Peace

 

What does peace have to do with Christmas? Why do songs contain this word and idea? Why did the angels from heaven proclaim this as part of their herald to the shepherds? Is peace possible in our world? Today’s word study around Christmas, as you have guessed by now, is peace. Let’s consider what peace is, then answer these questions.

In Luke 2:14, the angels proclaimed—heralded—the birth of the Messiah. Prophets and angels foretold the Messiah’s coming for millennia. Prophets and angels taught the Jews to expect His coming. They did not expect the Messiah to come as an infant son of a carpenter from a small town. The Jews expected the Messiah to come with power and authority as a warrior king to oust the Romans from the Jewish lands and reestablish the throne of David. What the angels proclaimed to the shepherds that night, as recorded by Luke in chapter two, did not match the expectations of the Jews. The response from the shepherds of awe and worship showed Jesus transcended status, income, lineage, and education. When the shepherds understood the angels’ proclamation, they felt a sense of peace from God.

The host of angels in Luke 2:14 declared, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace to men on whom His favor rests!” It is fitting that the angels began heralding by exclaiming about God. No one is greater than God, and their proclamation relayed that. Their heralding began like Jesus started the Lord’s Prayer. Both began with a statement about God’s ultimacy and His worthiness of praise. Jesus said, “God’s name is holy,” and the angels sang, “Glory and honor is due to God.” The angels, by starting their proclamation this way, acknowledged God and His sending of them to make this proclamation. It led people to take notice of what they said.

What was the message about which the angels proclaimed? They said, “Peace to men on earth on whom God’s favor rests.” If you are like me, I have sung this song each year and proclaimed God and acknowledged God’s peace, but I have not studied what this whole phrase means. The last prepositional phrase in this sentence affects each of us individually. It tells us to whom God gives peace. First, though, what is the peace God gives? This peace the angels proclaimed God gives comes from the Greek word eirene, which comes from eiro. Eiro means to join and make whole. Peace is a gift from God that makes a person whole. God’s peace is a wholeness that comes from Jesus saving a person by belief in Him as God’s Son—the Savior of humanity. When Jesus saves a person, He makes it possible for a person to have a right (righteous) relationship with God through His forgiveness of his or her sins. As the person grows to know God more each day and grows to be more like Jesus, God grows that person increasingly closer to perfection. That perfection will be complete when the believer enters heaven upon his or her death when his or her glorification occurs. When that happens, the person becomes completely whole, at peace. For now, while still alive on earth, God gives the believer peace and makes him or her whole in heart, mind, and spirit. The person has peace through trust in God and hope in his or her future perfection in heaven.

That thought leads us to understand the last prepositional phrase. The angels sang about peace on earth for men on whom God’s favor rests. The “favor” of God means His goodwill, satisfaction, and good pleasure in the person. How does one get God’s good pleasure, His “well done?” Until a person believes in Jesus and He forgives him or her of his or her sins, God is not pleased with the person; He is not satisfied. The person carries the result of sin in his or her life and God cannot be where sin is, since holiness and sin cannot be in the same place. For this reason, God sent Jesus to earth. Jesus came to cleanse each believer in Him of their wrongdoings (sins) and the stain and guilt of those sins. When cleansed by Jesus, a person can be in the same place with God because Jesus removed the sin stain and guilt from him or her (justification) and provided forgiveness of those sins through His sacrifice of Himself on the cross. How can we have peace with God? By believing in Jesus as our Savior and Lord. Who is to receive the peace of God about what the angels heralded? Any person God favors—each person who believes in Jesus as the Messiah.

Peace is for anyone who believes in Jesus the Messiah. The angels sang this truth. Luke wrote about the gospel of peace in Acts 1:36. Micah prophesied about the Messiah being the Israelites’ peace in Micah 5:5. Peace came from heaven that first Christmas when Jesus was born. The Peacemaker entered the world in bodily form when the Son of God came to live incarnate with humanity. God was no longer merely God of and for us. In Jesus, He was Emmanuel—God with us. God continues to be God with us for each believer by the Holy Spirit of Christ dwelling in him or her.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem entitled I Hear the Bells on Christmas Day became a Christmas carol. It aptly expresses this peace.

I heard the bells on Christmas day,

Their old familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet, the words repeat

Of peace on earth, good will to men.

 

I thought how, as the day had come,

The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along th’unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good will to me.

 

And in despair I bowed by head:

“There is no peace on earth,” I said,

“For hate is strong and mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

 

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,

With peace on earth, good will to men.”

