Christ's Peace (part 2 of 2)

It is possible to see further evidence that Jesus might very well have been thinking of “peace” in the context that has been suggested when He appears before Pilate.  While standing before the man who represented Rome and its might, and having been questioned as to whether or not He was “the King of the Jews” (John 18:34), Jesus replied by saying, “My kingdom is not from this world” (18:36a).  Just as the peace He was going to provide was not going to come in the way that the world provided, so He was also not going to establish His kingdom as the world does. 

Elaborating on the point made, Jesus thus continued on to say, “If My kingdom were from this world, My servants would be fighting to keep Me from being handed over to the Jewish authorities” (18:36b).  Had they fought to establish Jesus’ kingdom, then the “peace” of that kingdom would have been achieved in the same way as the Roman peace had been achieved.  This peace, as can be seen when one glances through the history of the Roman empire, was not terribly peaceful outside of the city of Rome itself, as the years at which Rome was not at war or putting down rebellions in order to extend or preserve its peace were few and far between. 

Finally, providing a significant underscore to what He has insisted concerning His kingdom and the nature of what it brings, Jesus adds, “But as it is, My kingdom is not from here” (18:36c).  With this, He reinforces the point that He has just made, saying, “As you can see, I have no servants fighting for Me.  So yes, though I am a King, as you have said, My kingdom is dramatically different from any that has come before, is going to be established and inaugurated in a radically different way than you could possibly imagine, and it will be extended through the foolish means of telling people about the fact that I was crucified and raised up from the grave.”   

After His Resurrection, when Jesus appears to His disciples, the author of the Gospel calls attention to the theme that has been created, as Jesus revisits His talk of peace (with its underlying kingdom sensibility) says, “Peace be with you.  Just as the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (20:21).  Could this not have served as a reminder of words that He had previously spoken to His disciples in regards to the peace that He was leaving with them and giving to them?  His crucifixion had just taken place at the hands of the Romans, so it would have been quite natural for His disciples to be harboring a substantial measure of hostility towards them, hardly thinking of peace nor desiring peace to be visited upon them. 

In the midst of that possible mindset, Jesus comes to remind them that His kingdom was to be established according to His means.  He came and reminded them that they were to extend the knowledge of the Creator God, and of the Creator God as demonstrated through the mission of the Christ, to the peoples of all nations, including those very Roman soldiers that had nailed Him to His cross.  Indeed, to that end, the disciples would have had the very example that Jesus had provided them, not only in remembrance of His daily course of life in which He routinely engaged with Gentiles, but in that He had asked the Father to forgive those that were involved in the terrible ordeal. 

How could they do this?  How could they extend His peace?  At this point, all indications are that they were fearful of the Jews and angry at the Romans.  Clearly, Jesus was special.  Sure, it was easy for Him to say that they needed to put aside their fear and their anger, and to go out of that place with Jesus’ mindset of “as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”  For them, doing this was going to be a bit more difficult.  It is understandable that Jesus would know this, so “after He said this, He breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’.” (20:22)  With that, a new creation (heavy Genesis/garden/Adam imagery at work here) springs forth, and His disciples were covenanted to carry the Gospel message of Jesus as Lord of all, representing the Creator God and His purposes of renewal and recreation, and of peaceful submission to Him and His claim to rule.  This would stand in stark contrast to the Caesar of Rome’s demand, at the point of the sword, to bow the knee in exchange for his version of peace.