With songs such as “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Penny Lane,” and “Yesterday,” The Beatles created music that has lasted 50 years (and continues on today!).
But everyone peeks and falls and their foray into Eastern Mysticism turned many a fan away, starting them down a style of composition that helped to foster the hippy generation. Peace and love, Baby.
Many have seen the pictures of John, Paul, George, and Ringo sitting in Lotus position around the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
This religious (or non-religious leader–depending upon who you read) was the inventor of the Transcendental Meditation Technique and taught many his methods designed to produce inner peace.
Although, is sitting with one’s legs crossed in the street to stop traffic in front of a police line with the intent of bringing world order…really peace?
Jesus said two things that can help to make sense of the concept of peace.
The first is John 14:27, I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn’t like the peace the world gives.
The second verse seems at first to contradict it, yet with further exploration actually solidifies the first.
Luke 12:51, Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to bring strife and division. As has been said in other blogs from this series, Jesus is the perfect man and can offer insights into what it means to be a man.
Jesus came to earth to offer salvation to mankind. Those who accept His sacrifice have eternity with God the Father and a peace which passes understanding – a peace the world can’t understand.
The world defines peace as “a state of tranquility or quiet.” Christ defined peace as unity in one’s relationship with God. John 14 makes this concept clear. The peace Christ offers is not like that of the world. Man wants a respite from strife, God offers harmony with Him.
Luke 12 can be taken out of context if you don’t understand Jesus’ mission. John 10:10 says that Jesus came to give life and offer it more abundantly. It does not say that he has come to offer peace to the earth.
Those who have not accepted Christ can never understand the peace Jesus offers because they are searching for it through the world’s eyes. They desire physical tranquility and mental quiet, not salvation from sin and death and the fulfillment of abundant life Christ offers us.
Because the world’s desires are different than Christ-followers’, division and strife arise between the groups. Jesus did not leave heaven with the intent of causing problems for mankind.
He did not tell God He wanted to go to the third rock from the sun to wreck havoc on its inhabitants.
No, Jesus desired that all follow Him. But, since His very presence brings conflict between those who cling to sin and those who love God, those who follow Him also conflict with them.
This strife can be seen in the death sentence offered by the people of the time to Jesus. And even though Jesus would be crucified, He peacefully walked to the cross to fulfill His mission.
Jesus could have called thousands of angels to defend Him yet went willingly, offering a version of the peace the world seeks out. But He did not. He overcame evil with good.
Christ is the perfect example of the Fruits of the Spirit including peace. However, when looking at peace, it must be defined by God’s dictionary and not man’s. Only then will one truly understand what peace in life should look like.
James and Cindi Runyon 