Jesus was the giver of peace

JESUS WAS THE GIVER OF PEACE
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
John 14:27 27
PeaceI leave with you; my peace I give
you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let
your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The BequestOf Peace
John 14:27
J.R. ThomsonThis promise of the Savior sank into his people's hearts. From
the first, inward peace, peaceofconscienceand of spirit, was valued as among
the choicestpossessions ofthe members of Christ's Church. They gave their
children names such as Irenaeus and Irene, which signify simply "peace."In
the course oftheir communion services it was their custom to greetone
another with the salutation, "Peace be with you!" In the catacombs ofRome
may still be read on many a Christian's tomb the brief but touching
inscription, In Face ("In peace"). So did they value the gift and legacyof their
beloved Lord.
I. THERE IS IN HUMAN LIFE MUCH THAT IS FITTED TO DISTURB
AND TO DESTROYPEACE.
1. Looking back to the past, many are troubled at the retrospectof their own
errors, follies, and sins.
2. Looking round upon the present, many cannotfail to discern in their actual
circumstances occasionsofdistress and alarm.
3. Looking forward to the future, anxious minds are perturbed by forebodings
and fears.
II. THE WORLD IS POWERLESS TO IMPART OR TO RESTOREPEACE
TO THE TROUBLED HEART. The consolationsofthe world are delusive, its
promises deceptive.

1. There may well be here a reference to the ordinary greetings of the East.
"Peace!" is the common salutation, and has been from time immemorial. Like
all such greetings, it often was and is altogetherthoughtless and insincere.
Our Lord's "peace" is something quite different.
2. But there is a deeperreference, viz. to the pretence of peace as givenby the
world, to which no reality corresponds. The world says, "Peace, peace;when
there is no peace."Superficial, deceptive, utterly false, is that insensibility to
terrible realities which frivolity and skepticismoffer to the troubled soul, Far
better storms of fear and care than such a calm as this!
For terrible is the awakening, when the judgment of the
All-righteous draws near.
III. CHRIST'S PEACE, AND HIS ALONE, IS VALID AND LASTING.
1. This is spiritual peace. It is not to be supposed that the Christian is exempt
from the cares and the calamities of life, that outward circumstances and
human societyare all to combine in order to his preservationfrom the
troubles which are incidental to human life. But there may be calm within
even while the storm rages without. The heart may be so free from fear.
2. This peace proceedsfrom the restorationof right relations betweenthe soul
and God. It is peace ofconscience, the substitution of harmony with the
government and the will of God for that state of discord which is the
experience of the nature that is alienatedfrom the eternal Ruler of all. To be
right with God is the first condition of human peace. Suchconcordit is the
work of the Redeemerto bring about.
3. This peace is both a bequest and a gift of Christ. It is a legacy, becauseit
was dependent upon the Lord's departure, and the subsequent establishment
of a spiritual dispensation. It is a gift, because apartfrom the Savior's
provision there was no means by which this blessing might be securedand
enjoyed. The peace in question is not to be earned by any effort or sacrifice of
ours; it is the bestowmentof the infinite love and grace of the Divine
Mediator.
4. This gift is essentiallyhis who bestows it. The peace which he enjoys he also
imparts. That peace whichflows from obedience and submission to the Divine
will was naturally the proper possessionofthe Son of God; and it is that same
peace which Jesus conveys to the heart that trusts and rests in him.
5. The peace of Christ is all-sufficient. In plenitude and in perpetuity it is
alone.

"The world canneither give nor take,
Nor canthey comprehend,
The peace ofGod which Christ has brought -
The peace whichknows no end." ? T.
Biblical Illustrator
Peace Ileave with you.
John 14:27
The legacyoflegacies
T. Guthrie, D. D.The Earl of Dundonald fought with his solitary ship a line of
formidable forts in South America, whose fire proved so raking that his men
could not be got to stand to their guns. Calling his wife, he askedher to fire
one of the guns, and show these men how to do their duty. She did so.
Instantly they returned, burning with shame, to their posts, and soonthe
victory was theirs. The lady, in rehearsing the circumstance, saidthat the
thing that was felt by her to be the most terrible, was not the din of battle, not
the raking fire, but the awful calmness that sat fixed on her husband's
countenance, as it seemedto carry in itself the sure presage ofvictory. This we
can all understand. Every moral nature feels that settledcalmness in the face
of dangers and deaths is the loftiest example of the sublime. Of this we have
one peerless example in the man Christ Jesus, who, on the eve of His agony,
utters these words. We have here a word of —
I. FAREWELL. The Old Testamentphrase, "Peacebe with you!" had now
come to be a word of salutation, as it still is in the Oriental "salaam," the
modern form of the Hebrew "shalom," orpeace. Originally, it was a
benedictory prayer. But by this time, in most cases,like our words "adieu,"
"good-bye," whichmean "God be with you!" the deeperand devouter
meaning had very much exhaled, leaving only a breath of courtesyor
compliment behind. But this is good, so far as it goes:for our religion says,
"be courteous," andno gentleman can compare with the Christian gentleman.

Christ here commends these forms of courtesyby His august example. But he
does a greatdeal more. Instead of pharisaicallyleaving these forms, because
they are not always what they ought to be. He tells us to take them up and
make them what they ought to be. But, as the context shows, He here means a
farewell;and this farewellof peace He repeats at the end of the sixteenth
chapter, where He brings these valedictory discoursings to a close.
II. BEQUEST. "Leave." Evenin the case ofa human relative, it is much to
inherit his peace. We prize more than gold a father's, a mother's dying
benediction. But what are such legaciescomparedwith that which Jesus here
bequeaths to the humblest of His disciples. If we have Christ's peace, no
matter for anyone's curse, no matter what wrath may surround our head.
Peace is here used twice, and occurs first in its generalsense. Peacewithin, in
the calm serenity of a pardoned and reconciledsoul; peace without, in every
needed temporal blessing;peace in storms and afflictions, in the precious gift
of a "heart established, trusting in the Lord"; peace in persecution; yea,
"perfectpeace," blessing themthat curse us, doing goodto them that hate us;
peace in death; for "mark the perfectman, and behold the upright, for the
end of that man is peace";peace in the grave, for there the body is stretched
out in repose, "where the wickedcease fromtroubling and the wearyare at
rest";and the consummation of all peace in heaven. And as Christ is the
Testator, so He is Himself the Executor. "My peace." Yes;what the Saviour
leaves He gives:what He died to procure, He rose and reigns to bestow.
III. GOSPEL. This peace is a peace particularly Christ's own; that which He
Himself possesses andfeels, as having finished His work and wrought out our
salvation. Would you see something of it? Go to Calvary. The pallid lips give
forth the victory shout, "It is finished;" and the words, "Father, into Thy
hands I commit My spirit"; and then the triumphant soul of the Redeemer
rises in peace and rapture to the bosomof His Father and His God. It is the
climax of peace. Now the peace which was then our Saviour's own He imparts
to the humblest of His disciples. We believe in Him and become pardoned,
accepted, and sanctifiedin the Beloved.
IV. GOOD CHEER. "Notas the world giveth," etc. "There is no peace saith
my Godto the wicked." But let the wickedonly forsake his way, and this
peace straightwaybreathes down upon him like a scentedvivifying gale from
the delectable land. "Notas the world giveth, give I unto you." How
suggestive the contrast!
1. It is vain to seek peace —

(1)In the world's objects of attraction, such as pride, pleasure, and ambition,
which bring with them no end of thorny care.
(2)In the world's friendships, which at best are but fleeting, and which too
often promise only to falsify and forget.
(3)In the world's wisdoms, which are folly.
(4)In the world's religions, which are worse.
2. But our Saviour's words seemto refer mainly to the manner of the giving.
(1)The world gives conventionally, Christ gives sincerely.
(2)The world gives superficially, Christ gives substantially.
(3)The world gives partially, Christ gives perfectly.
(4)The world gives capriciously, Christ gives constantly.
(5)The world gives temporarily, Christ gives eternally.
(T. Guthrie, D. D.)
The legacyofChrist
C. Bradley, M. A.That the Son of God might become the "merciful and
faithful High Priest" of His Church, "it behoved Him to be made in all things
like unto His brethren." Hence we see Him influenced by the same affections
that influence ourselves, and manifesting the same dispositions. When His end
drew near, He made, as it were, His will, and would not suffer the last
interview with His disciples to close before He had reminded them of the
precious gifts which He purposed to bestow.
I. THE BLESSING WHICH CHRIST BEQUEATHS. "Peace." If there is any
word which canexcite pleasing sensations inthe human breast, it is this. It is
as sweetto the children of men, as the long wished for shore to the mariner
who is weariedwith the labours of the ocean. It is as reviving as the warm
breezes of the spring to the man who has just risen from a bed of sickness.
How welcome are the tidings of returning peace to a nation which has been
long accustomedto the sound of war! How beautiful the feet of them who
publish it! But it is not amongstmankind only that peace is thus highly
esteemed. It is declaredby the greatJehovah Himself to be among the things
which He calls good. To bring down this blessing was the greatobjectof our
Saviour's appearing. Hence the prophecies spoke ofHim as "the Prince of
Peace." Hence, whenHe was born, peace onearth was proclaimed by the
rejoicing angels. Hence, too, when He was about to leave His beloved disciples,
peace was the precious legacyhe left, and it was His first blessing after He
rose. What, then, is this peace? Is it an exemption from the calamities oflife,

from sorrow and affliction? No. "In the world ye shall have tribulation." Is it
peace with the world, an exemption from its hatred and persecution? No.
"The world hateth you." It is —
1. Peacewith God. The man who inherits this precious legacywas once the
enemy of the Lord. But now the enmity of his carnalmind has been subdued.
He has gone, as a repentant prodigal, to the throne of his heavenly Father, and
has receiveda welcome and a pardon there. "Being justified by faith, he has
peace," etc.
2. Peacein the soul. This is a blessing which none but Christ can give, and
none but His renewedpeople receive. Others may seek it, may perhaps find
something which they mistake for it; but until a man's heart has been
"sprinkled from an evil conscience,"he must remain as far off from true
peace ofmind as he is from God.
3. Christ's peace. It is the same peace that He Himself enjoys; that kept His
soul tranquil in the midst of all His sorrows, and into which He is now entered
in His Father's kingdom above.
II. THE MANNER IN WHICH IT HAS BEEN GIVEN.
1. By bequest.(1)The property which a man conveys by a will or testament
must be his own estate and property; and he must also have a right of
transferring it to others. Thus this peace was Christ's own, and which He had
the powerof disposing of by will. He was the only Being in the universe rich
enough to purchase reconciliation.(2)This peace could never have been
inherited if the greatGiver of it had not died. A man may leave to his friends
abundant riches, but these gifts will profit them nothing till after he is dead.(3)
"Notas the world giveth." The blessings whichChrist has left are widely
different from those things which men leave to their friends. They are —(a)
More valuable. Men may leave behind them riches, mansions, titles; but they
cannot make a man happy, even in the day of prosperity; while the legacyof
Christ, even in the darkestnight of adversity, can "satisfythe longing soul,
and fill the hungry soulwith goodness."(b) More permanent. They will
remain precious as ever, when every earthly treasure shall be heard of no
more. Conclusion:
1. The security and stability of the Divine promises. Peaceis not only
promised, but bequeathed. The Testatoris now dead; the testament is in force.
2. A man may have a precious legacybequeathedto him, and he may be so
infatuated as to refuse to acceptit, or so indolent as to neglectthe proper
means of possessing himselfof it; but still the legacyis his. The very same

