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A special blessing of peace

Text: John 14 : 12 - 31

A SPECIAL BLESSING OF PEACE

How gracious Jesus was! How well He understood His Disciples! They were troubled in heart as the realization of losing their beloved Teacher sank in slowly. Jesus had sought to encourage and comfort their hearts in various ways, but His words seemed to raise more questions.

He spoke to them about having a certain hope in Heaven, but that caused Thomas to ask Him the way to Heaven. As He spoke about how He was The Way to the Father, Philip asked Him to show them the Father. Jesus once again explained the relationship between His Father and Himself, and He assured Philip that to know Him was to know the Father too. Jesus would reveal Himself more and more to His Disciples; they mustn’t worry about the unknown future. That prompted Judas the son of James to ask why Jesus would not manifest Himself to the world, but only to the Disciples.

Jesus taught His Disciples truth after deep truth. But obviously, their hearts were still troubled. They may have tried to hide what they felt deep inside their hearts, but they should have realized that they couldn’t hide anything from their all-knowing Teacher.

Kindly and lovingly, Jesus gave them a special word of blessing. When the heart is deeply troubled, and the mind is unable to fathom deep truths anymore, then this blessing from Jesus would be the most welcomed gift ever.

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you;
not as the world gives do I give to you.
Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
John 14:27

This was a special blessing indeed. You can imagine how the pronouncement of these words must have somehow soothed their fears and comforted their hearts. Where the Disciples struggled in vain to find peace within their hearts, that special sense of peace from Jesus calmed their sorrowing souls.

THE PEACE OF THE WORLD

Jesus knew all too well about the peace that the world gave. Way back in the days of Jeremiah the prophet, there were people who were peddling their wares – offering a peace that was false. Jeremiah recorded two of their statements offering peace.

“For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people
slightly (“superficially”) saying, ‘Peace, peace!’
When there is no peace.”
Jeremiah 8:11

“They continually say to those who despise Me,
‘The Lord has said, ” You shall have peace. ” ‘
And to everyone who walks according to the dictates
of his own heart, they say, ‘No evil shall come upon you.'”
Jeremiah 23:17

The peace of the world was made up of only nice-sounding words. They were mere platitudes that when examined in depth, proved to be empty and false! The false prophets could not offer peace. They had no power to give peace to the heart. Thus their words though they may bring a temporary measure of relief, would prove to be a weak placebo.

A WORD OF PROMISE FROM THE PRINCE OF PEACE

One of the titles of the Messiah was “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). It was as the Prince of Peace that Jesus spoke to His Disciples. He would leave them with peace. He certainly exemplified the idea of being at peace.

Here He was, just a step away from intense suffering and then death, and He was still teaching His Disciples vital lessons of faith and life. He displayed no sense of nervousness. He was as focused as He had always been. His heart was still compassionate and tender, concerned about others rather than Himself!

If this was the peace that the Disciples would be given, then it would be a welcome gift indeed! It would be a very wonderful gift, for the Disciples had no solution to the sense of foreboding that had crept into their hearts. Jesus was right, their hearts were troubled, and they were afraid.

The Disciples had known fear before. On one occasion, when they were on a boat, a sudden storm had come up. They were so afraid that they would drown! Jesus, on the other hand was resting from His labours. What a contrast! Jesus, who was completely assured that He was in His Father’s loving care slept through a storm! The Disciples were in the same Presence of the Father, but they lacked that sense of peace entirely (Matthew 8:23-27).

A PEACE THAT PASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING

The Apostle Paul wrote on this subject of the peace of God in his epistle to the Philippians. Let us consider his contribution to our understanding of this subject of peace. He wrote to teach the Philippians how they could find the peace of God in their lives.

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything
by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known to God;
and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7

Paul essentially echoed what Jesus taught. Prayer to God was the better alternative to feeling anxious! This was what Jesus had emphasized to His Disciples. If only they were to pray and to ask whatever they wished – in the Name of Jesus – and if that request had been to have peace of heart and mind, they would have that special peace from God that would guard both their hearts and minds from being frantically worried.

The lesson of finding the peace of God that will guard both the heart and mind, is still most relevant. May this promised peace of God be found in humble prayers of faith.