Familiar words from Isaiah 9:6-7: ‘For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.’ We read these words often at Christmas time, the title Prince of Peace stands out to us as a great need in the world given the many wars that have happened in human history. The OT promised a son of David who would come and bring about world peace. This peace would be accomplished through the conquering of Israel’s enemies. So imagine what the expectation was around the coming Messiah in the first century when Jesus, that promised Messiah arrived. They imagined that the Messiah would come with a sword against Rome not Jerusalem. They imagined that He would be united with them in their view of who the real enemy is, the Gentile and not their own sinful hearts. They thought they knew what it meant that the Messiah was the Prince of Peace but they did not. In Luke 12:49-59 we have some very surprising statements from the Prince of Peace. These words come in a section where Jesus is warning the present generation of Jews, the most privileged generation to have ever lived, that they must respond positively to the Messiah. Just have a glance down at 13:1-5 with the warnings to repent or perish, in v28-29 the Jews are warned that they will be...
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