More
than 2000 years ago a “multitude of the heavenly host” strongly implied to a
group of common shepherds that there would be “on earth peace, good will toward
men.” (Luke 2:13-14) Ever wonder when, exactly, “peace” and “good will” are
going to show up? I’m personally not seeing too much of it these days, and a
cursory review of the last couple of millennia pretty well affirms that there’s
been a whole lot more war and ill will than peace and good will, the 20th
Century perhaps being the worst of all . . . and we haven’t gotten off to a
very good start here in the 21st Century, either.
The
broader implication of the “multitude of the heavenly host’s” announcement was that
the birth of the “Savior, which is the Christ the Lord” (Luke 22:11) was going
to be the catalyst for that peace. This raised all kinds of new found hope
among the plebes. People (particularly the Jews) were so weary of the
oppressive governance of the ruling class and their conquering ways, that their
yearning for freedom made them wonder that maybe, just maybe this was the Great
Shepherd promised by their prophet Isaiah. (Isaiah 40:9-11)
Alas
and alack, they misunderstood Isaiah’s message (Prophesy is only clear in
hindsight, and even then not perfectly clear) so when Jesus didn’t deliver them
from their Roman oppressors they turned from shouting “hosanna” one weekend to
“crucify him” the next. The handful that followed and trusted him to the very
end were even confused; confused, that is, until after the resurrection. Then,
and only then did they truly believe, and in less than 100 years that same
confused handful of followers had multiplied themselves and spread the story of
the “Savior, which is Christ the Lord” all across the known world.
Oddly,
though, none of this led to peace. Peter, one of Jesus’ more challenging
protégés, was crucified . . . upside down, no less . . . and his friend and
disciple James was executed with a sword. With the lone exception of John,
every last one of Jesus’ disciples died a brutal, martyr’s death. Is this the picture
of peace you imagined? Me either! So what are we missing? Either the Bible is a
lie, Jesus is a fraud, or we’re missing something really, really important.
Guess
what? We’ve missed something really, really important.
The
Jews believed their Messiah was going to overthrow the Roman government.
The
Disciples thought Jesus was that Messiah and was going to overthrow the Roman
government.
First
Century Christians thought the resurrected Jesus was going to return during
their lifetime and overthrow the Roman government.
Christians
to this day are still waiting for Jesus to return and . . . you guessed it . .
. overthrow the government.
We
seem to think, whether consciously or subconsciously, that overthrowing the
government is the pathway to peace, regardless of who the rulers of the moment
are. After all, every election year we try to do just that, only to be
disappointed that the person or persons for whom we voted didn’t bring the
promised peace.
The truth is, Christians are supposed to be salt and light in the government, and everywhere else in this world (Matthew 5:13-14), reflecting the Jesus that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John describes in their biographies of him. Peace will never be found in governmental change. Peace will be found in personal change, the change that comes when you’ve had a genuine encounter with Jesus.
So,
“on earth peace, good will toward men” it is.
I think
I finally get it.
Do
you?
