Ever wonder? Ever, in a moment of idleness or despair, think about man, peace, and the road in-between? What is it about us that makes peace all but an elusive dream? For a dream it is. Not only on a large scale, between countries, ideologies, and cultures, but also on our scale, a personal scale, true peace escapes us. We argue with our roommates. We fight with our parents. We bicker with our classmates. And the degree to which we can smooth over these difficulties is really the degree to which we can hold our temper, attempt to see issues from another perspective, and remind ourselves to stay calm. Our peace with those who inhabit our personal universe is actually a fragile one, one blown apart in an instance of irritability or misunderstanding. We work hard to maintain some semblance of peace with others, only to smash it in a matter of seconds with a few hasty words. And what we do not destroy suddenly we often erode through an accumulation of many small instances of friction. To most of us, this is life, and this is normal. But sometimes, in the fresh hurt of the aftermath of such a destruction of peace, we may wonder: Why can't my relationships be problem-free? Why can't I be at peace with others?

It Happened Once
Imagine the ancient Jewish society of two thousand years ago. They believed they had the calling of God Himself and separated themselves from all others with ordinances concerning their traditions, diet, and ways of worship. They fully believed that they were special and did not hesitate to tell others or to condemn those who did not uphold their standard of separation. For example, to eat with a member of another society, a Gentile, was an open invitation for outrage and accusation. Gentiles, in turn, were quite aware of the Jews' animosity and reciprocated the feeling. Relations between the Jews and the Gentiles were strained at best. The situation had been worsened by the fact that for the last few decades, since around 63 BC, the nation of Israel had been conquered by the Romans and had been made to live in subjection to their ways and laws. The very ones the Jews despised became their masters. This, indeed, was a bitter pill to swallow, and the relationship went from sour to poisonous.

It is for this reason that what is recorded in the the pages of Acts, a section of the Bible, goes beyond all human expectation. Jews and Gentiles came together as the church, speaking, eating, and even living together. Those who formerly wouldn't have been caught dead with Gentiles now literally called them brothers. One of the most prominent living and walking testimonies of this miracle was Paul of Tarsus. Formerly he had been one of the strictest upholders of the ordinances of separation, throwing into prison and even approving of the murders of those who had broken these regulations. Now he prayed with Gentiles in perfect harmony, labored with them shoulder to shoulder, regarded them as his own family, and spent the remainder of his life anxiously caring for thousands of them throughout the entire Mediterranean region.

What is described in Acts was not mere tolerance or an uneasy truce, but the true oneness of brotherly love. For once in human history, peace was achieved. Might the same happen today? What possibly could have brought about this miracle? The mystery of this peace is solved as we consider another seemingly separate case. What operated in these ancient Jews and Gentiles to restore peace to them is exactly the same thing that operated in one of their contemporaries, Zaccheus.

Not a Method, But a Person
As a chief tax collector, Zaccheus worked for the despised Roman government in collecting taxes from the Jews—a constant, bitter reminder to the Jews of their subservient status. A Jew himself, he along with all the other Jewish tax collectors, was loathed as a traitor to his nation to the point where his social status was on a level with that of prostitutes. To exacerbate relations, he would often extort money. He cheated and betrayed his own countrymen, and his fellow Jews hated him passionately for it.

And yet, this was the sinner the Lord Jesus purposely came to seek and save. Zaccheus believed into the Lord and was dynamically saved from all greediness. Without any external prompting, he spontaneously declared, "Behold, the half of my possessions, Lord, I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore four times as much."¹ Zaccheus believed into the Lord Jesus, received salvation, and was strengthened to make a tremendous restitution for all of his past. What before had seemed impossible was now a reality: he was at peace with his countrymen.

This was the solution to Zaccheus' situation, as it was to that of thousands of Jews at that time: they believed into the Lord Jesus and received Him as their Savior. They discovered for themselves the great truth in this universe, that the answer is not a method but a person. Paul himself confirms this answer. Taking us behind the scenes of what happened with the Jewish believers with regard to their Gentile counterparts, Paul writes, "But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have become near in the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, He who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of partition, the enmity, abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two [Jew and Gentile] in Himself into one new man, so making peace."² The cause of the Jewish believers' peace with the Gentiles is clear: Christ Jesus Himself was their peace.

When God became the man called Jesus, He was the embodiment of peace. The Gospels as a record of His human living portray time and time again tumultuous situations made calm by Him. Not only was He peaceful, He was peace itself. His outward actions were the manifestation of what He was in His inner being: peace. If God is peace by definition, then there is no peace outside of God; in seeking for peace, we must seek God Himself. Zaccheus did, even climbing a tree in order to see Jesus, and was rewarded with a peace beyond expectation.

Though we are probably not as extreme a case as Zaccheus, we have certain sympathy for his situation. Not one of us is perfect. Not one of us is completely right in our dealings with others. Despite our best efforts, impatience, annoyance, maliciousness, and worse boil to the surface, just as Zaccheus was characterized by greed and averice. Whether great or small, obvious or carefully hidden, there are things within all of us that cause others to react negatively and cause us to react negatively to others. All of us need peace with others. All of us are sinners like Zaccheus and are therefore the very ones that God purposely came to seek and save. And all of us, like Zaccheus, are able to have peace restored to our relationships by receiving Jesus Christ as our Savior. Just like Zaccheus. Just like the thousands of Jewish and Gentile believers in Christ so long ago.

It Can Happen Again
Receiving Jesus Christ establishes a situation of peace between us and others. This is possible because believing into the Lord is not a matter of changing our thinking but of receiving a Person into us. Once we receive the Lord Jesus, He comes into us to live in us, and the rest of our Christian life is a development of our relationship with Him. The Bible tells us to "let the peace of Christ arbitrate in [our] hearts."³ The word arbitrate means to umpire, preside, or be enthroned as a ruler and decider of everything. Our stubborn, divisive opinions should not have the final word in matters; rather, the peace of Christ, which is actually Christ as peace, should. In order for peace to reign, we need to give Him the first place in all our environments by practically bringing all our situations to Him. He not only will arbitrate in a way that brings in a sweet, peaceful situation with others, but He will also infuse what He is into our very being as peace. He never tells us what to do without supplying us with the strength to do it. The Bible reveals Christ not only as the wonderful Councellor but as the mighty God who enables us to carry out what He counsels us to do.⁴ He indeed is the answer to our problems, but only if we let Him arbitrate.

Christ as peace has become available for us to receive as the Spirit. He is ready to be the full solution to all our problems as we let Him arbitrate and rule in our hearts. All we have to do is open our hearts to believe and open our mouths to pray. And when we do, we get peace.

1 Luke 19:8. 2 Ephesians 2:13-15. 3 Colossians 3:15. 4 Isaiah 9:6.

If you want to receive Christ as peace, simply pray the following prayer with a sincere heart:

"Lord Jesus, I do not want to live without peace any longer. I confess that I am unrighteous. Thank You for dying for me that I could be forgiven of my unrighteousness. Lord Jesus, come into my spirit and fill me with Yourself as peace. I receive You as peace. Thank You, Lord Jesus, that You have come into me!"