Peace was a part of Jesus’ message and his mission. You may hear Jesus called the “Prince of Peace”.
Just before Jesus’ birth there was a prophecy about the effect of Jesus' coming, including: It will shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death. It will guide our feet on the path of peace.” (Zechariah in Luke 1:79, NIRV). People who felt themselves estranged from God and under threat would be able to move ahead into the path of peace as they heeded John the Baptiser and welcomed Jesus.
(Peace might be inward, or between connected people, or with neighbours, or with Rome or other nations, or all of the above!)
Unfortunately, many people would, or could, not take the necessary step and things were sadly unchanged: They have not known the path of peace (Paul, Romans 3:17, GNT). It did not, and does not, need to remain like that; the way is open: Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us (Romans 5:1, NLT). Enmity with God is unnecessary.
In a pericope on another kind of peace, reported by Matthew and Luke as well, we read of a frightening storm: When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm (Mark 4:39, NLT). Some translations render as “peace, be still”. Those well-known words tell of God’s control.
Jesus sent 70 of his followers out to share the news in their community. He told them to pray peace upon each home to which they came. And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you (Luke 10:6, NRSV). No doubt reception was mixed. The potential for gaining inner peace was there if Jesus was accepted. There were those inclined to entering into peace. By believing him and in him they could become right in God’s eyes. There was also the possibility to reject - humans have capacity to choose where they stand.
It may seem like an awkward fact, but Jesus did make this confronting no “peace in our time” statement: Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you. I have come to separate people (Luke 12:51, NIRV). In Matthew’s 10:34 we read of Jesus bringing a sword as well as division. Therein lies consequence of choosing to reject the peace maker. This was not his plan for amongst his followers! In the midst of warnings about misleading others, we have: Salt is good, but if the salt should lose its flavor, how can you make it salty? Have salt among yourselves and be at peace with one another” (Mark 9:50, HCSB). Peace is one of the marks to be found in and between his followers.
All of the Gospels recount Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem at the start of the final week. This was a highly charged moment. Luke speaks of divine peace gained, and of political peace lost, a loss which brought grief to Jesus: As he (Jesus) was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying,
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”
As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God”[b] (Luke 19: 37-44, NRSV). The people’s cries have considerable overlap as recorded by the four. There is also considerable variation. (Unsurprising, since they were not drilled and rehearsed.) But - surely heaven is not likely to be subjected to disturbance? (See post on “Heaven”.) The people’s cry, “peace in heaven”, is a puzzle. (The textual evidence points to this being troublesome from ancient times.) Was it a reaching after peace between humans and God? For sure, the impending final demise of Judaea was set in train by their sad rejection of God’s Word to them, their refusal of the path of peace.
As his followers came up against the most turbulent of times Jesus told them how they would be taken care of. “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 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. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe (John 14:25-29, ESV). They knew their world was under the "Pax Romana" by military force; their people eventually would resist that "peace" to their own destruction. To oppose Rome was to obliterate that peace. Jesus' peace contrasts - possibly deliberately. Then, Jesus' execution was only hours away. Still, his peace would be sure and permanent. The followers (believers) had to learn that God's Holy Spirit would be remaining within. I think it would be fair to speak of the Holy Spirit as the internal "peace-keeper". As today, so then, God by the Holy Spirit brings and brought his people through troubled times. Jesus' words were not lost.
We can see that Jesus came and preached peace to you who were far away. He also preached peace to those who were near (Ephesians 2:17, NIRV). Paul seems there to be giving emphasis to those who were not “his own” (Jesus' own) but who did receive him. God loves. God offers peace to all. Think about these words, also from Paul: Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel (Philippians 4:7, CEV).
An old hymn about the peace Jesus brings: https://youtu.be/GPOMDSXuIVI
Background
Jesus' ancestors knew a longing for peace. The Old Testament (OT) background includes the following lines, which include the (equivalent) word we may know as “shalom” (peace). These striking words I see as reaching their epitome in Jesus.
For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6, NRSV).
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5, ESV).
From the earliest times, Jesus has been seen in these lines; so we read:
He Himself bore our sins
in His body on the tree,
so that, having died to sins,
we might live for righteousness;
you have been healed by His wounds[a] (1 Peter 2:24, HCSB).
The concept of "peace" instead of war is found in NT (and OT). Jesus used confronting family, building construction, and diplomacy-military, illustrations of the serious nature of the choice we face: Large crowds were traveling with Jesus. He turned and spoke to them. He said, “Anyone who comes to me must hate their father and mother. They must hate their wife and children. They must hate their brothers and sisters. And they must hate even their own life. Unless they do this, they can’t be my disciple. Whoever doesn’t carry their cross and follow me can’t be my disciple.