causes, united with "anevil heart of unbelief," may keepyou strangers to the
peace ofGod.
3. But before we can have a title to this legacy, we must be united to Christ by
a living faith. "There is no peace to the wicked."
(C. Bradley, M. A.)
The legacyofChrist
H. Allen, D. D.Our Lord, being about to die, makes all the accustomed
preparations, and discharges allthe functions of a dying man. He charges His
friends with His last commands, delivers to them His last advices, prays for
them a last and touching prayer, institutes for them an expressive and
affecting ordinance — the greatChristian keepsaketo be observed"in
remembrance of Him" — and compensates them as much as possible for their
deprivement of Himself, by bequeathing them all that He had to dispose of —
this precious and peculiar blessing of peace.
I. THE THING ITSELF. The legacyis "peace."
1. It fulfils the first greatcondition of peace, by harmonizing the inward
feelings with the outward experience;in other words, it establishes peaceful
relations betweenthe soul and its proper objects.(1)Betweenthe soul and its
God. These had been violated. The primitive intercourse betweenman and his
Makerwas loving and intimate. When he sinned, such intercourse became
impossible. "How cantwo walk togetherunless they be agreed?" The holy
angerof the offended God is met by the hostile feeling of the offending man.
In this condition of enmity Christ becomes "our peace." ByHis Cross He
appeases the angerof God. By His Spirit He subdues the enmity in man. He
makes pardon possible on God's part by bearing our sins; He makes it to be
desired on ours by renewing our hearts.(2)Betweenthe soul and its moral
duty. Corruption opposes ourduty to God, selfishness ourduty to man, and
their antagonismis destructive of peace. But under the influence of the gospel
both are destroyed.(a)Duties to God are dischargedwith delight. The service
is love, the principle is gratitude.(b) Nor are duties to man less cordial. We are
taught to "love as brethren," and are conformed to a noble example. This
peace comes into individual hearts, and, eradicating selfishness andbitterness,
produces charity; it comes into our homes, and it adds the brotherhood of
grace to the brotherhood of nature. It comes among nations, and it teaches
that righteousness is exaltation, affection, and felicity.(3) Betweenthe soul and
its providential experiences. Whendid irreligion acquiescein providential
trials? But the gospelgives us revelations of the purpose of God's providence,
new recognitions ofits realcharacter, and thus harmonizes our feelings with

even its deepestadversities.(4)Betweenthe soul and its destiny; peace in
anticipation of the future life. The believer has no longer a "fearful looking
for of judgment"; he "knows in whom he has believed";he is "begottenagain
to a lively hope." This is more than reconciliation — it is assurance;more
than peace with God — it is peace in God; more than peace with his lot — it is
rejoicing over it.
2. It is competent to produce harmony among the inward feelings themselves
— a condition palpably as essentialas the former — essentialin order to the
former. For, while there is internal discord, there cannotbe external
harmony. Sin destroyedthe peace ofthe inward heart, as effectuallyas it
destroyedthe peace of its outward relations. There can be no peace among
passions ofequal intensity and independence, unless subject to some common
and absolute rule. To meet this need, we "receive the kingdom and patience of
Jesus Christ." Every affectionis taught to recognize Him. Every gratification
is found in His will. Every passionis thus made to harmonize. Every desire is
solicitedto a common tendency. Every energyis directed to a common result.
II. THIS BEQUEATHMENT THE SAVIOUR IDENTIFIED WITH
HIMSELF.
1. "My peace."He had securedit to them. It was purchased by His
atonement, and wrought by His Spirit.
2. It is peace like His own; the peculiar and surpassing peace which, as a man,
He had enjoyed.(1) Peacewith God.(2)The peace of perfectand conscious
obedience.(3)The peace ofperfect affiance. No endurance made Him
murmur; no extremity provoked His impatience; no deprivation shook His
confidence.(4)The peace ofblissful anticipation. He knew that when His work
was done He should be "raisedto glory and honour." In all these elements the
peace ofthe Redeemerand the peace ofHis followers are identical.
III. THE PECULIARITY OF THE BESTOWMENT. "Notas the world
giveth."
1. The method of the world in giving peace is by a careful adjustment of
external things, sweetening suchas are bitter, smoothing such as are rugged.
It mistakes a peacefullot for peacefulfeelings;totally neglectfulof feelings
within, it attends solelyto circumstances without;it seeks to remove anxiety,
not by trusting in Providence, but by heaping up wealth to make us
independent of Providence. It seeks to satisfyinordinate craving, not by
moderating desire, but by scraping up gratifications until desire be satiated. It
builds up around a man its vain fortifications; but let its defences be carried,
and the untutored and effeminate soul is a helpless and hopeless prey. Broadly

contrastedwith this is the peace of Jesus Christ. It is not dependent on things
without; it arises from sources within. It requires not that there should be ease
and indulgence; it may exist amid the utmost privation and self-sacrifice.It is
not the peace of compromise, but of conquest. "In the world ye shall have
tribulation, but in Me ye shall have peace."
2. Identifying peace with indifference, the world would schoolthe heart into
an insensibility. Thus the men of the world seek peace;they would freeze the
sea of affection, that no storm may agitate its waves;they would petrify the
heart, that no graspof anguish may mark it. And in like manner would they
deal with spiritual things; they would quiet all religious solicitudes by utterly
banishing them; peace with God they would have by for. getting Him; peace
with their consciencesby stifling them; peace with the claims of duty by
refusing to listen to them; peace with their future destiny by never thinking
about it. "They make a solitude, and call it peace."
(H. Allen, D. D.)
Christ's legacy
J. Parsons.I. THE NATURE OF THE BLESSING BEQUEATHED.
1. The enjoyment of actual reconciliationwith God.
2. A sweetcomposure and calmness ofmind, arising from the sense of
reconciliationimpressedby the Spirit of God on our hearts.
II. THE PECULIAR CONNECTION WHICH HE STATES THIS
BLESSING TO HAVE WITH HIMSELF. "My peace."
1. Reconciliationto God exclusivelyarises from the merit of His sacrificial
sufferings as being our Redeemer. "Itis in consequenceofthe work of the
Saviour that the Spirit has been sent actually to apply the blessing of
reconciliationto the heart and to the conscienceofman."
III. THE POINTS OF CONTRAST EXISTING BETWEEN THIS
BLESSING AND THE COMMUNICATIONS OF THE WORLD. "Notas the
world giveth."
1. That which is given to us by the world is empty; that which is given to us by
Christ is substantial.
2. What the world gives is pernicious, and that which Christ gives is
beneficial.
3. That which is given to us by the world is changeable, and must perish; and
that which is given to us by Christ is immutable, and must endure for ever.

IV. THE INFLUENCE WHICH THE POSSESSIONOF THIS BLESSING
OUGHT TO POSSESS ON OUR MINDS. "Let not your heart be troubled."
(J. Parsons.)
Christ's legacy
M. Henry.When Christ left the world, He made His will. His soul He
bequeathed to His Father, and His body to Joseph. His clothes fell to the
soldiers, His mother He left to the care of John. But what should He leave to
His poor disciples, who had left all for Him? Silver and gold He had none; but
He left them what was far better — His peace.
(M. Henry.)
The legacyofpeace
C. Stanford, D. D.I. THE FIRST REQUISITE, IN ORDER TO THIS PEACE,
IS HAVING, SEALED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD, A CERTIFICATE OF
JUSTIFICATION. One has said, "If you wish for peace with God, do your
duty. Try to be as goodas you can." But I have not been as goodas I could.
God has not had the first place in my love, and the first obedience in my life.
Through Christ's intervention, however, the writ once againstme is now null,
for the sentence for treasonis crossedthrough under sanctionof the law itself,
and I have in my very soul the certificate of justification, sealedby the
Comforter.
II. CHRIST'S PEACE COMES FROM CHRIST'S LIFE. You mistake if you
fancy that this peace is a dull composure. It means more life, not less!The
Spirit of Christ, in giving this peace, numbs no nerve, stifles no primitive
impulse, mesmerises no faculty. On the contrary, His tendency is to make us
spring up, broad awake, feeling alive all over. He makes, through this change
in us, a change in everything around us. He makes old Christian truths, that
once had become almostinsipid by familiarity, break out into meanings and
charms, bright as morning and fresh as the spring. To be spiritually-minded is
"life," the cause;"peace,"the effect.
III. PEACE IS INCOMPATIBLE WITH SIN. A personmay be in the root of
his life a Christian, and yet his Christianity may be little more than a root. He
may have "a name to live," and may pass as an average professoroffaith in
Christ, yet might know but little of this Divine peace. There is no peace for the
shot limb while the bullet is in it. A person has been drinking some deadly
thing, tempted by its inspiriting flavour, but now it maddens him, and there is
no peace for the poisonedsystem while the poison is in it. There is no peace to
the fever-strickensuffereruntil the fever is out of him. You remember the

storm that Jonah caused, and how it had to be quieted. If you would have
peace, first find out, and then castout your Jonah — the Jonah of that
shelteredsin, of that crookedpolicy, of that secret, whateverit may be, that
stops a blessing from coming on you who carry it.
IV. THE PEACE OF CHRIST HAS ITS SEAT, NOT IN THE
CIRCUMSTANCES, BUT IN THE HEART. "Let not your heart be
troubled." It is a truism to say that disquiet belongs to this world, for
everyone knows this, though he may know little else;and it belongs in a
particular degree to this particular age. Disquietconnectedwith the disputes
betweenlabour and capital; from questions connectedwith the money
market; made by the "battle of books," by the conflicts of theologicalthought;
seenfrom the postof political outlook. But having Christ as our own life, we
can say, though our surroundings may be like the disquiet of an earthquake,
"Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed," etc. We have
peace in our heart, for the Giver of peace is there. Without, there may be
excitement; indeed, our own physical life may be excitable, for grace does not
turn one body into another; yet there is a Divine calm down under the surface,
such as no man canknow who knows not the true life.
V. CHRIST'S PEACE IS HERE ASSURED TO US IN TERMS OF
PECULIAR SIGNIFICANCE. "Peace Ileave." This is the language oflegacy,
and implies —
1. That He would live after He had died. A legacyimplies death (Hebrews
9:16).
2. The principle of grace. He gives. "Grace" is not the name of wages for
work, nor of rewardfor merit; nor of gain by conquest;nor of what we
receive on the principle of "so much for so much."
3. The deity of the Giver. Reconsiderwhatis meant by the peace ofChrist,
and then ask yourselfif a man could give it.
4. "Notas the world giveth." The world canonly give what it has to give. The
world gives fitfully, and there is no dependence on the world; the world gives
in order to get;the world gives to take awayagain;grudgingly and delusively.
(C. Stanford, D. D.)
Peace
J. Graham, D. D.I. THE NATURE OF THE PEACE THAT JESUS GIVES.
I. It is peace in the mind. There is a state of the mind answering to the surging
sea, or the agitations of the atmosphere; when a man has not clearperception
of important truth; when the mind is swayedby apprehension, and driven by

