12/10/23 “A Proclamation of Peace”
A Proclamation of Peace
Luke 2:13-14
As many of you are aware, today marks the second Sunday of the Advent Season.
We have our 2nd candle burning on our Advent wreath here in front of me to signify this day – and the theme of this particular Advent Sunday – the theme of Peace.
The word “Peace”….It’s all around us, isn’t it?
Think of all the books that have been written about peace…both by Christian authors and those from outside the Christian faith.
Whether it be inner peace (peace with yourself)…. Or relational peace (peace with others)….or political peace (World Peace)
For the vast majority of people, peace is a very important concept.
Think of all the songs written about peace….you boomers out there might remember 1969’s “Give Peace a Chance”…that happened to be a very politically charged song about peace.
We’ve all heard John Lennon’s famous song “Imagine”…right? It was released in 1971 and according to Wikipedia, it’s a song that “encourages listeners to imagine a world of peace, without materialism, without borders separating nations, and without religion.”….apparently, old Johnny believed the path to peaceful eutopia was through man’s efforts apart from God’s involvement.
I remember the peace anthem of the 80’s was “We are the World”….remember that one? A bunch of famous singers collaborated on a song about humanitarian efforts and peace.
The idea of peace is so popular that even the reigning Time Magazine “Person of the Year”, Taylor Swift recorded a song a few years back simply entitled ‘Peace.’
(By the way, is anyone else here really tired of hearing about Taylor Swift?...she is America’s current idolatrous obsession – our current golden calf, if you will….don’t think it was just civilizations thousands of years ago that had idols – our culture certainly has its own idols as well)
In researching some of these secular songs about peace, I stumbled across a record by the band U2 from back in the year 2000. The song is actually called “Peace on Earth” and it deals with the atrocities of war and the lack of peace we see around us in our world.
The first verse of the song goes like this: “Heaven on Earth, we need it now, I’m sick of all this Hanging around, Sick of sorrow, Sick of pain, Sick of hearing again and again, that there’s gonna be Peace on Earth”
…..then the Chorus goes “Jesus, can you take the time, to throw a drowning man a line? Peace on Earth…Tell the ones who hear no sound, whose sons are living in the ground, Peace on Earth…No who’s or why’s No one cries like a mother cries For peace on Earth, She never got to say goodbye, to see the color in his eyes, Now he’s in the dirt…Peace on Earth.
…..Not a very optimistic song, is it.
You get the feeling the songwriters perceive a real disconnect between the words ‘Peace on Earth’ and the atrocities of war and divisiveness amongst man that have brought devastation, heartache, and loss to countless families.
In fact, I would venture to bet that if you were to ask 1000 people off the street about ‘Peace on earth’ … 999 would most likely scoff and say ‘there is no such thing.’
So, the question for us as Bible-believing Christians becomes, why were the Angels in our passage of scripture for today so excited about proclaiming Peace on earth…when all we have to do is look at the last 2000 years of world history – and look all around us today – to realize that peace continues to elude humanity.
Wars continue to rage all over the world, stress and anxiety are at an all-time high, our society is polarized like never before with both sides fighting a war of words against the other.
Any kind of lasting world peace, inner peace, or relational peace continues to remain – for the most part - beyond the reach of man.
So, if this is the case, what on Earth were the Angels talking about in our passage for today?...Why were they so excited to make such a bold ‘proclamation of peace’?
The answer to this question asked by so many people hinges entirely on the wording in verse 14 (Luke 2:14) of our passage for today.
The vast, vast majority of people misinterpret this verse concerning peace, and this morning we’re going to talk about why that’s the case.
The primary reason for this misinterpretation stems from the fact that one of the major Bible translations that many of us grew up using (and some of us still use today – including myself) mis-translated part of the original Greek in verse 14, resulting in the error of leaving out a very important phrase.
Like me, how many of you grew up memorizing verse 14 in the King James version of the Bible?
The King James renders the verse this way: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
Now look at how some of the other reliable Bible translations render the original Greek text:
ESV – “Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.” (Luke 2:14)
NASB – “Glory to God in the highest, And on Earth peace among people with whom He is pleased.” (Luke 2:14)
1984 NIV – “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:14)
Holmen Christian Standard Bible – “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people He favors…” (Luke 2:14)
If you do some research, you will find that virtually every major literal & reliable Bible translation contains wording similar to these.
Do you see a difference in the way the King James renders this verse compared to virtually every other translation of scripture?
From what I’ve read, what happened with the KJV was the King’s Bible scholars mistakenly translated a grammatical accusative for a generative – leaving us with the more universal term “men” rather than the more exclusive term “men on whom His favor rests”…or something similar to that.
At this point, I have to be absolutely clear about something.
To those of you who live and die by the King James Version (And I know we have some folks here who fall into that category) – Your pastor has absolutely nothing against the King James translation of the Bible!
It’s the translation that I grew up with in my home church and many of the verses that I have committed to memory are in the King James vernacular.
In fact, there are certain biblical passages that I believe the King James renders a better understanding of the original Hebrew or Greek than some of the other translations.
What we are looking at today just happens to be a verse in which the King James translators made an honest error that changed the meaning of the verse in a significant way.
Remember astronaut Neal Armstrong’s famous quote when he took his first step onto the surface of the moon – remember that?
Mr. Armstrong famously said this: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Well, what he intended to say was “That’s one small step for A man, one giant leap for mankind.”
