Prince of Peace

For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace. On the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness. From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of armies will accomplish this.

Today, we focus on the last installment on the mini-series that Pastor Jonathan has laid out for us in this advent season. The title of it, “From Gloom to Glory.” We’re looking at the heralding of the arrival of Jesus in the prophecy of Isaiah and the four names that He is called. And in this I call to your attention, the last name that He is given—Prince of Peace.

As I contemplated this verse, with the coming of a child that would be the prince of peace my mind immediately went to the birth scene of our savior. The beginning of the scene unfolds chaotically as Mary and Joseph arrive to the chaos of a busy Bethlehem. As we recall Caesar Augustus issue a decree that a census be taken and they travel out of Nazareth to Bethlehem, because Joseph belonged to the house of David. The stress of an overcrowded city, precipitates as with the Mary goes into labor and still more so as they are not able to find a room in the inn. It’s not hard to imagine the anxiety of the health of mother and child as she begins labor. But all of that…all passed. And nothing but peace fills the moment. Last week Jonathan spoke about the joy of the arrival of newborns, but many of us also feel peace. I remember the peace I had as I held healthy newborn sons (10 fingers, 10 toes, a healthy cry and instant peace). Surely this was the case for Mary and Joseph as they held newborn baby Jesus. But also I imagine a new kind of peace has entered into that moment. Perhaps one that is not palpable. This is a spiritual peace, a powerful peace. A peace that echoes throughout all of time. This is the peace that accompanies the entrance of the cosmic Creator of all things, the second person of the Holy Trinity, the one who would say “before Abraham was, I am” has entered the very fabric of human history. This peace is the type of peace that is announced by angels to shepherds who are watching their flocks by night, saying “Glory to God in the highest and on earth PEACE to men on whom his favor rests.” This changed everything. It changes everything. For you see the Prince of Peace has entered the world. The gloom fades and the glory is here forever and ever. Amen!

What is it that has happened then? Why is it that the arrival of this one—the preeminent one, this Prince of Peace has not put the permanent halt to the conflict, pain, and all other agents against peace? For many of us Christmas is a time of peace but perhaps you may not share some of the same feelings. For some this is a time of year that stirs about dismay, pain, or struggles. A dear friend recently posted a picture of a beloved ornament that sits on her Christmas tree. A clear glass ball and inside a small scroll of paper rolled out. On the scroll, the EKG of the last few heartbeats of her father from the year before. It was gift for Christmas time, a gift of peace, that also brings about much pain.

And we know certainly outside of the scope of Christmas this world contains little in the way of true peace. Despite the advancements of culture, philosophy, knowledge, technology, and human acclaim—we as a whole are still very hungry for peace, aren’t we. There really is very little in way I have to do to convince you of this right now. In the wake of a world-wide pandemic, political unrest in many nations, fights with family and neighbors about what we used to know as the most basic of truths. We argue now about because the world says there are no absolutes. Even your truth is not your truth. You may have heard some combination of these words quipped by comedians and philosophers alike about the state of human nature: these are times of cleaning our planet but polluting our souls, faster communication but less understanding, quicker gratification but less satisfaction, two incomes but more divorce, fancy houses but broken homes. Put one way, there is much in the showroom but nothing in the stock room. While there seems to be so much there is still very little in the way of peace.There is a lack of peace within the human heart—for reasons seemingly unknown that cannot be conquered.

If this world contains so much unrest and hurt, there is a good reason why. During my preparation for this sermon, I looked into my concordance, looking across the pages of the bible for usages of the word prince. What was there was a stark reminder as I flipped through many of the passages is that while Christ is the prince of peace, He is not the prince of this world. That title is one reserved for our adversary. Satan is the prince of this world. He is the father of lies, the initiator of death, the constant agent of war. He is a thief and one which comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. This world is under his manipulation and therefore it is very hard to find any real peace in this place. Humankind falls under the scepter of the prince of this world. Therefore, if we wish to have peace we must look towards the prince of peace. I believe that is what Isaiah is saying here. His prophecy says there is one coming who is the prince peace and if peace is to be desired we must go to him.

This morning I want to give you two illustrations of the prince of peace. Two illustrations to show how Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy and to see our peace in Him. These illustrations are that Jesus provides peace with God and also Jesus provides peace with eternity.

Peace With God

The first illustration of Jesus as the Prince of Peace is that Jesus provides us peace with God. This, to me is the most quintessential piece of the gospel message that we so often miss today and fail to bring to the attention of others. That by nature mankind is not at peace with God. We naturally do not have peace with God. That is such a hard thing for the world to hear, so much so, that in many ways they reject it. We hear the argument that says I’m a good person therefore God does not have anything against me. I’ve done nothing wrong in life, God could not have strife with me. Wrong! That’s not true. Because for us to understand this we have to know what we are being measured against. Or as some will ask, by what standard? We have to have a high enough view of our God and the realization the magnitude of our sin that permanently places us against God. This is what Jesus is ultimately saying on the Sermon on the Mount—essentially you believe you are without the sin of murder but you don’t know the standard. Because if you have hate in your heart you’re convicted. You believe you are without the sin of adultery because you haven’t committed the act but you don’t know the standard because if you have looked on a woman with lust you are convicted.

