27 Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. 28 You heard that I said to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
Message: Peace from Jesus
Time: John most likely wrote between A.D. 85 and 90. John's purpose in writing was, "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:31)."
What the Lord is Saying: Leaving off the last lesson and the comfort of Jesus words to abide with us always even as He mentions to His disciples that He must leave (v. 31 - The Son of Man glorified; v. 33 - Where I am going, you cannot come; v. 36 - Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; 14:2 - I go to prepare a place for you; 27 - I leave; 28 - I go away), He brings them comfort that He is with them and His helper as well is sent to them.
Upon Jesus saying He is leaving is Him giving words of comfort. He is leaving them with Peace. But this isn't simply peace that people have in their lives but this is "His or My peace" as He names it, "My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you." This is Jesus peace. This is different from the peace that the world attempts to give people. There is piece that the World tries to give people. People do walk around often thinking they have this peace. It is a manufactured peace. It is a peace that each person might define for themselves or come up for themselves based upon their circumstances or situations. In other words, it is often a selfish peace.
When I speak to people about faith and what matters, invariably people come up with their definition of how things are and in the process they are working through a process sometimes to define peace in their life. It seems money is a desire or having things or having the right people in one's life. They define life based upon what they can accomplish or what they can do in their free time. They might momentarily have joy in their kids achievements.
Numbers 6:24-26 reads, "The Lord bless you, and keep you; The Lord make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace." Everything the Lord provides culminates in peace.
Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Jesus leaves us peace and the best peace we are to have is with God, our creator, the sustainer of life. We have a peace that cannot be matched. And the peace is through our Lord Jesus. He gives us peace and in the process we have peace with God. He provided the means or way for us to be justified. Our simple act in the process was having faith.
With this peace is Christ saying also, "Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful." I like the words he says, "Do not let." A troubling heart and fearful heart I think are normal. As we stare at the situations of life - death, suffering, trials, misfortune - we can allow ourselves to be troubled and fearful. We can allow the circumstances of life to dictate our well-being, our quality of life, but Jesus tells us we have peace. We have a peace that surpasses understanding, guarding our hearts (Phil. 4:7).
Jesus then offers a little bit of a rebuke to the disciples. He has spoke to them and given them promises. He has assured them of truths that despite leaving He is with them, will return again and sends His spirit to them to confirm all that He has said. He promises to come again. They have nothing to fear. He asks them continually to love Him.
He also makes mention that they should have joy for him going to the Father and says, "The Father is greater than I." In his current state on this earth, the Father, never having come to earth as a man, lives in a greater state, Jesus will ascend, but for now he is God in a different capacity, fully man. Jesus speaks his equality but as a man, as a servant could say the Father was greater than Him.
Summary: Jesus leaves his disciples with His peace, asking them also to rejoice because Jesus goes to the Father. They are to have no trouble or fear.
Promise: Let the peace Christ gives you grant you confidence this day that He is with you, that He loves you, and that He is working for your good and His glory.
Prayer: O Lord God in heaven you are creator and all of life and time and this universe is for Your glory and Yours alone. Thank you for granting me peace that surpasses all understanding. Thank you that I don't have to fear or be troubled. And thank you for showing me your equality with God the Father. You are holy and I can trust You. Spirit of God you share with me truth always about You and keep defining peace in my life and giving me that confidence in You.
Note: If you are interested in other studies/devotions, check out my index of Bible Study's.
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