Shalom, Shalom!

Shalom! Shalom!

In the Old Testament the Hebrew word shalom expresses absolute, all-inclusive peace and well being. In the New Testament the Greek word eirene carries the same meaning. Both words speak blessing over those people dear to us. They express a profound desire on their behalf . . . “May your whole life, every bit of it, experience such goodness as only God can give, goodness that touches all that you think and do.” When a Jew doubled such a prayer by saying “Shalom, shalom!,” our desire for good expressed is deepened. This goes to the heart of what Jesus came to express through His Presence, His Actions, His Teachings, His Sacrifice, and His Resurrection. He came to promise and fulfill all that “Shalom, shalom!” conveys from a loving God for a desperately needy humankind. 

Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
PRINCE OF PEACE.

Even in Isaiah in the Old Testament we read that the Messiah, Jesus, is to be the Prince of Peace. He is to be the Ruler who brings peace in the hearts of people who look to His Kingship for all that is fully good in life. In fact, we look to Jesus as God’s “Shalom, shalom!” greeting to us all. He is God reaching out to us as He offers the very best in life. He offers us His Lordship which guides us in His Good Way of Salvation. In fact, there is no adequate way for any person to find his or her way to a deep and abiding sense of Shalom in life outside Jesus.

In the midst of the storm
JESUS brings peace.

In the midst of the storm Jesus gives His disciples peace, for He, Himself is peace. He is God’s shalom intended to bring us peace even when the craziness and unpredictability and the chaos of this world threatens to take us down. Jesus demonstrated this when the storm at sea had to obey His command, “Peace, be still!” Indeed, there is no storm in our lives too out-of-control for Him and His power to defeat. When Jesus enters our hearts and minds, He brings perfect peace. He does so with heavenly power too great to be overcome as we face any scheme of the Enemy. 

Luke 24:36
While they were still talking about this,
Jesus himself stood among them
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

After the crucifixion and the resurrection, the disciples found themselves astonished at the reports about Jesus from the women and from the two men who had talked with Him on the road to Emmaus. How could this be? Suddenly Jesus appeared among them with the greeting, “Peace be with you.” If they had only understood all He had said and done among them, they would have known this as His true mission throughout His life among them. He walked with them, talked with them, shared their simple food, shared their hard ground beds—He did it all to bring them ultimate peace in the very best sense of God’s Word, shalom. His pure heart’s desire for them was perfect peace as they lived their lives in the holy way He embodied.

Jesus made it clear
in the Beatitudes
that Peace was at the center
of the life He had come
to bring in the hearts
and lives of His disciples.

God’s children display their relationship with Him as they bring His Peace into the midst of this often contentious world. His Peace proclaims our common need for the Savior, Jesus. His Peace proclaims our common need for recognizing in Jesus the One who makes Peace between God and His children. His Peace stretches out our hands to bring peace  to our brothers and sisters struggling along with us in this fallen world. His peace gives us peace so others may see how He offers that same eternal peace found only in Jesus. Peacemaking—allowing the Holy Spirit to speak through our lives to assist other people as they find perfect peace in Him—identifies us as His Children.

We are given peace
to share as a precious
gift from God our Father
when we trust in Jesus
and live in obedience
as the Holy Spirit leads us.

As Jesus prepared His disciples for death, resurrection, and  ascension into Heaven, He promised them shalom (Hebrew) or eirene (Greek), the perfect peace of God. He knew how their hearts would be broken, how lost they would feel without Him. He urged them to rest in His peace. He knew they would face persecution throughout the remainder of their lives. He encouraged them to hold on to the reality of His life and resurrection—to find peace in obedience to the Father even as He had. He promised them the Presence  of the Holy Spirit to come on them and within them. He would bring inside them heavenly peace no matter what they might face in sharing the Gospel wherever they were led.