Prince of Peace | Isaiah 9:6

What’s your favorite Christmas Movie? Home Alone? The Santa Clause? Jingle All the Way? Elf? My all-time favorite Christmas movie is National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. It’s the gift that keeps on giving every year. (We all have a Cousin Eddie in our family and if you don’t think you do, then it maybe you.) It is the story of Clark Griswold and his pursuit of the perfect Christmas for his family that ended up being a complete disaster. The harder he tried to make it “perfect” the more stress, anxiety and messed up it got. As his wife Ellen said, “It’s Christmas, and we’re all in misery.” That’s funny but true. Every year, we want Christmas to be something special.

To have a movie moment with twinkling lights, a happy family, and that quiet glow of yuletide perfection. Yet every year, it’s hard not to feel a little ripped off when the sun sets, and the day turned out to be a largely ordinary one. Every Christmas, our troubles don’t magically float away. We still don’t have enough money. Our broken heart doesn’t instantly mend. The seat left by the passing of a loved one seems emptier than ever.

What is the answer? Who is the answer? Context: 700 years before Christmas, God gave us the name of a child that would be born and a son that would be given. Each of those names tells us about the person and the power of Jesus: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. Jesus came to this broken world to meet every expectation and fulfill every promise of God to give us peace.

In Jesus, our Prince of Peace, we see the peace that desperately need and that He decisively gives.