The suffering King

Intro

Advent 2 (The suffering king of peace)

In this series of the advent, last week we talked about hope.

Today as we continue to examine the scriptures and the implications of the first advent of Christ looking forward to his second advent, we will look at the book of Isaiah.

Today, the second Sunday of the advent we are going to talk about peace.

This subject seems to me a very interesting one. I think we can all agree that in a general way we can say that world is not at peace.

I even go I little further to say that this world after the fall never experience true peace.

The antonym for peace is conflict or war.

Among other things Covid-19 has exposed the fragility of human beings, the deficiency of our health systems, the increase corruption of government and the manipulation of information and truth.

This current pandemic has brought to the surface the realities of the world that we live in. That we live in an imperfect, broken world.

Looking at the past we can learn that seasons of peace was always momentarily.

After the storm comes the time of quietude and vice-versa.

Let me give you some examples from the past history.

In the year of 1918 the world faced the deadliest pandemic ever, the Spanish flu. It is estimated that between 20-50 million were lost due to the Spanish flu.

On October 24th in 1929 (the black Thursday) the world and especially America experience the start of what is known as the great depression.

The great depression lasted for 10 years and it caught investors and the world by surprised. After a long period of prosperity America experienced the bitter taste of famine and unemployment.

Almost 10 years later on December 7th, 1941 America entered the WW2, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. For the next four years thousands of Americans’ lives would be lost, and millions would be put to death in the concentration camps.

In the seventies America would enter another fight called The Vietnam war. Thousands of Americans would lose their lives again. After that the Gulf war in the nineties.

After the twin tower terrorist attack in 2001 America would enter in the Afghanistan war. A war that the world watched through the screens of our TVs seating comfortably in our couches at home.

In 2008 we all experienced the stock market crash. The world again would enter in recession, jobs would be lost, and many would take their own lives.

Now in 2019 we experienced and still experiencing the covid-19 outbreak. We still fighting this visible enemy. Even right now.

These examples from the past show us that peace in this world was always momentarily. It did not last for long.

In the book of Isaiah, more especially chapter 9:6-7, there is a promise. A promise of a future king from the lineage of David.

This king would not be like an ordinary King. This king would stablish his kingdom with justice and righteousness forever. His ruling would have no end.

One of the characteristics of this kingdom will be peace. This promised ruler would be called the prince of peace. His kingdom as well as his ruling would be marked by the increase of peace.

Verse 7 “of the increase of his government and of peace will be no end.”

The OT community understood this prophecy together with the prophecy of Micah 5 to be applied to the new kingdom of God under the ruling of the Messiah.

The NT community applied this text to Jesus Christ. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke gives us a detailed description of Jesus’ royal lineage of David.

Matthew and Luke want to make sure that their readers would see this.

In the book of Micah chapter 5 the prophet says that this king will be the peace of his people.

Paul in the book of Ephesians 2:14 tells that Christ is our peace.

However, in the Gospel of Matthew it seems that Jesus is saying otherwise.

Matthew 10:34

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

It seems contradictory. Is Jesus contracting the scriptures? Is he trying to give another meaning to the promises of old? Is here not aware of these prophesies about himself?

Obviously not. In fact, Jesus said that everything written about him must be fulfilled.

Luke 24:44

“that all the things that are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

What is Jesus talking about in Matthew 10:34?

What he is saying is that he did not come to this world to bring peace but to make peace through himself.

There is a difference in bringing and making peace.

This is the dilemma that the disciples before the Pentecost faced and the NT community as well.

They saw in Jesus the fulfillment of this promise. The problem is that they saw Jesus on the horizontal perspective of the promise.

They believe is Jesus to be the King for the nation right here, right now.

That is one of the reasons that when Jesus died his disciples got really sad. Their hope to see this promised fulfilled under the ruling of Jesus was shattered with his death.

