There is a song I’ve come to love by Ginny Owens called Why This Road? In the song she asks the Lord what it felt like to be a million miles from home. I’ve never thought of Jesus’ advent, His coming to earth, as though He had left home to come to a strange and dangerous place. But in a sense, that’s exactly what He did.
Immanuel. God with us. It’s not like Jesus didn’t know this place we call home. He was part of earth’s creation. And as God, He walked with Adam and Eve in the garden in the cool of the day. He knew our world far better than we do even now thousands of years later. And yet, I think it was the danger and evil that could have felt strange to Him. How His perfect spirit must have clashed with the sinful spirits of humanity and worse, the evil forces of darkness that rule here.
He was essentially born into enemy territory ruled locally by a mad king who attempted to kill him. He was a refugee in Egypt when he was barely two years old. He grew up in a small disreputable town–as in, “can anything good come out of Nazareth?” His occupation was that of a lowly carpenter. He had no wealth, only the clothes on His back and sandals on His feet. When He finally came to the age to begin His ministry–the one His Father had sent Him to complete–his earthly family thought he had lost his mind.
Religious leaders found Him offensive. Prostitutes and tax collectors sought Him out. The sick begged to touch Him. Demons screamed His name, because they knew Him. And He terrified them because they knew, like no human can know, that He had the power to destroy them.
Public officials found Him fascinating but not enough to believe His words. Yet to those who did, He offered eternal life. He was the ultimate super Hero come to rescue kidnapped victims from the tyranny of terrorism. He came to defeat death, the fear of which kept all humanity held hostage.
He moved a million miles from home, that heavenly dwelling where He had lived with His Father and Spirit in perfect harmony. When the angels, His servants, announced His birth, they declared, “Peace on Earth, goodwill to men.” They declared heaven had just slipped through the portal that separates us and invaded earth with the offer of peace in the form of the Prince of Peace.
Yet Jesus found no peace here when He came, and looking around us now? Not a one of us can say there is peace on earth yet. As Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote in his classic Christmas poem,
I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play;
In music sweet the tones repeat,
“There’s peace on earth, good will to men.”
I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along th’ unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
And in despair I bowed my head:
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong, and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”
He goes on, but I will save that for the end. What Henry Wadsworth Longfellow knew is that the story does not end with sadness. When Jesus left heaven for earth, He came to bring the possibility of peace with God for all eternity.
When Jesus left earth for heaven, He told His disciples that “in Him” they could have peace. In the world they would have tribulation, but not to fear–He had overcome the world.
And really, that’s why God came to live a million miles from home in the first place. To make peace between a hostile world and a perfect Creator who wanted His creation to know Him as they were always meant to do. To bridge the gap of those million miles. To rescue those who had lost their way. To forgive those who would seek forgiveness. And to make a way so that one day earth will look like heaven.
As the rest of the song says:
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor does He sleep,
For Christ is here; His Spirit near
Brings peace on earth, good will to men.”
When men repent and turn from sin
The Prince of Peace then enters in,
And grace imparts within their hearts
His peace on earth, good will to men.
O souls amid earth’s busy strife,
The Word of God is light and life;
Oh, hear His voice, make Him your choice,
Hail peace on earth, good will to men.
Then happy, singing on your way,
Your world will change from night to day;
Your heart will feel the message real,
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
One day there will be peace on earth. When the King returns to complete the story. Christmas was only the beginning. There is much more yet to come.
~Shalom – Peace
#christmas #whyhecame #fromheaventoearth
