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 heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
My [emphatic] peace I give to you;
Jesus as the “Prince of Peace” (Is 9:6) would leave His legacy of peace with the apostles. The peace He affords is an entirely new economy centered in the Holy Spirit.
“My peace” is Jesus’ personal peace. He eternally lives in amity with the Father; their relationship was never broken. He affords both judicial and experiential peace. This stunning claim by Jesus would be ludicrous on the lips of anyone else.
not as the world gives do I give to you.
The world system cannot provide the kind of peace that Jesus affords. Caesar Augustus of Rome contributed its pax Romana (peace of Rome) but had to do it by the sword. Jesus did it by His work on the cross. The world system cannot duplicate His kind of peace.
PRINCIPLE:
Jesus gives believers two kinds of peace.
APPLICATION:
Believers have both peace with God (Ro 5:1) and the peace of God (Php 4:7). Peace “with” God is objective; Jesus reconciled us to God and we are no longer His enemies. This is judicial peace. The peace “of” God is subjective; there is a settlement of the soul when we accept God’s sovereign actions on our souls. This is peace that we experience actively in our lives.
The world system tries to present itself as the answer to peace in the world (1 Th 5:3). The peace that Jesus affords is far beyond world peace or the cessation of hostility between nations. It is a peace that comes through a relationship with Him. He can give peace to troubled hearts. This kind of peace can deal with anxiety and give calmness and confidence in troubled times. It is a peace that transcends circumstances.
