15 “If you love me, you will obey my commandments. 16 I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper who will be with you forever. 17 That helper is the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept him, because it doesn’t see or know him. You know him, because he lives with you and will be in you.
18 “I will not leave you all alone. I will come back to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. You will live because I live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father and that you are in me and that I am in you. 21 Whoever knows and obeys my commandments is the person who loves me. Those who love me will have my Father’s love, and I, too, will love them and show myself to them.”
22 Judas (not Iscariot) asked Jesus, “Lord, what has happened that you are going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”
23 Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will go to them and make our home with them. 24 A person who doesn’t love me doesn’t do what I say. I don’t make up what you hear me say. What I say comes from the Father who sent me.
25 “I have told you this while I’m still with you. 26 However, the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything. He will remind you of everything that I have ever told you.
27 “I’m leaving you peace. I’m giving you my peace. I don’t give you the kind of peace that the world gives. So don’t be troubled or cowardly. 28 You heard me tell you, ‘I’m going away, but I’m coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I’m going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am.
29 “I’m telling you this now before it happens. When it does happen, you will believe. 30 The ruler of this world has no power over me. But he’s coming, so I won’t talk with you much longer. 31 However, I want the world to know that I love the Father and that I am doing exactly what the Father has commanded me to do. Get up! We have to leave.”
Read John 14:15-31 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
Often when reading a passage from a different translation, I catch new words or ideas that I have never seen before. Perhaps this is the translation’s or translator’s fault, or maybe, the original language used a word that conveyed something more that this translation wants to draw out.
Whatever the reason, this passage includes a word and an idea that I have not ever noticed before.
In verse 27, we read Jesus’ promise, and see this “new” word/idea: “I’m leaving you peace. I’m giving you my peace. I don’t give you the kind of peace that the world gives. So don’t be troubled or cowardly.”
Jesus tells us not to be cowardly?
What does that have to do with the peace He promises?
Some might believe that God gives us peace in situations where we have no power to change the circumstances. This is often the case. But where people go too far in their thinking is that God’s peace excuses them from being engaged. Receiving God’s peace is not a sign that we can now retreat. That would be “cowardly”.
The peace God has promised comes on a deeper level. His peace fills your heart. His peace assures us that we are loved, forgiven, saved, and now empowered to act. His peace says that He will be with us as we face whatever the future holds.
Peace that the world gives is different. This peace is bartered and temporary. It could be the lull in a storm of circumstances. The world’s peace is nice, but it cannot fill our lives like God’s peace. God’s peace is present when things get out of control. God’s peace remains when the world’s peace has expired and left.
God’s peace is peace that I want. When life throws us doubts and uncertainties, with Jesus’ peace, we can be empowered and freed to move forward – and moving forward with God is not cowardly!
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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