“And His Name Shall be Called: Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6)" | 12/18/22
Isaiah 9:6 | 12/18/22 | Will DuVal
On this final Sunday of Advent, during which we have been unpacking the 4 famous names for the Messiah from Isaiah ch9,v6 - “Wonderful Counselor”, “Mighty God”, “Everlasting Father” - we arrive at our final title this morning: “Prince of Peace”.
And any honest Christian evaluation of this name as applied to JESUS, must begin with two big, unpleasant questions:
1) Did Jesus really bring peace to the world? And…
2) Did Jesus even CLAIM to bring us peace?
First: Did Jesus truly bring peace? Isaiah surely SAID he would. He clearly foretold that the Messiah would be the “PRINCE of peace” (9:6)… and “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end” (9:7)... That on that day “O Lord, you will ordain peace for us” (26:12)... and “great shall be the peace of your children,” (54:13)... ““For you shall go out in joy, and be led forth in peace” (55:12)... “I will heal [you]; I will lead [you] and restore comfort to [you]... Peace, peace, says the Lord, to the far and to the near” (57:18-19)... “Behold, I will extend peace… like a river” when the Messiah arrives (66:12).
Just listen to Isaiah’s vivid descriptions of what the Messiah’s REIGN of peace would look like:
“It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains…
and all the nations shall flow to it,
and many peoples shall come…
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore.” (2:2-4)
Hence, Austin’s painting for us this morning (thank you, by the way, Austin!) - as he’s depicted: swords: beaten; spears: broken. NO MORE WAR!
And then Isaiah paints the picture even more dramatically just a few chapters later, in ch11:
“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse… [This Messiah from David’s line…]
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him… [And just listen to the kind of PEACE he’s going to usher in with him…]
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
9 They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord” (11:6-9)
According to Isaiah, this Messiah would bring such super-natural peace to even the natural, CREATED order - the ANIMAL kingdom - that he would completely undo the curse of the fall: pain and DEATH shall be no more.
And to be sure, at Jesus’ birth, the angel choir seemed to announce as much, of Him: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Lk 2:14).
Perhaps Jesus really IS our long-awaited “Prince of Peace”...!
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But one doesn’t have to look very far around our world today to be skeptical. Here’s just a small sampling of the news headlines from Friday morning, as I sat down to write this sermon:
“Russia launches new missiles at Ukraine”
“Minnesota man who admired mass shooters charged with possession of a machine gun”
“Tyler Perry opens up about his past suicide attempts as he mourns Stephen ‘tWitch’ Boss”
“22-y.o. NBA draft pick retires from basketball citing anxiety, calls it ‘the darkest times’ of his life”
“FIFA rebuffs Zelensky’s request to share message of peace at World Cup final”
“‘This is a WAR’: Californians [say,] seeking affordable housing alternatives”
“Giant aquarium housing 1,500 fish bursts in Berlin, injuring 2 people”
Now that doesn’t sound like “peace on earth” to me! No, there are still plenty of swords and spears, guns and missiles out there. And the only reason I didn’t read you any headlines about lions EATING lambs, or children getting BITTEN by cobras, is that unfortunately, that’s still all-too-NORMAL; it’s not even newsworthy.
But we don’t HAVE to check the news for proof that anxiety and hostility still run rampant, do we? Just look in the mirror.
Peace was in short supply in the DuVal home this week. Elijah tested positive for RSV; not fun for him, but downright dangerous if 3-week old Bo catches it.
And I know we’re not alone. I received a call this week from one of our senior saints who had to go to the ER for shortness of breath; turns out they found a SPOT on her lung. Now she’s on antibiotics for a month to see if it clears up, or if it’s a lot more serious than that.
Another dear sister came in for counseling because two of her close family members are at odds with one another; it feels like her family’s coming apart at the seams, and she doesn’t know how to hold it together.
Similar text from another sister, worried about her marriage.
Text from another member, whose father had just passed away.
In what sense can we call JESUS the “Prince of Peace”, with so much turmoil and war and CHAOS still raging all around us… still raging WITHIN us?
And what about my second question: “Did Jesus even CLAIM to bring us peace?” Just listen to his own words to his disciples, from Matthew ch10: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword… And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.” (vv34-36)
Maybe some of you dreading next week’s family get-togethers would say, “AMEN!” to THAT promise from Jesus. You’re not so sure about ISAIAH’s promise of no more war or death, but you can sure VOUCH for JESUS’ promise, about enemies in your own HOUSEHOLD, at Christmastime!
Do we just have the wrong GUY? Are the Jews RIGHT? Cuz if you ask your Jewish neighbor, “Why don’t you believe Jesus was the Messiah?”, they’re gonna reply, “Show me a lion cuddling up next to a lamb, and THEN I’ll believe!” But as long as lions KILL lambs, and Russians KILL Ukrainians, and swords and spears still abound, I’m gonna keep WAITING on the Messiah, the TRUE “Prince of Peace”.