 

Till ringing, singing on its way,

The world revolved from night to day,

A voice and chime, a chant sublime,

Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Peace is possible because God gives it to people who have believed in Jesus for salvation. That cold night for the shepherds in Luke 2 seemed to be like any other night protecting their sheep. It was unlike any night before or after for them. Angels came from heaven proclaiming God’s glory and His peace to all who believe in Him for salvation. The shepherds reacted initially with fear. They reacted in another way, too. Luke recorded the shepherds’ response upon hearing the angels’ proclamation. He wrote in 2:15-17,

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” So, they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the Baby, who was lying in a manger. After they had seen the Child, they spread the message they had received about Him. (BSB)

Peace is still possible. Wadsworth wrote the poem two years after his wife died and while the Civil War raged. He penned his poem to focus on the peace God gives. Though days seemed dark, he thought of God, who is Light and greater than anything that confronts us. We, like the shepherds, upon hearing the angel’s message today, should proclaim about God’s glory, His Son’s birth, and His peace to anyone who will believe. I promise, like people hearing the shepherds’ testimony in verse eighteen, people will be amazed. Some will then believe and receive salvation from their sins and its guilt.

Offer peace. Herald the birth of Jesus the Messiah.

Behold!

 

 Before studying what any book of the Bible says, readers/hearers should look at the background of that book. Each author writes at a set point in time that coincides with certain circumstances affecting the people to whom he wrote. The author can arrange what he writes to discuss specific issues his intended readers/hearers face. Let’s consider these things about the Gospel of Mark. 

Introduction

The dating of the Gospel of Mark is highly debated. Some Bible scholars consider John Mark wrote this Gospel in the late 50s AD because Peter was in Rome during that time. Other scholars theorize Mark wrote his Gospel in the 60s because they presume Luke used Mark’s Gospel as a key source for The Acts of the Apostles. At the end of Acts, Luke wrote about Paul being in prison, hence, these scholars consider Mark wrote his Gospel before 62AD. Historic records by church fathers record Mark’s Gospel being written after Peter’s death in 64AD, during the reign of Nero. They conjecture Mark wrote his Gospel in the mid-60s, which lines up with Nero’s persecution of Christians. The consensus of Bible scholars agrees that the Gospel of Mark dates to the late 50s and early 60s.

Who wrote the Gospel of Mark? From about 125AD, important Christian scholars considered John Mark the original author of the Gospel of Mark. Eusebius wrote in 325AD that Papias, a Greek bishop in Hierapolis (modern Turkey) who lived 60-130AD, recorded that Mark was Peter’s writer and wrote all he remembered Peter teaching and preaching about the Lord. Other church fathers, like Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Clement of Alexandria, agreed with Papias. This John Mark was the cousin of Barnabas. He journeyed with Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey but turned back and went to Jerusalem. Paul considered him unreliable and refused to take him on the second missionary journey. He and Barnabas disagreed about Mark, so Barnabas and Mark journeyed together while Paul went with Silas. (See Acts 15:3-16:10.) To summarize, John Mark, Barnabas’ cousin, wrote what Peter taught and preached about Jesus.

To understand the author better, one must consider what the author faced in his surroundings as he wrote. That requires knowing where the writer was physically. The best information about this comes from Peter’s own letter in 1 Peter 5:13. He wrote to the Christian churches in Rome and sent greetings from Mark at the end of his letter. Peter was with Mark, whom he called his “son.” In 1 Peter 5:13, Peter wrote about being in Babylon with Mark. He used the name Babylon as an allegory by which he meant Rome. The book of Revelation allegorically used the city of Babylon to represent Rome in Revelation 14:8, 17:18 and 18:2 & 10. Papias considered the name “Babylon” represented Rome, too, along with Clement of Alexandria. From this we recognize John Mark wrote while in Rome and most likely during the time of Nero’s persecution of Christians. He himself faced persecution because of standing for his faith in Jesus.

We understand John Mark wrote this Gospel from Peter’s teachings and sermons in the late 50s or early 60s while he and other Christians in Rome faced persecution from Nero. To whom did he write? From reading Mark’s Gospel, we realize Mark wrote it to Roman Christians, ones who came not from the Jewish faith. He wrote to people who lived and experienced the same persecutions he did while Nero reigned. How do we arrive at this? Mark explained Jewish customs to the readers/hearers of his gospel, for example, in Mark 7:3-4, where he explained the Jewish custom of cleansing before eating. Bible scholars have noted Mark used Latin turns-of-phrase that a Roman audience would understand. Based on these, we can understand Mark wrote to a Roman Christian audience.

