Prince of Peace
Isaiah 9:6,
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
We close our four part exhortation series this week with Jesus’ title — Prince of Peace. The word for peace here is shalom. This peace is not just the absence of conflict, but a wholeness, a total well-being, a full flourishing. All as it should be. This peace is almost unimaginable and it belongs only to God. Real peace — all as it should be peace — belongs only to the sovereign God of the universe. The peace of God surpasses all understanding because his peace is the original, the truest peace. Everything else we call peace is a derivative.
Though there are flashes of lightning and peals of thunder before the throne of God in Revelation, the sea is described as perfectly still, being like glass or crystal. This is the peace of God. And Jesus is the heir of this peace. It is his by right as the appointed heir of all things. This peace, this wholeness and flourishing, is tied so closely to Jesus that when the angels announce his birth, they proclaim, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
We want this peace. We want the wars to stop. We want an end to the conflict in our workplaces and in our homes and in our hearts. We want to be whole and to flourish and for all to be as it should be. But if we are honest with ourselves in the quiet moments, we know that we don’t deserve this peace. We have been part of the problem. We have added to the conflict. All will be as it should be when all is as I want it to be. We have tried to wrestle our peace away from God and in doing so we have declared war.
What do we do? This issue looms large during this season. What do we think when we hear the Christmas bells? Are we like Longfellow in the poem?
“And in despair I bowed my head;
‘There is no peace on earth,’ I said;
‘For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!’”
Are we comforted by the next stanza?
“Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
‘God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.’”
But how? Are we not the Wrong? Is he not the Right? How can we receive the peace of God?
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
Why lies he in such mean estate, where ox and ass are feeding?
The King of Kings and Lord of Lords should not be in a trough.
Good Christian, fear: for sinners here the silent word is pleading.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. His very presence as a babe in Mary’s lap is the mark of his intercession on our behalf.
Nails, spear shall pierce him through, the cross be borne for me for you.
Jesus tells us, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
His body broken to make you whole. Pierced that you may lay your weapons down. Killed that you may have life. Jesus suffered that you may have peace.
This reminds us of our need to confess our sins.
Father, you have extended your peace to us in Jesus Christ. Please forgive us for our hard-heartedness and the many ways we reject your peace. We choose to stoke conflict. We choose to remain agitated and angry, unsettled and unnecessarily burdened. Our sin prevents us from reflecting your glory. We confess these sins and others to you now in this moment of silence.
Father, we join the songwriter in declaring “joy, joy, for Christ is born.” You did not need to save us. We were enemies to be made into a footstool. But out of the abundance of your love Jesus condescended to take on flesh. Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace — swaddled and held in Mary’s arms for the purpose of living a life of perfect righteousness so that he could be our substitution on the cross. Thank you, Jesus, for laying down your life for us and for taking it up again to secure our union with the Father through you. Thank you for the peace that you bring us. Please give us an extra measure of your Spirit this season to find our rest and our peace only in you.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