scepticismfrom every resting place for its convictions. The opposite of that is
certitude, the repose of enlightened conviction upon ascertainedprinciple.
Jesus Christ gives that to His people.
2. Peaceofconscience. If a man have not that, all the flattery of nations will
not make him happy. The Psalmistsays, "Makeme to hear joy and gladness,
that the bones which Thou hast broken for dislocated]may rejoice." Man's
moral nature is the skeletonofhis soul. David felt that his consciencewas
dislocated, and he could not know happiness until God had resetand restored
it. Well, Christ gives peace of conscience;He restores it to its functions, and
causes the man that has this peace to rejoice.
3. Peaceofheart. Man may know, see, say, and sing a greatdeal, but if his
heart is not keyedto spiritual harmony, if there are jarring affections,
forbidden passions, corruptemotions in the soul, he cannot be happy.
4. Peacein all the relationships in which a man stands. There is no solid peace
if there is not peace with God, but where there is there will be peace with man,
and he who enjoys it will be a peacemaker;he will delight in diffusing that
happiness which he enjoys.
5. It is Christ's peace —(1)As distinguished from —(a) The peace of
indifference. There are some persons who, on the subject of religion, have
really no trouble at all. This is a peace like that of the poor Indian sleeping in
his canoe while rolling him onwards to the cataract.(b)The peace ofself-
deception: the peace of the patient that takes the hectic flush of his cheek as a
sign of health, of the sailorwho swaggers along the deck while the leak is in
the keel. Thatis not the peace of Christ.(2) Positivelyit is the peace that arises
from a knowledge ofman's state and the remedy that he needs. I have seena
patient quite relieved by being told the very worstof his case. At the same
time he was assuredby a physician that there was a specific remedy for that
disease whichhad cured thousands.
II. HOW HE GIVES THIS PEACE:"Notas the world giveth."
1. The world could not give such a thing at all; the world can only give what it
gets, and it neither has nor knows that peace. The world may give a man
wealth; the heart may be writhing in agony under the blaze of diamonds. The
world may give a man fame, but a celebratedactordied of sorrow whilst the
city was ringing his praise. The world may give a man pleasure, but that can
only ripple the surface.
2. The world gives what it has —(1) With a hope of getting again.(2)As little
as it can.

3. Is soontired of giving on any principle, even of giving to its friends.
(J. Graham, D. D.)
The blessednessofpeace
H. O. Mackey.Alady who passedthrough the terrors of the Vicksburg siege
wrote the night after the surrender: "It is evening. All is still. Silence and
night are once more united. H— is leaning back in his rocking chair. He says,
'G— , it seems to me I can hear the silence and feel it too. It wraps me like a
soft garment; how else canI express this peace?'"
(H. O. Mackey.)
False peace andtrue peace
J. Ralph, M. A.I. THE WORLD'S PEACE.
1. It is not sound and sincere, but hollow (Psalm 55:21). It professes
friendship, and yet it is ready to sell its friend for a mess of pottage.
2. Selfish.
3. Mercenary. When it gives, always expects anequivalent.
4. Fragile. How soonis the trading man's peace, our domestic peace, ourcivil
peace, our peace ofmind, broken! How long can you calculate upon keeping
your peace?
5. Unserviceable. The world's peace neverstands by our side in the hour of
sorrow, tribulation, or temptation. It will do for the summer, but not for the
winter.
6. Temporary.
II. THE PEACE OF CHRIST.
1. Its nature. It is peace —
(1)with God;
(2)with ourselves;
(3)with our fellow men.
2. Its characteristics.
(1)It is sincere;
(2)disinterested;
(3)gratuitous;
(4)indissoluble;
(5)serviceable.

(J. Ralph, M. A.)
False peace
C. Stanford, D. D.Once, as a poet was thinking of Napoleon's defeatwhenhe
tried to win Moscow, he had a dreadful dream of peace. Under the spell of his
dream, he found himself in a dim, still, snowywilderness;many horsemen,
coveredwith cloaks,their cloaks coveredwith snow, were sitting motionless;
dead fires were seen, with grenadiers, white with snow, stretchedmotionless
around; waggons,crowdedwith snow-shrouded, motionless figures, seemedto
stop the way, the wheels fixed by a riverside, in ruts of waterwhich the frost
had struck into steel;cannon were there, heaped over with snow; snow lay on
banners unlifted, on trumpets unblown. Was the seerof such a sight moved to
cry "Peace,peace!" Betterface the intense white flame that bursts from guns,
better face the terrible iron rain, better face the worstof war, than face a
scene ofpeace like that! Yet much that passes forpeace in the region of the
soul, and in relationto God, is not much better.
(C. Stanford, D. D.)
Divine peace
DeanStanley.It may, perhaps, have befallen some of us to stand by the side of
one of those brawling mountain streams which descendfrom our southern
and westerncoastsinto the sea. It rushes with its noisy waters down its stony
channel; every pebble rattles in the torrent; every ripple makes a murmur of
its own. Suddenly the sound ceases:a deep stillness fills the banks from side to
side. Why? It is the broad sweepof the advancing tide of the oceanthat has
checkedthe streamand occupiedthe whole space of its narrow channel with
its own strong, silent, overwhelming waters. Evenso it is with all the little
cares, difficulties, and distractions which make up the noise and clatterof the
stream of our daily life. They go on increasing and increasing, and engross our
whole attention, till they are suddenly met and absorbedby some thoughts or
objects greaterthan themselves advancing from a wider and deeper sphere.
So it is in human things: so it is when in private life we are overtakenby some
greatpersonaljoy or sorrow. The very image which I have just used of the
brook and the sea has been beautifully employed by our greatestliving poetto
express the silencing of all lesserthoughts and aims by the death of a dear
friend. So it is often felt in public concerns, whenall petty cares and quarrels
have been drowned in the tide of public joy or sorrow which has rolled in
upon us from the greatworld without. All the streams of common life under
such circumstances, descending from their severalheights, deep or shallow,
turbid or clear, have been checkedatone and the same moment, have been

hushed at one and the same point, by the waters broad and vast sweeping in
from the ocean, whichencompassedus all alike. Every lessercontroversyhas
then stoodstill; every personalmurmur at such moments has been silencedby
the grander and deeper interest which belongedalike to us all. What that
figure of the brook and of the tide is in the natural world, what greatjoys and
sorrows are in personallife, what greatpublic events are in the life of a
nation, that to every human being ought to be the thought of eternity, the
peace ofGod. From a thousand heights the streams of life are ever rushing
down. All manner of obstaclesmeettheir course — the rough rock, the
broken bough, the smooth pebble, the crookedbank. Eachand all are enough
to ruffle those shallow waters, and to obstruct those narrow torrents. But
there is, or there may be, forever advancing into eachof these channels a tide
from that wide and tracklessoceanto which they are all tending; and deep
indeed is the peace which those tides bring with them into the inland hills
wherevertheir force extends.
(DeanStanley.)
Jesus leaving peace to His disciples
H. Kollock, D. D.Thoughall Christ's conduct is godlike, nevertheless the last
scenes ofHis life shine with peculiar splendour. In proportion as He draws
nearer to its close, His charity appears to burn with a warmer flame, His
divinity to shed forth brighter beams through the clouds which enshrouded it.
I. JESUS CHRIST GIVES PEACE TO HIS FOLLOWERS;or in other
words, He has opened for them sources oftranquillity and joy amidst all the
calamities and afflictions of life. This will be establishedif we canprove these
two points —
1. He has given us the most adequate supports under all the woes to which we
are exposed;and,
2. He has bestowedon us positive grounds of tranquillity. That is to say, with
the one hand He gives us an antidote againstevery sorrow, and with the other
reaches forth to us the richest benedictions.(1)Look at your life and heart,
and you will find two greatenemies of peace and tranquillity, sins and
afflictions; and in vain will the heart sigh for rest, till in some mode the sting
of sin is takenawayand the bitterness of affliction removed. While the
conscienceis burdened by the guilt of sin, and the mind harassedby the
apprehension of that punishment to which it exposes us, we in vain hope for
peace. No, no! there is no other grief that can be compared with the anguish of
the soul, that is enlightened to behold the spotless purity and inflexible justice
of God, and the depth of the abyss dug by its own crimes and iniquities.

Where, then, shall we seek for relief to these torments which arise from a
sense ofguilt? In the sacrifice ofImmanuel we behold all cause ofterror
removed, and the most satisfying joys presented to our hopes and
expectations. Couldyou find it in the amusements and gaieties ofthe world?
Alas! in the midst of jocosenessand pleasantry your heart was bleeding.
Human philosophy, worldly wisdom! alas, can these washout the stain of the
smallestsin from the conscience?Could you find it in the endearments of
friendship and affection? Christ has been no less carefulin affording proper
supports under those trials, those crosses,and afflictions, of which human life
is full, and which we mentioned as the secondgreatenemy to peace. All the
schools ofantiquity, discordant and clashing in everything else, were united
only in presenting unsubstantial comforts, which were too airy to support
those under the pressure of realgrief, or else in irritating instead of healing
the wounds of the soul. But when we turn from these ineffectual consolations
of the brightest ornaments of Greece andRome, to the Divine Instructor who
"spake as neverman spake," whatdifferent sentiments are excited! He
proposes suchgrounds of peace and tranquillity as will hush every painful
passion, will compose every rising grief, will drive back every starting tear, or
convert it into a tear of joy, and render us not patient merely, but triumphant
in affliction. He gives us such instructions concerning the author, the intent,
and the issue of afflictions, as, if they be properly realized, will cause the
sorrows oflife to vanish "like the morning cloud," and the pains of mortality
to dissolve "like the early dew."(2)That He has conferredon them positive
grounds of tranquillity so powerful, so cheering, as to be sufficient to keep
their souls in sacredpeace amidst all the storms of sorrow with which they
may be assailed. JesusChrist secures peaceandtranquillity for His followers,
by giving them an intimate communion with God. But this is only the first of
His benedictions. He confers also the Holy Spirit, that bond and ligament
connecting God and the soul of the believer. As the enlightening Spirit He
presents to our minds those greattruths of religion which affect, which
interest and delight us. But this Spirit which enlightens is also the renewing
Spirit; and how much tranquillity and satisfactiondoes the exercise ofthis
part of His office give to the soul. To find harmony restoredto our irregular
affections, to see the passions formerly untamed submitting to the yoke of
religion; to behold our native depravity losing its reigning power, and the
image of God re-impressedupon us: is not this a desirable, a delightful
contemplation? And finally, it is part of the office of this same Spirit, by His
consoling influences, to dissipate the cloud of sorrow and cause the sunshine of
heaven to break in upon the soul. Finally, Jesus is ready to confer on believers,

