Peace on Earth. (Luke 2:1-14)

Peace on Earth. (Luke 2:1-14)

“And on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

“Peace on earth” proclaimed the angles the night Jesus was born. Peace is what the world yearned for in the days of Jesus, and peace is what continues to be missing today in the town and land where Jesus was born, and indeed in the entire world.

What peace then were the angles singing about? Definitely not that of the world. Seventy years after this massage was proclaimed Jerusalem was destroyed and the Holy Land continued since then to witness war after war. It must be peace of a different kind. “My peace I give to you” Jesus said. “Not as the world gives do I give to you” (John 14:27). While Jerusalem was witnessing its destruction, another Jerusalem was being built. A new Kingdom was breaking through into our world, and we are all invited to participate in the building of this new Kingdom of peace.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matt. 5:9). The Church of Christ today must share in bringing about this “peace on earth”. We are to be “peacemakers” if we want to see the Kingdom continuing to advance. We must create an alternative community of peace that attracts and invites people from every tribe, tongue and nation. This alternative community (the church) must demonstrate what the world is not and that is through being a community of love to one another, justice, security, acceptance, and grace. A community of peace!

The prophecy of Micah echoes to us through the centuries: “But thou, Bethlehem… out of thee shall one come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting… And this man shall be our peace” (Micah 5:2-5). Amen. Jesus himself is the peace the world yearns for. When Christians embody Jesus who is peace through their sacrificial works of compassion and love, the world will begin to experience this “peace on earth”. May the Church of Christ be a community of true peacemakers!

(Munther Isaac)