Well, ironically, I think my SECOND question actually helps answer the FIRST one. “Did Jesus really bring peace?”; well, Jesus’ OWN answer right there in Matthew 10 was: “NO- at least not in the way you are expecting; physical peace. I have NOT come to bring [THAT kind of] peace - an end to all war. You’ll have to wait for my RETURN, my SECOND coming for THAT kind of peace. No, Jesus came the FIRST time, 2,000 years ago, to bring a fundamentally DIFFERENT kind of peace. As He told his disciples in John 14: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. [But then he qualified it this way:] Not as the world gives do I give to you.” Jesus lived in the middle of the Roman Empire, with their pax romana - “Roman peace” - that they established by bullying everyone else into submission. Jesus says, “My peace isn’t LIKE that.” And I’m not here to end your wars with each other; I’m here to end the most catastrophic war of ALL: your war with GOD.
And in the process, Jesus actually brings us peace in FOUR significant ways. We all have 4 basic relationships. And God intended for all of them to be characterized by a deep, abiding PEACE. But as we’ll read in just a moment, something went terribly WRONG along the way, and shattered that four-fold peace. But Jesus really did come to put the pieces back together for us; to be our “Prince of Peace”.
Would you STAND… Isaiah ch9,v6; and then we’re also going to read excerpts from Genesis ch3, vv6-23:
“For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”
Genesis 3:6-23
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?”
16 …To the woman he said,
“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,
but he shall rule over you.”
17 And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
…therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.
This is the word of God… Let’s pray…
The title “Prince of Peace”, in the Hebrew, is “sar-shalom”. The word “sar” is pretty straightforward; “prince” or “ruler”. That’s how this Messiah is described in v7: Isaiah tells of “his government” increasing; that he will sit on “the throne of David”, to establish peace over “his KINGDOM”. So he’s clearly a RULER. But since Pastor Thad already covered Jesus’ “Sovereignty” - his dominion, his ruling power - under the title “Mighty GOD”, I want to focus this morning particularly on the OBJECT of his rule, namely: PEACE. He is the Prince, specifically, of PEACE. Shalom. And this word is more interesting. Strong’s Concordance renders it as “completeness, wholeness, soundness, welfare, or peace”. Here’s a good summary of ALL those synonyms: Shalom is “THINGS BEING AS THEY SHOULD BE”. Things being as they SHOULD be.
That was the state of the world back in Genesis 1 and 2. God originally created EVERYthing “good”; by Day 6, it was “VERY good”, meh-ode tobe. Things were just as they should be.
And we see this primordial SHALOM permeate every facet of our early relationships. As I said, we all have 4 basic relationships:
Our relationship with our SELF.
Our relationship with OTHERS.
Our relationship to our WORLD.
And our relationship with GOD.
And just listen to the SHALOM that Adam & Eve experienced there in the Garden:
1) In their relationship with SELF: we read “the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” (Gen 2:25) In EVERY possible way! Yes, physically, but they were also mentally, emotionally, spiritually, relationally naked - they were FREE to be completely OPEN and honest, vulnerable and EXPOSED… to be fully THEMSELVES… without ANY sense of guilt or shame. We can’t even IMAGINE such freedom today, such “nakedness and yet unasham-edness”.
2) In their relationship to one ANOTHER, we hear Adam’s song of joyful PRAISE over his new wife: “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”... and she’s worth leaving HOME over, for we shall become ONE FLESH; perfectly UNIFIED. “Completeness, WHOLE-ness”... Shalom.
3) As for their relationship to their WORLD, they had “dominion” over the animals, every delicious plant for food, a perfect Garden for their home, filled with life-giving rivers and precious jewels, and God even allowed them to cultivate the land to give them that sense of purpose that only comes from a good day’s work. And while they worked the land, the land also worked for THEM.
4) Most importantly, though, there was shalom in their relationship with God HIMSELF. Every day, in the “cool of the day”, God would come and take a walk with them. Perfect intimacy. No secrets, no shame.
But in an instant, everything changed in Genesis ch3. Where there was once shalom (wholeness), Adam & Eve disobeyed God and invited sin and brokenness into the world.
1) As we read, sin broke their relationship with SELF; when they ate the fruit, “their eyes were opened, and they knew they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together… and hid themselves.” Now they were ASHAMED, so they tried to HIDE.
