The word shalom doesn't mean peace the way we use peace. We use peace to mean the absence of conflict, a feeling of calm, maybe a nice candle and some quiet. Shalom means wholeness. Completeness. Everything in its right place. It's what happens when a system is functioning exactly the way it was designed to function.

So when the prophets cry out for shalom, they’re not asking for everyone to settle down. They’re demanding that the world be put back together the way God intended it. Justice, restoration, right relationship, nothing missing and nothing broken. That is the peace Jesus left us. Not a feeling. A commission.