John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
Today’s passage from Scripture is one that is very frequently recalled. What is not so frequently recalled is the fact that these words were spoken within an hour or two of the speaker’s betrayal, arrest, trial, whipping, public humiliation, and death by crucifixion. Jesus was fully aware of the fact that this destiny hung over him when he spoke these words. Not many minutes later, he was sweating blood in the Garden of Gethsemane. He knew as well that the apostles would be reeling with shock, terror, self-recrimination, and sheer physical horror within 24 hours. What then, could he have meant when he said, “My peace I give to you”? The operative word is “my”. As Jesus says, “Not as the world gives do I give to you.” The essence of all that the world gives is that it cannot stay. Every good thing the world gives vanishes like summer snow. Peace, love, comfort, beauty (especially beauty) are all, in this world, like wildflowers which today are, and tomorrow are thrown into the oven. As St. John says, “The world passes away.” But as with the world’s peace, so with the world’s pain. It too is not eternal. Only the things of God are eternal. And so the peace of Christ defeated the turmoil of this world, not by avoiding it, but by passing through it into the Resurrection. Likewise, for us, it is only through embracing pain and even death by the power of the Holy Spirit, that we can ultimately come to peace — his peace.