2) Sin broke their relationship with EACH OTHER; instead of “one flesh” togetherness, now they’re AGAINST one another, pointing fingers. God asks, “What have you done?” and Adam says: “It’s HER fault; she MADE me do it!” Moreover, interpersonal peace-lessness now becomes a part of the CURSE of sin that all of humankind will bear going forward: “[A woman’s desire] shall be contrary to [her] husband, but he shall rule over [her].” (3:16)
3) Sin broke their relationship with THE WORLD. Whereas once the garden worked FOR them, now the ground itself works AGAINST them: “cursed is the ground because of you [God declares]; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you… till you return to the ground… for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (3:17-19). And that’s the worst part of all; the Bible says that through sin, DEATH entered the world (Rom 5:12). Last week, you remember, we worshiped Jesus as our “Father of Eternity”; God Himself is our very source of LIFE. But most tragically of ALL, #4…
4) Sin broke our relationship with HIM (GOD). Instead of running TO God, to meet him for their daily stroll, now Adam and Eve run FROM God, to hide. And because they rejected relationship with Him, God sent them out of the Garden. Paradise: LOST. Shalom: broken.
And for millennia afterward, peace was in VERY, very short supply. But God promised to send a “PRINCE of Peace”. Who would WIELD peace - to “wield” means “to exercise power or authority, as in ruling or dominating” - this PRINCE would WIELD His peace from David’s throne, over his ENTIRE Kingdom, “and of HIS peace, there will be no end”. And I want to spend our remaining time together showing you how Jesus did just that. How Jesus wields peace over all FOUR of our broken relationships, and restores SHALOM, wholeness, harmony.
#1 - FIRST, Jesus restores our relationship with SELF, by bringing us INNER peace. Remember that verse from John 14 we read earlier, where Jesus promised “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you…” Well, here’s the REST of that verse; he says, “Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (v27) In other words, Jesus is saying, “If you’re looking for peace like the ABSENCE of all earthly troubles, then you’ve come to the wrong place. But if you want peace, as in the ability to look your troubles in the face, and not be troubled BY them, then I’m your man.”
See, there’s the external, objective existence of troubles OR of peace - but in that sense, they’re mutually exclusive - but then there’s also the internal, subjective experience of peace, which Jesus offers us in the MIDST of life’s troubles. He said in John 16: “In this world you will have [troubles]. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” And I’m TELLING you this, “that in me you may have peace.” (v33)
What does Jesus mean by: “in ME” you’ll have peace? He means that we’ll have His very presence, His SPIRIT, living INSIDE us. Earlier in John 16, when He was explaining his death and departure to the disciples, Jesus said, “It’s actually BETTER for you that I go away”, back to Heaven, to the Father (v7); you say, “How in the world could it be BETTER for Jesus to go AWAY?” Isn’t that why we CELEBRATE at Christmas - that He came HERE to earth to be WITH us? Now we’re supposed to celebrate Jesus’s LEAVING us?” No, that’s the thing: He DIDN’T leave us; He said, “I’m NOT leaving you as orphans; I’m leaving you a HELPER,” a COMFORTER; my very Spirit, who will now dwell IN you (Jn 14:16-18).
What could be better than Jesus living right here on earth, with us?
Answer: Jesus living right here with-IN us. Dwelling in your HEART.
Galatians 4:6 “because you are [His children], God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts.”
And friends: what is the EFFECT - the RESULT - of having the Spirit of Jesus, the “Prince of Peace” living inside us?
Galatians 5:22 “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace…”
Jesus brings us PEACE, even in the storms of life. That’s why Philippians 4:6-7 encourages us: “do not be anxious [worried, troubled] about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And…” WHAT? What does God promise us? Anyone know the rest of that verse? “And God will take all your troubles AWAY? He’ll remove all your external, objective worries?” No - “And the peace of God [that internal, subjective experience of the pacifying presence of God], which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”.
Does that mean Christians never worry? That when YOU receive that diagnosis from the doctor, when YOUR spouse walks out on you, when YOUR loved one passes away… does being a Christian mean being totally unphased; stiff upper lip. I don’t think so. Jesus wasn’t a Stoic. He cried when Lazarus died. He sweat blood when HE was about to die. But in BOTH cases, he also PRAYED. Because Jesus knew where to TAKE his anxieties. 1 Peter 5:7 “cast all your anxieties on [GOD], because he cares for you.” And God promises that when we DO, He’ll give us PEACE, in the midst of life’s storms.
But this inner peace that Jesus offers us covers even more than that. Because remember: what Adam and Eve experienced in the Garden wasn’t just “anxiety”, it was “SHAME”. And shame is one of the most powerful… and PAINFUL emotions there is. Guilt says, “I did something wrong.” But SHAME says, “I AM wrong.” If SHALOM is “everything being RIGHT”; Shame says “everything CANNOT be right, because at the deepest level of who I am, the level of my personhood, I am wrong. I am broken, I am unlovable, I have NO worth or value.”
