20 November 2025 - the things that make for peace

Today's Readings
(Audio)

As Jesus drew near Jerusalem,
he saw the city and wept over it

We can't assume that our cities fare better when Jesus draws near to visit us. It may be the case that there are some in our cities who understand the mysteries of the Kingdom. But many, perhaps most, have let their hearts be hardened and their eyes made blind, so that, although they look, they do not see. The fact that Jesus had advocates and supporters within Jerusalem was not enough to shift the overall balance of the city. Many rejected him entirely. Others supported him when it seemed like his was a popular movement, when it was in vogue to do so, but turned on him the moment he was relegated from the spotlight. So too in our own cities, and, if we are honest, in our hearts. We like to claim that we will stick with Jesus during good times and bad. Like Peter we may boast that we are willing to die with him (see Matthew 26:35). But this boast often proves to be naive. It typically has more to do with how we want to see ourselves than our actual level of commitment to the Lord.

If this day you only knew what makes for peace–
but now it is hidden from your eyes. 

In recent years we've definitively demonstrated that we don't know what makes for peace. If we did, we would live in peace among the peaceful. Though we may be shielded from outright violence by the protection of our governments it is clear that we are not at all free from antagonistic relationships with those around us. We have a list of demands that seem to us to be necessary for peace. Our opponents have their own list of demands. But all of these miss the point by trying to solve spiritual problems politically. Peace on earth was promised by Gabriel to those of good will. But a will that is truly good is one that can recognize the Prince of Peace and surrender to him. People with a good will recognize the time of their visitation and plead with Jesus to change, not only their enemies, but also themselves. They plead for him to increase their faith, and so too their faithfulness, their willingness to be among those who stand by Jesus in his time of trial (see Luke 22:28).

Jesus came "that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear" (see Luke 1:74). But he did not proceed to provide this freedom and the way anyone expected. It was a hidden grace that was given at the level of individual hearts rather than a violent force imposed from without on society. He continues to bring such grace into a world, but we fail to notice because we're still looking for something else. But it is not too late. Our cities still stand. Our country is still by most standards a place of freedom to live and to worship. But if Jerusalem was at risk in spite of the physical presence of Jesus there, neither should we take it for granted in our own day. We should look to the presence of the one who alone can truly deliver on the promise of peace. After all, we can see that he cares more about it than even we ourselves, and that he weeps for us, just as he did for Jerusalem.

Michael W. Smith - You Are Holy (Prince Of Peace)