Peace I Leave With You
PEACE I LEAVE WITH YOU
JOHN 14:25-31
Real peace is a gift from Jesus Christ to those who receive and trust him.
Not only was the presence and power of Jesus limited in the incarnation, his teaching also had to be restricted. There were such obvious limitations in the capacity of the disciples to understand. One of the functions of the Holy Spirit was therefore to be that of teaching them further and also reminding them of what Jesus had said. In the new situation after the resurrection, with the new aid of the Holy Spirit, they would be able to grasp his message and the meaning of his own person and mission in a new way. We too live in this privileged position.
In the midst of so much that was disturbing, he promised them peace. Not the superficial co-existence which the world allows at times. This peace would reach through to the troubled heart. There should be joy also from contemplation of the fact that he was returning to the Father. The greatness of the Father meant the exaltation of Christ and the fulfillment of the blessings which he had promised would come to them through the Holy Spirit.
It was necessary for Jesus to let them know where he was going, because they could easily have been confused (as in fact they were) by the impending crisis. Satan was about to have his hour. He had no power over Jesus. What was going to happen was done in obedience to the Father’s command and was a demonstration to the world that he loved the Father.
Notes 14:26: for the teaching function of the Spirit see also 15:26; 16:13f. For the disciples’ understanding later what they could not understand during the ministry see 2:22; 12:16; 13:7. 14:28: this does not imply any inferiority (see 10:30). The Father is the source and origin of everything and he is greater than the Son in the sense that Jesus’ mission was one of obedience to his Father’s will. It is a reference to the incarnate Jesus. 14:30: “ruler of this world,” cf. 12:31. Whatever the rôle of Satan, the fact remains that in one sense Jesus’ death was voluntary (10:18). 14:31: “Rise, let us go hence.” The presence of these words at this stage has caused a number of scholars to suggest that chapters 15–16 should come before this point. It may be, however, that the words should be taken closely with the rest of the verse and are a moral exhortation to go and meet the advancing enemy.