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you sit down first and figure out how much it will cost? Then you will see whether you have enough money to finish it. Suppose you start building and are not able to finish. Then everyone who sees what you have done will laugh at you. They will say, ‘This person started to build but wasn’t able to finish.’
“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. And suppose he has 10,000 men, while the other has 20,000 coming against him. Won’t he first sit down and think about whether he can win? And suppose he decides he can’t win. Then he will send some men to ask how peace can be made. He will do this while the other king is still far away. In the same way, you must give up everything you have. Those of you who don’t cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:25-33, NIRV). Choices carry consequences.
If only we could think of making peace just because it is right, from strength, instead of making war. Today we sadly see strife and enmity between states, and within states, and within communities, and even families. The taking, hatred and fighting tale is a very long one. Regrettably, mankind’s greed, aggression, pride, selfishness and appetite seems intractable. In “mankind” here I mean “male” in particular. There is hope where the Spirit of God can produce the fruit of peace (Galatians 5:22).
ADDENDUM:
The release of the the final report of our sadly necessary Royal Commission into Australian institutional responses to child sexual abuse shows how far from the path of true love and peace are some who supposedly follow it. The same (male) flaws and evil behaviours occur in widely disparate settings. I read of ugly self-interest concern by offenders in the midst of the tragic suffering of their victims. The account is sad and shameful. Thank God for Julia Gillard and for more impetus towards right and justice. I hope the survivors can reach peace within.
This week I heard a (personally known) elderly, sincere, blind North Coast member of Anglicanism tell about the disastrous financial effect of compensation on that body, and - how the institution was not really responsible! (It now seems the person is deceived. What is spoken about may be slanted or mistaken.) I have found that "institutions" tend to be defensive, evasive, blinkered and have their officers muzzled. Responsibility is all too often too diffuse for justice and prevention. Surely, at least in relation to child abuse, there must now, following the NSW Wood Commission and the Royal Commission into institutional responses, be little room for perpetrators, no matter how cloaked, nor room for prevarication.
As for the huge work of the commission:
https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/
Scripture quotations marked (CEV) are from the Contemporary English Version Copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.Scripture quotations marked (HCSB) are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.
Scripture quotations marked (NIRV) are taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL READER'S VERSION®.Copyright © 1996, 1998 Biblica. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of Biblica.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NRSV) are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
I retain in the publishers' text the references () to footnotes where they occur. You can check them out by viewing the text on-line. Often they are the same in different translations.
Note: Bible text sourced through Biblegateway.com or/and BlueLetterBible.org.
In a pericope on another kind of peace, reported by Matthew and Luke as well, we read of a frightening storm: When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm (Mark 4:39, NLT). Some translations render as “peace, be still”. Those well-known words tell of God’s control.
Jesus sent 70 of his followers out to share the news in their community. He told them to pray peace upon each home to which they came. And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you (Luke 10:6, NRSV). No doubt reception was mixed. The potential for gaining inner peace was there if Jesus was accepted. There were those inclined to entering into peace. By believing him and in him they could become right in God’s eyes. There was also the possibility to reject - humans have capacity to choose where they stand.
It may seem like an awkward fact, but Jesus did make this confronting no “peace in our time” statement: Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you. I have come to separate people (Luke 12:51, NIRV). In Matthew’s 10:34 we read of Jesus bringing a sword as well as division. Therein lies consequence of choosing to reject the peace maker. This was not his plan for amongst his followers! In the midst of warnings about misleading others, we have: Salt is good, but if the salt should lose its flavor, how can you make it salty? Have salt among yourselves and be at peace with one another” (Mark 9:50, HCSB). Peace is one of the marks to be found in and between his followers.
All of the Gospels recount Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem at the start of the final week. This was a highly charged moment. Luke speaks of divine peace gained, and of political peace lost, a loss which brought grief to Jesus: As he (Jesus) was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying,
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”
As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God”[b] (Luke 19: 37-44, NRSV). The people’s cries have considerable overlap as recorded by the four. There is also considerable variation. (Unsurprising, since they were not drilled and rehearsed.) But - surely heaven is not likely to be subjected to disturbance? (See post on “Heaven”.) The people’s cry, “peace in heaven”, is a puzzle. (The textual evidence points to this being troublesome from ancient times.) Was it a reaching after peace between humans and God? For sure, the impending final demise of Judaea was set in train by their sad rejection of God’s Word to them, their refusal of the path of peace.