and will conferon them, if they be not wanting to themselves, the earnests of
future glory, the pledges of eternal felicity.
II. THAT HE GIVES IT NOT AS THE WORLD DOES.
1. When the world exclaims to us, Peace be unto you l this exclamationis often
void of sincerity. How often are proffers of service, and desires for our
happiness, uttered by the mouth that has just been employed in stabbing our
reputation, and that in a few minutes will load us with slanders, and hold us
up to ridicule!
2. When the world exclaims to us, Peace be unto you, it is not always insincere
and deceitful; but even when it most strongly desires our felicity, it is weak,
and without powerto afford us a complete felicity. Man is feeble, indigent,
unhappy. Thus, unable to find full happiness from the world, shall we, my
brethren, entirely despair of attaining it? No; for Jesus gives peace notas the
world does; His wishes canall be accomplished, for His poweris irresistible.
3. The peace which the world gives is limited in its duration. Inconstant and
variable, men frequently change their sentiments and opinions.
(H. Kollock, D. D.)
Spiritual peace
C. H. Spurgeon.This blessedlegacyour Lord has left might be consideredas
being peace —
1. With all the creatures. Godhas made a league ofpeace betweenHis people
and the whole universe. "For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the
field," etc. "All things work togetherfor goodto them that love God."
2. Among the people of God towardone another.
3. With God, for He "hath reconciledus to Himself by Jesus Christ"
4. In the conscience.Peace withGod is the treaty; peace in the conscienceis
the publication of it.
I. ITS GROUNDWORK. It is not built upon imagination, but on facts.
1. Faith in the blood of Christ.
2. A sense ofpardon.
3. An intimacy with Christ.
4. The possessionofthe title deeds of heaven.
5. An assurance ofthe faithfulness and covenant fidelity of Godour Father.

II. ITS NOBLE CHARACTER. The peace of other men is ignoble and base.
Their peace is born in the purlieus of sin. Self-conceitand ignorance are its
parents. Our peace is —
1. God's own child and God-like in its character.
2. Divine in its nourishment. The daintiest morsels that ever carnal sense fed
upon would be bitter to the mouth of this sweetpeace. Ye may bring your
much fine corn, your sweetwine, and your flowing oil; your dainties tempt us
not, for this peace feeds upon angels'food, and it cannot relish any food that
grows on earth. If you should give a Christian ten times as much riches as he
has, you would not cause him ten times as much peace, but probably ten times
more distress;you might magnify him in honour, or strengthen him with
health, yet neither would his honour or his health contribute to his peace, for
that peace flows from a Divine source, and there are no tributary streams
from the hills of earth to feed that Divine current.
3. A peace that lives above circumstances.
4. Profound and real.
III. ITS EFFECTS.
1. Joy. The words "joy" and "peace" are continually put together.
2. Love. He that is at peace with God through the blood of Christ is
constrainedto love Him that died for him.
3. Holiness. He that is at peace with God does not wish to go into sin; for he is
careful lesthe should lose that peace.
4. It will help us to bear affliction. "Your feet shod with the preparation of the
gospelof peace."
5. It gives us boldness at the throne.
IV. INTERRUPTIONS OF PEACE. All Christians have a right to perfect
peace, but they have not all the possessionofit. These interruptions may be
owing to —
1. The ferocious temptations of Satan.
2. Ignorance.
3. Sin. God hides His face behind the clouds of dust which His ownflock make
as they travel along the road of this world. We sin, and then we sorrow for it.
4. Unbelief.Conclusion:If ye would keepyour peace continual and unbroken
—
1. Look always to the sacrifice of Christ.

2. Walk humbly with your God.
3. Walk in holiness;avoid every appearance ofevil.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Christ's peace
A. Maclaren, D. D."Peacebe unto you" was, and is, the common Eastern
salutation, both in meeting and parting. It carries us back to a state of society
in which every strangermight be an enemy. It is a confessionofthe deep
unrest of the human heart. Note —
I. THE GREETING, WHICH IS A GIFT. Christ gives His peace becauseHe
gives Himself. It comes with Him, like an atmosphere;it is never where He is
not.
1. The first requisite for peace is consciousnessofharmonious relations
betweenme and God. The deepestsecretofChrist's peace was His
consciousnessofunbroken communion with the Father. And the centre and
foundation of all the peace-giving powerof Jesus Christ is that in His death
He has sweptaway the occasionof antagonism, and so made peace between
the Fatherand the child, rebellious and prodigal.
2. We must be at peace with ourselves. There is no way of healing the inner
schism of our anarchic nature except in bringing it all in submission to His
merciful rule. Look at that troubled kingdom that eachof us carries about
within himself, passiondragging this way, consciencethat; a hundred desires
all arrayed againstone another, inclination here, duty there, till we are torn in
pieces like a man drawn asunder by wild horses. But when He enters the heart
with His silkenleash, the old fable comes true, and He binds the lions and the
ravenous beasts there with its slender tie and leads them along, tamed, by the
cord of love, and all harnessedto pull together in the chariot that He guides.
There is one power, and only one, that can draw after it all the multitudinous
heaped waters of the weltering ocean, and that is the quiet silver moon in the
heavens, which pulls the tidal wave, into which melt and merge all currents
and small breakers, and rolls it round the whole earth. And so Christ, shining
down lambent and gentle, but changeless, fromthe darkestof our skies, will
draw, in one greatsurge of harmonized motion, all the else contradictory
currents of our stormy souls.
3. Peacewith men. The reasonwhy men are in antagonismwith one another is
the centralselfishness ofeach. And there is only one wayby which men's
relations can be thoroughly sweetened, andthat is by the Divine love of Jesus

Christ casting out the devil of selfishness,and so blending them all into one
harmonious whole.
4. Peacewith the outer world. It is not external calamities, but the resistance
of the will to these, that makes the disturbances of life. Submission is peace,
and when a man with Christ in his heart can say what Christ did, "NotMy
will, but Thine, be done," then some faint beginnings, at least, of tranquillity
come to the most agitatedand buffeted.
II. THE WORLD'S GIFT, WHICH IS AN ILLUSION. "The world" may
mean either mankind in generalor the whole material frame of things.
1. Regarding it in the former sense, the thought is suggested — Christ gives;
men can only wish. How little we cando for one another's tranquillity! how
soonwe come to the limits of human love and human help!
2. And then, if we take the other signification, we may say, "Outward things
can give a man no real peace."The world is for excitement; Christ alone has
the secretoftranquillity.
III. THE DUTY OF THE RECIPIENTS OF THAT PEACE OF CHRIST'S,
"Let not your heart be troubled," etc.
1. Christ's gift of peace does not dispense with the necessityfor our own effort
after tranquillity. There is very much in the outer world and within ourselves
that will surge up and seek to shake our repose;and we have to coerce and
keepdown the temptations to anxiety, to undue agitation of desire, to tumults
of sorrow, to cowardlyfears of the unknown future. All these will continue,
even though we have Christ's peace in our hearts. And it is for us to see to it
that we treasure the peace.
2. It is useless to tell a man, "Do not be troubled and do not be afraid," unless
he first has Christ's peace as his. Is that peace yours because Jesus Christis
yours? If so, then there is no reasonfor your being troubled or dreading any
future. If it is not, you are mad not to be troubled, and you are insane if you
are not afraid.
3. Your imperfect possessionofthis peace is all your own fault. Conclusion:I
went once to the side of a little Highland loch, on a calm autumn day, when all
the winds were still, and every birch tree stood unmoved, and every twig
reflectedon the stedfastmirror, into the depths of which Heaven's own blue
seemedto have found its way. That is what our hearts may be, if we let Christ
put His guarding hand round them to keepthe storms off, and have Him
within us for our rest. But the man that does not trust Jesus is like the
troubled sea which cannot rest.

(A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Christ our peace in trouble
J. M. Neale, D. D.In India, where there are many venomous serpents, there is
an animal — a kind of weasel — which is, as it were, appointed by God to
destroy them. Put one of these creatures and the deadliestsnake together, and
let them begin the battle. Presently the weaselwillbe bitten by the serpent,
and it will dart off into the next bush, will find the antidote to the poison, and
will return to the fight. And so, againand again, till at last it seizes the snake
and destroys it. That is strange in itself; but a thing yet stranger is this: A very
large reward has been offeredby the Government for the discoveryof this
antidote. If an animal can find it out, much more easily, one would think, can
a man discoverit. But it is not so. This creature has been watchedagainand
again, but no one has ever yet been able to learn the remedy. God has given to
it the knowledge,whichHe has denied to us. And so the true servant of Christ
knows where to go for a cure againstall the troubles that may befall him;
where to seek peacein all the storms that beset him.
(J. M. Neale, D. D.)
Christ's peace in the dying hour
New TestamentAnecdotes.Apoorsoldier was mortally wounded at the battle
of Waterloo. His companion conveyedhim to some distance and laid him
down under a tree. Before he left him, the dying soldier entreatedhim to open
his knapsackand take out his pocketBible, and read to him a small portion of
it before he died. When askedwhatpassage he should read, he desired him to
read John 14:27. "Now," saidhe, "I die happy. I desire to have peace with
God, and I possessthe peace ofGod which passethall understanding." A little
while after one of his officers passedhim, and seeing him in such an exhausted
state, askedhim how he did. He said, "I die happy, for I enjoy the peace of
God which passethall understanding," and then expired. The officerleft him
and went into the battle, where he was soonafter mortal]y wounded. When
surrounded by his brother officers, full of anguish and dismay, he cried out,
"Oh! I would give ten thousand worlds, if I had them, that I possessedthat
peace which gladdenedthe heart of a dying soldier, whom I saw lying under a
tree; for he declaredthat he possessedthe peace of God which passethall
understanding. I know nothing of that peace!I die miserable!for I die in
despair!"
(New TestamentAnecdotes.)
Christian peace

