The Lord is peace

I’ve been preparing a message on Luke 2 for my church, so I couldn’t help but notice some parallels between this story and the story of the shepherds.

As with Gideon, the shepherds must have been wondering why God had abandoned Israel. They were under Roman occupation, and even worse, God had not spoken to them in over 400 years.

But just as the angel told Gideon, “God is with you,” the angel told the shepherds, “Immanuel is born! God is truly with you!”

Gideon and the shepherds are also both told, “Do not be afraid.”

The angels also gave both of them a sign showing God’s favor to them.

Most importantly, in both cases, God then proclaims peace to his people.

Gideon, in fact, says, “Yahweh is peace.”

Hundreds of years later, the prophet Micah would say of Messiah, “He is our peace.”  (Micah 5:5)

So this Christmas season, whatever trials you may be facing, remember:

Don’t be afraid. God has shown his favor to us in his Son. And through his Son, we now have peace with God.

More than that, Jesus himself is our peace.