Jn 14:27-31a
Not as the world gives: The evangelist is not referring to the world per se, the whole creation blessed by God, but to the world of people opposed to Jesus and his gospel. Always presented as openly opposing Jesus and the interests of God, it is the world of sin and death, of lies and illusions, of corruption and betrayal. In this world, peace is illusory and transitory. The world’s peace as exemplified by the Pax Romana (peace in territories within the Roman Empire, achieved after wars of conquests and the quelling of revolts) is attained through power struggle. A fragile kind of peace, it is negotiated, maintained through complex requirements and conditions, and all too easily lost when the balance of power shifts. It may even serve as a cover-up for an impending treachery.
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, the complete opposite of the world of confusion, lies, and death. His gift of peace comes from divine wellsprings. It means genuine harmony with the heart of the Almighty. It is peace born out of perfect obedience to the will of the Father, forged by suffering, passion, death, and resurrection. Jesus offers his peace to his disciples, anticipating the kind of peace that he will give them when he is glorified. It is the peace that is the fruit of the Son’s perfect love and obedience to the Father. Given through the way of the cross, the messianic peace of Jesus is genuine and lasting, pure and profound. Pax Christi means mastery of the wayward self and total submission to God and his ways. It endures life’s storms and trials and, as a gift, makes others endure their own trials and sufferings. It is the perfect gift freely given, without conditions or prerequisites.