It’s Christmas Day! Today we stop and celebrate the
birth of Jesus, the day God joined us and became human, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the
government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful
Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Jesus is
the Prince of Peace, the peace offered by the angels to the shepherds in the
fields of Bethlehem who sang, “Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests.” The child
in the manger is the Prince of Peace offered to the world, come to bring peace
to all humanity. Jesus not only comes to bring peace into the world, he is
peace itself come into the world to heal and bring an end to the conflict that
infects all creation. Jesus offers peace to each of you here this morning.
Here in this passage from John, Jesus is offering
peace to his disciples. This scene is just before Jesus begins his journey to
the cross for our sin, the journey that ends with Jesus defeating sin and death
on the cross, bringing peace into our relationship with our heavenly Father,
restoring the relationship with our Father which had been broken in the Garden
of Eden when Adam and Eve refused to obey God and chose their wisdom over God’s.
This is why Jesus came into the world as a baby; to become human to bring peace
on earth. Here Jesus is preparing his disciples for what’s coming, reassuring
them that even though he needs to leave them, that he will send them the Holy
Spirit to guide them and remind them of everything Jesus has taught them. But
the disciples are confused and troubled, so Jesus offers them peace, soul peace
for their spirit for what lies ahead. Even though Jesus is facing death, he knows
this is the only way we will find true peace, peace with God. Jesus is peace in
the flesh and dies to make peace ours. Jesus plants his peace in our hearts and
he maintains it, nurtures it by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus’ peace that he offers is more than just
the absence of conflict and fighting. It’s rather sad that too often we settle
for such a tiny idea of what peace is. Peace for a place like Syria or the Gaza
Strip is more than stopping the bombs from falling, peace in a family where
there is abuse is more than the stopping of hitting and violence, peace with
yourself is more than simply stopping the self-harm; Jesus’ peace is deeper and
more wonderful than simply stopping conflict. Jesus’ peace is about how we live
with each other and ourselves, it’s about who we are becoming because of how
Jesus’ peace enters and fills our lives and hearts.
Peace is a powerful word in the Bible. In Hebrew the word
is shalom, a word that means health and wholeness in mind, body, and soul.
Shalom is about living in right healthy relationships with God, yourself, each
other and with creation. Shalom is about everything fitting together in life as
God intends; it’s life how it’s supposed to be. Peace is a big picture word
that points us back to creation and God’s very good,
and points us ahead to Jesus’ return when heaven and earth are joined together
and creation is renewed and there will be no more
death, no more mourning or tears because God will be with us forever and
sin will be no more.
The peace of Jesus is life changing if you allow it to
live deep in your heart, allowing Jesus’ peace to shape who you are and your
approach life. Jesus’ peace gives you strength to live with confidence and
grace because you know that he has established his control over creation,
defeating sin and death; that he has sent the Holy Spirit to live in us,
reminding us of who Jesus is and how, because of his resurrection, the renewal
and restoration of creation is now a certainty, no matter how dark life and the
world may seem, Jesus’ light now shines into the darkness to bring hope and
life chasing away the fear that so many people live with today, fear of how
life and circumstances are so often out of our control and we feel helpless and
afraid.
Jesus’ peace helps us to forgive more easily and let go of the
hurts and pain that life brings because we live together as broken people with
all our own stuff coming into our relationships. Jesus’ peace is peace with God
because we are now a forgiven people, people whose sins are washed away, people
who are new creations who are learning what the forgiven life looks like, what
complete forgiveness feels like. This peace gives us the strength to work
towards peace in our relationships with others where there is brokenness and
hurt. We’re able to live with a calmness and peace deep in our hearts because
we know that we’re loved and chosen children of God and he desires peace with us.
This peace allows us to live with grace and kindness and to
walk with others with deeper compassion. As Jesus enters deeper into our souls,
we begin to take on his peace which leads to compassion for those who haven’t
found peace yet, for those struggling and hurting. Jesus’ peace leads us to
walk with others rather than passing them by, it opens our eyes, ears and
hearts to the people are us, reminding us that the peace of Jesus is meant to
be shared and passed on. Our hearts begin to break for the people whom Jesus’
heart breaks for. On a day where we are focused on Jesus’ birth, and angels
coming to shepherds in the field, and hope flooding into the world, it’s a good
day to remember that Jesus came for the entire world and we’re called to share
the good news wherever Jesus places us.
But in the end, as Leon Morris and others write, the greatest peace Jesus brings is peace with God our
heavenly Father. We now have a way to reach out to God through the gift of the
Holy Spirit. We don’t need ritual or sacrifices or laws in order to please God
so we can talk to him, we come to God our Father with confidence knowing that
he forgives us and he loves us without limit and the proof is the baby in the
manger. Have a blessed Christmas.
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