and man. He no longer counts our trespasses against us. By the power of the Holy Spirit we trust Jesus’ atoning sacrifice for our guilt, shame, iniquities, rebelliousness, sins and trespasses to the Father effected peace between God and us. Whenever we are not at peace we are called to remember Jesus has offered us freely, as a gift this peace.
Now to speak briefly as to what this peace consists of it is this, the Father is no longer directing his wrath us. Now that Jesus has received us into his heart and joined us to his body, we can know, no matter what is happening to us, it isn’t because God the Father has changed his mind and is punishing us. In Christ, the Father is not angry with us. The devil, the world and even your own flesh may at times try to tell you in the midst of trouble, “Oh you must have done something terribly wrong to tick God off.” The peace of Jesus says, “This is your cross I told you you must pick up and follow me.” The peace of Jesus says, “You are my son and I discipline/train my sons. This is not my anger or wrath.” In any trial or tribulation the peace of Jesus reminds us, Rom 8:38-39 “that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, (39) nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Heavenly Father, always give us the peace Jesus gives and leaves us, so we may always be still in our hearts when trials and tribulations come upon us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.