For he himself (Jesus) is our peace, who has made the two groups (Jews and Gentiles) one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.. . . He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. (Ephesians 2:14)

From the moment that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the angels sang to shepherds of peace. It was peace that he brought to earth, peace that would change the whole world. Today it is peace that prompts and fills countless Christmas carols, and peace that today we still covet, and sometimes blessedly experience.

In the eighteenth century the poet William Wordsworth wrote a poem entitled “The World is Too Much with us”, recognizing that there is a dimension and a reality that establishes peace in human beings, that is opposite to the “world.” Wordsworth lived before there were even simple telephones, but he knew the need for peace.

When Paul wrote that “he, himself is our peace”, he was introducing the Holy Spirit, given to the disciples by Jesus after his resurrection, to people who could recognize the Spirit in Jesus’ words and deeds. The coming of the Christ child was the beginning of a peace that could come only from the God of peace Himself. God knew that “the world” could not find it’s own peace, and He also knew that He alone could provide that peace. Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist, predicted the peace that would come into the world with first the birth if his son John, and then the birth of God’s son,Jesus: “And you, my child, will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him, to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” (Luke 1:76&79) Nothing is more peaceful to see than the face of a sleeping infant., and the shepherds and wise men went without hesitation to find the baby sent by their God.

In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount he lifted the veil on the heart of God’s blessings: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:9) Every one needs peace in his or her life, and in Jesus, God has freely given us the way to find it.

Love in Him,

Prue