Peace 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.
Pastor preached last Eastertide that Jesus' peace is not like the world's peace -- the peace that makes you comfortable and happy and all nicey-nice. Sometimes we want that peace (peace among our family members, peace with our boss, peace with the nations who bomb us) more than we want Jesus' kind of peace.
Today I noticed something else about this verse. I guess I always think of peace as a calm restful state of mind. But there's also the peace that comes at the end of battle, at the end of war, when the fighting is finished [a la "It is finished!"]. Jesus' peace means we are no longer at odds with God, no longer waging war with Him. The blood has been shed. The treaty has been agreed upon. The terms have been signed. Peace has been declared.
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This is lovely...
ReplyDeleteSeveral years ago I'd been leading a chat room group at Parents Place on attachment parenting (sling, child led weaning, family bed, etc.).
ReplyDeleteOne day, I was in the chat room trying to distract myself, because I'd just found out that the baby that I was 4 months pregnant had died. Only one person showed up that day, and it was a midwife from Texas. I told her what had happened, and she told me that she'd be praying for me that God would give me the peace that passes all understanding.
Even though I heard those words every week at the end of the sermon, I'd never really before thought about what that meant or even tried to comprehend it.
I've never looked at that blessing the same way, and you're right. That is more what God's peace is.