The Meaning of Peace
A London news- paper once reported the fascinating story of a middle-aged man who regained his sight after being blind since infancy. The man, of course, had not remembered the visual images he had seen as a baby. But, in his blindness, he had formed some fascinating perceptions about how things looked. For example, he thought that most people were tall and slender. He imagined that the few who were not were shaped like bottles. But the most striking notion he had formed over his years of sightlessness was, as he put it, "That all human faces looked peaceful."
Indeed, what that blind man felt in his innocence should have been so. Surely, it is reasonable to believe that human faces are meant by God to look peaceful. Even if you are not a Scripture scholar, you probably know the Old Testament word for "peace": the beautiful Hebrew word, "shalom." In the Bible, the word means so much in terms of human fulfillment that there is nothing better you could wish for another person. What about the New Testament word for peace? If you know anyone named "Irene," then you know the Greek word for "peace." It is spelled the same as Irene in English, although it is pronounced differently. Nevertheless, it carries into the New Testament all the fullness of the Old Testament meaning and more.
The word peace in the Bible -Shalom/irene -- whether the Hebrew or the Greek, carries not only our English connotation (the absence of warfare, the lack of discord and confusion) but also a very positive meaning. Usually, when we speak of peace on earth, we have in mind what one woman thought when she placed an inscription on her late husband's tombstone:
May he rest in peace. Until we meet again. Individually, these are good statements, but together they don't sound quite right. But wars come and go with such regularity that the two statements coming together may be an honest representation of what the word "peace" has come to mean. (The war is over. Until we meet again.) In any case, it means so much more in the Bible. In the Biblical sense, peace means wholeness or fullness or completeness. Peace in this sense is not just the absence of discord but the presence of harmony.
Read Luke, Chapter 24. The eleven remaining Apostles and other disciples have just received yet another report of Jesus' Resurrection. They were told, "It is true, He has appeared to Simon". While they are still talking about this, the Lord Himself appears in their midst and says, "Peace be to you". And "They were incredulous for sheer joy and wonder". This is the gift of peace from Jesus. But that's only half the story. In John’s Gospel the Risen Jesus says to the disciples, "Peace be with you ... As the Father has sent Me, so I send you ... Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:21, 22). Jesus was telling them, "I am giving you the gift of the Holy Spirit. I am giving you the gift of God's peace, and I want you to go out into the world and share it." And make no mistake: Christians going out into the world carrying this powerful force is, potentially, the greatest peacemaking instrument available to humanity.