S. S. Times.I. The peace of FORGIVENESS — the peace of the evening.
II. Peacein SERVICE — the peace ofthe morning.
III. Peace in SORROW — peace ofdark hours.
(S. S. Times.)
Christian peace
DeanStanley."Peace."It was no new word. It was and is the common form of
salutation and farewell;and the Masterused it because it was old and
familiar. This peace is threefold.
I. Peacewith OURSELVES. Every one knows what it is to be at peace with
ourselves, and not at peace.
1. We may be perfectly prosperous, and yet there is a secretpang, a bitter
thought.
2. On the other hand, we may be in suffering, and yet be in perfectpeace
because doing our duty. Peaceofconscienceis the peace of the Holy Spirit of
Christ.
II. Peacewith ONE ANOTHER. In Christ Jew and Gentile, etc., are one. He
gatheredround Him the most opposite characters. His peace therefore does
not mean that we are all to speak, think, act, in the same way. The world of
nature derives its beauty and grace from its variety. And so in the world of
man. We differ but no difference, but that of sin should become separation.
The chief priests of ancientRome were calledPontiffs — "bridge makers." It
is the duty of every Christian to throw bridges over the moral rents or fissures
which divide us. Sometimes you will find opinions shading off one into the
other: these are branches that are entwined over the abyss. Seize hold of
them! Sometimes there are points of characterthe very counterparts of our
own: these are stepping stones. Sometimes there are concessions made:to all
such give the widest scope. There are, no doubt, occasions whentruth and
justice must be preferred to peace, anddifferences which are widened by
saying, "Peace, peacewhenthere is no peace;" but we must be careful not to
multiply them. You receive an angry letter; do not answerit. You observe a
quarrelsome look;take no notice of it. You see the beginning of a quarrel;
throw cold water on it. Churches need not be united in order to be at peace.
The peace ofthe Holy Spirit of Christ is deeper than outward diversities.
III. Peace withGOD. Our hearts are torn with scruples and cares evenin
duty; our sins rise up againstus. Where shall we find a haven of peace? In the
thought of God. Think of God the Father, perfectly just and merciful. Think
on Christ who stilled the tumult of the natural storm, and who came to

reconcile us to the Father. Think of the Holy Spirit who broods over chaos,
and of it can make eternal order and peace.
(DeanStanley.)
Peace undisturbedAll the peace and favour of the world cannotcalm a
troubled heart; but where the peace is that Christ gives, all the trouble add
disquiet of the world cannot disturb it. Outward distress to a mind thus at
peace is but as the rattling of the hail upon the tiles to him that sits within the
house at a sumptuous feast,
Perfectpeace in Christ
C. H. Spurgeon.There was a martyr once in Switzerland standing barefooted
on the fagots, and about to be burnt quick to the death — no pleasant
prospectfor him. He accostedthe magistrate who was superintending his
execution, and askedhim to come near him. He said, "Will you please to lay
your hand upon my heart. I am about to die by fire. Lay your hand on my
heart. If it beats any fasterthan it ordinarily beats, do not believe my
religion." The magistrate, with palpitating heart himself, and all in a tremble,
laid his hand upon the martyr's bosom, and found that he was just as calm as
if he was going to his bed rather than to the flames. Thai is a grand thing! To
wearin your button hole that little flowercalled"heart's ease," andto have
the jewelof contentment in your bosom — this is heaven begun below:
godliness is great gain to him that hath it.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Not as the world giveth.
The world's peace
J. Trapp.Theycry "peace"whenthere is no peace, and make fair weather
when such a storm of God's wrath is ready to be burst as shall never be blown
over. They compliment and wish peace whenwar is in their hearts, as when
the Pope sentaway Henry III, in peace, but it was, saith the historian, not
such as Jesus left His people.
(J. Trapp.)
Unwilling givers
H. W. Beecher.The greatoceanis in a constant state of evaporation. It gives
back what it receives, and sends up its waters in mists to gatherinto clouds;
and so there is rain on the fields, and storm on the mountains, and greenness
and beauty everywhere. But there are many men who do not believe in

evaporation. They getall they canand keepall they get, and so are not
fertilisers, but only stagnant, miasmatic pools.
(H. W. Beecher.)
The world bestows meagerly
T. L. Cuyler, D. D.It promises much and gives but little. When the richest
man, who has died in New York, within my memory was on his dying bed, he
askedhis attendants to sing for him. They sang the familiar old revival hymn,
"Come, ye sinners, poor and needy." The dying millionaire said to them, in a
plaintive tone, "Yes, please sing that againfor me. I am poor and needy." Ah!
what could fifty millions of railway securities and bank stocksdo for him on
the verge of eternity? One verse out of the fourteenth chapter of John could
bring him more peace than all the mines of California multiplied by all the
bonds in the NationalTreasury. "Poorand needy" was he? I count that one of
the most pathetic sayings that ever fell from dying lips.
(T. L. Cuyler, D. D.)
Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Words of peace
S. Martin.The acceptablenessand the force of advice depend upon our
feelings with respectto the adviser. Now the Counsellorin this case is the
Lord Jesus;entirely informed, thoroughly concerned, full of truth as well as
full of grace, and so disinterestedthat He has for us already laid down His life.
Look at —
I. THE WORDS THEMSELVES.Theyimply —
1. The possessionofa power of control over our own hearts. Now how is the
heart to be controlled? You cannotgovern it directly; it is to be governedby
means of the thoughts. If you would change the emotions, you must change the
thoughts. To think only of our grievous and not of our joyous circumstances
— only of the cloudy side of our grievous circumstances (and every cloud over
us Christians has a silver lining), is to let our heart be troubled and be afraid.
But to call off the thoughts from the circumstances which are grievous to
those which are joyous, to think of God "as our refuge, and strength, and
present help in the time of trouble," is to check the sorrow and to quench the
fear.
2. Responsibilityas to the exercise ofsuch control. This is a power which you
may not leave dormant. That which, in this case,we cando, we ought to do,

because Godrequires it, and because the doing of it is essentialto our well-
being and right conduct. The difficulty does not lessenour obligation. God
calls us all to do difficult things. The human being who never attempts a
difficult thing is but half a man.
3. They do not require that we should harden our hearts againstthe due
influence of grievous circumstances,orshut our eyes to danger or to
threatening sorrow;but they do forbid and condemn —(1) The sorrow which
confuses and discomposesa man — which hinders the performance of duty
and prevents the use of consolation, and mars the enjoyment of present
mercies. A man may be sad, and yet do his work. "He that goethforth and
weepethbearing precious seed." Weeping is not to hinder working.(2)Fear. A
girls' schoolin New York took fire, and all the children were thrown into the
greateststate ofexcitement. But there sat upon a form one little girl who
remained perfectly still. When the excitement was overthe teachersaid to her,
"How is that you sat so still?" "Oh," said the little one, "my father is one of
the firemen, and he told me that if ever I was in a building when an alarm of
fire was given, to sit still." Your Fatheris employed in extinguishing the fire
that would consume you. And you have been told to be quiet; and this because
you canafford to be quiet.
4. Now the whole of this advice proceeds on the assumption that the disciple of
Christ has sources ofjoy counteractive of his sorrows, andthat he has no
ground for fear.(1) The Saviour has charge of us individually.(2) The Father
loves us.(3) A place is prepared for us.(4) A Comforter is sent to abide with us
forever.(5)Jesus gives us His peace.
II. CASES TO WHICH THEY PARTICULARLY APPLY.
1. Some may be expecting bereavement. Deathhath no sting to that loved one,
and the grave cangain no victory.
2. Others are now bearing the anguish of the separationwhich death creates.
Specialpromises are made to you; and He, who superintends the fulfilment of
these promises, says, "letnot your heart be troubled," etc.
3. Some are anticipating change — change of residence — emigration.
Whither can you go from your Saviour's Spirit — or from your best Friend's
presence?
4. A few are stretchedand tortured on the rack of suspense. The uncertainty
is only in your mind. Above, all things are arranged, and will work together
for your good.

5. Many are enduring the pains of disappointment. But still there are hopes
founded upon rock, of which no man can everbe ashamed. The hope of
salvation, of eternal life, of paradise.
6. Diseases, like worms at the roots of plants, are surely bringing many of us
to death and the grave — and their destructive work will one day be fully
wrought. But death is only the beginning of new life.
7. Poverty, like an armed man, is beating down others. There is but one shield
againstthis armed man — faith; but one weapon— lawful endeavour; and
but one cordial and stimulant — prayer. And if you pray poverty, turning
your face Christward, you will hear Christ in His sweetestwhispers say,
"Take no thought for tomorrow," etc.
8. Does persecutionrage aroundsome of you as a tempest? "Fearnot them
that kill the body."
(S. Martin.)
COMMENTARIES
BIBLE)
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(27)PeaceIleave with you, my
peace I give unto you.—The immediate context speaks ofHis departure from
them (John 14:25; John 14:28), and it is natural therefore to understand these
words as suggestedby the common Oriental formulas of leave-taking. Men
said to eachother when they met and parted, “Shalom! Shalom!” (Peace!
Peace!)just as they saythe “Salaam!Salaam!” in our ownday. (See 1Samuel
1:17; Luke 7:50; Acts 16:36; James 2:16;Ephesians 6:23; 1Peter5:14; 3John
1:14.)
He will leave them as a legacythe gift of “peace.” And this peace is more than
a meaningless sound or even than a true wish. He repeats it with the emphatic
“My,” and speaks ofit as an actual possessionwhich He imparts to them.
“Peaceonearth” was the angels’messagewhenthey announced His birth;
“peace to you” was His own greeting when He returned victorious from the
grave. “He is our peace”(Ephesians 2:14), and this peace is the farewellgift to
the disciples from whom He is now departing. (Comp. John 14:27; John
16:33;John 20:19;John 20:21; John 20:26.)
Not as the world giveth, give I unto you.—The contrastis not betweenthe
emptiness of the world’s salutations and the reality of His own gift, but

betweenHis legacyto them and the legaciesordinarily left by the world. He
gives them not land or houses or possessions, but “peace;” and that “His own
peace,” “the peace ofGod which passethall understanding.”
Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.—These are in part the
words of the first verse, and are now repeatedas a joyous note of triumph.
Possessing the peace which He gives them, having another Advocate in the
person of the Holy Spirit, having the Fatherand the Sonever abiding in them,
there cannot be, even when He is about to leave them, room for trouble or for
fear.
The word here rendered “be afraid” occurs nowhere else in the New
Testament. It points especiallyto the cowardice offear. The cognate
substantive is used in 2Timothy 1:7, and the adjective in Matthew 8:26; Mark
4:40; and Revelation21:8.
MacLaren's ExpositionsJohn
CHRIST’S PEACE
John 14:27.
‘Peace be unto you!’ was, and is, the common Easternsalutation, both in
meeting and in parting. It carries us back to a state of societyin which every
strangermight be an enemy. It is a confessionof the deep unrest of the human
heart. Christ was about closing His discourse, and the common word of leave-
taking came naturally to His lips; just as when He first met His followers after
the Resurrection, He soothedtheir fears by the calm and familiar greeting,
‘Peace be unto you!’ But common words deepen their force and meaning
when He uses them. In Him ‘all things become new,’and on His lips the
conventionalthreadbare salutation changes into a tender and mysterious
communication of a real gift. His words are deeds, and His wishes for His
disciples fulfil themselves.
I. So we have here, first, the greeting, which is a gift.
‘Peace Ileave with you. My peace I give unto you.’ We have seen, in former
discourses onthis chapter, how prominently and repeatedly our Lord insists
on the greattruth of His dwelling with and in His disciples. He gives His peace
because He gives Himself; and in the bestowalof His life He bestows, in so far
as we possessthe gift, the qualities and attributes of that life. His peace is
inseparable from His presence. It comes with Him, like an atmosphere;it is