Knowing Mark wrote to Roman Christians living under the persecution of Nero helps readers and hearers perceive the purpose of Mark’s Gospel. Mark wrote his Gospel to show the divinity of Jesus and the cost of discipleship. He affirmed this by writing about Jesus’ miracle-working power, the salvation He brought, the suffering and death He endured, and His servanthood. Mark’s telling of Jesus’ miracles shows who He is, the divine, almighty, forgiving Son of God. Only the Son of God could heal, forgive, redeem, restore, and encourage and empower His followers to spread the gospel message. Mark sought to encourage the Roman Christians. Jesus’ willingness to suffer and die gives an example to His followers the road they must walk with humility while they evangelize, suffer, and, maybe, die. (See Mark 8:34.) Mark wrote his Gospel to encourage the Roman Christians and to undergird them as they faced Nero’s persecution. He reminded them of who they followed and that He is almighty. They can rely on Jesus to be their strength and their refuge.

Mark 1:1-3

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, just as it is written in Isaiah the prophet.

“Behold, I am sending My messenger before you, who will prepare your way:

the voice of one calling out in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight!’” (Mark 1:1-3 [NASB])

 Mark began writing this gospel by telling his readers/hearers of the promise from God that He commanded Isaiah and Malachi in the Old Testament to tell the Israelites. Later in his gospel, he wrote God fulfilled this promise when Jesus was born as a human on earth. Mark taught/reminded the Roman Christians about the prophecy and prepared them to understand Jesus’ commission of them. Jesus’ commission of believers continues the fulfillment of the prophecy, that of calling out in the wilderness of the world in which they live. This brings an understanding of what Bible scholars call “now and not yet.” Each person who professes faith in Jesus is saved from their sins at that point, “now.” That Christian continues to be saved from sins and death until he/she enters God’s presence in heaven. When Christians enter heaven, he or she will be perfected by Jesus.

 After his dynamic first verse, Mark taught Jewish history to the Roman (Gentile) Christians, a history of which they might not have known. These Christians might have heard of Isaiah and Malachi. Jews had lived many years in Rome by the time of Mark’s writing. Possibly, the Roman Christians remembered their Jewish neighbors talking and grumbling that these Gentiles could not have trusted in the Messiah. Their Messiah had not come yet. They were taught the Messiah was supposed to be just for the Israelites, based on Jewish tradition. By these overheard grumblings and conversations, the Roman Christians may have become acquainted with Isaiah and Malachi from their fellow Jewish residents of Rome. Because Mark wanted to be sure these Christians knew them, he recited the prophecy of Yahweh God that He required Isaiah and Malachi to tell the Israelites. Isaiah recorded the original text in Isaiah 40:3-4 and Malachi wrote them in Malachi 3:1.

 Mark chose his words for his audience and for the circumstances in which they and he lived. He wrote, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Mark clearly stated the topic of the gospel and its importance. He said this writing was the gospel of Jesus the Christ, the Messiah from God. With these words, the readers/hearers may/should have pondered the question of when the gospel began. Did the gospel occur only when Jesus began ministering, or did it include the day of his birth, too? What about when John leaped within his mother’s, Elizabeth’s, womb when Mary, Jesus’ mother, visited her? Since Mark quotes two Old Testament prophets, did the gospel begin at that point? The good news from God began from creation. From when God created humanity and gave them freewill, He realized they would choose to go in ways opposite of His own plans for them, plans for their good and not to harm them (Jeremiah 29:11). This turning away from God is rebellion and is called sin. Peter attested to God’s plan for salvation from the beginning of creation in 1 Peter 1:17-21. He wrote about Christ, who was foretold “before the foundation of the world,” the sinless sacrifice for sinful humanity. Paul agreed with Peter when he wrote Ephesians 1:3-4,

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.

God planned for each person to be saved from their sins and death. He chose, “before the foundation of the world,” each person who believes in Jesus to be holy and blameless in His sight. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus, in humanity’s mind, occurred when Jesus’ ministry began. But the truth is the gospel began before Yahweh God formed humanity and breathed life into him or her. This, too, is a “now and not yet” scenario. God planned the gospel before He created humanity. God-chosen Israelites (prophets) foretold His good news before it burst onto humanity’s timeline. John was the first New Testament messenger of this gospel. (A messenger is a person or angel sent out for a purpose.) Soon after John’s proclaiming began, Jesus burst into the timeline with His revelation on earth of “God with us.” For those who accept the gospel message, the gospel continues into the future on humanity’s timeline with themselves as messengers. The telling about the gospel did not end when the Romans hung Jesus on the cross and killed Him. It did not end when Jesus rose from death and ascended to heaven. God’s promise of a Messiah is not completed for each person (perfected/fulfilled) until His kingdom comes in its fullness. Mark began the writing of his gospel with “the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Starting this way carries more weight than only being a quote from man over 2000 years ago. It carries it back in time to carry the proclamation of the good news forward until the whole world hears. 

