Peace
It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.
Hope died that day. Three years of following Him, recognizing Him as Teacher, then Messiah, and finally Friend… how could it lead to this? Why give us a Hope, and then kill Him? What good could ever come out of this?
And my feeble mind could never have grasped that somehow this was the start of something amazing—the beginning of the greatest event in history—even though Jesus Himself had promised so.
Time Keller had an excellent sermon on this.
There are two kinds of peace that many of us seek. One is a “stupid” peace. It basically amounts to getting away from your troubles—take a day off work and sit on the beach… schedule a cruise and just relax. Or open a bottle and drink up. It’s all the same—our troubles haven’t gone anywhere; we just ran away from them.
He calls the other peace a “smart” peace. It involves thinking about everything: the meaning of pain, of work, of life, and of the whole universe. And because of our full assurance in redemption through Christ, we know that it all fits in somehow. And this peace applies in all circumstances.
Normally, you wouldn’t calm your fears and worries by asking more questions and bringing about more uncertainties. But if you zoom out to the big picture, God promises that all things, even the bad things, work out for His good and His glory. Here is the root of Paul’s peace and contentedness.
