Peace Not as the World Gives

John 14:27. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives." Then he repeats the earlier instruction that their hearts should not be troubled or afraid.

A departing friend leaves something behind. Jesus, knowing he is hours from arrest, leaves peace. He calls it his peace, which is not a vague calm but the settled confidence he himself carried into the events of that night. He had it because he trusted the Father completely, and he gives it because the Spirit he has just promised will make his trust available to them.

The world gives peace too, of a sort. It gives it when the bills are paid, the test results are good, and the news is quiet, and it takes it back the moment any of those change. Jesus is explicit that his gift works differently. It is given in the middle of trouble, not after it. On a Monday, when the week's demands are lined up in front of you, this is the peace to ask for. Not the removal of the demands, but a heart that is not ruled by them.