I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution; but take courage, I have overcome the world — the final verse of the Farewell Discourse returns to the opening promise of peace and the closing affirmation of victory. The disciples will face a hostile world, persecution and suffering, yet they are not orphaned or abandoned. They belong to Jesus, who has overcome (nikao—conquered, been victorious) the cosmos and all its opposition to God. This is the final word of the Farewell Discourse: not comfort that denies suffering but courage rooted in the knowledge that the crucified and risen Christ has already defeated the powers that oppose human flourishing. In Jesus, they have peace; in Jesus, they have victory.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

Publish a note on this verse