Jesus, the Coming Peace

Hark the Herald Angels Sing

One of my favorite Christmas songs is “Hark the herald angels sing” written in 1739 by Charles Wesley. As the title alludes, the song lyrically imagines the good news that the angels proclaim to the shepherds, the night that Jesus is born, emphasizing the peace that he is to bring.

The first lines begin: “Hark! the herald angels sing, Glory to the new-born King! Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled” (emphasis added), reflecting the proclamation in Luke 2:14: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, good will to men.” Then, in the third stanza, it states: “Hail! the heaven-born Prince of peace!” The good news of Christmas is that Jesus is coming to bring peace to this earth, and that is something worth singing about!

But, what kind of peace is Jesus going to bring? Spiritual peace, certainly. Jesus’ life, death and resurrection restores spiritual peace between God and man, allowing us to once again enter into relationship with the divine. But, would you be surprised to learn that the Bible also speaks about Christ bringing a physical peace too?

The End of War

In Isaiah 9:5, we see that God promises that, when the light (that is, Jesus) comes, Israel will experience a restoration of peace: “For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.”

This is quite a promise God is making to His people! Israel had known war and its subsequent devastation for years. They fought wars against neighboring nations and, in this case, they were defeated and subjected to bondage because of war. In many ways, violence has always characterized Israel’s existence. But there is a day coming when peace will reign. On that day, military boots and garments will be burned. The very boots that marched across Israel to defeat them, those very boots that brought with it the sound of earthquakes, those boots will be eliminated. The very garments that were worn to slay Israelites, those garments stained with blood, those garments will be burned. These things will serve as fuel for fire. God will judge war by putting an end to it through fire itself.

This is the extent of Jesus’ liberation. This is the scope of his restoration. This is God’s promise to Israel.

When Jesus comes, God’s people will experience the joy of liberation and restoration, and this experience will be holistic. Jesus will care for the physical along with the spiritual; he will replace death with life, slavery with freedom, and war with peace. What a glorious promise to await!

Peace Now and Not Yet

However, this glorious promise is only partially fulfilled during the Old Testament. Israel did experience restoration years later after their Assyrian captivity, but it was limited. Only a minority of Israelites ever returned to their homeland. This restoration was thus only a partial restoration for them: Israel still faced violence; war still raged on in the world; blood still stained the clothes of peoples; Israel was still under the rule of foreign, pagan kings; and the vast majority of Israelites were scattered throughout the world. The full restoration promised was still to come and as the people continued to live on in the OT, they longed for this day.

The incredible truth about advent is that the beginning of this holistic restoration has been set into motion with the coming of Christ. For His entrance into this world, His advancement of God’s Kingdom on earth, His offer of salvation to all assures that the full liberation and full restoration is coming, and indeed it will be fulfilled in the second coming of Jesus someday.

While we await that day, much like the Israelites looked forward to the first coming of Christ, we can approach advent with gratitude and even relief; for we know that the turmoil in our own lives, the battles that we face, the warring in our own families and communities, is soon coming to an end for all those who place their trust in God.