never where He is not. It was His peace inasmuch as, in His own experience,
He possessedit. His manhood was untroubled by perturbation or tumult, by
passions orcontending desires, and no outward things could break His calm.
If we open our hearts by lowly faith, love, and aspiration for His entrance, we
too may be at rest; for His peace, like all which He is and has, is His that it
may be ours.
The first requisite for peace is consciousness ofharmonious and loving
relations betweenme and God. The deepestsecretofChrist’s peace was His
unbroken consciousnessofunbroken communion with the Father, in which
His will submitted and the whole being of the man hung in filial dependence
upon God. And the centre and foundation of all the peace-giving powerof
Jesus Christ is this, that in His death, by His one offering for sin for ever, He
has sweptawaythe occasionofantagonism, and so made peace betweenthe
twain, the Fatherin the heavens and the child, rebellious and prodigal, here
below. Little as these disciples dreamed of it, the death impending, which was
already beginning to castits shadow over their souls, was the condition of
securing to them and to us the true beginning of all real peace, the rectifying
of our antagonistic relationto God, and the bringing Him and us into perfect
concord.
My brother, no man canbe at rest down to the very roots of His being, in the
absence ofthe consciousness thathe is at peace with God. There may be
tumults of gladness, there may be much of stormy brightness in the life, but
there cannot be the calm, still, impregnable, all-pervading, and central
tranquillity that our souls hunger for, unless we know and feel that we are
right with God, and that there is nothing betweenus and Him. And it is
because JesusChrist, dying on the Cross, has made it possible for you and me
to feel this, that He Is our peace, and that He cansay, ‘Peace I leave with you.’
Another requisite is that we must be at peace with ourselves. There must be
no stinging conscience, there must be no unsatisfied desires, there must be no
inner schism betweeninclination and duty, reasonand will, passionand
judgment. There must be the quiet of a harmonised nature which has one
object, one aim, one love; which-to use a very vulgar phrase-has ‘all its eggs in
one basket,’and has no contradictions running through its inmost self. There
is only one way to getthat peace-cleaving to Jesus Christ and making Him our
Lord, our righteousness, ouraim, our all. Your conscienceswillsting, and that
destroys peace;or if they do not sting, they will be torpid, and that destroys
peace, fordeath is not peace. Unless we take Christ for our love, for the light

of our minds, for the SovereignArbiter and Lord of our will, for the home of
our desires, for the aim of our efforts, we shall never know what it is to be at
rest. Unsatisfied and hungry we shall go through life, seeking whatnothing
short of an Infinite Humanity can ever give us, and that is a heart to lean our
heads upon, an adequate objectfor all our faculties, and so a quiet satisfaction
of all our desires. ‘Wherefore do ye spend your money for that which is not
bread?’ A question that no man can answerwithout convicting himself of
folly! There is One, and only One, who is enough for me, poor and weak and
lowly and fleeting as I am, and as my earthly life is. Take that One for your
Treasure, and you are rich indeed. The world without Christ is nought. Christ
without the world is enough.
Nor is there any other way of healing the inner discord, schism, and
contradiction of our anarchic nature, exceptin bringing it all into submission
to His merciful rule. Look at that troubled kingdom that eachof us carries
about within himself, passiondragging this way, conscience that, a hundred
desires all arrayed againstone another, inclination here, duty there, till we are
torn in pieces like a man drawn asunder by wild horses. And what is to be
done with all that rebellious self, over which the poor soul rules as it may, and
rules so poorly? Oh! there is an inner unrest, the necessaryfate of every man
who does not take Christ for his King. But when He enters the heart with His
silkenleash, the old fable comes true, and He binds the lions and the ravenous
beasts there with its slender tie and leads them along, tamed, by the cord of
love, and all harnessedto pull togetherin the chariot that He guides. There is
only one wayfor a man to be at peace with himself through and through, and
that is that he should put the guidance of his life into the hands of Jesus
Christ, and let Him do with it as He will. There is one power, and only one,
that can draw after it all the multitudinous heapedwaters of the weltering
ocean, and that is the quiet, silver moon in the heavens that pulls the tidal
wave, into which melt and merge all currents and small breakers, androlls it
round the whole earth. And so Christ, shining down lambent, and gentle, but
changeless, fromthe darkestof our skies, willdraw, in one greatsurge of
harmonised motion, all the else contradictory currents of our stormy souls.
‘My peace I give unto you.’
Another element in true tranquillity, which againis supplied only by Jesus
Christ, is peace with men. ‘Whence come wars and fightings amongst you?
From your lusts.’ Or to translate the old-fashionedphraseologyinto modern
English, the reasonwhy men are in antagonismwith one another is the central
selfishness ofeach, and there is only one way by which men’s relations can be

thoroughly sweetened, and that is, by the divine love of Jesus Christ pouring
into their hearts, and casting out the devil of selfishness, andso blending them
all into one harmonious whole.
The one basis of true, happy relations betweenman and man, without which
there is not the all-round tranquillity that we require, lies in the common
relation of all, if it may be, but certainly in the individual relationof myself, to
Him who is the Lover and the Friend of all. And in the measure in which the
law of the Spirit of life which was in Jesus Christ is in me, in that measure do I
find it possible to reproduce His gentleness, sympathy, compassion, insight
into men’s sorrows, patience with men’s offences, and all which makes, in our
relations to one another, the harmony and the happiness of humanity.
Another of the elements or aspects ofpeace is peace with the outer world. ‘It
is hard to kick againstthe pricks,’but if you do not kick againstthem, they
will not prick you. We beatourselves all bruised and bleeding againstthe bars
of the prison-house in trying to escape from it, but if we do not beat ourselves
againstthem, they will not hurt us. If we do not want to getout of prison, it
does not matter though we are lockedin. And so it is not external calamities,
but the resistance of the will to these, that makes the disturbances of life.
Submission is peace, and when a man with Christ in his heart can say what
Christ said, ‘Not My will, but Thine be done,’ Oh! then, some faint
beginnings, at least, of tranquillity come to the most agitatedand buffeted;
and even in the depths of our sorrow we may have a deeper depth of calm. If
we have yielded ourselves to the Father’s will, through that dear Sonwho has
setthe example and communicates the power of filial obedience, then all
winds blow us to our haven, and all ‘things work togetherfor good,’and
nothing ‘that is at enmity with joy’ canshake our settled peace. Storms may
break upon the rockyshore of our islanded lives, but deep in the centre there
will be a secluded, inland dell ‘which heareth not the loud winds when they
call,’ and where no tempest can ever reach. Peacemay be ours in the midst of
warfare and of storms, for Christ with us reconciles us to God, harmonises us
with ourselves, brings us into amity with men, and makes the world all good.
II. So, secondly, note here the world’s gift, which is an illusion.
‘Not as the world giveth, give I unto you.’ Our Lord contrasts, as it seems to
me, primarily the manner of the world’s bestowment, and then passes
insensibly into a contrastbetweenthe characterof the world’s gifts and His
own. That phrase ‘the world’ may have a double sense. It may mean either

mankind in generalor the whole external and material frame of things. I
think we may use both significations in elucidating the words before us.
Regarding it in the former of them, the thought is suggested-Christgives;men
can only wish. ‘Peace be unto you’ comes from many a lip, and is addressedto
many an ear, unfulfilled. Christ says ‘peace,’and His word is a conveyance.
How little we can do for one another’s tranquillity, how soonwe come to the
limits of human love and human help! How awful and impassable is the
isolationin which eachhuman soul lives! After all love and fellowshipwe
dwell alone on our little island in the deep, separatedby ‘the salt, unplumbed,
estranging sea,’and we can do little more than hoist signals of goodwill, and
now and then for a moment stretch our hands across the ‘echoing straits
between.’But it is little after all that husband or wife can do for one another’s
central peace, little that the dearestfriend can give. We have to depend upon
ourselves and upon Christ for peace. Thatwhich the world wishes Christ
gives.
And then, if we take the other significationof the ‘world,’ and the other
application of the whole promise, we may say-Outward things can give a man
no real peace. The world is for excitement; Christ alone has the secretof
tranquillity. It is as if to a man in a fever a physician should come and say: ‘I
cannot give you anything to soothe you; here is a glass ofbrandy for you.’
That would not help the fever, would it? The world comes to us and says:‘I
cannot give you rest: here is a sharp excitementfor you, more highly spiced
and titillating for your tongue than the last one, which has turned flat and
stale.’That is about the best that it cando.
Oh! what a confessionof unrest are the rush and recklessness,the fever and
the fret of our modern life with its ever renewedand ever disappointed quest
after good!You go about our streets and look men in the face, and you see
how all manner of hungry desires and eagerwishes have imprinted themselves
there. And now and then-how seldom!-you come across a face out of which
beams a deep and settled peace. How many of you are there who dare not be
quiet because then you are most troubled? How many of you are there who
dare not reflectbecause then you are wretched? How many of you are
uncomfortable when alone, either because you are utterly vacuous, or because
then you are surrounded by the ghosts of ugly thoughts that murder sleepand
stuff every pillow with thorns? The world will bring you excitement; Christ,
and Christ alone will bring you rest.

The peace that earth gives is a poor affair at best. It is shallow;a very thin
plating over a depth of restlessness, like some skin of turf on a volcano, where
a foot below the surface sulphurous fumes roll, and hellish turbulence seethes.
That is the kind of rest that the world brings.
Oh! dear friends, there is nothing in this world that will fill and satisfy your
hearts except only Jesus Christ. The world is for excitement; and Christ is the
only real Giver of real peace.
III. Lastly, note the duty of the recipients of that peace of Christ’s: ‘Let not
your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’
The words that introduced this greatdiscourse return againat its close,
somewhatenlargedand with a deepened soothing and tenderness. There are
two things referred to as the source of restlessness, troubled agitationor
disturbance of heart; and that mainly, I suppose, because ofterror in the
outlook towards a dim and unknown future. The disciples are warnedto fight
againstthese if they would keepthe gift of peace.
That is to say, casting the exhortation into a more generalexpression, Christ’s
gift of peace does not dispense with the necessityfor our own effort after
tranquillity. There is much in the outer world that will disturb us to the very
end, and there is much within ourselves that will surge up and seek to shake
our repose and break our peace;and we have to coerce andkeepdown the
temptations to anxiety, the temptations to undue agitationof desire, the
temptations to tumults of sorrow, the temptations to cowardlyfears of the
unknown future. All these will continue, even though we have Christ’s peace
in our hearts, and it is for us to see to it that we treasure the peace, ‘and in
everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let our requests be
made known unto God,’ that nothing may break the calm which we possess.
So, then, another thought arises from this final exhortation, and that is, that it
is useless to tell a man, ‘Do not be troubled, and do not be afraid,’ unless he
first has Christ’s peace as his. Is that peace yours, my brother, because Jesus
Christ is yours? If so, then there is no reasonfor your being troubled or
dreading any future. If it is not, you are mad not to be troubled, and you are
insane if you are not afraid. The word for you is, ‘Be troubled, ye careless
ones,’for there is reasonfor it, and be afraid of that which is certainly
coming. The one thing that gives security and makes it possible to possess a
calm heart is the possessionofJesus Christ by faith. Without Him it is a waste

