Jesus: The Missing Peace
Advent 2022: Jesus the Mission Peace • Sermon • Submitted
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Advent #1, Jesus is our Promised Peace
Advent #1, Jesus is our Promised Peace
Many of you have heard the concept of a “God shaped” hole inside us: Many have written about it— like C.S. Lewis, A.W. Tozer, but it originated with even further back in history— with one of my favorite thinkers and philosophers from the 1600’s-
Blaise Pascal, in observing the restlessness in his own heart, and in the hearts of everyone:
“What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace?
This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.”
- Blaise Pascal, Pensées VII(425)
Look around in the world— we don’t have much peace, do we? Politics, nations, wars, the economy, government, maybe within your own family— there might be a missing element to our lives. A missing peace that we yearn to find. IF you feel that— or if you know someone who does struggle this way— Matthew, in his great gospel account, sets the scene for God’s grand plan— to provide us, yes the whole world, the missing peace that we yearn for.
This Advent season— the Sundays from now until Christmas day— we will be jumping back in our Study of Matthew to go back to the very beginning… To understand this missing peace, and how we might be able to return to our first love— so to speak.
Let’s turn in our bibles to Matthew Chapter 1
I’m going to read these verses for us! Follow along with me--
Why don’t we read or study these verses very often? Boring, hard to pronounce.
That’s why we always start at the 18th verse!
We neglect these verses— because we don’t think they really matter in the whole big story… But we must ask why Matthew begins his account — this Gospel of Jesus’ life, with this long history?
John starts his gospel with much more ease— In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God—
Luke starts his account by saying hey- I’ve made a careful investigation of these things, I’ve studied and gathered facts so that you can know with certainty the things that happened.
Mark- He jumps right into it, very little about the early years— he just says this is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ— and off he goes.
Matthew- starts like this:
1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:
He is basically saying—
You cannot understand the arrival of Jesus, unless you see God’s master plan.
The big picture— the whole story. The grande view of the whole deal.
I believe there is a way to view Jesus, to be inspired by him, to even perhaps have a walk with him, to read about him, to respect him, but be completely unaware of why it is so profound the way that he embodies God’s master plan for us— and for the whole universe.
If we really come to Jesus with honesty and humility— it’s going to produce some questions. We should not be afraid to ask our most difficult questions to Jesus. Why? What? How?
Pontius Pilate is a great example for us of a guy who asked those kind of questions- His wife even warned him about Jesus— she said— you should be careful with that guy.
But there is this moment in the Pilate interaction where he goes through several layers of questioning, and I see him as just “unsettled”- He comes to one point where he simply asks:
9 and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer.
Matthew answers that very question. He does it in the first 17 verses of the whole gospel.
Matthew outlines God’s master plan to deliver peace to the world.
What he is pointing out here is that Jesus is not brand new— he is not
illegitimate. You can trace his family line— all the way back to Abraham!
He gives us the proof right here. This was very common in the Jewish tradition and culture. They kept very detailed lists, remembered people and places. These lists and genealogies not only provided them the historical understanding of people and places, but also the identities of the people of God— Jesus is indeed part of the grande master storyline.
We are not really into that sort of thing generally here in our culture. However, there is a growing resurgence of the study of genealogy— tracing back our family lines to learn more about hour ancestors. Most people who are doing that report that they obviously have come to the question— Where do I come from? Who am I?
Most of the time, in our culture— we define ourselves by what we can accomplish. That’s just the time that we live in. You meet someone, you learn their name and generally the very next question you have is: “so what do you do?”
There is a little bit more appreciation for the family lines and ancestry here in our immediate community— like The Mennonite Game… right?
But — listen, There are a lot of us who would love to be descended from someone famous— like to have a family line that goes back to the 1500’s in the Swiss confederation, a signer of the Schleitheim Confession, or the Dutch Mennonite movement of that time. We would love that— but you know what— we probably don’t. I have some family members who have done wonderful work to trace my generations also--
I can tell you that I am a descendent of a certain George Charles Grimes, born in 1731 in St. John, Limerick, Ireland. George arrived on the coast of Maryland in May 1752 aboard the ship the Lichfield, departing from London, England— hauling 138 convicted felons— who had paid their fines or served their time in prison for their crimes— and were basically bonded to start a new life here in the Colonies. He served as a sergeant in the Revolutionary war, and died in 1790— buried with veteran honors at Chatham, VA.
So— if you see me getting a little too big for my britches— getting a little over confident— just remind me of that fact— say— ok, I know where you come from— don’t give me that attitude.
