{"id":4230,"date":"2025-12-08T12:25:27","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T18:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/?p=4230"},"modified":"2025-12-08T12:25:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T18:25:27","slug":"waiting-for-a-different-kind-of-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/?p=4230","title":{"rendered":"Waiting for a Different Kind of Peace"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>As I mentioned last year. we have family and friends in Israel. For more than two years, I have checked the news many times a day, following the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon. I have also followed the conflict in Ukraine, where thousands of Ukrainians and Russians have died in a historic border dispute.[1]<\/a> For the past year and more, we have all been waiting for peace in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. We were, of course, happy for the people of Israel and Lebanon when a cease-fire was announced. We hope for a peace agreement in Ukraine as well. However, the Bible warns us that \u201cYou will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.<\/strong>\u201d (Matthew 24:6). I have often quoted the notion that \u201conly the dead will never know war again.\u201d[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

Watching for a Prince of Peace<\/strong><\/p>\n

The ancient Jews were not a particularly warlike people, and the size, strategic location, and vulnerability of their land meant that foreign powers often attacked them. For most of their history, they were a conquered people: by the Assyrians, Babylonians, Medo-Persians, Greeks, and Romans. They saw a lot of war during their history, and most of the time they experienced it as a conquered and helpless people. They longed for peace and believed that the peace they longed for would be created by a deliverer they called \u201cthe Anointed One\u201d or \u201cMessiah,\u201d which in Greek is translated \u201cChrist.\u201d The Messiah would be anointed by the Holy Spirit in such a way as to liberate captive Israel.<\/p>\n

One of the most familiar Christmas passages is from Isaiah:<\/p>\n

For to us a child is born,<\/strong> unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called: <\/strong>Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. <\/strong>Of the increase of his government and peace,\u00a0there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom,\u00a0to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore<\/strong> (Isaiah 9:6-7)<\/p>\n

Israel thought of their Messiah in political and military terms. At Christmas, we celebrate the arrival of that Prince of Peace and anticipate the final victory of his peace over the forces that limit and destroy human flourishing. Yet, the arrival of the Prince of Peace did not bring the kind peace that Israel desired nor does it bring the kind of \u201cpower-peace\u201d we humans today often desire. This is why Jesus, when he promised his disciples peace, did not promise the kind of peace the world seeks (John 14:27).<\/p>\n

The Peace We Seek<\/strong><\/p>\n

Old Testament scholars helpfully remind us that the passage from Isaiah <\/u>was not written in a time of peace but in a time of war. Isaiah probably believed that the newborn child of the current Israeli king would be the anticipated Messiah\/Savior. He would bring the kind of peace won through military force that David achieved. Indeed, one meaning of peace in the Old Testament (and today) is the absence of conflict based on the victory of one side. It is very possible that this is the kind of peace Isaiah anticipated.<\/p>\n

However, scholars remind us that the meaning of \u201cshalom,\u201d the Hebrew word for peace, goes far beyond simply the absence of conflict. It signifies \u201cwholeness and completeness,\u201d a state where all aspects of human flourishing\u2014physical, mental, moral, spiritual, and social\u2014are in harmony. In ancient Hebrew, if someone asked, \u201cIs your family Shalom?\u201d they meant, \u201cIs your family okay?\u201d Just as today, they would not be asking, \u201cHas your family stopped fighting?\u201d Instead, they wanted to know, \u201cIs your family doing well?\u201d Therefore, shalom encompasses well-being in every part of life.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

If the Messiah had merely been a military leader, perhaps a bit more moral than David but fundamentally \u201cDavid on Steroids,\u201d he would not have brought Israel the kind of shalom God wants for the world. He would have brought victory and cessation of hostilities. In order to give the human race the hope of victory over all that inhibits human flourishing and happiness, God had to send a very different sort of Messiah.<\/p>\n

Personal and Social Shalom<\/strong><\/p>\n

We need the shalom (peace) that goes beyond just the absence of conflict. We need a shalom that includes personal wholeness and well-being. Social scientists tell us that human flourishing involves several components, such as:<\/p>\n