of breath to say to people, ‘Do not be frightened,’ and it is wickedcounselto
say to men, ‘Be at ease.’Theyought to be terrified, and they ought to be
troubled, and they will be some day, whether they think so or not.
But then the last thought from this exhortation is-and now I speak to
Christian people-your imperfect possessionofthis peace is all your own fault.
Why, there are hundreds of professing Christian people who have some kind
of faint, rudimentary faith, and there are many of them, I dare say, listening
to me now, who have no assuredpossession ofany of those elements, of which
I have been speaking, as the constituent parts of Christ’s peace. You are not
sure that you are right with God. You do not know what it is to possess
satisfieddesires. You do know what it is to have conflicting inclinations and
impulses; you have envy and malice and hostility againstmen; and the
world’s storms and disasters do strike and disturb you. Why? Becauseyou
have not a firm graspof Jesus Christ. ‘I have setthe Lord always at my right
hand, therefore I shall not be be moved’; there is the secret. Keepnear Him,
my brother; and then all things are fair, and your heart is at peace.
I remember once standing by the side of a little Highland loch on a calm
autumn day, when all the winds were still, and every birch-tree stood
unmoved, and every twig was reflectedon the steadfastmirror, into the
depths of which Heaven’s ownblue seemedto have found its way. That is
what our hearts may be, if we let Christ put His guarding hand round them to
keepthe storms off, and have Him within us for our rest. But the man who
does not trust Jesus ‘is like the troubled sea which cannotrest,’ but goes
moaning round half the world, homeless and hungry, rolling and heaving,
monotonous and yet changeful, saltand barren-the true emblem of every soul
that has not listened to the merciful call, ‘Come unto Me, all ye that labour
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary14:25-27Would we know these things
for our good, we must pray for, and depend on the teaching of the Holy
Ghost; thus the words of Jesus will be brought to our remembrance, and
many difficulties be clearedup which are not plain to others. To all the saints,
the Spirit of grace is given to be a remembrancer, and to him, by faith and
prayer, we should commit the keeping of what we hear and know. Peace is put
for all good, and Christ has left us all that is really and truly good, all the
promised good; peace ofmind from our justification before God. This Christ
calls his peace, for he is himself our Peace. The peace ofGod widely differs

from that of Pharisees orhypocrites, as is shownby its humbling and holy
effects.
Barnes'Notes on the BiblePeaceI leave with you - This was a common form of
benediction among the Jews. See the notes at Matthew 10:13. It is the
invocation of the blessings of peace and happiness. In this place it was,
however, much more than a mere form or an empty wish. It came from Him
who had powerto make peace and to conferit on all, Ephesians 2:15. It refers
here particularly to the consolationswhichhe gave to his disciples in view of
his approaching death. He had exhorted them not to be troubled John 14:1,
and he had statedreasons why they should not be. He explained to them why
he was about to leave them; he promised them that he would return; he
assuredthem that the Holy Spirit would come to comfort, teach, and guide
them. By all these truths and promises he provided for their peace in the time
of his approaching departure. But the expressionrefers also, doubtless. to the
peace which is given to all who love the Saviour. They are by nature enmity
againstGod, Romans 8:7. Their minds are like the troubled sea, which cannot
rest, whose waters eastup mire and dirt, Isaiah57:20. They were at warwith
conscience, withthe law and perfections of God, and with all the truths of
religion. Their state after conversionis describedas a state of peace. Theyare
reconciledto God; they acquiesce in all his claims; and they have a joy which
the world knows not in the word, the promises, the law, and the perfections of
God, in the plan of salvation, and in the hopes of eternallife. See Romans 1:7;
Romans 5:1; Romans 8:6; Romans 14:7; Galatians 5:22;Ephesians 2:17;
Ephesians 6:15; Philippians 4:7; Colossians 3:15.
My peace - Such as I only can impart. The specialpeace whichmy religion is
fitted to impart.
Not as the world -
1. Notas the objects which men commonly pursue - pleasure, fame, wealth.
They leave care, anxiety, remorse. They do not meet the desires ofthe
immortal mind, and they are incapable of affording that peace which the soul
needs.
2. Notas the men of the world give. They salute you with empty and flattering
words, but their professedfriendship is often reigned and has no sincerity.
You cannot be sure that they are sincere, but Iam.
3. Notas systems of philosophy and false religion give. They profess to give
peace, but it is not real. It does not still the voice of conscience;it does not take
awaysin; it does not reconcile the soul to God.

4. My peace is such as meets all the wants of the soul, silences the alarms of
conscience, is fixed and sure amid all external changes, andwill abide in the
hour of death and forever. How desirable, in a world of anxiety and care, to
possessthis peace!and how should all who have it not, seek that which the
world can neither give nor take away!
Neither let it be afraid - Of any pain, persecutions, ortrials. You have a
Friend who will never leave you; a peace that shall always attend you. See
John 14:1.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary27. Peace Ileave with you, my
peace I give unto you—If Joh 14:25, 26 sounded like a note of preparation for
drawing the discourse to a close, this would sound like a farewell. But oh, how
different from ordinary adieus! It is a parting word, but of richest import, the
customary "peace"ofa parting friend sublimed and transfigured. As "the
Prince of Peace" (Isa 9:6) He brought it into flesh, carried it about in His Own
Person("My peace")died to make it ours, left it as the heritage of His
disciples upon earth, implants and maintains it by His Spirit in their hearts.
Many a legacyis "left" that is never "given" to the legatee, many a gift
destined that never reaches its proper object. But Christ is the Executorof His
own Testament;the peace He "leaves" He "gives";Thus all is secure.
not as the world giveth—in contrast with the world, He gives sincerely,
substantially, eternally.
Matthew Poole's Commentary Peace be with you, or to you, was the Jewish
common salutation, 1 Samuel 25:6; under that generalname they
comprehended all manner of good: with this good wish they both saluted their
friends when they met them, and took their farewellof them when they left
them. Christ, being now about to take his leave for a time of his disciples,
wishes them
peace;nay, he doth not only wish it to them, but he
leaves it to them; he giveth it them as a legacy;and that in another kind of
peace, and in another manner, than was common. He therefore calls it his
peace revealedin the gospel, Ephesians 6:15;purchased with his blood,
Romans 5:1; brought to the soulby his Spirit, by which we are sealedto the
day of redemption. Christ’s peace is either union or reconciliationwith God,
or the copy of it, which is a quiet of conscience,and assurance ofhis love; or a
union with men by brotherly love, so often commended and pressedby Christ.
Nor doth Christ give this peace as the men of the world give peace;who often
wish peace earnestly, neverconsidering what it is they say; often falsely,

formally wishing peace, whenthey are about to strike those to whom they
wish it under the fifth rib; and when they are most serious, wish it, but cannot
give it. Christ leaves it to his disciples for a legacy, givethit to them as a gift; if
they want it, it is their own fault: therefore, as in the first verse, so here again
he saith,
Let not your heart be troubled; and adds,
neither let it be afraid. Fearis one of those passions whichmost usually and
potently doth disturb the hearts and minds of men; but there was no reasonit
should have this ill influence on Christ’s disciples, because he had left them
peace for his legacy, and the gifts of God are without repentance;and, if God
be for us, (saith the apostle, Romans 8:31), who, or what, canbe againstus?
Gill's Exposition of the Entire BiblePeaceI leave with you,.... Christ being
about to die and leave his disciples, makes his last will and testament, and as
the bestlegacyhe could leave them, bequeaths peace unto them;
my peace I give unto you: he left the Gospelof peace with them, to be
preachedby them to all the world; which is a declarationand publication of
peace made by his blood; is a means of reconciling the minds of men to God
and Christ, to the truths, ordinances, and people of Christ; of relieving and
giving peace to distressedminds; and which shows the way to eternal peace:
and as Christ had kept his disciples in peace one with another, so he left them
in peace;and left orders with them to maintain it one among another: but
what seems chiefly designedhere, is peace with God, which Christ is the sole
author of; he was appointed in the counciland covenantof peace to effectit;
he became incarnate with that view, and did procure it by his sufferings and
death; and as it was published by angels, when he came into the world, he left
it, and gave it to his disciples when he was going out of it: or else that peace of
conscienceis meant, which follows upon the former, which arises from the
sprinklings of the blood of Christ, and from a comfortable view, by faith, of an
interest in his justifying righteousness, andis enjoyed in a way of believing,
and commonly in the use of ordinances "leaving" it supposes that Christ was
about to leave his disciples, but would not leave them comfortless;he leaves a
Comforter with them, and bequeaths peace unto them as his last legacy:
"giving" it, shows that it is not to be acquired by any thing that man can do,
but is a pure free grace giftof Christ; and which being given as his legacy, is
irrevocable;for the allusion is to the making of a will or testament when
persons are about to die: though some have thought it refers to the custom of
wishing peace, health, and prosperity, among the Jews;but Christ does not

say "peace be to you"; which was the more usual form of salutationamong
them, and which was used by them when they met, and not at parting;
especiallywe have no instance of such a form as here used, by dying persons
taking their leaves oftheir relations and friends. It must indeed be ownedthat
the phrase, "to give peace", is with them the same as to salute, or wish health
and prosperity. Take two or three of their rules as instances of it;
"whoeverknows his friend, that he is used (a), "to give him peace";he shall
prevent him with peace (i.e. salute him first), as it is said, "seek peaceand
pursue it"; but if he "gives" it to him, and he does not return it, he shall be
calleda robber.''
Again,
"(b) a man may not go into the house of a stranger, on his feastday, , "to give
peace unto him" (or salute him); if he finds him in the street, he may give it to
him with a low voice, and his head hanging down;''
once (c) more,
"a man , "not give peace to", or salute his master, nor return peace to him in
the waythat they give it to friends, and they return it to one another.''
Likewise it must be owned, that when they saluted persons of distinction, such
as princes, nobles, and doctors, they repeatedthe word "peace"(d), though
never to any strangers;however, certainit is, that it was another sortof peace
which Christ left, and gave to his disciples, than what the Jews were wontto
give, or wish to one another;
not as the world giveth, give I you. The peace Christ gives is true, solid, and
substantial; the peace the world, the men, and things of it give, is a false one;
and whilst they cry, "peace, peace, suddendestruction is at hand": the peace
of the world is at best but an external one, but the peace Christ is the giver of,
is internal; the peace the world affords is a very transient, unstable, and short
lived one, but the peace ofChrist is lasting and durable; the peace ofthe
world will not support under the troubles of it, but the peace which Christ
gives, cheerfully carries his people through all the difficulties and exercises of
this life: and as these differ in kind, so likewise in the manner of giving, and in
the persons to whom they are given; the world gives peace in words only,
Christ in deed; the world gives feignedly, Christ heartily; the world gives it
for its own advantage, Christ for his people's sake;the world gives its peace to
the men of it, to the ungodly, none to the godly, whom it hates; Christ gives
his; not to the wicked, for there is no peace to them, but to the saints, the
excellentin the earth. Wherefore says Christ,

