John 14:27 27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Because of the presence of the Holy Spirit, the disciples did not need to worry about their future. Jesus bestows on them a blessing of peace (eirēnēn). The typical Jewish greeting was šâlōm, a wish for peace and well-being upon a person. Jesus gave his peace as he prepared to leave his disciples. He repeats the blessings twice for emphasis and personalizes the second blessing. His peace is much different than the world’s peace. The world searches for peace but never quite finds it. What it calls peace may only be a pause in war, fighting, bickering, and competition. Peace is fleeting and hard to find because of human sinfulness, selfishness, and pride. The prophet Jeremiah records God’s word in 6:13–15 where people proclaim “Peace, peace,” but are full of deceit and selfish gain.
Jesus’ blessing of peace is not just a farewell but a welcome to the new reality his death and resurrection would bring. The first words Jesus spoke to his disciples after resurrection were “Peace be with you” (20:19, 21, 26). The verb for leave (aphiēmi) has a wide range of meanings. One of those has a legal sense of leaving something behind for someone, as in bequeathing. The gift Jesus was leaving his disciples was peace.
Peace was Jesus’ answer to the troubled hearts of the disciples. Troubled (tarassesthō) gives the image of something shaken from its foundation as in an earthquake. Earthquakes often bring fear and uncertainty. The disciples were unsettled in their confusion about what was happening. They had many things to worry about, especially what Jesus said about leaving them. The peace Jesus brought began within their hearts where the trouble was and would work out to how they lived with one another in love and how they loved their neighbors. The Holy Spirit would be the instrument of this peace (Galatians 5:22), along with love and joy. The peace Jesus promised his disciples is available to all who come to him in faith, trusting in his promises of new life.
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