As his followers came up against the most turbulent of times Jesus told them how they would be taken care of. “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 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. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe (John 14:25-29, ESV). They knew their world was under the "Pax Romana" by military force; their people eventually would resist that "peace" to their own destruction. To oppose Rome was to obliterate that peace. Jesus' peace contrasts - possibly deliberately. Then, Jesus' execution was only hours away. Still, his peace would be sure and permanent. The followers (believers) had to learn that God's Holy Spirit would be remaining within. I think it would be fair to speak of the Holy Spirit as the internal "peace-keeper". As today, so then, God by the Holy Spirit brings and brought his people through troubled times. Jesus' words were not lost.
We can see that Jesus came and preached peace to you who were far away. He also preached peace to those who were near (Ephesians 2:17, NIRV). Paul seems there to be giving emphasis to those who were not “his own” (Jesus' own) but who did receive him. God loves. God offers peace to all. Think about these words, also from Paul: Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel (Philippians 4:7, CEV).
An old hymn about the peace Jesus brings: https://youtu.be/GPOMDSXuIVI
Background
Jesus' ancestors knew a longing for peace. The Old Testament (OT) background includes the following lines, which include the (equivalent) word we may know as “shalom” (peace). These striking words I see as reaching their epitome in Jesus.
For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6, NRSV).
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5, ESV).
From the earliest times, Jesus has been seen in these lines; so we read:
He Himself bore our sins
in His body on the tree,
so that, having died to sins,
we might live for righteousness;
you have been healed by His wounds[a] (1 Peter 2:24, HCSB).
The concept of "peace" instead of war is found in NT (and OT). Jesus used confronting family, building construction, and diplomacy-military, illustrations of the serious nature of the choice we face: Large crowds were traveling with Jesus. He turned and spoke to them. He said, “Anyone who comes to me must hate their father and mother. They must hate their wife and children. They must hate their brothers and sisters. And they must hate even their own life. Unless they do this, they can’t be my disciple. Whoever doesn’t carry their cross and follow me can’t be my disciple.
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you sit down first and figure out how much it will cost? Then you will see whether you have enough money to finish it. Suppose you start building and are not able to finish. Then everyone who sees what you have done will laugh at you. They will say, ‘This person started to build but wasn’t able to finish.’
“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. And suppose he has 10,000 men, while the other has 20,000 coming against him. Won’t he first sit down and think about whether he can win? And suppose he decides he can’t win. Then he will send some men to ask how peace can be made. He will do this while the other king is still far away. In the same way, you must give up everything you have. Those of you who don’t cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:25-33, NIRV). Choices carry consequences.
If only we could think of making peace just because it is right, from strength, instead of making war. Today we sadly see strife and enmity between states, and within states, and within communities, and even families. The taking, hatred and fighting tale is a very long one. Regrettably, mankind’s greed, aggression, pride, selfishness and appetite seems intractable. In “mankind” here I mean “male” in particular. There is hope where the Spirit of God can produce the fruit of peace (Galatians 5:22).
ADDENDUM:
The release of the the final report of our sadly necessary Royal Commission into Australian institutional responses to child sexual abuse shows how far from the path of true love and peace are some who supposedly follow it. The same (male) flaws and evil behaviours occur in widely disparate settings. I read of ugly self-interest concern by offenders in the midst of the tragic suffering of their victims. The account is sad and shameful. Thank God for Julia Gillard and for more impetus towards right and justice. I hope the survivors can reach peace within.
This week I heard a (personally known) elderly, sincere, blind North Coast member of Anglicanism tell about the disastrous financial effect of compensation on that body, and - how the institution was not really responsible! (It now seems the person is deceived. What is spoken about may be slanted or mistaken.) I have found that "institutions" tend to be defensive, evasive, blinkered and have their officers muzzled. Responsibility is all too often too diffuse for justice and prevention. Surely, at least in relation to child abuse, there must now, following the NSW Wood Commission and the Royal Commission into institutional responses, be little room for perpetrators, no matter how cloaked, nor room for prevarication.
As for the huge work of the commission:
https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/
Scripture quotations marked (CEV) are from the Contemporary English Version Copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.Scripture quotations marked (HCSB) are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.
Scripture quotations marked (NIRV) are taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL READER'S VERSION®.Copyright © 1996, 1998 Biblica. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of Biblica.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NRSV) are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
I retain in the publishers' text the references () to footnotes where they occur. You can check them out by viewing the text on-line. Often they are the same in different translations.
Note: Bible text sourced through Biblegateway.com or/and BlueLetterBible.org.
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