Now— remember, back to our story- We are studying Matthew and his wonderful book where he specifically is linking Jesus back to the Old/First Testament, specifically for a Jewish audience— For the Jewish culture, that is very important for us to realize— Family line matters a great deal here. The Jewish person would understand the lineage that would produce the Messiah.
He provides us a little summary statement in verse 17 also:
17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.
Now isn’t that pretty neat and tidy?
If we were to go down through the list very carefully, which some have done— we would actually discover that Matthew has “skipped” a couple generations— which seems kind of strange at first— but there is a very specific plan here—what Matthew was doing, was to show God’s movement among all the generations, specifically placing His plan in time, and within history. This is one of the key factors for some to come to believe that Jesus was even a real person, who actually lived among us. It’s a fascinating study— and Matthew is producing hard evidence that places the Real Person Jesus into the Jewish nation’s history and timeline.
Rather than going through and studying each and every individual person— he is listing the high-points— or notable people— and proves that the whole thing culminates in the arrival of Jesus.
He uses three critical events or places in history— Abraham, David, and the exile/captivity of Israel where the people are taken captive. Three very REAL points in history for the nation.
Three historical markers for the nation of Israel:
Abraham and the promises made to him
David and the promises made to him
The exile, with the warnings and prophecies given
Historical Markers:
The promise made to Abraham:
God will make Abraham into a great nation. (Gen 12)
God will bless the earth through Abraham’s offspring.
1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
That’s a huge promise. It makes everyone wonder how that blessing is going to happen.
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.
We read on in Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, on and on, and it really doesn’t happen--
Numbers 24:17 (NIV)
17 “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel.
But then we get to the second great marker in Matthew’s history:
Historical Markers:
The promise made to David:
David’s kingdom will last forever. (2 Sam 7)
David’s offspring will rule the entire world.
12 When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom.
16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’ ”
These great promises, as we read the rest of the Old Testament— aren’t quite happening. Some thought that the reign of King Solomon was an immediate kind of fulfilment, but it’s not quite there— we read about the promise in several other parts of the history also—
8 Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.
It causes people to constantly ask— who is this person? Who will be this person who inherits all the nations, and will posses the ends of the earth?
Who is it that’s going to have a kingdom that will span the entire universe? It’s speaking of a “Messiah”.
8 May he rule from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.
11 May all kings bow down to him and all nations serve him.
So there is going to be a king that all the kings of the world will bow down to… I don’t think we’ve seen anything like that--
King Solomon was pretty big deal— King Xerxes, Constantine, Holy Roman empire, even in our more modern age— Queen Elizabeth and the British empire— it was pretty extensive.
17 May his name endure forever; may it continue as long as the sun. Then all nations will be blessed through him, and they will call him blessed.
I’m not sure we’ve seen this yet— right?
That’s a pretty big promise to Abraham— the making of a whole nation of people, established through the faith of one man.
And an extremely extensive promise to David— the establishment of a kingdom and a leadership that will last indefinitely and cover the entire earth.
But there is another — a third, and it’s actually a low point in the history of God’s people:
Matthew’s promise marker #3:
God is faithful even when his people are not. (Isaiah 9)
God fulfills his promises in ways that we can’t imagine. (Isaiah 7)
It’s the exile— the deportation of all of God’s people to Babylon.
God’s people rejected his warnings, over and over, and he basically allows them to be taken over. You can read several of those types of things— Deuteronomy 28 is a great example of that.
We can read about the history of the people of Israel— they were unfaithful, and decimated— overrun and destroyed. Our time in the book of Esther earlier this year came out of some of that type of history. We learned in that story that the whole nation of Israel there in Babylon was facing extermination at the hands of evil Haman.
1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.
They were absolutely hopeless. It was a horrible time— but there were promises that came out of that time as well! We look back and learn from all that now— and we see that God is indeed going to preserve his promises, but He’s definitely not going to do it because the Israelites were faithful and loyal to him!
No- the faithfulness of God — him keeping his promises happens IN SPITE of his people’s unfaithfulness. In spite of the sinfulness.
There are lots of interesting stories that Matthew includes with this list:
We can’t deal with all the names individually— but we can scratch the surface with just a couple of them— and we would quickly realize that some of these people we wouldn’t really want to put in that list.— and these people have experiences that we really would never want to have.
Another really interesting thing about this list, is that fact that there are five women listed among Jesus’ ancestors. Genealogies like this were usually always male dominated.
For Matthew, a Jewish man— to include these women within the list is very significant.
And it’s even more noticeable that these five are not just women, but they are women who were not always as honorable, or upright, as we would want them to be.
