Hi there,
So yes, there is a strong undercurrent of peace, in Jesus ("My peace I give unto you, not as the world gives, but I give you my peace"). He says of Himself "My yoke is easy and my burden is light". To His Disciples He says "come aside by yourselves for a while and rest". When the storm is coming on the boat, His Disciples have to shake Him to get Him awake and then He says to the storm "Peace! Be still!". All this you can take with a grain of salt, if you are just reading through the gospels, about someone doing this and that - but what is interesting is the Man, Himself.
Jesus was pleased that we kept a record of His life, we may assume, since He said nothing done for God is without reward, but there is an interesting twist there: Jesus did not go about say "remember this!" "remember that!". He was not searching, for the end (though He said "the things concerning Me have an end"). He was not limited by our expectations ("what if you saw the Son of Man lifted up where He was?" He asked). And though He wrestled with the Devil when He entered Heaven, He did not go from there, to war with the armies of darkness.
What did He do? Jesus, relaxed! The Devil, once defeated, could approach Him no more, it was settled - as He said on the Cross "It is finished!". The whole contest between the Devil and other angels, was whether they could pass the test that Jesus did, themselves! Not to rule out conflict, some succeeded and some failed - as it says in Revelation "Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them and they were judged according to their works" - the point being that Jesus didn't meet the dead and die Himself, He relaxed more! Rest was literally following Christ, as it says "and their works followed after them". He only ever had more reason to relax.
Does this mean, we as disciples are expected to relax? I think that would be a fitting interpretation of the Lord's prayer, that we be as "One" - if Jesus is "relaxing" I should be too! Let everything be done in proper order, yes, but let us hold on to the promise that is in Christ Jesus, the we and everyone with us, relax! Will we face trial and tribulation? Yes! But we can relax! Will we suffer persecution and suspicion? Yes, but we can relax! Do we have a cross to bear? Yes, to a point - like Christ we need help to carry the cross - but when the help comes we can relax!
More relaxation is coming brothers, may we be of one mind about it!
Me? I'm chillaxing!
So yes, there is a strong undercurrent of peace, in Jesus ("My peace I give unto you, not as the world gives, but I give you my peace"). He says of Himself "My yoke is easy and my burden is light". To His Disciples He says "come aside by yourselves for a while and rest". When the storm is coming on the boat, His Disciples have to shake Him to get Him awake and then He says to the storm "Peace! Be still!". All this you can take with a grain of salt, if you are just reading through the gospels, about someone doing this and that - but what is interesting is the Man, Himself.
Jesus was pleased that we kept a record of His life, we may assume, since He said nothing done for God is without reward, but there is an interesting twist there: Jesus did not go about say "remember this!" "remember that!". He was not searching, for the end (though He said "the things concerning Me have an end"). He was not limited by our expectations ("what if you saw the Son of Man lifted up where He was?" He asked). And though He wrestled with the Devil when He entered Heaven, He did not go from there, to war with the armies of darkness.
What did He do? Jesus, relaxed! The Devil, once defeated, could approach Him no more, it was settled - as He said on the Cross "It is finished!". The whole contest between the Devil and other angels, was whether they could pass the test that Jesus did, themselves! Not to rule out conflict, some succeeded and some failed - as it says in Revelation "Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them and they were judged according to their works" - the point being that Jesus didn't meet the dead and die Himself, He relaxed more! Rest was literally following Christ, as it says "and their works followed after them". He only ever had more reason to relax.
Does this mean, we as disciples are expected to relax? I think that would be a fitting interpretation of the Lord's prayer, that we be as "One" - if Jesus is "relaxing" I should be too! Let everything be done in proper order, yes, but let us hold on to the promise that is in Christ Jesus, the we and everyone with us, relax! Will we face trial and tribulation? Yes! But we can relax! Will we suffer persecution and suspicion? Yes, but we can relax! Do we have a cross to bear? Yes, to a point - like Christ we need help to carry the cross - but when the help comes we can relax!
More relaxation is coming brothers, may we be of one mind about it!
Me? I'm chillaxing!
