Prince of Peace
Good morning Immanuel. In Jesus, we have peace with God that nothing will ever interrupt.
“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.” (Isaiah 9:6)
I come from a country that still has princes, and they have a somewhat mixed record. One has been removed from being a working royal because of horrific scandals. I shudder to think of what people would say he’s a prince of. Another has effectively resigned, not wanting to continue carrying the royal responsibilities. I suppose he’s not really a prince of anything now. Another is now our King. Each prince has his own character and leaves his own mark, for good or ill. Jesus, we’re told, is the prince of peace. Many things could fairly characterize his royal service, but it is peace that apparently best sums it up. Peace is what he himself embodies; it is also what he brings us. Paul can write that Christ himself “is our peace.” For many of us, most of the time, peace simply means the absence of noise. Peace is quiet. It’s what we’re after when we go for a hike in the country or close the bedroom door on the rest of the world at the end of the day. But Jesus is not just a noise-canceling device. The peace he brings is not just the absence of something but the presence of something. Biblical peace is shalom, all things being in perfect, beautiful harmony. Peace is everything as it should be. Not primarily the absence of some things but all things being present together in the best possible way. Our hearts and minds being set at rest. Our relationships being restored. The world being as it should be. And at the heart of it all is peace with God. This is what we have in Jesus. He did not come to ultimately be the prince of teaching or the prince of miracles, but the prince of peace. We can face this day confident that, behind the turmoil and distress of the world around us, at the core of our being, there is exquisite peace with our creator— a peace nothing will ever interrupt.
🙏🏼