John 20:19-23
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
John 16:33
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
John 14:25-31
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. 28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, 31 but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me. “Come now; let us leave.
The word peace appears 237 times in the Old Testament with its first appearance in Genesis 15:15 “as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace…” The Hebrew word translated as peace is shalom (shaw-lome’) means completeness, soundness, and welfare. It comes from the root word shalam (shaw-lame’), which means making amends or making whole or complete. Having shalom means being in a state of wholeness or completeness, without any deficiency or lack. In Greek, the word peace as used in the New Testament means quietness, rest, and wholeness. “Peace be with you!” was a common greeting in Jesus’ day, but Jesus gave this greeting much greater meaning following his death and resurrection as he spoke it to his disciples. This peace gave courage to men who feared for their lives. After receiving this peace, these men who ran and hid when Jesus was arrested became fearless in the face of death. The good news is that everyone today can receive this peace.
Stories about the torture of human beings by fellow humans have become quite common. Those who have lived through such moments often become traumatized, while struggling to accept and bear this reality for the rest of their lives. Imagine that you knew you’d be killed tomorrow. My guess is you’d be desperate to find your own peace, your own joy, and your own faith. You would probably not be pouring out your concern for the peace, joy, and faith of friends and family. Unless Jesus had filled us with the same measure of peace he has, then we would not be free to think of others. The events of Easter give us time to reflect on the torture and cruel death that our Lord Jesus Christ went through at the hands of his accusers. Yet, we are often stunned at the way Jesus thought of the fate of his followers who were antagonized, agitated, scared, perplexed, and worried about their own lives. Perhaps some of them remembered the little, but special words from Jesus recorded in John 14: 27: “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.”
It stands out that in the last hours of his life, Jesus is helping you and me become fearless and peaceful people. He might have been thinking about the final peace of all things in the new heaven and the new earth, but here the focus of Jesus is very much personalized. It was about the individual whose heart is troubled by the situation taking place in their personal life. Jesus was aware of the torture, anxiety, fear, and restlessness that we as human beings struggle to overcome. We know that because he says, “Let not your heart be troubled. Neither let it be afraid.” He has in view the peace of your heart, the fearlessness of your heart, and the untroubled waters of your heart. He wanted his followers to be free from anxiety. I guess that some of them could have turned their faces away from Jesus in total disbelief at the kind of peace He meant. This is quite normal throughout the human experience, and it is still typical of our reactions to the same words as we hear them today.
But this is not the peace of good circumstances, Jesus knows that the only kind of peace the world can give is peace of mind based on good circumstances. The world can only offer us peace that is based on good circumstances. Our own peace of mind is often upset by the failure of the world to take away our troubles such as worries about health insurance, retirement, chronic diseases, drought, famine, and flood protection among many others. The world cannot give us some peace of mind as Jesus highlighted: (middle of John 14 verse 27), “Not as the world gives do I give to you.” The peace that Jesus gives is not based on good circumstances. It holds sway, despite bad circumstances as Jesus says in John 16:33, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart in that tribulation; I have overcome the world.”
We might have to ask ourselves if we are ready for peace from Jesus and not ours from the world. Does our peace from Jesus really make sense to the world? We draw inspiration from the words of Paul to the Christian community in Philippi when he wrote, “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your heart and minds in the knowledge and love of God...” It must be such a strange peace because naturally as humans, we are more at home with those things that we understand. If something is beyond our ability to comprehend, we are quite quick to dismiss it and move on. Human understanding cannot produce peace or grasp it because it is not human peace. It is God’s peace that exists between Jesus and His Father, and Easter reminds us that Jesus will bring you into the very peace that He enjoys with His Father. Strangely, but understandably so, Jesus demonstrated more profoundly that perfect peace and yearned the same for us.
This is the peace and joy that the disciples of Christ have. Even though the threat and the danger may remain, and the grave still awaits them, they are at peace and filled with joy because the peace and the joy that Christ gives to His people is based on an inner change. They have a new heart and a new mind, and their peace and joy are based on the fact that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead and has found them, wherever they were hiding. The peace and joy of this world are fragile and fleeting. Jesus gives us peace of mind by teaching us to live by God’s truths. Jesus enables us to live at peace with others through unconditional love, forgiveness, and reconciliation. And Jesus enables us to live at peace with God through his own death on the cross to pay the penalty for the sins of mankind.
As we celebrate Easter this year, let us experience that inner peace that Jesus has always wished for us. When we have that peace from God which surpasses all understanding, we shall remain secure and calm even when we face challenges. Our families and communities will be transformed by the peace that Christ affirms upon His dear followers. Such peace is part of the fulfillment of God’s plan for the entire universe. For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you Isaiah 54:10.
Now may the lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way 2 Thessalonians 3:16. May God bring such peace to the politically troubled spots of the world where men, women, children, and the environment experience the harshness of human tyrants whose sense of shalom is non-existent. Let it be our prayer that we rejoice in knowing that Jesus is praying for us and re-echoing the same message as he did 2000 years ago when He intimately and warmly declared: “Peace be with you.” Amen.