The Twenty-Second Day of Advent

The Twenty-second Day of Advent, 2017

Sunday, December 24, 2017

For unto us a child is born; unto us a son is given: . . . and his name shall be called . . . The Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

We’ve looked at this verse before, but a new thought has been rising in my mind – not about the whole verse but about this little portion. Jesus, God’s promise, is our Prince of Peace. Yet when he finally got here, he, himself, said something quite the opposite: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” (Matthew 10:9) How is this possible? Isn’t it contradictory? Not if we get the whole picture. Not if we also hear him say, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27)

One of the interesting things about language is that we must understand the nuance of words or we may totally miss their meaning. We hear the word “peace” and we immediately think “the absence of war.” We think of a time when countries are not sending their most beautiful children out to kill each other, assuming that the one who kills the most children wins! We think that peace is the absence of bombings, and shootings, and rape, and pillage. We think of peace as a time when people talk about their differences and don’t kill because of them.

I think we miss the point that God would have us get. The peace that he sent Jesus to establish is not an earthly peace; it’s a kingdom peace. It’s not the absence of war; it’s the absence of separation from God It’s the reconciliation of man to God, the kind of inner peace that keeps us from being afraid of God, afraid of having to face him, of having to tell him the truth about the pain and grief and guilt in our lies! Jesus came not to become a part of the governments of men but to establish his own government in his true church, that microcosmic portion of his kingdom on earth.

Jesus said, in his great Olivet Discourse, “You shall hear of wars and rumors of wars . . . for nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.” (Matthew 24:6a, 7a) Here in December 2008, we are eagerly looking forward to Christmas and the celebration of Jesus’ birth. But in this Matthew account, he reminds us that we can count on the fact that he is coming again, coming in a time when there is no earthly peace!

We long for the earthly peace, but that won’t come until Christ sets up his reign here. In the meantime, these verses urge us to yield to the Prince who gives the real peace, the inner peace that comforts our hearts as we know that all is right between God and us! The Prince’s peace is not temporal! It’s eternal!

Father, thank you that no man, no government, no failed wars can take away our eternal peace – that peace that comes when we have been made right with you through our Lord, who paid a great price for our peace! Amen.

The Light of the World
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, 2008,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator.