Luke 2:14: Peace on Earth

Luke 2:14: Peace on Earth

Our Scripture reading this morning comes from Luke 2:1-14. It says,

1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. 8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

May God bless the reading of his Word.

“The ruler of the world is now born.” As much as you might think that’s a scriptural reference to Jesus, these words were, in fact, spoken by a Roman astrologer at the birth of Caesar Augustus. After the murder of his uncle, Julius Caesar, Caesar Augustus established himself as Julius’ successor, after a series of five bloody civil wars. After which, he inaugurated a “Pax Romana,” or “Roman peace” across the empire in 27 B.C. And that peace would go on for approximately 200 years, perhaps the longest period of peace in human history. In gratitude for Augustus’ rule and its effect, the Senate deified him—they made him a god—shortly after his death. But even at his birth, legends abounded as to the significance and exceptionalism of Augustus. One widely accepted legend went so far as to assert that Caesar Augustus’ birth had divine origin, where a god, in the form of a snake mated with his mother after a midnight service at the Temple of Apollo.

But just as with the snake in the garden of Eden, who introduced falsehood, so too did this snake god—who purportedly visited Caesar’s mother—father a false god who would go on to introduce a false peace. For Roman peace proved far from peaceful.

Caesar Augustus never ultimately brought peace, not true peace, anyway. Peace, in fact, came—and continues to come—from one of Caesar’s subjects: an obscure refugee, an indistinct non-citizen, born in an equally obscure and indistinct corner of the empire. It’s no accident that our narrative in Luke 2 begins with Caesar Augustus, a false god who brought false peace. Luke mentions him right at the beginning of v1. Now we could ch alk that up to a mere nod athistorical background. But perhaps God has something more in mind at the mention of Caesar. You see if anybody had any compunction to be somebody in that time and place, they would have their eyes set upon Caesar Augustus, the ruler of the world, who could at will issue a decree that they would be obligated to obey. But all the while, God unfolds his own plan, for unto us a child is born, not a child of noble birth, or significance as the world counts significance. But a humble child born in humble means.

If we walk by sight, it would be easy to think that Caesar Augustus is God’s plan for the world, that our nation in all its power is God’s plan for the world. They’re not. Caesar enters our narrative as a false god who brought false peace. If we have our eyes set on the pomp and circumstance, the glitz and glitter of the world, whether it be the Roman world, or our own world with its kitschy, sentimental, overly commercialized Winter Wonderland that we live in—to face unafraid, the plans that we’ve made—then we’ll miss the glories of the true meaning of Christmas.

For God’s salvation did not come from Caesar’s throne in Rome, but from a feed trough for animals in Bethlehem. Bethlehem of Judea, a place that Caesar perhaps had no idea existed. While the world glorified Caesar, a false god, who brought false peace, God glorified himself, by sending us true peace in the provision of his son. And if we want any part in that peace, we cannot look to, or glorify, Caesar. We cannot look to, or glorify, the might of our own nation. We must look to, or glorify, God himself. Which brings us to the Main Idea of our text: God must be glorified for peace to prevail.

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. He made a decree; he ordered a census so that taxes could be collected from his conquered subjects. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. Joseph, being from the house and lineage of David, specifically from the town of Bethlehem, in obedience to Caesar’s order, took his betrothed, Mary, from their home in Nazareth to Bethlehem to be registered, some 90 miles away. And while in Bethlehem, it came time for Mary to give birth. It says she wrapped her firstborn son in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, v14, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” I want to spend our time this morning contemplating the angels’ declaration in v14. Christ’s coming, Emmanuel, God with us, offers two necessities we often find missing in our own reality: (1) Glory to God, and (2) Peace on Earth. As we look to Ukraine, as we look to Israel, as we look to the violence amid elections in Congo, as we look to a myriad of other issues in our own context, these two necessities still lack. And there’s a reason we call them necessities because they’re necessary, necessary for God’s glory and our ultimate survival. So, let us look at these in turn.

I. Glory to God, 14a

The multitude of the heavenly host declared, “Glory to God in the highest.” They offer God the praise due his name. Now up until this precise moment in history, God’s glory had been declared. Creation declared it. David sings in Psalm 19, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” Prophets, priests, and even kings declared it. Even pagans at times saw aspects of his glory, praising him. For instance, Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4 praised, extoled, and honored—or glorified—the king of heaven, finally realizing his own weakness, and God’s own strength. But this precise moment in history—where an angel of the Lord appeared to some shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night—proved to be the apex of God’s glory up until this point. Perhaps no higher degree of glory existed, prior to this moment, at least on earth. At the coming of Jesus, God’s own Son, God is with us. What we lost in the Garden of Eden begins to be restored. Therefore, we can declare with the angels, “Glory to God in the highest” heaven.

