eirene

john 14:27 ‘peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. not as the world gives do I give to you. let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.’

eirene is the Greek word for peace used here in this verse, meaning a tranquil state of the soul – an internal posture independent of external circumstances. eirene comes from the from verb eiro which means to join or bind together that which has been separated.

now back in this time, it was a normal statement upon departure to wish peace to a person or group, but Jesus took this plain customary ‘goodbye’ as we say now and ‘filled it with deep strength and meaning.’ Jesus is promising us His peace, His eirene. this is no longer an empty goodbye, but a promise that Jesus will fulfill. a promise to send the Helper, the Holy Spirit who will be with us forever. a promise to join back together what was once separated by the fall of man, restored through Jesus’ resurrection. we are no longer separated from God, Jesus is our great high priest, our intercessor between us and the Heavenly Father. Jesus bridged the gap between us and God, He is readily available to us, our relationship is back in harmony. back in peace, back in eirene.

you see, the peace that Jesus gives us ‘surpasses all understanding’ because it is not determined by our circumstances in life and we can’t seem to wrap our minds around that concept. we are able to be at peace when it seems our life may be falling apart because we trust in God’s plan for our life. the peace this world offers is fleeting, here for one good moment and gone the next.

our world is everchanging, but our God is everlasting.

‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.’ believing in that offers us peace because we know what we are getting. we know we are getting a God that ‘fights our battles’ (exodus 14:14), that ‘wants what is best for us’ (romans 8:28), that ‘gave up His own Son so we can find life in Him’ (john 3:16), that ‘is rich in mercy and grace’ (ephesians 2:4-9).

i believe in order to have peace though we must have trust first. without trust, we would be anxious to take anyone at their word, to believe anything if we thought it may be untrue. and if we are anxious our minds are uneasy, bothered, tense, the complete opposite feelings of what peace is supposed to bring. i am not saying that we should never feel anxious, but i am saying that when we bring our anxious thoughts to the Lord in prayer, we should feel a blanket of peace wrapping around us because we trust God is who He says He is, ‘do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.’ (philippians 4:6-7).

in this world we may find the ‘peace’ it has to offer us through money, success, fame, etc. yet, this ‘peace’ is able to be stripped away from us in the blink of an eye, and everything that you once had ‘peace’ in has completely vanished. i don’t know about you but that doesn’t seem like the best plan for peace. i see a lot of anxiety coming along trying to attain that kind of ‘peace’, trying everything we can, gripping so tightly to the kingdom of self that we have built, clawing our way to build the best life we can build. but if we would just let go. if we would just let go and trust God.

you can only find eirene in one place, in one name, and it is in and through Jesus and Jesus alone. Jesus has reconciled the lost to bring us back into right relationship with God. He is the greatest rescue mission ever accomplished. He is what allows us to have eirene.

-n0tbychance