Peace

At times, the world can feel overwhelming.

The disciples might have felt overwhelmed too. Jesus was under attack and would soon be taken by the authorities. He had told them this would happen, but now it finally really was unfolding right before their eyes. Surely they were afraid. He had been with them so long and protected them and guided them. In John 16 we read Jesus comforting them, “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” (John 16:16)

It should have brought them peace. He would return, but instead they were fearful of His absence. We see in the next verse, “So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” (John 16:17). You can hear the confusion, the anticipation, the uncertainty in their questions.

In the same way, we await the return of Jesus and in the same way, we are in a way, experiencing His absence. Yes, He is risen! Yes, He promises us He is with us! Yes, He gives us the Comforter! But, He is not here in the same way that He was with them in His earthly ministry for years. So Jesus, knowing their hearts, wants to give them comfort and strength. This same encouragement should strengthen us: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33).

Christ has a desire that we experience peace. But in the same breath, He tells us that there will be turmoil. So, the peace in our heart is given by Christ Himself and His defeat of death and sin on the cross. But, people then and people today still live in hateful, self-serving, dishonest, and evil lives. In the previous verse, John 16:32a, Jesus says, “Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone.”

And so we live in the tension. The in-between time of these the last days. We have redemption in Christ, we have eternal life, but this Kingdom rule is not yet fully realized. There are still people that wrestle against the Lord in favor of sin and death. They resist the Lord and they resist His messengers.

This is why Jesus can say in John 16 and elsewhere that He will give you peace and joy, but also in John 16 and elsewhere Jesus warns of tribulation. He puts it this way in Matthew 10: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.” (Mt 10:34-36).

Jesus isn’t bringing violence but division. Hebrews 4:12 reads: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Therefore, this sword is one that separates believers and unbelievers, faithful and unfaithful, followers and wanderers.

Jesus brings peace, but that peace brings pain to those too tied to their sin to be saved. 

Listening

Jesus answers His accusers with Scripture. They asked who he was and He told them then the same as He'd been telling them His entire ministry. Through words, deeds, miracles, healings, and power Jesus makes it plain what He thinks about Himself. On every page of the New Testament, we see this proclamation, over and over and over again. 

In the scriptures below, we see a prophecy, a claim, and a fulfilment. Take a moment and just listen to the word of God. Jesus, the one like a Son of Man, loves you and offers you redemption and eternal life. 

He tells us who He is, plainly, clearly, and without qualification.

Daniel 7:13-14

"In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

Mark 14:61-64

But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?" "I am," said Jesus. "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven." The high priest tore his clothes. "Why do we need any more witnesses?" he asked. "You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?" They all condemned him as worthy of death.

1 Peter 3:18-22

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits — to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also —not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand —with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

Seeking

The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 13:5 to “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.” Or again in 1 Corinthians 11:28, “Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.” In both cases, Paul is making the case that we ought to be able to know for ourselves our standing with our God. We are encouraged to look critically at the life we live and choices we make to see if that aligns with the teachings of the New Testament. He tells us to compare our lives to the life of Christ to know if we are living by faith or living in sin.

But, this is not the only way we examined. Yes, how we live and what we do is very important. But, that life and those choices should be the result of a changed heart. According to 2 Corinthians 5:17 ("Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"), this transformed life should be the result of a resurrected inner self.

When we think about our spiritual health, it might be easy to focus on what we do: I pray throughout the day, multiple times even. I read the scriptures and study them diligently. I attend the worship services whenever they are available. I give honor to mother and father. I uphold the commandments.

Or maybe it’s what we don’t do: I don’t speed. I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I don’t gamble. I don’t use bad words. I don’t _______.

However, our examination cannot begin and end with our behavior. We must get to the “why” of who we are. We must look at why we have become who we have become. We must think carefully and thoroughly about our motivations because, to use a modern turn of phrase: “it’s the thought that counts.”

Throughout the New Testament we see that many people wanted to work their way into salvation. They believed they could earn it by themselves rather than accepting the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Paul works to correct this way of thinking in Romans 3:20 when he says “By works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight...” or again Galatians 2:16 when he says, “...a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ...”.

The churches in Galatia in particular struggled with this issue. To some, it became another Gospel. That is, it became another means of salvation. This other Gospel was one that said you were not saved by Jesus, but saved by the works you did. Some Christians even believed in this lie.

So Paul warned them and called them back to the truth that salvation only comes by the grace found in Christ Jesus when he says, “You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.” (Gal. 5:4).

Notice this key phrase, “trying to be justified” – it wasn’t that they wanted to be justified, but it was the means by which they thought they would be justified.

When we are trying to save ourselves of ourselves by ourselves we find ourselves lost.

But, when we find Jesus and we know Him and we seek Him and we have a love for Him that changes us from the inside out, our lives will look like His and His blood will cleanse us from all our sin. (Acts 22:16).