Here, again, Christ encourages His followers to keep their "hearts" from fear and trouble. This repeats the statement Jesus used to start this message ( John 14:1), immediately after predicting Peter's cowardice ( John 13:38). 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. Jesus was said to have a troubled spirit, at times ( John 11:33; 13:21). What He calls for here is not for Christians to be stone-faced and inhuman. Rather, it's to acknowledge the reality of suffering while at the same time trusting in God to make good on His promises.
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