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Jesus' Parting Gift: Peace That Darkness Can't Destroy

December 11, 2025
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Daily Scripture

John 14:18-29

18 “I won’t leave you as orphans. I will come to you. 19 Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live too. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them loves me. Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”
22 Judas (not Judas Iscariot) asked, “Lord, why are you about to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”
23 Jesus answered, “Whoever loves me will keep my word. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Whoever doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words. The word that you hear isn’t mine. It is the word of the Father who sent me.
25 “I have spoken these things to you while I am with you. 26 The Companion [or Advocate]. the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I told you.
27 “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you. I give to you not as the world gives. Don’t be troubled or afraid. 28 You have heard me tell you, ‘I’m going away and returning to you.’ If you loved me, you would be happy that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than me. 29 I have told you before it happens so that when it happens you will believe.

Daily Reflection & Prayer

John said just before Jesus faced the cross, “When Judas took the bread, he left immediately. And it was night” (John 13:30). Physical darkness symbolized spiritual darkness—betrayal, arrest, crucifixion. But that darkness couldn’t conquer Jesus, “the light of the world” (John 8:12). As evil people plotted, only faith could see beyond the coming horror to Easter’s light. Yet Jesus gave his followers a gift: his peace. It grew from the Holy Spirit’s eternal presence with them. It alone could offer Jesus’ peace even in times of great confusion or fear.

  • Scholar William Barclay wrote, “The peace which the world offers us is the peace of escape, the peace which comes from the avoidance of trouble and from refusing to face things. The peace which Jesus offers us is the peace of conquest. No experience of life can ever take it from us and no sorrow, no danger, no suffering can ever make it less. It is independent of outward circumstances.” * What makes Jesus’ peace “independent of outward circumstances”? How have you found (or do you long to find) this gift of peace in your life?
  • The “fight or flight” response to danger seems hard-wired into our brains. Jesus didn’t promise to eliminate that biological response. Instead, he promised that trust in his presence gives us a better way to face whatever triggers it. Are there dark places of fear and anxiety in your life today? How can Jesus’ loving presence free your heart and mind to live in the peace he came to give you?
Prayer

A daily reminder from Pastor Hamilton: Our hope is that tonight or tomorrow morning, continuing through Christmas, each of you will, either in the morning or at night, take the time to write down three things you are thankful for. You might write these in the form of a thank you letter to God or simply write down a journal entry.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for offering me a peace that isn’t temporary, that nothing can take away from me. Please help me to live into that peace no matter what life brings. Amen.

GPS Insights

Picture of Janelle Gregory

Janelle Gregory

Janelle Gregory, who serves as Resurrection's Human Resources Lead Director, wrote today's Insights. Janelle finds that her heart is constantly wrestling with the truth that she needs a Savior, and the times when she's at her very best are when she's just too tired to put up a fight.

Franny was the first cat I ever owned. About a month before my wedding, my now-husband showed me a picture of this skinny, white, fluffy cat who was being fostered through a shelter. I had never wanted a cat, but through the rose-colored lens of pre-wedding bliss, I agreed. And suddenly, this fragile little creature was coming home with us.
Her backstory broke my heart. Her first owner abandoned his pets in his apartment when he moved out. When the cleaning woman discovered them, she took Franny in. But her own cat bullied Franny, so she passed her along to her daughter, who fostered for a local shelter. And then along came us, her fourth home, and she was only 11 months old.
No wonder she arrived timid and terrified. She hid constantly. Once, we were convinced she had escaped, only to later find her tucked behind the refrigerator. But she slowly began to hide less and wanted to be near us, sensing that maybe, just maybe, we could be her family. I fell in love with this little creature who desperately needed to know she wouldn’t be abandoned again.
A few weeks after our wedding, we left for our nine-day honeymoon. We dropped Franny off at a friend’s house, and it absolutely tore at me. She didn’t know we were coming back. From her point of view, she was being shuffled to yet another unfamiliar home with new rooms, new smells, new people. Trust had been broken once again.
I tried to reassure her that we were coming back, but of course she couldn’t understand me. She only knew that the people she’d finally learned to trust had disappeared.
But as soon as we returned, the first thing we did was pick up our girl. I will never forget her reaction. It was the only time in her 14 years with us that she licked my entire forearm. She was overjoyed. She hadn’t been abandoned. We came back for her.
Prior to his death, Jesus told his disciples that he was leaving, but that he was coming back. I can’t imagine how they felt in that moment. Leaving? After all they had done together to spread this new ministry, he was abandoning them? They had to have been terrified. They didn’t understand the timeline. They didn’t understand the plan. They only felt the ache of change.
But Jesus knew the whole story. He knew the resurrection was coming. He knew the Holy Spirit was going to be with them. He knew that leaving wasn’t the end, it was the beginning of a new way he would be with them. It’s the same way he’s with us now. The Holy Spirit reminds us that we’re not abandoned, we’re not forgotten, he’s still with us, and just like we came back for our Franny, Jesus is coming back for us. This is the peace we can live into during this season and throughout the whole year.
© 2025 Resurrection: A United Methodist Church. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References

* William Barclay, Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel of John—Volume 2, Chapters 8–21, (Revised Edition). Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1976, p. 171.

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