Application and Conclusion

This prophecy did not arrive and end with its telling by John the Baptist in the New Testament and its fulfillment through Jesus’ arrival in history. Christians should consider what “the beginning of the gospel” means for him or her today, like Mark led the Roman Christians to remember and consider for themselves. The gospel is good news and good news should be shared. This good news is the ultimate of good news. It ushered the Messiah, “God with us,” into the world (Matthew 1:23). This spectacular, life-changing, world-moving news of the Messiah must be shared by each believer in Jesus! The prophecy message and fulfillment continue through Jesus’ followers until the kingdom of God comes in its fullness, so all people may come to believe in Jesus as their Savior. This understanding of “now and not yet” of God’s promise and its fulfillment (salvation) should remind Christians today of their responsibility. Each Christian is part of the “not yet” phase in this “now and not yet” of sharing the gospel. Believers have had their initial “now” of coming to faith in Jesus. It’s their turn to continue the sharing of the gospel so that those who are not yet believers can hear and respond to it. Each believer’s perfection by Jesus in heaven brings the completion of their “not yet.” When he or she lives in heaven, Jesus completes (perfects) the process of salvation for him or her. The Christian is perfected in the image of Christ. 

Christians are to be messengers heralding Jesus, the Son of God and Savior of all humanity. By doing this, each person will have the chance to hear and respond to the gospel message. Each believer will say, “Behold!” like the angel (a messenger from God) who called out “Hark!” proclaiming the Christ-child’s birth.

The prophecies from God, as recorded by Mark, proclaimed He would send a messenger before He sends the Messiah to earth to be “God with them.” The purpose for this messenger was to tell people a Messiah (Savior) from God would come to earth, so prepare the way. What must the Israelites have done before the Messiah came? “Prepare the way.” “Prepare the way” means to make ready or to remove the hindrances. The Israelites were to “prepare the way” by preparing their hearts to meet their Savior. The Israelites were fickle, like most people. They obeyed God when they found it helpful to them. They put God on the back burner when they sailed smoothly through life. These people of God only sought Him when life became shaky or frightening. For the Israelites to prepare the way for themselves, they had to renew their relationship with God by repenting of their sins and returning to a vital relationship with Him. What they did not realize is they, too, were to tell people of other nations about the coming Messiah, just as the prophets had. Their lives were supposed to be a light to the nations about Yahweh, so those nations would seek Him with their whole being, too. Preparing the way for the Lord means preparing yourself to receive Him and preparing yourself so that others will see God in your life, then ask and receive Him for themselves. 

Each believer in Jesus should proclaim the gospel regularly, like the prophets and disciples of old did. He or she should prepare the way of the Lord to restore his or her relationship with the Him each day. He or she does this by confessing and repenting of sins and seeking Him daily to guide him or her. By this, each believer becomes a messenger of God to the people in their sphere. Because of this, each person will get to hear the good news about Jesus, the Son of God, who lived as a man though wholly divine, died the death of a criminal though having not sinned, and rose from death to sit on the throne in heaven. Through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, any person who trusts in Him will receive pardon from sin and the cleansing of guilt that sin leaves. Each believer will receive eternal life with God in His kingdom in its fullness and will live with the Spirit of Jesus in his or her heart now, another “now and not yet” scenario.

 As we study these verses, we should ask ourselves six questions.

1.  Do you know who Jesus is?

2.  Do you trust the gospel more now that you know Jesus is the Son of God prophesied thousands of years in advance by two prophets?

3. Has the messenger’s proclamation to you affected and caused you to make the way straight by thinking about and acting based on the prophecies, sermons, and teachings regarding Jesus the Messiah by men who lived during His time on earth?

4. Have you heard the prophecy, prepared the way in your heart, mind, body, and spirit, and heard the gospel? Has it stirred your heart with the conviction of its truth?

5. What keeps you from to professing faith in Jesus as your Savior and confessing your sins for forgiveness and cleansing from Him?

6. Are you living the life of a messenger of Jesus and preparing the way so that other people get to listen to and come to know Jesus as their Savior? 

Time does not stop until God’s kingdom comes.

But your time stops when your heart is done.

Don’t wait too long. 

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will hear you.

You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 29:11-14a [NASB])