Ruth was a complete outsider- She was from Moab. A Moabite. Yeah go do the research on that whole story. She was at best— a stranger and an outsider— she showed herself to be quite honorable, but still an outsider until God made a way for her to become part of His story His Family..
What you mean God includes strangers in his story-- as part of his family?
You might not want to brag about Tamar, if she were your great-great-great-great grand-mom… Go ahead and google Tamar this week— you’ll get the whole messed up story.
You mean God includes people who are liars and cheaters into his family?
Rahab was a flat out Canaanite prostitute. I have to marvel here that she then had a son- His name was Boaz— we’re going to get to study him next summer, he’s going to be a “redeemer” of sorts — marry Ruth the Moabite, they have a son named Obed, and that boy grows up to have a son Jesse— who then is the father of King DAVID!
You mean God does actually includes people who are broken and disadvantaged into his story?
Bathsheba shows up, and he doesn’t even have to list her name. That’s verse 6.
That’s a tough one— because Solomon was created because King David stole Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba. There first son dies— Solomon is their second son.
You mean God does indeed include people who have committed adultery and murder into his family?
That’s kind of a messed up family tree...
What I want you to catch here today is that if Jesus had these types of broken people within his family tree— we ought not be surprised if he has the same type of people as his followers.
Matthew is setting the reader up to realize that he is about to introduce the one who would become the “friend of sinners”. Matthew himself is one of them! A TaxCollector. He wants us to realize that God’s plans include these broken people--- and even us— guilty sinners— in his fulfillment of his promises to the world.
He’s setting the scene to show us that God is faithful to fulfill his promises even to and through using those who would normally be “excluded” from the story.
The excluded are included! Hallelujah!
Out of these times of exile, great promises appear— we are quite familiar with them:
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
O Come O come Emmanuel— and ransom captive Israel that mourns in lowly exile here...
6 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 Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Where will this be fulfilled? Where will all our hopes and fears — through all the years— they are met in him tonight. O little town of Bethlehem.
They went to Bethlehem— because he was from the lineage of David… They had to register for Caesars census.
2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
Like why is this all in there? Who cares? Well Matthew cares—He takes the time to include the notes--- and I think we should too.
And how silently it’s fulfilled. Right? He is truly the missing peace of the universe.
And it’s given to a young Jewish girl. “Who am I that the Lord would look upon me?”
In the next several weeks, as a build up, as an anticipation for Christmas day— we will be talking about how Jesus is indeed the missing peace in not only the world, but also in our own hearts.
Points to ponder and praise:
-God’s dealings are with real people, not ideal people.
-God uses messy stuff and broken people to accomplish His plans.
-God is not using our time table.
The bottom line for me is that I need to realize that God, through the Christmas story--- is assembling a family and a narrative of
-People we wouldn’t choose
-With experiences that we don’t want
-To face events we don’t expect.
Would you choose you? Probably not.
Take the experiences of your life— it’s broken. It’s not all neat and tidy. Even for the best of us— those who have been set up the best— are still missing that Peace. I don’t want to face what some of these people in this list faced— I don’t want to face what some of you have been through.
And the events that we don’t plan for?
He chooses Abraham— to make a nation out of that one man
And David— to establish a kingdom and rule that will last forever
and through his broken rebellious people in captivity— under the oppression of the Roman empire.
How could God accomplish all this— How can he provide all of us the Missing Peace?
Isaiah 53:5 (NIV)
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Maybe there is some nugget of truth and wisdom and inspiration for you in this today.
Do you have true peace? Maybe it’s because you know you’re not up to the standard.
I have good news for you— Jesus came for all of us who are broken sinners.
Maybe you are missing peace because of the experiences you’ve been through— either in life, or even just this year?
I have good news for you— Jesus came and can use those very experiences to fulfill his purpose in and through you.
Maybe you are missing peace because of some events that you will have had to face and you didn’t expect.
I have good news for you— we are going on a journey in the next several weeks, that will outline how Mary, Joseph, the Angels and Shepherds, even the Wise Men— how they had to deal with quite a few changes and things they didn’t expect.
Jesus wants to make sure your name is added to the list— He wants you to be a part of his family. He wants you to have life— and allow him to become the true Prince of Peace for you.
We need each other to encourage that in our community today. We can pour love into people, because we first understand how to accept love from Jesus.
Take another look at that list of names.
These are real people, just like you, living in their time. Are you looking for the missing peace? He’s right here— born as a humble baby boy, to normal everyday parents. He came that we might have Peace everlasting. Let’s be like the people in this epic story. Humble, seeking, and loving.
Let’s pray.