When Jesus was born, angels sang: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14). It’s unfortunate that the King James version—“good will toward men”—has become the standard wording, especially at Christmastime. It can create the impression that Christ’s birth signaled the end of human conflict and the beginning of world peace, which obviously has not happened yet.
But that’s not what the angels sang about. Nor did Jesus promise peace on earth for all men (or women). He warned of wars and rumors of war that would precede his return, as well as persecution for believers. He said he had “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” (Matt 10:34-36).
That’s the everyday reality for countless believers around the world who are disowned, persecuted, or even beaten by their own family members because of their faith in Jesus. But what Jesus promises to such persecuted believers is peace in the midst of the storm through the presence of his Spirit. That’s why in his farewell address to his disciples in John 14, he moves from talking about the promised Holy Spirit to the promise of his peace. That’s how his peace is realized: by the presence of his Spirit. In giving us his peace, he is giving us himself, and his presence with us is realized by his Spirit living in us.
Paul says that Jesus himself is our peace (Eph. 2:14). Jesus came to bring peace between us and God (Rom. 5:1) and among believers of all backgrounds (Eph. 2:15,16), to bring personal peace in the midst of trouble (John 16:33) and to “give you peace at all times and in every way” (2 Thess. 3:16). But Jesus didn’t just teach about and model peace. He won it for us on the battlefield of the cross in mortal combat with the root cause of our troubles. He triumphed over death and hell and Satan (Col. 2:15) by overcoming our alienation from God caused by sin (2 Cor. 5:18-21). And Jesus will come back again to bring all our remaining troubles to an end when “the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Rom. 16:20).
Yes, one day there will be peace on earth. But in the meantime, our privileged calling is to be agents of that peace by proclaiming and practicing the peace of Christ as those on whom God’s favor has rested, who in God’s unfathomable grace received a peace the world cannot give or take away. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you,” Jesus said. “I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27).