Peace
I leave with you; my peace I give to you.Not as the world gives do I give it to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
John 14:27
This
is Jesus’s farewell address, spoken to his apostles as he celebrates Passover
with them on the eve of his torture and death.
What peace does he offer them under these circumstances? He will go on, in this speech, to prophesy
their own horrific deaths. But “not as
the world gives” does he give them peace.
This is something more than a promise that they’ll avoid hardship, pain,
and suffering. This is a peace that surpasses all understanding, as Paul will
say to the Philippians (4:7). God does
not promise us good luck, health, prosperity, or even guidance. Yes, bad things happen to good people and
vice versa. That is what Jesus is
affirming. What God promises is that He
will suffer it with us. Elizabeth Kübler
Ross, the pioneer of palliative care, said that sometimes when we’re in pain we
want to say “don’t just do something, stand there.” That is what God offers. The Creator of the Universe, the Alpha and
the Omega, He Who placed the world on its foundations, suffers with us. That is extraordinary.