The small letter “A” left out before the word man made for the entire sentence to carry a different – and redundant - meaning…although most people understood that what he meant to say wasn’t what he ended up actually saying.”
This is similar to our situation with the King James rendering of this passage…when the word ‘men’ is used rather than ‘men on whom His favor rests’, it clarifies the definition of peace in this passage – and – it changes the meaning of who will be the ultimate recipients of this glorious peace.
You’ve most likely sent or received Christmas cards with the phrase “Peace on Earth, good will toward men”, right?
It’s a comforting phrase that exudes the idea that, because of the baby who had just been born in Bethlehem, everyone will experience peace - as one large brotherhood of man….
But is that the real meaning of Luke 2:14 ?
Is ‘peace of earth’ the ultimate meaning of Christmas?...
(Show Charlie Brown Christmas Picture)
After all, that’s what Linus tells everyone in the Charlie Brown Christmas special…remember that?
Charlie Brown is all anxious and stressed out during the Christmas season, all confused about the meaning of Christmas.
Then Linus makes his grand appearance to comfort Charlie by telling his friend that ‘Peace on Earth and good will to all men’ is the ultimate meaning of Christmas.
I remember watching that Christmas special as a kid thinking to myself “Yeah, that sounds about right, Christmas is about Jesus bringing peace on earth”….
But wait….if Jesus brought peace to earth, why didn’t wars stop? (Like the U2 song inquires)
Why did persecution and oppression continue through the centuries? Why do so many people lack inner peace - and why do so many people have relationships with others that are the exact opposite of peaceful?
Well, Jesus did bring one kind of peace to Earth…but not the kind of peace that Linus – or a lot of other people – think of when they think of the word ‘peace’.
In fact, if we think of peace as being political or relational in nature, Jesus actually says that he came to do the exact opposite!
Whaaat? Really?
Look with me at Matthew chapter 10, verses 34-36.
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law – a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.”
When’s the last time you saw that on a Christmas card? 😊
Jesus is saying that if you are a follower of his, you will naturally have people who will disagree with you, people who will not like you for what you stand for, people who will consider you their enemy because you strive to live your life according to biblical principles…and often times, these individuals will be members of your own family….Amen?
So, if Jesus didn’t come to bring peace between people or governments– what kind of peace are the Angels talking about in our passage for today?
As a congregation, we just sang “Hark, the Herald Angles Sing.”
There’s a line in the first verse that goes like this “Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.”
The writer of this hymn understood the kind of peace the angels were talking about!
Look at that word ‘Reconciled’
To reconcile something is essentially to take two things that are incompatible – and make them compatible….to cause two warring entities to come together in harmony with each other.
Folks, man is not born at peace with God.
In fact, every single one of us was born at war with God.
I know this sounds harsh – but it is exactly what the scriptures tell us concerning our spiritual condition - before giving our lives to Christ.
Romans 8:6 says that “The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.”
It is only through the sacrificial blood of Jesus that we can be reconciled to God and have peace with him.
Romans 5:9-11 speaks to this when it says “Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
So getting back to our passage for today, the Angels weren’t lying to the shepherds when they proclaimed that peace had come to the earth.
Indeed, peace had now come…and it had now come to a specific group of people on earth: “Men on whom His favor rests.” (Luke 2:14)
People of faith who would place their trust in Jesus Christ would now be able to experience PEACE WITH GOD!
It is this peace with God – this reconciliation of sinful man to the righteous Father – that excited the Angels so much on that night in the skies over Bethlehem…and it should excite us as well.
This is a peace, however, that is only available to those who have placed their faith and trust in Jesus – that’s why it’s misleading to say that peace came to ALL mankind.
Verse 14 (Luke 2:14) specifically tells us that peace is given “To men on whom His favor rests…and His favor rests on those who are IN His Son.
Now….the beautiful thing is, if you are experiencing peace WITH God…you will also begin to experience the peace OF God.
Peace with God reconciles you to Him – and the peace of God brings harmony & stability to your relationships with other people.
People who have made peace with God through Christ become peacemakers.
AND having peace with God brings inner peace as well.
Have you ever heard someone say they needed to go away to “find themselves” maybe climb a remote mountain somewhere in order to find inner peace?
True Inner peace isn’t about where you are or who you are with – genuine inner peace can only be found in your life after you’ve already established peace with God.
If only John Lennon could have imagined that, right? – think of how many people could have been awoken to the truth of the Gospel if his immensely popular song of peace would have referenced a relationship with Jesus rather than it extoling the virtues of humanistic effort alone.
The billions of people around the world who have listened to this song would have been able to hear about the true solution to war, oppression, and persecution.
Can you imagine if the entire world came to faith in Jesus Christ?.... and acted according to God’s moral standards.
There would be no more war.
There would be no more sex trafficking.
There would be no more murder.
There would be no more taking of unborn lives.
There would be no more unbiblical agendas being promoted through the media and in our public schools.
There would be no more world hunger because leaders of Third World countries would actually care about their citizens - and not about lining their own pockets.
Life wouldn’t be absolutely perfect because Christians still do sin from time to time - and there would still be physical pain and death to deal with - but there would be a complete change in the way the world operates….
It would be a reflection of what the eternal state of Heaven will be like someday…
A place where there will be peace…perfect peace!
Imagine That!
Let’s Pray