Fear And Anxiety
THAT’S what he has in mind. Of course, there are a thousand fruits. This is the root of a new world order, but on his mind is: “You look troubled. Your faces look trouble. I love you. I don’t like it when you look that way. I don’t want to leave you that way.” It’s that simple. It’s that precious. It’s
Text: John 14: 27
John 14: 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 hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” So in the last hour of his life, Jesus is helping you not be anxious. “Let not your hearts be troubled.” The peace he has in mind might include global, national, political, intra- ethnic or inter- ethnic peace. Those aren’t at the front of his mind, though, and I know it isn’t because of what he says: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled.”
that personal. It is. He says, “Heart — don’t let your heart be troubled. Not your globe, but don’t let your heart be troubled. Neither let it be afraid. I want you to be fearless, Peter. I want you to be a rock.”
“The peace that Jesus gives is not circumstantially based. It is peace in bad circumstances.”
“Not as the world gives.” How does the world give peace? It does. The world gives peace with retirement accounts. The world gives peace with health insurance. The world gives peace with bomb shelters. The world gives peace with safety nets in the society. The world gives peace with police. The world gives peace of mind in a hundred ways, which I’m thankful for and I’m glad they exist. And Jesus says, “I’m not giving that way. That’s not what I’m doing.” “What do you mean, Jesus, that you’re not doing it that way?”
And Jesus responds, “I’m not giving you the kind of peace that can be taken away when the police go away. I’m not giving you the kind of peace that can be taken away in India no matter what. That is not what I’m about.” How do I know that he means that the world’s peace of mind is circumstantially based? Like, get health insurance, get a nice retirement account, live in the right neighbourhood, get the right locks on your doors, and then you can have some peace of mind. “That’s not what I’m giving you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. I’m giving you peace so that when the locks come off, the police go away, the mob comes, and your cross is on the horizon, you’ve still got it.” I know he has all this in mind because in John 16: 33, he says the same thing, only he makes it explicit: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
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