I would imagine that if I asked you to try really hard you would be able to list just about every gift you might receive this year. Some people in our lives give the same gift or same type of gift each Christmas. You can count on something hand-made from Sister Sophie; you can count on something crass from Uncle Bob; and so on.
What we often forget is that we are constant recipients of gifts from God, but these gifts are not what we may be accustomed to getting. Who will be helping the disciples after Jesus is gone? What will the Holy Spirit do for them? What gift is Jesus giving?
This passage is part of the Last Supper, and Jesus is preparing the disciples for the time when he will be gone. Jesus knew they would be facing some emotionally low times – times of fear and loneliness and loss.
He begins this section by giving a promise. The disciples will not be left alone for very long. The Holy Spirit will come to them soon and they will be transformed.
Then Jesus gives another gift – peace. And it is interesting that in speaking of that peace Jesus calls it “my peace.”
How is the peace that Jesus has different from any other peace? I believe it is a spiritual peace, a peace that only Jesus had. Jesus was able to accept all that was happening to him and would happen to him because he knew the Father. He knew that God was truly with him and would be with him in all things.
Then he says that he does not give the way the world gives. Perhaps he meant that his gift is not something that will be used up or fade away. It will not grow stale or become broken. It will not become a tired tradition you encounter each year.
Instead, the peace of Christ is an ever-flowing, ever new, ever refreshing experience that brings joy to our souls and not just our hearts.
If we can live in the surety and confidence of knowing our Lord and Savior, if we can trust in the Father as Christ did, we too can receive peace. It will be a continuous gift, not like gifts in the world, and will keep our hearts from being troubled. It will keep us from fear.
DAILY CHALLENGE: Give yourself the gift of the Bible passage that gives you the most peace. Write it down and put it where you will see it every day this holiday season.
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