Why Jesus?…

In his own words (part 17)

Along with his love (John 15:9) and his joy (15:11) Jesus promised his disciples peace as well – twice: in John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace,” and in John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.”

So I wondered what he meant by “peace,” how we get his peace, and what are the obvious symptoms that we’ve got it. 

Starting with the symptoms, Jesus gave two clues in John 14:27 – the first being: “I do not give to you as the world gives.” His peace is totally unique, unlike anything the world comes up with and calls “peace.” The first obvious symptom we have his peace, then, is realizing we’re experiencing something totally different, that in reality – living in this crazy uncertain world – we shouldn’t be experiencing. But as Paul phrased it: “The peace of God transcends all understanding” (Philippians 4:7). It cannot be explained. It defies logic. So if we’ve got it, it will be obvious.   

The second obvious symptom in verse 27 is that, despite everything that happens to us in this world, “our hearts will not be troubled and neither will we be afraid.” Jesus says much the same thing in John 16:33 too, that “In this world you will have trouble – BUT – take heart, I have overcome the world,” meaning that we can overcome it too. And looking back over the centuries and what Christians have endured, Jesus’ peace is powerful stuff. So, again, if we’ve got it, it will be obvious. 

So how do we get such peace to keep us afloat in the worst of storms? Jesus gave three clues: the first in John 14, that “the Holy Spirit” (verse 26) will “live with you and in you” (verse 17). And what the Spirit does is “take from what is mine and make it known to you” (16:15). So it’s the Spirit that makes Jesus’ peace known to us and real in us.     

The second clue Jesus gave to experiencing his peace is in John 14:21 – “Whoever has my commands and obeys them he is the one who loves me…and I too will love him and show myself to him.” So obeying what Jesus taught is the second clue, because he then “shows himself” to us, as to the life he lived and now makes possible in us, by living his peace through the Holy Spirit in us. And there’s a third clue too…(continues Friday)