On the
night before Jesus died on the cross, He began talking to the disciples about
peace. 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 (John 14:27). The first words out of his mouth when He appeared
to them about the resurrection was the word Peace. While
they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to
them, Peace be with you (Luke
24:36). Peace, not love—the new
commandment He gave to them. No, Jesus
said Peace.
The peace
Jesus speaks about is no ordinary peace.
This peace is an extraordinary peace.
It is a peace that is only available to Christians. The world cannot
know this peace. It is through this
peace that Christians are able to forgive the most heinous acts against
them. It is this peace with which the
early Christians shielded themselves from the torture and brutality of the
persecution by the Romans in the early years of the church.
It is the same peace that Jesus
received that night He prayed in Gethsemane when the trouble of His mind, body
and spirit was evidenced by the drops of blood He sweat. After His third time of prayer, He received a
peace that enabled Him to take charge of the chaotic garden arrest and ensure
the escape of all His disciples without violence. It was this peace that gave Him wisdom to
speak only when His words would become significant in the narrative of His
trials, revealing that He truly was the innocent and spotless Lamb. It was the peace that brought forth the words
of forgiveness as His first statement from the cross. Peace enabled Him to be unaffected by the
mocking and hatred that was thrown at Him, even by one of the thieves who hung
beside Him. His peace based on God’s
promises gave Him the assurance to cry out victory over death even while His
body was dying.
There is a peace that every
Christian can experience. There is a
peace that is mandatory for spiritual survival in a world like this. This peace evolves from a restoration of the
belief that God is good and that God alone will restore the world in His time
in His way. It is a peace that accepts
mystery full force with a rationale that recognizes its limits.
In my years as a Christian I have
known the opposite of peace. I have come
to notice when I have been tricked by the enemy of my soul to lay down the
peace that is breathed and spoken over me by Jesus. Sometimes I will get caught
in obsessive thinking. I will find
myself worn out by trying to solve my problems and wondering how I can ever
make my desired outcome a reality. What
I really want is peace, and what I give myself is turmoil. I get this way because I lose touch with the
peace that passes understanding. I don’t
understand that I don’t possess the understanding that will bring peace.
I love how Catherine of Siena
writes about this: Be at peace, then, because in the end we will enjoy God’s peace. Remember, I will always provide for your true
needs. Keep in mind that I, your soul,
want whatever will make you happiest.
How often do the things that I
think will make me happiest lead to deeper despair?
Jesus is the way of peace.
Copyright © 2017. Deborah R. Newman teatimeforyoursoul.com All Rights Reserved.
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