Jesus, Our Peace

Jesus, Our Peace

Read: Matthew 10:34-36

“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

Matthew 10:34

“O hush the noise, ye men of strife, and hear the angels sing.”

—Edmund Sears

IN WORD Isaiah prophesied about the coming “Prince of Peace” (9:6). The angels declared peace on earth in Luke 2:14 as they announced the coming Lord. But Jesus had a different declaration. He will be the source of division on earth. People will fight about the truth of His words. They will draw swords against each other in heated conflict over His claims. The fact of His cross and resurrection would become history’s greatest scandal. When persecution comes, friends and family members will turn each other in. And when judgment comes, He will be the dividing line by which families and nations are split.

Was His prophecy true? History bears it out. There is no more controversial figure in the entire human race than Jesus. He has been blessed as God incarnate and cursed as a man-made delusion. He has changed countless lives even while “scholars” have disputed whether He ever existed.

No, the kind of peace the world seeks is harmony on this planet. Jesus made it clear that His peace is of a different order. It reconciles God with His traitorous creatures and humanity with its holy God. It puts a new Spirit in a once- conflicted heart. It is a peace within and a peace from above, but it is not universal peace among our race. Many hate Him. It will always be so. Such is the rebellion of man.

IN DEED Who would have thought that the infant in Bethlehem would be so scandalous? But the enemy knew it in the Garden, Herod saw it in the star, and Pilate heard it from the mobs. No one could make such kingly claims without controversy, even when demonstrating their truth. The pride of the human heart will bow to no Lord, especially One who reveals its sin. The Prince of Peace? Absolutely. But not the kind the world expects. Our peace is deeper and better—and it lasts forever.