Real peace

John 14: 27 - 31
John 20 : 19 - 23

Peace I give to you.....

It is interesting to read the two passage together. One is the 'promise' and the other the 'fulfillment'. On the first occasion Jesus spoke to those who do not quite understand and the second time he spoke to those who had been tested by fire and found lacking!!

I guess we are much the same. In our spiritual lives, we hear God's promises on one level when we are newly on the journey - not quite sure but willing to take the words at face value, hopeful with a certain type of hope. Then our journey progresses, goes through all sorts of twists and turns and finally we come to the end of ourselves. In fact, we may even be on the verge of giving up, losing courage and feeling as if we are failures. The world doesn't add up or so we believe - because we understood the promise in a certain way. But the blinkers have been removed, reality has taken away any illusions about what it means to live in this world as "people of the Way". Then the word comes again "Peace be with you".

We hear it differently now. We hear it coming from One who knows our worst failures and still believes in us. He seems to have more trust in us than we have in ourselves. He is the One who has wounds to show us - the reality is real, pain is real and suffering is real!! Our failures expose us for the frail humans we are. But all this is not the complete story. Jesus comes with an invitation to the future, a gift and a challenge. A deep peace is birthed. And the former words ring with new truth......"Let not your hearts be troubled; neither let them be afraid" and "Peace be with you".