It's the Peace of Jesus Himself

John 14:25-27
25“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26But 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. 27Peace 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.

Up until this point in John’s narrative we have not heard much about the Holy Spirit. While we find Him present at the baptism of Jesus, He is so far the silent Partner in the Trinity. But make no mistake, silent does not mean inactive. The Spirit of God is constantly moving throughout the Bible beginning in Genesis 1 all the way through Revelation 22. Now Jesus promises this Spirit to His followers as a constant companion and that promise lives in us today 2,000 years later. As the Disciples listen to Jesus, their hearts must be breaking because He is telling them that soon He will leave. They have no idea what He means when He promises to send the Spirit. They will grieve but they will also be comforted. This passage (along with many others) helps to explain the absolute unity that is the Triune God. Just because Jesus is not here in the flesh doesn’t mean He is not here. This Spirit is His Spirit. And for reasons that can only be explained by God’s great love, that Spirit has chosen to come and live not with us, but inside of us. As I think about my internal life I can only assume it’s pretty crowded in there for Him.

With that being said, each believer is a walking miracle for inside of them resides the Living God. He loves us so much that He cannot leave us here alone. While Jesus was most certainly grieved over having to suffer on the cross, I don’t think He was grieved to leave His disciples at all because He would return in the person of the Holy Spirit. He would be back; and not only in the distant future when His physical form returns on the clouds. He would be back 10 days after His Ascension in the form of the Holy Spirit. The coming separation would be minor and short.

Today we face no such separation. Jesus’ Spirit is here to stay, and we will not know the grief of His absence.

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.

Learning how to press into that already present Spirit is a great skill to know. For me personally, it requires quiet and solitude. The Spirit can break through the noise but He rarely does. And as we all know, quiet is a rare commodity today. I have to intentionally seek it out and give the Spirit room to speak. The only way to experience the peace that Jesus promised is to allow the Spirit to deliver it. Sometimes I am overwhelmed by my life and let the stuff of life crowd out His voice. Those can become desperate days. But He doesn’t leave and I am grateful. The Holy Spirit remains and holds me close to the Savior all of the time, delivering a constant flow of peace.

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