December 17, 2023 The Names of Jesus: Prince of Peace , Isaiah 9:6-7; John 14:27; John 16:33

Today we are celebrating our Children’s Christmas service where the children and youth will be leading us in worshipping Jesus through the Christmas play: Manger Moments: But Wait! There’s Myrrh! We will also continue reflecting on The Names of Jesus, by reflecting on Isaiah 9:6-7; John 14:27; John 16:33, Prince of Peace. Jesus is the Prince of Peace who helps us find peace in our hearts and souls with God our Father and helps us to build peace with others through offering and receiving forgiveness and grace. Jesus also helps us to find peace from our worries and fears by giving us the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Transcript

Prince of Peace

Isaiah 9:6-7; John 14:27; John 16:33

Good morning everyone, thanks for telling us the story of Jesus’ birth! It was really special, but just like you kept saying, there’s myrrh! There’s a prophet hundreds of years before Jesus was born who talked about him coming as a baby. Isaiah told us, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.” Remember in the play that the story teller told us that Israel was waiting for a flashy Messiah, a king with a mean streak who would kick out the Romans, but Isaiah tells us that the baby is a king, but instead of a mean king, he’s the Prince of Peace.

Even the angels praised God when Jesus was born, singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests.” The angels remind us that Jesus is all about peace, about peace with God and peace on earth. When we talk about peace, what does peace mean? Another pastor, Scott Hoezee says that, “Peace means “peace and quiet.”  Peace means a lack of conflict.” Peace means that there’s no more fighting, and that’s something we all hope for. Jesus comes to fight for peace, that sounds kind of funny right, that Jesus comes to fight for peace. Peace is more than just not fighting, it’s about people living together and helping each other out all the time, it’s about being people to encourage each other, who don’t tell unkind or mean stories about others, and it means always being kind to others so that they can know how much we care about them, but even more importantly, so that they can know how much Jesus loves them.

Nowadays, we see that lots of people like talking about other people, we call that gossip, and they like saying mean things and how they aren’t very good at something. This makes people sad or even angry inside when they hear this. We say that they don’t have peace in their hearts then. Peace in our hearts comes from joy and hope, and the joy and hope come from Jesus and his love for us, a love that we’re called to show to others. In Jesus’ world of peace, imagine people talking about each other, but instead of gossiping, they talk about all the good things other people, they talk about all the things that other people are really good at and where they did really well. That’s an exciting place to live, knowing that we never have to be afraid of people saying horrible things about us behind our backs, instead knowing that they are happy for us when things go well!

But wait! There’s myrrh! Jesus comes to bring peace between us and God by washing away our sins so that we can become children of God, part of God’s family with Jesus. Jesus is so committed to creating peace with God and us that he even died so that we can have peace with God our Father. This is why Jesus is the Prince of Peace because he is so committed to us. Isaiah finishes talking about Jesus here by letting us know that “The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” That’s the good news of Christmas: love really did come down. 

Jesus’ zeal for us, which means that he is super excited about us and making us his brothers and sisters in God’s family showing just how much you are loved by the God of the galaxies through Prince Jesus. As the prince, Jesus has all the power he needs to create a world of peace and harmony where we all are able to flourish together.