The risen Savior offers his peace to us. In his farewell to the disciples Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you” (John 14:27). As mortals we understand peace as the absence of conflict, trouble, and turmoil. Peace represents a desire to escape from the harsh realities of life. But Jesus means the opposite. The external circumstances have nothing to do with his offer of peace. It is internal, a sense of calm in the midst of a storm. It means I will have to face fear to learn to become unafraid. By going through death, fully trusting His Father, Christ destroys it by allowing it wreak a havoc on his body. On the eve of His fearful passion, when anxiety had been weighing heavily on him Jesus calmly shares His inner peace with His disciples. Because he was so trusting in the unfailing love of His Father and inseparable union with him, Jesus will take up the cross voluntarily without any sense of defense or vengeance. No wonder many scholars of John’s gospel believe that the moment of crucifixion was simultaneously an experience of deep love called resurrection. Would it be possible for us to hold on to unfailing love within when we experience a terrible, hateful situation? Jesus says yes. But this kind of peace is not within our making. It can only be freely given by God, and we can only trust in this paradoxical sense of peace.
