The Prince of Peace

 Everywhere this man went, trouble followed him. He walked to the House of God to worship and often when he left, the parishioners were so mad they couldn’t see straight. He would enter a peaceful town, and walk out of a rioting town. He would go to a festival where everyone is having a good time; by the time he finished talking he succeeded in ruining everyone’s fun. Not only did he cause problems in the house of God and in the public square, but he caused problems in people’s families and personal lives. His friends were the same way. They were so notorious that townships banned them from their cities. They incited several riots and got themselves arrested for disturbing the peace. This man and his compatriots would purposefully agitate people, especially people in authority. If you had to give this man a title, or a nickname, what would you call him? Isaiah called him the Prince of Peace.  What!?! Peace? That's the last thing you would call a man who brings arguments, fights, riots, and general unrest; but that is exactly who Jesus is.  Jesus is the man that brought trouble.

Stoning of St. Stephen by Rembrandt

How do we square that circle? It depends on what we mean by peace. There is a peace that is just the absence of outward conflict. It’s more like a truce than peace. You may dislike your neighbor, but are polite and gracious to “keep the peace” or, in other words, prevent a fight. True peace gets to the root of the problem rather than preventing the symptoms. Peace is the absence of strife and sin. Why is there war and fighting and conflict? It is because of sin. When there is a lack of peace, whether it be in the home, in the workplace, in the government, or in the battlefield, you can be sure there is sin. The only way to broker peace, a true peace, is to get rid of the point of contention. The sin must be dealt with. When Jesus came, so did conflict. Why? Because he brought truth and shined the light of righteousness on the darkness of sin and the darkness went to war against the light. But as the Prince of Peace, Jesus came not to be a nice guy, but to deal with the sin problem. A nice guy would have come and not caused any trouble. He would have likely left town and been hailed a wonderful person, a nice man, very polite. The Prince of Peace was not a nice guy. Jesus did not come to make you feel good, but to save. We are at war with God in our hearts, and the only way to have peace with God is if the Prince of Peace deals with and settles the sin issue, once and for all. The Prince of Peace could only bring peace by disrupting and disturbing those souls settled in their sins so they would repent, turn to Christ and have peace.

Isaiah 9:6-7  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.