let not your heart be troubled; at my departure from you, since I leave such a
peace with you:
neither let it be afraid: at the dangers you may be exposedunto, and the
trouble you may be exercisedwith; for in the midst of them all, "in me ye shall
have peace", John16:33.
(a) T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 6. 2.((b) T. Bab. Gittin, fol. 62. 1. Maimon. Obede
Cochabim, c. 10. sect. 5. (c) Maimon. Talmud Tora, c. 5. sect. 5. (d) T. Bab.
Gittin, fol. 62. 1. Maimon. Hilch. Melacim. c. 10. sect. 12.
Geneva Study Bible{9} Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not
as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let
it be afraid.
(9) All true comfort and peace comes to us by Christ alone.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT CommentaryHYPERLINK "/john/14-27.htm"John14:27. “These
are lastwords, as of one who is about to go away and says good-night, or gives
his blessing,” Luther.
εἰρήνην ἀφίημι ὑμῖν] The whole position of affairs, as Jesus is on the point of
concluding these His lastdiscourses (John14:31), as well as the characteristic
word εἰρήνη, introduced without further preface, justifies the ordinary
assumption that here there is an allusion to the Oriental greetings at partings
and dismissals, in which ‫לָׁש‬ ‫ֹו‬‫ם‬ (i.e. not specially:Peace ofsoul, but generally:
Prosperity) was wished. Comp. 1 Samuel 1:17; 1 Samuel 20:42;1 Samuel
29:5; Mark 5:34; Luke 7:50; Luke 8:48; Acts 16:36; Jam2:16; also the Syrian
pacem dedit, in the sense of valedixit in Assem. Bibl. I. p. 376;and finally, the
epistolary farewell-greeting, Ephesians 6:23;1 Peter 5:14; 3 John 15. That
which men were wont to wish at departure, namely, prosperity, Jesus is
conscious ofleaving behind, and of giving to His disciples, and that in the best
and highest sense, namely, the entire prosperity of His redemptive work, “fore
ejus benedictione semper felices” (Calvin), in which, however, the peace of
reconciliationwith God(Romans 5:1), as the first essentialelement, is also
included. To assume (with Lücke) in the expressiona reference, at the same
time, to the O. T. peace-assuring and encouraging address ‫ש‬ָׁ‫לֹול‬‫לָׁש‬ ‫ֹו‬‫ם‬ (Genesis
43:23;Jdg 6:23, et al.), is less in harmony with the departing scene, and the
remote μὴ ταρασσέσθω, κ.τ.λ., as wellas with the expressionofthis
consolatoryaddress.
εἰρ. τ. ἐμὴν δίδ. ὑμ.] More precise definition of what has preceded. It is His,

the peculiar prosperity proceeding from Him, which He gives to them as His
bequest. Thus speaks He to His own, who, on the threshold of death, is leaving
hereditary possessions:“I leave behind, I give,” in the consciousnessthat this
will be accomplishedby His death. So also Jesus, whoseδίδωμι is to be
understood neither as promitto (Kuinoel), nor even to be conceivedas first
taking place through the Paraclete (who rather brings about only the
appropriation of the salvationgiven in the death of Jesus).
Not as the world gives, give I TO YOU! Nothing is to be supplied. My giving
to you is of quite another kind than the giving of the (unbelieving) world; its
giving bestows treasure, pleasure, honour, and the like, is therefore
unsatisfying, bringing no permanent good, no genuine prosperity, etc.[156]
Quite out of relation to the profound seriousnessofthe moment, and therefore
irrelevant, is the reference to the usual empty formulas of salutation (Grotius,
Kling, Godet).
ΜῊ ΤΑΡΑΣΣΈΣΘΩ, Κ.Τ.Λ.] “Thus does He conclude exactlyas He first
(John 14:1) began this discourse,”Luther. The short asyndetic (here supply
ΟὖΝ) sentencescorrespondto the deep emotion.
ΔΕΙΛΙΆΩ (Diod. xx. 78) here only in the N. T., frequently in the LXX., which,
on the other hand, has not the classical(ΔΟΚΙΜΏΤΕΡΟΝ, Thomas Magister)
ἈΠΟΔΕΙΛΙΆΩ.
[156]Hengstenberg introduces quite groundlesslya reference to the θλῖψις
which the world gives, according to John 16:33.
Expositor's Greek TestamentHYPERLINK"/john/14-27.htm"John14:27.
εἰρήνην ἀφίημι ὑμῖν, “peace Ibequeath to you”. The usual farewellwas given
with the word “peace”. And Jesus uses the familiar word, but instead of
uttering a mere wish He turns it into a bequest, intimating His powernot only
to wish but to give peace in the further description εἰρήνην τὴν ἐμὴν δίδωμι
ὑμῖν, “my peace I give unto you”; the peace whichHe had attained by means
of all the disturbance and opposition He had encountered. Leaving them His
work, His view of life, His Spirit, He necessarilyleft them His peace.—οὐ
καθὼς ὁ κόσμος δίδωσιν, ἐγὼ δίδωμι ὑμῖν, “not as the world gives give I to
you”. This is referred by Grotius to the difference betweenthe empty form of
salutation and Christ’s gift of peace. (“Mundus, i.e., major pars hominum,
salute alios impertit sono vocis, nihil saepe de re cogitans;et si cogitet, tamen
id alteri nihil prodest.”) So too Holtzmann and Bernard. Meyerconsiders this

“quite out of relation to the profound seriousness ofthe moment,” and
understands the allusion to be to the treasures, honours, pleasures which the
world gives. There is no reasonwhy the primary reference should not be to
the salutation, with a secondaryreference to the wider contrast. This gift of
peace, if accepted, wouldsecure them againstperturbation, and so Jesus
returns to the exhortation of John 14:1, μὴ ταρασσέσθω … “Observing that
the opening sentence ofthe discourse is here repeatedand fortified, we
understand that all enclosedwithin these limits is to be takenas a whole in
itself, and that the intervening words compose a divine antidote to that
troubling and desolationof heart which the Lord’s departure would suggest.”
Bernard. He now adds a word, μηδὲ δειλιάτω, whichcarries some reproachin
it. Theophrastus (Char., xxvii.) defines δειλία as ὕπειξίς τις ψυχῆς ἔμφοβος, a
shrinking of the soul through fear. With this must be takenAristotle’s
description, Nic. Eth., iii. 6, 7, ὁ δὲ τῷ φοβεῖσθαι ὑπερβάλλων δειλός. It may
be rendered “neither let your heart timidly shrink”.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges27. PeaceI leave with you] “Finally
the discourse returns to the point from which it started. Its objecthad been to
reassure the sorrowfuldisciples againsttheir Lord’s departure, and with
words of reassuranceand consolationit concludes. Theseare thrown into the
form of a leave-taking or farewell.” S. p. 226. ‘PeaceI leave with you’ is
probably a solemn adaptation of the conventionalform of taking leave in the
East:comp. ‘Go in peace,’ Jdg 18:6; 1 Samuel 1:17; 1 Samuel 20:42;1 Samuel
29:7; 2 Kings 5:19; Mark 5:34, &c. See notes on James 2:16 and 1 Peter5:14.
The Apostle of the Gentiles perhaps purposely substitutes in his Epistles
‘Grace be with you all’ for the traditional Jewish‘Peace.’
my peace I give unto you] ‘My’ is emphatic; this is no mere conventionalwish.
Comp. John 16:33, John 20:19; John 20:21;John 20:26. The form of
expression, peace thatis mine, is common in this Gospel. Comp. the joy that is
mine (John 3:29, John 15:11, John 17:13); the judgment that is mine (John
5:30, John 8:16); the commandments that are mine (John 14:15);the love that
is mine (John 15:10).
not as the world giveth] It seems bestto understand ‘as’ literally of the
world’s manner of giving, not of its gifts, as if ‘as’ were equivalent to ‘what.’
The world gives from interested motives, because it has receivedor hopes to
receive as much again(Luke 6:33-34);it gives to friends and withholds from
enemies (Matthew 5:43); it gives what costs it nothing or what it cannotkeep,
as in the case oflegacies;it pretends to give that which is not its own,

especiallywhen it says ‘Peace, peace,’whenthere is no peace (Jeremiah6:14).
The manner of Christ’s giving is the very opposite of this. He gives what is His
own, what He might have kept, what has costHim a life of suffering and a
cruel death to bestow, whatis open to friend and foe alike, who have nothing
of their own to give in return.
Let not your heart be troubled] See on John 14:1. Was He not right in giving
them this charge? If He sends them another Advocate, through whom both
the Fatherand He will ever abide with them, if He leaves them His peace,
what room is there left for trouble and fear?
The word for ‘be afraid’ is frequent in the LXX. but occurs nowhere else in
the N.T. ‘Be fearful’ is the literal meaning.
Bengel's GnomenHYPERLINK"/john/14-27.htm"John14:27. Εἰρήνην)‫,שולש‬
peace in general(the genus); the peace of reconciliation. [Suchas ye might
have enjoyed as Israelites (as distinguished from “My peace”).—V. g.]—
ἀφίημι)I leave, at My departure. The same verb occurs in John 14:18,
Matthew 22:25 [ἀφῆκε τῆν γυναῖκα, saidof the man dying without issue, and
leaving his wife to his brother].—εἰρήνην τὴν ἐμὴν) My peace, in particular
(the species):the peace of sons. So τὴν χαρὰν τὴν ἐμὴν, My joy, ch. John
17:13. All things in Christ are new; even the commandment of ‘love,’ ch. John
13:34, and in some measure faith itself. See note, John 14:1 [The old faith in
God receives as it were a new colour from the Gospel, which orders faith in
Christ].—δίδωμι, I give) even now. See ch. John 16:33, “These things have I
spokenunto you, that in Me ye might have peace.” To the gradationin the
nouns, peace, My peace, there corresponds the gradationin the verbs, I leave,
I give.—ὁ κόσμος, the world) in its empty salutations [which in Hebrew were
generallywishes for ‘peace’to the person saluted], or in merely external
benefits, which do not reachthe heart, and which, simultaneously with the
presence, ceasefrom the sight and life of mortal men. The world so gives, as
that it presently after snatches away;it does not leave.—μὴ ταρασσέσθω, let
not—be troubled) by fears from within.—μηδὲ δειλιάτω, nor let it be afraid)
by terrors from without.
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 27. - "Then follow the last words as of one who is
about to go away, and says 'Goodnight,' or gives his blessing" (Luther). Peace
I leave with (or, to) you. Peace (dρήνη)answers to the (‫לוש‬ ‫ֹו‬‫)ם‬ shalom of
ordinary converse and greeting, and signifies prosperity, health of soul,
serenity, farewell. This is the sacredbestowmentand Divine legacyof the
Lord. "Peace"is always the result of equilibrated forces, the poise of

Jesus was the giver of peace

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