Advent 2: Peace
In our first week of Advent, we looked at hope, Israel’s hope for the Messiah, our hope for His return, and the daily hope of His presence in our lives. As we come to the second candle, we turn to peace. Yet “peace” in Scripture is far more expansive than the calm we often imagine. Biblical peace, shalom, is one of the richest themes in the entire story of redemption.
The Deep Meaning of Shalom
It is almost impossible to talk about Advent peace without first talking about shalom. While we tend to associate peace with a quiet mind or the easing of anxiety, shalom carries the weight of something much fuller. It speaks of wholeness, restoration, harmony, safety, and even divine favor. In ancient Israel, peace was not merely the absence of conflict but the presence of righteousness. It was the world set right again. When shalom was broken, it was not enough to “fix the problem”—true shalom meant restoring what was lost, healing what was fractured, reconciling what was divided, and repairing the relational fabric between individuals, communities, and God Himself.
This is the foundation upon which Advent invites us to meditate. The peace we remember in this season is not a sentimental comfort but God’s desire to restore creation to its intended harmony. It is the promise that all that is broken will one day be mended, and all that is fractured will one day be healed. Shalom is fullness, not simply tranquility.
Isaiah’s Promise of a Coming Peace
To understand how Advent invites us into peace, we return to the great prophecy of Isaiah 9:6–7. These words were spoken in a time of deep moral and political crisis. Israel’s kings were corrupt, injustice was rising, idolatry had become embedded in the nation, and powerful empires loomed on the horizon. Into this darkness Isaiah proclaimed that a child would be born, a son would be given, and upon His shoulders the government itself would rest. His names reveal the astonishing nature of this promised king: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.
Isaiah was not merely promising a righteous ruler. He was announcing that God Himself would come among His people. The title “Everlasting Father” speaks of origin and care; “Mighty God” leaves no ambiguity about who this child really is. The promised king is divine, and His arrival marks a new era in which peace will spread without end. Human governmental systems had failed; Israel’s kings had faltered. Only God could establish the peace Isaiah foresaw. The people longed for a day when righteousness would reign, and Isaiah announces that such a day would come with the birth of this extraordinary child.
The Arrival of Peace in a World Without It
Centuries later, when Jesus is born, the world once again seems ruled more by coercion than by peace. Rome has crafted what it called the Pax Romana, the “Roman peace,” maintained through military might, political intimidation, and an elaborate imperial system. On the surface, this peace looks stable—roads connect the empire, trade flows easily, Greek is widely spoken, and travel is safer than it had ever been. Yet beneath the veneer of order is a reality marked by oppression, taxation, crucifixions, and cultural tension.
It is precisely into this world that Jesus enters: a world whose definition of peace is fragile and founded on power. And so, on a dark hillside outside Bethlehem, shepherds hear the angels proclaim a peace of an entirely different kind: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.” This peace is not the peace of Caesar. It is not imposed from above, nor earned through strength. It comes in the form of a newborn child, wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. In Jesus, true peace, God’s peace, has broken in.
The angels’ announcement means that God’s posture toward humanity has fundamentally shifted. Peace is not only arriving on earth; goodwill is being extended from heaven. The child born that night is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s promise: God has come to dwell with His people and to reconcile them to Himself. No longer will peace be something humanity attempts to produce. It now comes from outside of us, as the gift of God.
Peace With God: Reconciliation Through the Incarnation
The first dimension of Advent peace is the peace that Jesus brings between God and humanity. Our deepest conflict was never geopolitical but spiritual. Sin had placed us at odds with our Creator, making closeness impossible and reconciliation unreachable. Yet in Christ, God does not wait for humanity to climb its way back to Him. He comes down. The incarnation is the great announcement that the distance between God and man is being bridged by God Himself.
Jesus embodies peace not merely as a message but as a person. Through His life, death, resurrection, and ascension, our hostility with God is dismantled. The burden of sin is removed, forgiveness is extended, and the relational divide is healed. We are invited into friendship with God, a reality unimaginable in the ancient world. Advent peace begins here: we have peace with God because God became one of us.
Peace in Us: The Gift of the Holy Spirit
Yet Jesus’ first coming does not exhaust the meaning of Advent peace. On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus tells His disciples something extraordinary: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” He speaks these words while preparing them for His departure. Though He will be absent physically, He promises that His peace will remain with them. How can this be?
The answer is the Holy Spirit, the Helper whom the Father sends in Jesus’ name. The Spirit is the indwelling presence of God, applying to us the peace Jesus accomplished. He anchors us in the truth of our forgiveness. He bears witness that we are children of God. He ministers to our anxieties, fears, doubts, and wounds. And He creates peace not only within us but among us. The unity Jesus prays for—“that they may be one as We are one”—is birthed by the Spirit and sustained by the Spirit. Advent peace is not abstract; it is deeply personal. The Spirit makes it real, experiential, and transforming.
Peace Yet to Come: The Kingdom of the Prince of Peace
Even as we enjoy peace with God and peace within, Advent reminds us that there is a peace still to come. The world remains marred by violence, division, and injustice. Wars continue, nations rise against nations, families fracture, systems break, and creation groans. The peace Jesus inaugurated in His first coming is real, but it is not yet complete. Isaiah’s vision of endless peace, peace spreading across the earth like water across the sea, is a promise tied to Jesus’ second coming.
Scripture paints a breathtaking picture of this future peace: the nations streaming to the mountain of the Lord; swords beaten into plowshares; enmity dissolved; creativity turned toward blessing rather than domination; and Jesus reigning from Jerusalem as King of kings. On that day, the peace that entered the world as a baby will fill the world in glory. Advent trains us to long for this day, not out of despair, but out of hope-filled anticipation. The second candle burns as both a remembrance and a yearning: the peace of Christ has come, is coming, and will come in fullness.
Receiving and Living the Peace of Christ
As we enter the second week of Advent, we find ourselves surrounded by the usual mixture December brings: joy, stress, longing, busyness, nostalgia, and sometimes sorrow. Advent does not ask us to ignore these realities; it invites us to bring them before the Prince of Peace. When we light the second candle, we are symbolically placing our unrest before the One who alone can still our hearts.
This week, let the peace of Christ become more than an idea. Talk to the Holy Spirit about where you feel unsettled. Ask Him to make Jesus’ peace real within you, in places where fear rises, where relationships strain, where old wounds surface, or where uncertainty burdens your mind. And as the Spirit ministers peace to you, consider how He might want to extend that peace through you. A gentle word, a reconciled conversation, a moment of prayer, or even a quiet blessing spoken to another can become a vessel of Christ’s peace.
The second candle reminds us that peace is not something we manufacture. It is something we receive. And once received, it becomes something we carry. Christ came in the fullness of peace, He fills us with the Spirit of peace, and He will one day return to spread peace across the earth forever.
Advent peace is a gift, a calling, and a promise. It is the peace Isaiah longed for, the peace the angels announced, the peace Jesus purchased, the peace the Spirit applies, and the peace that will ultimately fill all creation when the Prince of Peace returns. As you walk through this week, may you rest in the truth that peace has come, peace is with you, and peace is on its way.
