John 14:27 - Printer Friendly

ESV: 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.

NIV: Peace I 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.

NASB: Peace I leave you, My peace I give you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, nor fearful.

CSB: "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful.

NLT: I am leaving you with a gift — peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.

KJV: 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.

NKJV: Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

"Not knowing" brings its own kind of terror. Experience makes people less nervous to drive cars, fly in airplanes, endure thunderstorms, or receive medical injections. The experiences, themselves, don't change. What changes is the person's expectations—they know what is happening, and what will happen next. That brings confidence and greatly reduces fear. It brings peace.

Several times in this discourse, Jesus will point out that He is preparing the disciples to "hold fast" in a difficult time (John 13:7; 14:29; 16:4, 33). This not only applies to His impending arrest and execution (Mark 8:31; John 12:34; 16:32), but to the persecution Christians will face because of their faith (John 15:18–20; 16:2–3).

The peace that Christ offers is not like that of the world. The best we can expect from the natural world is unfairness and death (Romans 8:20; James 4:14; Psalm 73:3). Even attempts to be moral, without God, lead only to frustration (2 Corinthians 7:10). Christ's "peace" here refers to a hope and reassurance that goes beyond what a fallen world can offer (Philippians 4:7). It is permanent, guaranteed, and eternal (Hebrews 6:18–19).

Here, again, Christ encourages His followers to keep their "hearts" from fear and trouble. This repeats the statement Jesus used to start this message (John 14:1), immediately after predicting Peter's cowardice (John 13:38). Here, again, scholars suggest that Jesus is distinguishing between being troubled in one's "spirit," meaning pain and unhappiness, as opposed to being troubled in one's "heart," meaning fear and despair. Jesus was said to have a troubled spirit, at times (John 11:33; 13:21). What He calls for here is not for Christians to be stone-faced and inhuman. Rather, it's to acknowledge the reality of suffering while at the same time trusting in God to make good on His promises.

John 14:15–31 contains a prediction about the Holy Spirit. Jesus refers to this as the Spirit of Truth, and promises that the Spirit will arrive to help the disciples carry on after Jesus is ascended to heaven. Throughout this section, a person's love for Christ, their obedience to His teachings, and the indwelling of the Spirit are intertwined. As in prior statements, Jesus is focused on comfort and encouragement. He will continue to highlight the need to maintain faith, based on all He has said and done so far. Later, after advance warnings about what Christians will face, Jesus will return to describing the work and purpose of the Holy Spirit under the new covenant.

Christ reassures His followers that faith in Him is faith in God. To know Christ is to know ''the way, and the truth, and the life'' (John 14:6). The words, actions, and miracles of Jesus should give Christians confidence to trust that He will make good on His promises. Among those are His guarantee that He is preparing to come for us, so we can be where He is. Jesus also predicts the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This is only available to believers, and this Helper acts to guide, teach, and remind us. Both for the disciples, and for future Christians, these words are meant to be comforting during hard times. Since Christ knew, in advance, what would happen, we can be even more confident to trust Him.

After completing His public ministry in Jerusalem (John 12:36–38), Jesus has washed the feet of the disciples (John 13:3–5), predicted His betrayal (John 13:21), and foreseen Peter's denial (John 13:37–38). Chapter 14 begins a series of remarks meant to encourage the disciples, in the face of dire warnings. Among these are reminders that Jesus is planning to bring them to be where He is, assurance that He is ''the way,'' and the first explicit promises of the coming of the Holy Spirit. Chapter 15 will continue this address, beginning with Jesus' claim to be ''the true vine.''

The disciple John wrote the gospel of John decades after the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls "signs"— to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.