Man of Sorrows and Prince of Peace

“For unto us a child is born: unto us a son is given, 

and the government shall be upon his shoulder, 

and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, 

The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” 

Isaiah 9:6

Christmas isn’t a joyous, festive time for everyone. For the woman who lost her husband in a tragic accident this year, it is lonely. To the single mother who is struggling financially, it is an added expense that adds to her anxiety. To the lady laying in a hospital bed it is disappointing. To the retail worker it is tiring. To the “Martha” who is cumbered about much serving, it is stressful. To the missionary wife whose children are across the seas, it is a painful sacrifice. To the family that has been divided by conflict, it is tense. To the sinner enslaved to her sin, it is meaningless. There are troubled hearts every which way we turn. Some will “put on a brave face,” but behind the forced smile and the routine adherence to all the traditional Christmas rituals are still hearts plagued with grief, loneliness, anxiety, stress and hopelessness. These are what the world has to offer us, and into such a world God the Father sent His Son. One of the names He gave Him is The Prince of Peace. What a precious name, and what a precious gift to a world full of troubled souls!

One of the underlying themes of the Gospels is the peace that Jesus Christ has to offer. On 15 different occasions, Jesus tells one or more people, “Let not your hearts be troubled,” “Be not afraid,” “Peace be unto you,” or “Go in peace.” Clearly, The Prince of Peace wants all of His subjects to have peace also. Indeed, when the heavenly host announced Jesus’ birth to the shepherds, they praised God, saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:14) That mankind should know peace even in the face of the trials and tribulations we experience, was, and is, the express desire of both God the Father and God the Son. 

In John 14, there seems to be an emphasis on this theme of peace, seen by the fact that the chapter begins and ends with the same exhortation: “Let not your heart be troubled.” (vs. 1 and 27) Between verses 1 and 27, the Prince of Peace gives us many reasons for why we ought to have peace in our hearts:

1) He’s preparing a place for us with Him in heaven. (vs. 2)

2) He’s coming again to receive us unto Himself. (vs.3)

3) We know where He is, and we know how to get there. (vs.4)

4) He promises to answer our prayers. (vs.14)

5) We have the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, with us forever. He comes alongside us and we are never alone. (vs.16)

6) We have eternal life. (vs.19)

7) If we love and obey Him, we have the assurance of both the Father’s and the Son’s love—not merely the universal love that God has for all mankind, but that special love that He has for a beloved child. (vs.21)

8) If we love and obey Him, we have His promise that He will manifest (Strong’s definition: exhibit in person; disclose by words; to appear; declare plainly; inform) Himself to us. (vs.21)

9) We have the promise that the Holy Spirit will teach and remind us of everything we need to know. (vs.26)

10) Christ’s peace has been bequeathed to us—it is already ours to be had. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (vs.27)

Then, in later chapters, our Lord gives us some more reasons:

11) Christ has overcome the world with all its trials and temptations: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

12) We have been sent into the world by Christ, just as He was sent by the Father. (John 20:21)

To be troubled in heart is a frequent and even normal occurrence for us because we live in a world riddled with sin, sorrow, trials and problems that cause us anxiety and sadness. Even the Lord Jesus, The Prince of Peace, was acquainted with grief and was called the Man of Sorrows (Is.53:3). Three times in the Gospel of John, Jesus is said to have been troubled:

1) In John 11:33 we read “When Jesus therefore saw [Mary] weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled.”

2) In John 12:27, Jesus Himself said, “Now is my soul troubled,” when He contemplated His impending crucifixion.

3) In John 13:21 Jesus is said to have been “troubled in spirit,” about Judas’ imminent betrayal. 

Perhaps it seems unfair that Jesus should then command us to “Let not [our] heart be troubled,” or to “Be not afraid,” if even He, the Son of God and Prince of Peace couldn’t avoid being troubled in heart. But we must keep this mind: the Lord Jesus was troubled in soul and spirit so that we need not be troubled. The prince of Peace allowedHimself to become a Man of Sorrows so that we need not be always downcast. It is inevitable that we will have moments of grief and anxiety in our lives, but we need not carry the weight of these emotions long-term. Because He was acquainted with grief, we now have a great High Priest who is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities,” who was “in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” to whom we can “come boldly…that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb.4:15-16)

Dear reader, if you are dreading the Christmas season because your heart is troubled or afraid, I exhort you to go to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find help. The One who sits on this throne of grace is that Man of Sorrows who understands exactly what you’re going through and how you’re feeling, and He is that Prince of Peace who has already bequeathed His peace to His children. His peace is the peace that “passeth all understanding”that can “keep your heart and mind through Christ Jesus.” (Php.4:7) He gives His peace “not as the world giveth.” The world’s peace is fleeting and changes with circumstances, but His peace is permanent and secure. The world’s peace is a false peace, based on compromise, but His peace is based on the truth of God’s Word. The world’s peace ignores the root of the problem, but Christ’s peace is the result of Him having healed us from the root of the problem—sin.

God’s Christmas gift to this troubled world was His only begotten Son, The Prince of peace. May we all experience His peace during this holiday season.