John 14:27-31 (NIV)
“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.
“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. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
“Come now; let us leave.”
All this talk of Jesus going away and sending some mysterious Spirit to take His place with the disciples had cast a very somber atmosphere over the entire company. What had started as a grand celebration had taken on the character of a wake.
It was into that dark mood that threatened to completely overwhelm the disicples that Jesus spoke His words of peace and encouragement. The peace that Jesus was encouraging His followers to take hold of, the same peace that He Himself was operating in, was not simply freedom from fear or stress no matter what. It was the settled assurance that God was in full control and would bring all things successfully to their intended conclusion.
Jesus had peace because He knew that He was right in the center of the Fathers will, and that He would be with Him through all the nastiness that was coming His way and bring it all to a successful conclusion. Even in the garden when Jesus’ peace seemed to leave for a while, overwhelming Him with sorrow and dread (Matthew 26:36-39), His prayer settled His mind that He really was in the center of God’s will, and that He was still in control. His peace returned and stayed with Him all the way through the cross.
In Jesus’ reiteration of His prophecies, that He was going away but then would return to them, Jesus realized that the disciples would not remember His words, nor take comfort from them, as they went through the next three days of darkness and loss. But He also knew that as soon as they realized that Jesus had really risen from the dead, they would remember what He had told them, and the pieces would start to come together in their minds.
Jesus’ final point is extremely important. Jesus knew that satan, “the prince of this world,” was even then moving people and events in a bid to destroy Jesus. But He also knew that satan had no real power against Him. He was only being allowed by God to do what he was doing because it fit with God’s plan. Since Jesus was fully committed to that plan, He was willing to submit Himself even to the evil that satan had sown in the hearts of His enemies, knowing that, in the end, God would pull out a great victory that would glorify both Himself and Jesus, and would open the doors to the kingdom for all humanity.
Having made that last profound statement, Jesus then called His followers to gather their things and to head out to their campsite in the Garden of Gethsemane. He had an important meeting there with Judas and the temple guard, and He was not willing to miss it!
Father, Jesus’ peace in the midst of all the chaos that surrounded Him came because He knew that He was in the dead center of Your will and was confident in Your ability to do in and through Him everything that You had called Him to do. Sometimes we feel chaotic and distressed because we are outside Your will, or more often completely ignorant of what Your will is, and we crave and pray for Your peace in the midst of our chaos. But as long as we are outside Your will, we can’t experience the peace that Jesus had and promised – it is only given to those who are in the center of Your will and following You, just like Jesus did. Lord, help me to always align myself with Your will so that I can experience Your peace and the same ultimate victory over the schemes of the enemy that Jesus experienced. Amen.
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