Now I had said earlier that this verse offers two necessities we often find missing in our own reality. The first being, glory to God. Do we give glory to God as we should? Do we declare it? Do we shout it from the highest mountain, even to a group of gruff working men, as the multitude of the heavenly host did for these shepherds here? Do we bring good news of great joy for all people? Or do we decide for others whether they would want this or not? Friends, we cannot help but talk about what we love. For instance, have you ever met a vegan evangelist, or a Jordan Peterson evangelist, or a running evangelist, or an evangelist of a particular life-changing product? These “evangelists” have good news for you. They extol the virtues of these lifestyles, people, and products. Their lives have been improved by these sorts of things, and they want to improve our lives with them, whether we want to be improved or not. And we listen politely because we’re probably not jerks. We might think they’re a little crazy about something that we could care less about. Or maybe we do care about them, but not to the level they do. But we hear them out, don’t we?

But what about us? What do we love? What can’t we help but talk about, even if others think we’re a little crazy? What do we extol as essential? I’m not talking about where we spend a few hours a week; I’m not talking about our church attendance. I’m talking about declaring the glory of God at the coming of his Son to save us from our sins. Does that capture us? Friends, heaven offers praise at the coming of the Savior. They deliver good news. We should too. We should, with the angels, declare the glory of God, one necessity we often find missing in our own reality.

All humanity, no matter race, nationality, or creed worships. The question is: is what we worship worthy of worship? At one point in his life, Caesar Augustus visited the shrine of Alexander the Great in Egypt. While there, he had Alexander the Great’s mummy removed from its sarcophagus so that he could look upon him, gazing upon the one who conquered the world. He even went so far as to venerate his corpse by placing a golden diadem upon Alexander the Great’s head and flowers upon his body. When asked whether he wanted to see anyone else in the Ptolemaic dynasty—Alexander’s successors who ruled Egypt—he replied, “I came to see a king, not a row of corpses.” 2 He venerated him. He worshiped. I cannot help but wonder that if Caesar Augustus had lived long enough, would he have shown the same veneration to Jesus Christ upon Jesus’ death and resurrection? Would he come to see the King of kings?

Or would he be counted among those whom the Apostle Paul spoke of in 1 Corinthians 1, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God 3 … God chose what is low and despised in the world… And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 4 Do we boast—do we glory—in the Lord? Do we—with the angels—lift high his name? And should we choose not to, the second necessity that I spoke of will never be a reality for us. Unless we give glory to God, we will never have…

II. Peace on Earth, 14b

Glory to God in the highest, “and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” I want you to notice the contrast between those addressed in v10 with those addressed here in v14. The angel declared in v10 that he brought “good news of great joy” to whom? —All people. In other words, the coming of Christ has a universal, or general, benefit for all humanity. No one by birth, nationality, language, or prior creed or behavior, has been excluded. No matter where you have come from, or what you have done, God offers good news, the gospel—and we will get to what that means in a moment—to all. So, the coming of Christ has a universal, or general, benefit for all humanity. But, more importantly, it has a specific, or special, benefit for a particular group of people here in v14. —Those with whom he is pleased. Which begs the question, “Who are these people” and “How can I be one of them?” Because the older I get the more I crave this one necessity: peace. Peace.

As a young man I craved excitement, adventure, and novelty. And those things have their place. But none of those proved satisfactory to satiate the deep longing, the ravenous hunger, of my soul. Do not mistake what I am saying. I am not talking about the desire for “peace and quiet,” though I do like peace and quiet, probably more than most people. There’s almost nothing I like more than a hammock, a good book, and a hot cup of coffee in the summer, or a couch, a good book, and a hot cup of coffee in the winter. But I am talking about something deeper than that, something non-circumstantial. At the coming of Christ, or Messiah, or Anointed One, God brings a peace that passes all understanding, a peace counter to typical experience whether you have peace and quiet or not. It’s an internal peace, a peace of soul, that no matter what circumstance God has you in, whether born in a stable or a palace, whether being carried in a litter like Caesar, or walking the dusty roads like Jesus, you have peace independent of circumstance.

Now before we can get to the question of who can have this peace, let’s make doubly sure we know what the Bible means by peace. And I can think of no better place than Isaiah 26. Isaiah 26:3 says, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” In other words, the person who has peace has two things: (1) a mind focused on God, and (2) a complete trust in God. Notice that one leads to the other. I cannot truly trust God if I do not focus on God. Focus means I am looking to God, spending time with God, gazing upon God’s glory in his word and among his people. I should want to know God as well as, or better than, I know a closest friend. As the bride in Song of Songs focuses on her beloved, so does the Christian focus on God.