Furthermore, this is the default of our human situation. A few years ago my wife and I bought a Christmas present for our oldest son. He was one or two and starting to get real interested in daddy’s tools. Seeking to head off any accidents at the pass my wife and I decided to start buying him some of his own tools, some toy tools that he could play with. We found this hammer that had a rubber end on it, and it made hammer noises and had a few carpenters phrases on it. However, we found out he did really understand what the phrases were because when we put batteries in it the phrases all came out in Spanish. You can imagine the confusion of my two year old when the hammer said “yo soy carpentero.” The issue in the toy was the default was set to Spanish not English. Mankind’s default is set to sinfulness. We are naturally this way. Paul gives a summary of various old testament passages in Romans 3 where he points out the depraved state of man, saying no one is righteous, no one does good, no one seeks for God. The natural man is spiritually dead. He does not accept the Spirit of God…they are foolishness to him. We are naturally at odds with a Holy and Mighty God.

I take you to the Passover story in Exodus 12. We recall that Moses is leading His people out of bondage in Egypt. There has been plagues sent upon the land. And now God comes to bring a judgement on all of Egypt through a final plague, the loss of all the firstborn in the land.. Let me point out that it is ALL of Egypt. He is going to pass through at midnight and kill all the firstborns of every man and beast. Even the first born of the animals are going to die. Some believe that they may have been as many as 3 million people living in Egypt at the time. That’s a lot of death. The scene is described in 12:30 “There was a great cry in Egypt,” some translation says a great wailing, “for there was no home where there was not someone dead.” God had come through and those that were at odds with Him, He swiftly executed judgement. The announcement in verse 12 after He says He will do this…because I am the Lord!!!! There were those that weren’t judged however. Those that did not lose their first-born. They were the ones that had peace with God. In such rich symbolism we see that they were to pick a lamb. A lamb without blemish—perfect and spotless. That lamb was slaughtered and verse 22 says “You shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two door posts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning. For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you.”

What a perfect image of the cross foreshadowed. We do not have peace with God on our own. But we do through the lamb. The lamb that was slaughtered was Christ. The lamb was the prince of peace. His unblemished, perfect, righteous, spotless blood applied, brings peace between us and God. He is our unyielding advocate. He is the cleft in the rock, the only place of peace to weather the storm of the glory of almighty God. Mankind’s default position is belonging to the prince of this world. It is only by the prince of peace, that you are adopted into sonship. It is only by first-born, by the prototokos, that we have relationship of peace to be called the children of God. The only way we can truly know peace with God is in the son.

Peace For Eternity

The second illustration that Jesus is the prince of peace is because Jesus supplies us peace for eternity. Isaiah is very clear about the method that Christ supplies us with peace and that is through His rule. Another way I could have subheaded this section is called peace in the kingdom. It is through Christ’s reign that we have peace and peace for eternity. This is this juxtaposition of Satan’s rule. His rule is one of conflict for a short while, and Jesus’s reign is of peace for eternity. Isaiah notes that “There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace.” Jesus Christ comes to install a government that will never stop expanding. There will be no limits to the wholeness it brings to mankind. It will be the fulfilment of God’s plan. He will gather everything to Himself and bring about a glorious new creation that merges a new heaven and new earth. This new eternal state of peace will be unified in togetherness under Christ and His Holy rule.

In verse five, referring to the peace of the kingdom Isaiah says “Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning will be fuel for the fire.” He is speaking of the harmony of the kingdom. When I was in high school, at Albemarle High, the athletic department would open up the facilities during the summer and would let guys come in and lift weights or play ball or use the track. Myself and a few friends would come in and try to stay in decent condition over the summer. During this same time, especially by the end of the summer the football team would start having practices. And they would come in past the gym heading into the men’s locker room while we were working out. They would come in covered in sweat, mud and turf from summer rain-soaked fields. The team would get cleaned up and then there were strict instructions from the equipment managers on where to deposit their uniforms to be cleaned up and ready to go for the next practice or game. There were these great big barrels that the would roll their soiled uniforms in and throw them into for cleaning. This is the same image that Isaiah is giving us here. The men have come off of the battle field—this time permanently—and have discarded their battle attire. They do not throw them in barrels for washing, rather they go into the fire symbolizing that they will never need them again. This is the peace that Isaiah communicates here.

Isaiah in verse 7 says that “He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.” Isaiah accurately depicts that the coming prince of peace will be from that line of David and that is proven to be to be true in the genealogy of Jesus. This is shown to us in chapter one of the gospel of Matthew. And many believe that the birth story of Jesus begins at the end of chapter one (verse 18) and that the beginning of the chapter is an interesting family tree or perhaps some kind of Jewish pedigree. But Matthew begins the birth story of Jesus with His genealogy because it is directly tying back into the foretold arrival of the prince of peace here in Isaiah. In fact, if you go to Matthew 1:1 you may be cross-referenced (chain reference) to our scripture today. Matthew is showing the royal nature in the birth of Jesus. He is showing that Jesus belongs to David and fulfills the prophecy. In fact, it may be of interest to you Matthew ends the genealogy of Jesus with an odd note that references fourteen generations three times. There is fourteen generations from Abraham to David, from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to Christ. And in Hebrew they frequently used figures to serve as both a letter and a numeric figure. And so, a number could also be a word. The number fourteen is also the word David. This would have been synonymous with King for the early new testament reader. So in the presentation of this genealogy Matthew affirms what Isaiah says that Jesus is King/prince/ruler and the repetition three times to emphatically say that He is the king of kings, the ruler of rulers. This is an exclamation of the Jesus as the arrived prince of peace. This is Matthew showing us the statistical improbability that has come to completion right here in front of our eyes.

Jesus then is identified as the rightful descendent of David who would rule over the nations. However, the people did not believe in Him and so His kingdom reign awaits His second coming which we also so eagerly look forward to.