Quiet peacefulness enveloped a grove of olive trees just outside the wall of Jerusalem. We call this place the Garden of Gethsemane. Darkness added a feeling of calmness to the scene. Jesus’ apostles continued hoping their leader from Nazareth would, like Moses, bring Israel into freedom from foreign oppression.
Suddenly human voices, muffled by distance, sounded in the apostle’s ears. Gradually these angry voices grew louder as men holding torches approached. This furious mob shattered their idyllic surroundings.
“Judas…arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs.” (1) As the arresting officer seized Jesus, our Lord began the most stressful, painful and disturbing time of all his days on earth.
But his thoughts remained tranquil and calmness dominated his innermost being. The next day vicious crowds screamed for his crucifixion, lashes ripped chunks of skin from his back and spikes pierced his body.
Being God didn’t cancel out Jesus’ humanity. He experienced all the physical and emotional pain any of us would feel in the same situation. To what can we attribute Jesus’ peaceful thoughts? More than that, how can we access Jesus’ peaceful thoughts for ourselves?
Submerge Yourself in Peaceful Thoughts
Although Jesus worked as a carpenter until he was thirty years old, he evidently bathed his mind in Scripture. No, he didn’t live in the desert by himself and study the Bible twenty hours a day. He lived an ordinary life as he provided for his younger step siblings and mother after his stepfather passed away. Jesus was a real human, a real person.
The internet and hundreds of cable television channels didn’t vie for Jesus’ attention. His mind wasn’t submerged in the endless chatter of news commentators and business advertisements. But Jesus faced a tremendous disadvantage we’ve never known.
Jesus didn’t own a nicely bound Bible he could hold in his lap and conveniently read. The Scriptures of his day were written on huge scrolls laboriously hand copied. Ordinary people didn’t posses libraries of scrolls. He had to find time in his very busy schedule to travel to the synagogue and read. How cumbersome and inconvenient! But he did it.
Christian friends, turn your television off. Why do you get up in the morning and allow radio or television voices to steal your private time with the Lord? They are not only stealing your time, but they are filling your mind with unpeaceful thoughts.
You can access Jesus’ peaceful thoughts—the thoughts that controlled him during his trials—by filling your mind with his written Word. “Great peace have they who love your law.” (2) “If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river.” (3)
Commune with Jesus’ Spirit
When the man Christ Jesus ascended to Heavenly Father’s right hand, his spirit became available to all believers. The presence of the resurrected Jesus envelopes planet earth. He wants to interact with your human spirit. Jesus yearns to feel you near himself. He wants to touch you as he feels your touch. During this interaction between him and you, Jesus’ peaceful thoughts fill your emotions and permeate your mind—become one with you.
Even though we live in a very troubled world, Jesus’ peace becomes our peace. We experience a peace we don’t have to work up or manufacture. This peace is a gift from God. “May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.” (4)
Jesus’ peaceful person keeps our minds and emotions untroubled as we schedule appointments with him. He’s available to all of us. Time spent with Jesus allows his peaceful thoughts to become part of our person. “Peace I leave you, my peace I give you…Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (5)
Footnotes:
- Matthew 26:47 2. Psalm 119:165 3. Isaiah 48:18 4. 2 Thessalonians 3:16 5. John 14:27
