CALL HIM THE PRINCE OF PEACE
Christmas Eve (2007)
Isaiah 9:2-6
Isaiah 9:2 The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined. 3 You have multiplied the nation And increased its joy; They rejoice before You According to the joy of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. 4 For You have broken the yoke of his burden And the staff of his shoulder, The rod of his oppressor, As in the day of Midian. 5 For every warrior's sandal from the noisy battle, And garments rolled in blood, Will be used for burning and fuel of fire. 6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Luke 2:21-32
Luke 2:21 And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called JESUS, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. 22 Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD"), 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, "A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons." 25 And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27 So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, 28 he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: 29 "Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; 30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation 31 Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, 32 A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel."
Everyone craves peace. We long for peace between nations, peace within our own nation, peace within our family, and, of course, peace within ourselves. In our pop-psychology driven age pharmaceutical companies have profited immensely from our preoccupation with inner peace. Some clergymen like Robert Schuller have made a career and attracting a following through preaching the same sermon over and over for forty years; namely, how to acquire inner peace.
There’s another kind of “peace” (if you want to call it that) that God doesn’t want for us and which He’s determined to take from us: that peace which is the bliss of ignorance, the bliss of indifference, the bliss of a deafened ear and the bliss of a hardened heart. The type of peace of ignorance in the face of suffering and deprivation, abuse and injustice. Our Lord himself cried to detractors, “You think I came to bring peace? I have news for you. I came to bring a sword.” We mustn’t forget the metaphor of soldiering, of military conflict, is one of the common of apostolic metaphors for discipleship: to follow Jesus is to follow him in His strife.
Nonetheless, we celebrate this season the one called Prince of Peace. He himself says, “My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, give I unto you.” Then what is the nature of the peace he longs for us to have?
The first aspect of such peace is “peace with God.” The apostle Paul writes to his fellow-Christians in Rome, “Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” To be justified by faith is to be put at peace with God. To be rightly related to God is to have and enjoy peace with God. Plainly, not to be rightly related to God is have enmity with God.
What God seeks in all of us, is of course, is faith. Not faith in the popular sense of “belief”; faith, rather, in the Hebrew sense of “faith-fulness”, faith’s fulness: faith’s full reliance upon His mercy, faith’s full welcome of His truth, faith’s full of His pardon, faith’s full of love now quickened by His never ending love for us. It all adds up to being rightly related to God, to be at peace with God. With hostility dispelled, ignorance gives way to intimacy and arrogance to commitment. We simply surrender our old selves to Him. “Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” But here’s the problem. As hard as we may try to have peace with God, we cannot. We are at enmity with God. We neither love His commandments nor His presence. That is until the Prince of Peace effects our peace with God. He reconciled us while we were enemies with God, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
Knowing and enjoying peace with God, Christ’s people are now blessed with the peace of God. The peace of God is that peace which every last individual desires. The peace of God is that “eye” of rest at the center of the hurricane, the oasis in the midst of the desert storm, the calm in the midst of convulsion, the tranquillity that no turbulence can ultimately overturn. The peace of God is that peace which God grants to His people as they face life’s assaults. It is no surprise that peace of God occurs by being in the very presence of God.
St. Paul writes the Philippians, “The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” The Greek word for “keep” (froure,w) is an expression drawn from the realm of military engagements. “Keep”, in ancient military parlance, has two major thrusts. In the first place it refers to the action of an army whereby it repels attackers, holding attackers at bay so that while attackers may assault, even assault repeatedly, they never gain entry, never overrun, never triumph and therefore never destroy. In the second place froure,w, “keep”, refers to the protection an army renders citizen-inhabitants of a besieged city so as to prevent the city’s inhabitants from fleeing in panic. The apostle draws on both aspects of the military metaphor: the peace of God prevents life’s assaults from undoing us ultimately and thereby prevents us from fleeing life in panic.
The apostle says one thing more about this peace of God: it “passes understanding”. In fact, it passes “all understanding.” It passes understanding inasmuch as it isn’t natural; it isn’t generated by anything the sociologist or psychologist or neurologist can account for; it isn’t circumstantial. In a word, there’s no earthly explanation for it. Peace of mind that arises in the midst of peaceful circumstances would be entirely understandable. On the other hand, innermost peace in the midst of turbulence and treachery; this is peace that occurs for no apparent reason.
There are parallels, of course, everywhere in the Christian life. Jesus says to his disciples, “In the world you are going to have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Our good cheer arises in the midst of tribulation because Jesus Christ has triumphed over everything, even as he gathers his people into his triumph.
It is the prince of peace who gives us that peace of God which passes all understanding. 700 years before the birth of Jesus the prophet Isaiah prophesied of Him as the “Prince of peace.” Centuries after Isaiah our Lord’s birth constrained angels to cry, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.”
Only through the Babe of Bethlehem can true peace be found. Man can not manufacture peace or even make a fair imitation of it. Jesus is the Prince of Peace because He is peace personified. He alone brings peace between man and God. He alone pays the price for man’s disobedience to God. The Babe of Bethlehem is born for the sole purpose of bringing peace, not as the world gives but the peace we really need. Reconciliation with God.
Because God became flesh, lived a life of perfection we could not, and then died bearing all our sins upon the cross, we have peace with God.
Our Prince of Peace took our place as the atoning sacrifice for all our sin. We have peace with God because Jesus has defeated sin, death and the devil. And Has done it all for you. That you might know on this very special night of His incarnation he came with a purpose. He came to give you peace. He came to make all things right with God. He came to present with His people for His name is Immanuel, God with us. And because His is come, let earth receive her king, and declare peace on earth. For in Jesus all your sins are forgiven and you have peace with God. In Jesus name, amen and amen.!
And now may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.