The Peace of Jesus

Intro:

Good morning, and it is a privilege to be bringing you the Word this morning. If you would please open your Bible’s to John 14:27. John 14:27 will be our passage we are working from this morning and I pray that God will open our hearts to hear His word today.

“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

Peace is something that all of us desperately long for, and we spend a lot of time searching after.

We seek peace in relationships; we think often if we can just have enough friends, or if I can have a significant other, or family. But no matter how many relationships we accumulate, in the end we still feel like we lack.

We seek peace in financial status or job security: we work our way up in companies or businesses, we save money back to help us feel safe. But have you ever noticed that no matter how much many we get, we always feel that we can use more? I heard a story of a doctor who made very good money, and he opened several accounts at different banks to keep it all safe. However, the tragic thing was that he never felt like he was safe or had enough. We couldn’t find peace in his money.

Another thing that is popular in our day and age is just finding peace within ourself. If we can be positive enough, we can find peace. If we can just really “discover who we are” and find our true self, then we will be at peace.

We often seek peace and well being through our political or philosophical ideologies, believing if we can just enact the right polices and believe the right things, we will reach a state of bliss.

Sadly, this never leads to long term peace. In fact, all these methods mentioned may result in some peace for some time, but never long lasting. However Jesus offers something different. Jesus claims to have a peace that is not like the world. Jesus offers the peace that we all long for and want, that all these other approaches of money, people, self discovery promise us but don’t deliver.

So let’s dig into what Jesus means by “His peace”, how that differs from the peace of the world, and what that means for all of us.

(We even seek peace from church or others spiritual practices. I have talked to many young Christians who can’t seem to find peace in the spiritual lives. They are reading their bibles, they are praying, going to Church, and doing a host of other spiritual disciplines and activities but still feel restless.)

Text:

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Peace

Peace. Total well-being, prosperity, and security associated with God’s presence among his people. Linked in the OT with the covenant, the presence of peace, as God’s gift, was conditional upon Israel’s obedience. In prophetic material, true peace is part of the end-time hope of God’s salvation. In the NT, this longed-for peace is understood as having come in Christ and able to be experienced by faith.

Let’s first interact with the idea of “peace” used here in John 14:27

Usually in modern America and the West we tend to view “peace” as simply the absence of conflict, trouble, or issue. In other words, peace is seen as an external thing. As long as things are well and no problems exist we are at peace.

However, this is not the Jewish understanding of “peace” nor do I believe this is the kind of peace that Jesus is talking about. The Jewish understanding or thought of “peace” or “shalom” spoke to a total peace and rest in body, mind, and soul. The Jewish concept of “shalom” or “peace” was also deeply connected to the presence of God. If God was in their midst, than “shalom” was possible. Peace was a reality with God.

The Old Testament in fact foretold of a time where the Peace of the Messiah would could. There would be a time where this total rule and shalom from God would be a reality in the Messiah. We won’t take the time to read it this morning, but a premier example of this is Isaiah where the prophet is prophesying to a future reality of peace and prosperity that the Messiah will bring: Isaiah 32:16-20

The New International Version Chapter 32

The LORD’s justice will dwell in the desert,

his righteousness live in the fertile field.

17 The fruit of that righteousness will be peace;

its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.

18 My people will live in peaceful dwelling places,

in secure homes,

in undisturbed places of rest.

19 Though hail flattens the forest

and the city is leveled completely,

20 how blessed you will be,

sowing your seed by every stream,

and letting your cattle and donkeys range free.

This is all very important to understand and realize as we read through this passage in John 14:27 when Jesus is speaking to peace. This is the what His disciples would have thought of when they heard the word “peace” or “shalom”

“I do not give to you as the world gives”

Jesus says something important to his disciples and to us when he says He is giving us peace, but not the way that the world gives peace. This peace is not available through any earthly means.

Contrast the Pax Romana. In the first century the pax Romana was widely heralded, but it was a peace won and maintained by the brutal force of the sword. In that sense it typified the peace that the world gives. So when Jesus speaks of the peace of the world, he is certainly intending His disciples to separate His peace and the peace of Rome. To the first century Jew, Rome was the “world”. It was the “ends of the earth”.

Jesus makes a key distinction between the peace He offers and the peace that is offered through Rome or the way of the world.

The peace the world gives is circumstantial; the peace that Jesus gives is not circumstantial. The peace of this world can only give us a temporary solution, and is only maintained as long as the circumstances don’t change.

This is why things like relationships, finances, politics, and any thing else of this world system can never bring us the peace that we truly long after. They are all circumstantial. They all can go away. They can be used up. They can be lost. To look for peace here is like throwing chaff into the wind.

We all long for a peace that goes far beyond our circumstances, we long for a peace that we can hold to with certainty deep within our soul. At a soul level every human being craves this peace.

Every violent protest, every sought after relationship, every maneuver for power or finance, and security, in all comes down to the same thing. At the heart of all of this, at a soul level, we all want true, unhindered peace.

“Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.” -Augustine of Hippo

You see, Jesus is deeply concerned for the heart state of his disciples. He cares deeply that we are comforted and sure of His way, truth, and life. To have a heart for God is to have a heart that is ruled by peace.

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” Colossians 3:15

Gospel:

This is a truth and desire that has stretched from the beginning of time. From the moment that Adam and Eve chose to choose apart from God’s way in the Garden of Eden, man has searched for meaning, and peace, and rest, but have never found it outside of God. When there is no peace, there is fear. Remember it said that when Adam and Eve realized they were naked, they were afraid and hid from God. When there is no peace with God, there is fear that drives us from God.

As you read the Bible you can see mankind’s futile attempts to make a name for ourselves and become our own god, but always fall short. Human history is littered with this same story of the fall of Genesis 3 over and over and over.

Because the root of all of mankind’s unrest and lack of peace all ultimately stems from our lack of peace with God. Because we chose not to trust God, we have been at odds with Him and literal enemies of God.

However, because of the life of Jesus, and the victory of Jesus at the cross, we now have a chance to have peace with God. Jesus can offer us true peace because He was won and secured ultimate peace and rest from God at the cross of calvary. His death, resurrection, and ascension have made it possible for us to have true peace.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

We no longer have to be afraid or troubled, even in the midst of trials or suffering, because we have an undercurrent of peace and joy from Jesus that allows us to say, no matter what the circumstance, it is well with my soul.

Response:

Jesus will go on to teach that He will be sending another advocate, the Holy Spirit, to teach us and remind us all that Jesus said and did. It is through the Holy Spirit that the peace of Jesus is experienced in the life of a believer. The Holy Spirit probes our hearts, reminds us of our peace with God secured through Christ, and causes us to rejoice.

Paul picks up on this in Philippians 4

Phil 4:4-7

The New International Version Chapter 4

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Paul makes it clear that we will experience the peace of God when cast all our cares of God with hearts of thanksgiving and trust. It seems that thanksgiving and praise are like doorways that we enter into the peace and rest from God.

One of the hardest things for us to do as humans is to let go of control. We like to know how things are going to play out. No matter how much of a risk taker you may be, we ultimately want to know that in the end we are going to win more than we lose. However, if we are in control of our lives, then that means we aren’t allowing God to have his way in our life. We can’t experience the peace of God when our hands are clenched around our lives.

Peter picks up on this as well: 1 Peter 5:6-7

The New International Version Chapter 5

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you

Peter tells us that God cares for us, and we must in humble surrender as we let go of lives and loosen up the hands of the grasp we hold on to our lives, choices, and dreams.

Ironically, when we let go of the things we think are giving us peace, then we actually experience the true peace that Jesus is offering us. The peace of God that surpasses all understanding.

“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

The idea of Phil 4:7 is that of a garrison wall or a fortified wall. Paul is saying that the peace of God will act like an impenetrable defensive wall around our hearts and mind. So the peace of God will sustain us and guard us, even in the hardest of circumstances.

This peace is from God, secured for us by Jesus, and experienced in the person and power of the Holy Spirit. This end result of this work is peace that is deep and lasting. Worldly peace is defined by lack of conflict, but the peace of God is peace despite any conflict or trouble. It results in having no fear for the future or present. No fear in life or death, because we know the peace of God.

There are times that a Christian will walk through terrible suffering and turmoil, yet they are at peace. They are sure that God is good. They are sure that in the end all will be right. That only comes if you have the peace that Jesus offers. That is the peace the surpasses all understanding. Even if everything is falling down around us, we can have the peace of Jesus securing our souls and putting us at rest.

“A Great many people are trying to make peace. But that has already been done. God has not left for us to do; all that we have to do is enter into it.” - Dwight L. Moody

What a powerful truth. We can’t make peace for ourselves, only God can do that, and He has. God has already made peace for us through His son Jesus Christ. All we must do, is enter into that peace. God has even given us the way in which we can enter that peace in the person and power of the Holy Spirit.

So this morning I would simply invite you to ask the Holy Spirit to help you enter into the peace of the Messiah. Ask Him to help you receive the peace that Jesus brings. We all want rest, but Jesus is the only one who can bring it. He is our peace.