Thomas Aquinas Commentary John 14:27

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful." — John 14:27 (ASV)

1. Above, our Lord promised his disciples what they would gain from the presence of the Holy Spirit. Here he promises them a gift they will obtain from his own coming and presence.

   Note that if we consider the characteristic feature of the persons of the Son and the Holy Spirit, our Lord seems to interchange their gifts. Since the Son is the Word, it seems that the gifts of wisdom and knowledge are appropriate to him. But peace is appropriated to the Holy Spirit, since he is love, which is the cause of peace. Nevertheless, because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Son, and what the Holy Spirit gives he has from the Son, our Lord here attributes this gift of knowledge to the Holy Spirit, saying, he will teach you all things (John 14:26). Yet, this gift is still appropriate to the Son. Because the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son, actions appropriate to the Holy Spirit are attributed to the Son. This is why Christ attributes peace to himself, saying, peace I leave with you.

   First, he promises his gift of peace, which he is leaving.

   Second, he distinguishes this peace from the peace of the world: not as the world gives, do I give to you.

2. He says, peace I leave with you.

   Peace is nothing other than the tranquility arising from order, for things are said to have peace when their order remains undisturbed. In a human being there is a threefold order: that of a person to himself, of a person to God, and of a person to his neighbor. Thus, a person can enjoy a threefold peace. One peace is interior, when he is at peace with himself and his faculties are not unsettled: great peace have those who love your law (Psalms 119:165). Another peace is with God, when one is entirely conformed to his direction: since we are justified by faith, let us have peace with God (Romans 5:1). The third peace is with our neighbor: strive for peace with all men (Hebrews 12:14).

   There are three things that have to be put in order within us: the intellect, the will, and sense appetency. The will should be directed by the mind or reason, and sense appetency should be directed by the intellect and will. Accordingly, Augustine, in his The Words of Our Lord, describes the peace of the saints by saying: peace is a calmness of mind, a tranquility of soul, a simplicity of heart, a bond of love and a fellowship of charity.

   This means that calmness of mind refers to our reason, which should be free, not tied down or absorbed by disordered affections. Tranquility of soul refers to our sense appetency, which should not be harassed by our emotional states. Simplicity of heart refers to our will, which should be entirely set toward God, its object. The bond of love refers to our neighbor, and the fellowship of charity to God.

   The saints have this peace now and will have it in the future. But here it is imperfect because we cannot have an undisturbed peace with ourselves, with God, or with our neighbor. We will enjoy it perfectly in the future, when we reign without an enemy and there can never be conflicts.

   Our Lord here promises us each kind of peace. The first kind is when he says, peace I leave with you—that is, in this world, so that you can conquer the enemy and love each other. This is a kind of covenant established by Christ which we should keep: a covenant of peace was established with him . As Augustine says, one cannot gain the inheritance of the Lord who is unwilling to observe his covenant, nor can he have a union with Christ if he lives in strife with a Christian. He promises the second kind of peace when he says, my peace I give to you—that is, in the future: I will bring her, the heavenly Jerusalem, a river of peace (Isaiah 66:12).

3. Since all the peace possessed by the saints—whether in this world or in our native land—comes to them through Christ, in me you may have peace (John 16:33), why does our Lord, when speaking of the peace of the saints in this life, not say, my peace I give to you, instead of reserving this for the peace of our native land?

   We should say that each peace, of the present and of the future, is Christ's. Our present peace is Christ’s because he is its author. The future peace, however, is his both because he is its author and because it is a peace such as he himself possesses. He always had this second kind of peace, because he was always without conflict. Our present peace, as was said, is not without conflict; and although Christ is its author, he does not possess it in this way.

   This explanation uses the distinction between the peace of this time and the peace of eternity. According to Augustine, both statements can refer to the peace of this time. Then Christ is saying, peace I leave with you, by my example, but my peace I give to you, by my power and strength.

4. Then when he says, not as the world gives do I give to you, he distinguishes this peace from the peace of the world.

   The peace of the saints is different from the peace of the world in three ways.

   1. Their purpose is different. Temporal peace is directed to the quiet and calm enjoyment of temporal things, with the result that it sometimes helps a person to sin: they live in strife due to ignorance, and they call such great evils peace . The peace of the saints, however, is directed to eternal goods. The meaning, therefore, is: not as the world gives do I give to you—that is, not for the same end. The world gives peace so that external goods can be possessed undisturbed, but I give peace so that you can obtain eternal things.

   2. They differ in their authenticity, as one is pretended and the other is true. The peace of the world is a pretended peace since it is only on the outside: the wicked . . . who speak peace with their neighbors, while mischief is in their hearts (Psalms 27:3). But the peace of Christ is true, because it is both on the outside and the inside. So the meaning is, not as the world gives do I give to you—that is, I do not give a pretended peace, as the world does, but true peace.

   3. They differ in perfection. The peace of the world is imperfect since it is not concerned with a person's interior tranquility but only with externals: There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked (Isaiah 57:21). But the peace of Christ brings tranquility both within and without: Great peace have those who love your law (Psalms 119:165). So the meaning is: not as the world gives—that is, not such an imperfect peace.