Peace on Earth
By Anthony Casperson
12-2-23

Many people love the holiday classic—which has already been aired this year—A Charlie Brown Christmas. In the special, we see Charlie Brown experience a depressive mood upon the onset of the holiday. Despite this, responsibility is heaped upon his weary head as he’s made the director of the Christmas play.

Nothing goes right. People refuse to listen to him. They want to do everything their own way. And even when he’s given the “easy” job of getting a tree for the play—instead of doing any actual directing—his choice becomes a laughing stock among his peers.

But then we reach the climax of the special. Linus walks up to a mic, blanket in tow. The lights dim as a spotlight makes the importance of this moment clear to all watching. And Linus begins to speak the words of Luke 2. His quotation ends with verse 14’s, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Or as other translations say for the conclusion of that verse, “on whom His favor rests.”)

It’s here, in the climax of the cartoon special, that the peace of the season takes center stage. Not the busy-ness of too many things to do. Nor the focus on everything going wrong in our lives. But the peace of God sung forth by his mighty angel army.

We often assume that peace means tranquility or a quiet, lazy day. But from a biblical perspective, which is largely based off of the Hebrew word shalom, peace means so much more. It’s a wholeness. A completeness in life that lacks nothing. It’s not that we have everything we could ever want, but that we find satisfaction in what we have.

No matter where we find ourselves, we find our freedom and completion in Jesus.

Just a couple chapters after that heavenly chorus in Luke 2, our Savior himself pointed to this wholeness in the lives of those who follow him as a major aspect of his mission enfleshed in humanity. In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus walks up to center stage in his hometown synagogue and reads from Isaiah 61:1-2, claiming this as central to his mission.

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

It’s the good news of great joy that the angel spoke to those shepherds on the night of our Savior’s birth. And the peace offered by God to all who follow Jesus. He binds the wounds of the broken hearted. He announces liberty to all held captive to their sins. And he opens the prison doors for all who are wrongfully bound.

Jesus completes in us the lack which sin stole away. He brings wholeness, no matter what our situation is. Our problems aren’t too big for him. He stands in the gap and fulfills everything that keeps us from the wholeness of godly peace.

And he does this because God’s favor rests upon those of us who follow him.

Life can be depressing. And it can be filled with too many things to do. Both of which are even more true during this season of the year. So it’s easy to just let the words “Peace on earth” pass us by with nothing but a scoff or half-listening ear.

But the One whose birth we celebrate came to bring peace to us. Wholeness in life that doesn’t remove the depression or the rush of daily existence, but does complete in us the lack we feel.

So, let’s allow this good news of great joy to take center stage this year. Join the angel army in singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those upon whom his favor rests.”