A clear example of this is when the mother of the sons of Zebedee (John and James) approached Jesus and asked him: “My Lord allow that my two sons one to sit on your right hand and another on your left hand in your kingdom.”

What Jesus said to her? Woman you have no idea of what you are asking.

This dialogue clearly illustrates that in the disciples’ mind at any moment Jesus would be crowed as a king over Israel and everything would be all right.

They were expecting peace but they were looking from the wrong angle.

Like the disciples in the past today many still having a hard time to grasp the idea that Jesus did not come to bring peace but make peace.

Believers and unbelievers have a hard time to understand how we can still have conflict and wars when Jesus talked about peace. Many still looking from the wrong angle.

There are two main reason for that:

First, we cannot understand the things of the Spirit unless the Spirit open our understand.

Second, as fallen creatures we are by nature disconnected with the things of heaven. Because sin separate us from God we can only think, desire and see horizontally. We are incline for earthly things.

We want what we want right here, right now. And even after our conversion we struggle to understand the things that are Spiritual. We are so wired to what is earthly and to our own physical needs that we don’t see our true spiritual needs.

We have a hard time to look vertically, to heaven where the things that are eternal come from.

There is nothing wrong to expect and desire peace and prosperity. There is nothing wrong to pray for these things.

But is wrong to expect to live in a peaceful world, living a peaceful live right here, right now as the ultimate purpose of our existence.

This kind of mindset lead to all kinds of misunderstandings, error and ultimately disbelief.

In a quest for peace the world had fallen in disillusion and frustration.

What did Jesus mean by saying that he did not come to bring peace but to make peace?

In his first advent Jesus come to make peace not between the world and himself but between his people and God.

Jesus came to make peace between sinners and the most Holy being of the Universe, God.

The big theme of the Bible is the story of redemption. The story where man (creature) rebelled against its creator.

Where God in his grace promised to redeem humanity through the seed of the woman.

The promise of Genesis 3:15 is the same promise of Isaiah 9:6. The promised of a savior.

Jesus came as the fulfilment of these promises to finally take down the wall of enmity between God and man. Jesus came to make peace.

That is the reason that we call him the suffering king of peace. Because in order to make peace he had to suffer.

The God of glory, the logos of creation, eternal and glorified in the heavens, was found in human form.

Isaiah 52 and 53 reminds us that Christ’s ministry was a ministry marked by suffering.

Isaiah 53:4

“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.”

Peace with God was made through suffering. In his body the sins of his people were laid, and Jesus received the right punishment and judgement of God not for his own sins but for ours.

In Matthew 10:34 Jesus was pointing his disciples to this kind of peace. The eternal peace that believers enjoy with God through the forgiveness of their sins.

John 14:27

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you.”

In the son, God’s people were brought to terms with God. The account was settled the debt was paid.

In the NT peace is linked, connected with grace and grace with peace. They are indeed inseparable.

Peace is the result of the work of grace in the heart of the believer.

Let’s NOT fall in the same errors of the past. Let’s not follow the examples of the disciples before the Pentecost.

They believed in Jesus but they expect him to be a good king, to bless the affairs of life in this world. They were looking from the wrong perspective.

Let’s DO follow the examples and the lives of the apostles after the Pentecost. When the spirit descended upon them with great power and opened their eyes and understanding to see Christ as the Prince of Peace.

After the Pentecost theiy were able to see Christ from the eternal perspective. In Christ God’s people enjoy eternal peace with the creator.

The peace that this world offers is temporally, fragile and will not withstand the test of time.

The example that I gave you from the past is a prove of that.

Even tough this year has been marked by anxiety, fear and pain. Christ our promised King came to this world to give us an everlasting peace.

A peace that satisfies the souls and renew our faith.

Don’t waste your life and time fighting the wrong fight. Don’t waste your energy working and looking for peace in this world, because our Lord did nor promise that.

What God promised is a son born of virgin who would be called the Prince of Peace