Let me give you an example of what I mean. If you have ever had the chance of doing anything physical with me, you will know that I have terrible balance. One time a friend had me try out his slackline. Now for those who don’t know, a slackline is a rope tied to two trees a few feet off the ground. Friends, I could not even get up onto that rope without doing some serious damage to myself and anyone nearby. But had I ever successfully summited that little rope, I am told that one essential, basic tip for walking a slackline, or a tightrope, is to focus intently on a single point ahead of you. Friends, according to scripture, God is that single point of focus ahead of us, the one thing that truly balances us on this tightrope-walk of life. He’s the only one who can hold us in perfect peace. Without him, without God, we wobble back and forth, throwing out our backs, wrenching our necks, falling, getting back up, looking, and feeling utterly ridiculous because we have no focus on the one thing that will successfully and peacefully lead us across. So that’s what the Bible means by peace.

Which still begs the question, “How can I be one of these people to whom God offers peace?” How can I know that I am one of those with whom God is well pleased? If that’s who receives peace, I want to be counted among them. Well, peace with God—according to Romans 5:1—comes through our Lord Jesus Christ, the one born here in Luke 2, for all those who have been justified by faith in Jesus. For Jesus delivered his people from their trespasses—the good news, the gospel that I had mentioned earlier—that all those things we did wrong, all those things that has caused us a myriad of anxieties, or lack of peace can be made right. And he did this by the blood of his cross and raised his people up before the father, justified. And so, in a sense, the question I asked is sort of a trick question. Who are those with whom God is well pleased? —Only those who see their utter bankruptcy, only those covered by Jesus. God’s favor rests on Jesus alone. And only those who claim his as their Savior and Lord know his good favor and have the eternal peace he offers. And that peace is not just something he offers us one day in eternity. He offers that peace now. If we have anxiety about brokenness, about sinfulness, about sickness or loneliness, or corruptness, if we lack peace, if we move from one thing in this life to the next, always with that hope that as soon as we finish this, then we will have peace. God’s word says to us—and I’m paraphrasing—if we have anxiety, present it to God, in prayer, and he takes that from us and gives us his peace in its place, Philippians 4. What a deal. We give God our anxiety; he gives us peace. Now there’s a sense in which this reality is already here, but not yet perfectly. Meaning that we will struggle with this until the day God calls us home. We will lack peace, worried about things that matter little. But by God’s grace we can grow in this peace, day by day. John Newton, the hymnwriter of Amazing Grace once said, “I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am.” It’s going to be okay. Hold on. He’s making all things right. Cast all your cares upon him for he cares for you.

On the day of his death, Caesar Augustus, summoning a group of his friends, hoping to cast his cares upon them, asked them, “Have I played my part in the farce of life creditably enough?” 5 Later that day, he died. Soon after, the Roman Senate deified him as a god to be worshipped. We remember him every August, for he died in that month subsequently named for him. The deified emperor who had brought relative peace to much of the known world, the emperor who ruled during the birth of Christ, went to his grave believing life to be a farce—an empty or patently ridiculous event—wondering if he’d played his part creditably enough.

What a contrast we find in Caesar’s words with the final words of Jesus Christ. What the angels announced at his birth, Jesus realized at his death: he glorified God in his death and resurrection, bringing peace to his people. He does not query whether he’s played his part, and he certainly does not believe life to be farcical. Instead, he declares, “It is finished.” Absolute certitude. Absolute purpose. Jesus made peace by the blood of his cross, Colossians 1:20, to reconcile all things to himself, as Josh so poignantly preached last Christmas. He does not have to wonder as the false god, Caesar, wondered. He brought glory to God so that peace might prevail.

Friends, God must be glorified for peace to prevail. As Jesus approached Jerusalem on
his journey to the cross, he said this, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.” Friends, there will come a day when this chance for peace will pass us by, as surely as it passed by those in Jerusalem in that day who rejected him. These necessities that I have spoken of will be hidden from our eyes: we will not know God’s glory; we will not experience his peace. For, unless we repent, we will all likewise perish. We will never see the glory of God. We will never experience the peace of God. We will face afraid the plans that we’ve made, if those plans do not involve God in his Son who reconciles us by the blood of his cross. But by his grace we can say with the angels at the coming of our Lord, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace with those whom he is pleased!”