Promises leading to peace
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you” (John 14:27).
My mother-in-law used to say, “Your promises are like pie crusts – always breaking.” I hasten to add this wasn’t directed at me personally! I have often thought of how true these words can be. Keeping promises is a challenge and we often find out we are unable to deliver on our word.
In John 14 we discover Jesus Christ makes and keeps extraordinary promises. John is the only gospel writer to give us such a full account of the words and actions of Jesus on the Passover night before He was arrested and crucified. Even though the cross lay before Him, His words, contained in chapters 13 to 17, are not filled with sorrow and dismay. They are the most compelling descriptions of the Lord’s love for us and His promises to us; promises He was able to keep. He begins by presenting Himself as the object of our faith: “Believe also in Me” (verse 1). He would no longer be the object of sight to a few faithful followers on earth, but the object of faith in heaven to the millions who would trust and follow Him. In verse 2 He promises a place prepared for us in heaven: “I go to prepare a place for you.” The disciples had looked for an earthly kingdom, but Christ promised an inheritance in heaven. We are citizens of heaven, and the power to live on earth comes from our connection with Christ in heaven. The Lord Jesus promises, in verse 3, His personal return from heaven: “I will come again, and receive you to Myself.” He promised to come again and personally take them into the Father’s house in heaven. At the end of the same verse He promises His presence: “where I am, there you may be also.” On the cross the Lord promised the dying, repentant thief he would be with Him in Paradise. In these few verses the Lord fixes our faith and hope in Himself in heaven. Christians can be vague about heaven. The Lord brings it into focus. It’s about the Person. Just as we saw God’s love, grace and power in Jesus on earth, so we know these features in our living and all-powerful Saviour in heaven.
This leads us to the here and now. In verse 13 the Lord introduces them to the power of praying in His name: “Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do.” God’s love for the world was seen at the cross. The name of Jesus was written over that cross. It is the same name that “is above every name” (Philippians 2:9). Jesus is both our Saviour and our Lord. As we came to Him for salvation, so we go to Him for everything, asking in His name. In verses 16-17 of our chapter the Lord Jesus promises the Holy Spirit as a helper: “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth.” Jesus was not going to leave them as orphans. He was going to send another Helper; another Helper of the same kind. If we want to know who the Holy Spirit is like, then look at Jesus. He is in us, and He is with us. Finally, in verse 27, the Lord Jesus promises peace, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” As the storm of Calvary came into sight, Jesus promised His disciples peace. He is the Prince of peace.
Christ’s work is finished, our salvation is secure, and our destiny is assured. It is here and now we prove the reality of what we have in Christ. We do this by trusting the Saviour and walking with Him, being led and empowered by the Holy Spirit of God, and by being freed from anxiety to know the peace of God in every circumstance of life.
