Rather, it's to acknowledge the reality of suffering while at the same time trusting in God to make good on His promises. What He calls for here is not for Christians to be stone-faced and inhuman. 5 For he has humbled the inhabitants of the height, the lofty city. 4 Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. 3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. 2 Open the gates, that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in.
Jesus was said to have a troubled spirit, at times (John 11:33 13:21). he sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks. Here, again, scholars suggest that Jesus is distinguishing between being troubled in one's "spirit," meaning pain and unhappiness, as opposed to being troubled in one's "heart," meaning fear and despair. This repeats the statement Jesus used to start this message (John 14:1), immediately after predicting Peter's cowardice (John 13:38). Here, again, Christ encourages His followers to keep their "hearts" from fear and trouble. It is permanent, guaranteed, and eternal (Hebrews 6:18–19). Christ's "peace" here refers to a hope and reassurance that goes beyond what a fallen world can offer (Philippians 4:7). Even attempts to be moral, without God, lead only to frustration (2 Corinthians 7:10). The best we can expect from the natural world is unfairness and death (Romans 8:20 James 4:14 Psalm 73:3). The peace that Christ offers is not like that of the world.
This not only applies to His impending arrest and execution (Mark 8:31 John 12:34 16:32), but to the persecution Christians will face because of their faith (John 15:18–20 16:2–3). Several times in this discourse, Jesus will point out that He is preparing the disciples to "hold fast" in a difficult time (John 13:7 14:29 16:4, 33). That brings confidence and greatly reduces fear. What changes is the person's expectations-they know what is happening, and what will happen next.
The experiences, themselves, don't change. Experience makes people less nervous to drive cars, fly in airplanes, endure thunderstorms, or receive medical injections. "Not knowing" brings its own kind of terror.
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