Jesus’s Parting Gift

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

–John 14:27

If you watch old TV game shows, you’re probably familiar with parting gifts: When a contestant lost and was ready to leave the stage, the host would say, “We have some parting gifts for you.”

When Jesus was ready to leave the world stage, instead of receiving a parting gift, He gave a parting gift to us. And it wasn’t a consolation prize; it was the grand prize. He described this gift in John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” Jesus gives us His peace.

First of all, He gives us peace about our past. All of us have sins in our past, but the death of Jesus Christ means our sins are forgiven and forgotten forever. Psalm 103:12 says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” If we have trusted in Jesus for our salvation, then we never need to fear God’s condemnation.

Second, Jesus gives us peace about our present. Jesus never promised that we would be exempt from problems. He said, “In the world you have tribulation” (John 16:33). But He also said, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). Jesus will never abandon us in the midst of our problems.

Finally, Jesus gives us peace about our future. We all sometimes wonder what’s going to happen when we die. Will we close our eyes and enter a nothingness we’re not even aware of? Or is there something beyond death? If there is, how can we know for sure we’re not going to hell?

There is only one reliable person to entrust your future to–the one who lived in heaven but gave it all up to come and tell you how to get there. Jesus said, “Do not let your heart be troubled. . . . I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going” (John 14:1, 3–4). Thomas said, “How do we know the way?” (v. 5). Jesus answered, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (v. 6).

Jesus Christ not only pointed the way to heaven; He is the way to heaven. And when we entrust our future to Him, we never have to be afraid of what’s to come.

Today’s devotion is adapted from “What Every Christian Should Know About Jesus Christ” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2022.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.