And as a matter of fact, we WERE unlovable and broken, flawed to our very core because of SIN. And yet, the good news of the Bible for sinners like you and me this morning is this: that yes, “[we] were dead in the trespasses and sins in which [we] once walked… by nature children of wrath… But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace [we] have been saved… so that he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
This is the GOSPEL, friends: that we are more sinful and unworthy than we’ve ever dared to imagine; and yet, we are more loved and accepted than we’ve ever dared to HOPE for.
Not because of anything WE’VE done, or else we could brag. But solely because of the undeserved grace and LOVE of Jesus, our “Prince of Peace”.
And if GOD now sees us that way - NOT as deplorable sinners; but as beloved, adopted children who have been clothed in the perfect, imputed righteousness of CHRIST - then how much more so ought we to see OURSELVES that way!
No more SHAME, no more HIDING; “Who the Son sets free, is free indeed - I am chosen, not forsaken, I am who HE says I am: I’m a child of GOD”.
#2 - Jesus wields peace over our relationships with OTHERS. (He offers us INTERPERSONAL peace)
Now Jesus already TOLD us he was gonna divide father and son, mother and daughter; so in what sense can he offer us interpersonal peace and reconciliation?
Well, as his new sons and daughters, Jesus is making us into a NEW family, a SPIRITUAL family. When the crowd in Matthew 12 told Jesus his mother and brothers were looking for him, he replied ““Who are my mother and brothers?” …whoever does the will of my Father in heaven” (vv46-50); that’s my REAL family, my SPIRITUAL family.
And it turns out, spiritual blood is thicker than water; thicker than ANYTHING! Thicker than generations - millennia! - of prejudice and hate. Imagine being a Jew in the 1st c, and being told all your life that Gentiles were “dogs” - your rabbis instructed you to take a bath whenever you came home from the marketplace, just in case you had accidentally bumped into a Gentile. There were Jewish proverbs about God creating Gentiles just so He’d have kindling with which to stoke the fires of HELL. You got the picture?
NOW listen to how RADICAL the apostle Paul’s words must have sounded in that context; he’s writing to those Gentile “dogs”; he says:
“You Gentiles in the flesh… were at one time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. [And all the racist Jews said, “AMEN!” But then Paul writes:] 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our [WHAT?] peace, who has made us both one [Jew and Gentile: now made ONE, in Christ] and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility… that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God”.
Oh, there is SO much there we don’t have time to unpack - we’ll preach through Ephesians eventually - but the takeaway for us this morning is simply this: Jesus restores SHALOM to our interpersonal relationships.
So God now commands us: “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Rom 12:18).
“eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Eph 4:3)
And #3 - Jesus isn’t just restoring shalom to humanity; he’s restoring it for THE [WHOLE] WORLD. Jesus is bringing INTERGALACTIC peace; at first I had “international” peace, but it’s WAY bigger than that!
Romans 8 announces: “For [all] creation was subjected to futility [to hevel, our favorite word from our Ecclesiastes study this fall; all creation is subject to entropy and decay and the curse of the FALL]... in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption… For we know that the whole creation has been groaning… But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience…”
What’s Paul talking about there? Remember: our sin cursed the GROUND too - every square inch of creation was affected by the Fall. But Jesus promised that he’s going to return a SECOND time to “make all things NEW” (Rev 21:5); a new heaven and new earth. And new, glorified resurrection BODIES for all of us too - no more sickness or death or decay. THAT’s when he’ll fulfill Isaiah’s prophecies of “no war” and “lions cuddling with lambs” - it’s going to be AMAZING! So what’s he waiting for?
Well, that brings us to the fourth and most important peace of ALL that Jesus offers us:
#4 - Peace WITH GOD. (INTERCESSORY peace; Rom 5:1-2,8-11)
To Intercede is “1) to act or interpose on behalf of someone in difficulty or trouble… 2) to attempt to reconcile differences between two people; to mediate.”
You see, our sin doesn’t just bring us shame toward self, hostility toward others, painful toil against creation; worst of all: our sin separates us from a holy, perfect God. We are warned so, by none other than the prophet Isaiah: “your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.” (59:2)
So here’s what that looks like, if we could ILLUSTRATE our spiritual condition: (Rom 3:23 - all have sinned and fallen short…)
But here’s the good news of the GOSPEL: let’s illustrate THIS one as well…
Rom 5:1-2 “since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God… God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us… so we rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
1 Tim 2:5-6 “there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all,”
Even as far back as Isaiah! 53:5 “ he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.”
Rom 8:1,14-15,31-39 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus… Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? …I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Jesus is our BRIDGE back to God the Father.
But here’s the thing about a bridge: it does you NO good, unless you WALK ACROSS IT. And friends: FAITH means walking across.
Will you walk, by FAITH, this morning, and be RECONCILED to God your perfect heavenly Father?