Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace” (Mat. 10:34), but these words are really good news. Here’s why: God has promised that one day, there will be peace. Crime and violence will cease. A world of wars will give way to a world of love.

When will that day come? “He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples… nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Is. 2:4).

When will there be peace on earth? When God judges between the nations and decides disputes for many peoples. The Bible refers to this as “the Day of the Lord.”

When Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace,” He is saying, “The Day of the Lord has not yet come.” If Jesus had come to judge between nations, He would not have come as a baby. He would have appeared in a blaze of glory, with an army of angels.

So here is the most basic question of Christmas: Why was Jesus born as a baby? Because He did not come to “judge between the nations” or “decide disputes for many peoples.”

He did not come to judge the world, but to save it. He came to make a way in which sinners like us (who would never be qualified to enter the world of peace and righteousness that He will bring) might be saved.

He was born as a baby, He went to the cross, and He rose from the dead so that when He does come to judge and settle disputes, we may be saved.

Aren’t you glad that when Jesus came into the world the first time He came as a baby, instead of in power and glory?

Jesus, the master teacher, again anticipates a misunderstanding. “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.” It would be entirely natural for those who believe in Jesus to think that was why He came.

God had promised a day when a Messiah would come, a child would be born, a son would be given. The government would be on His shoulders, and His name would be “Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Is. 9:6).

When Jesus was born, angels said, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace” (Lk. 2:14). So, it would be natural for believers then and now to think that the coming of Jesus should mean peace on earth. But Jesus says, “Don’t expect that. Do not think that I have come to bring peace.”

We need to hear these words of Jesus. Two thousand years have passed since He was born, years filled with wars and violence. When we sing Christmas carols and hear the angels’ song about peace on earth, we might reasonably think, These are nice sentiments, but they are a long way from the world in which we live today.

If Jesus came to bring peace, the last two thousand years have been a spectacular failure. But Jesus is clear: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.” If you thought that the birth of Jesus would lead to a world of peace, that would be a misunderstanding.

If you are honest, have you found yourself feeling disappointed that Jesus has not brought peace to the world?

This is good news. The reason Jesus came is that you may be able to live a new life that is pleasing to God. And this life is made possible for you by the power of the Holy Spirit.

A man was serving time for theft. In prison, he heard the good news of Jesus Christ and was wonderfully converted.

When he was released, the man knew that he would face a great struggle. Most of his old friends were thieves, and it would not be easy to break the pattern of his old way of life.

On his first Sunday of freedom, he slipped into a church. The Ten Commandments were on a plaque at the front, and his eyes were drawn to the command that seemed to condemn him: “You shall not steal.”

That’s the last thing that I need, he thought. I know the battle I’m going to have. As he kept looking at the plaque, the words took on a new meaning.

He had read these words as a condemning command: “You shall not steal!” But now it seemed that God was speaking these same words as a liberating promise: “You shall not steal.” God was promising that the Holy Spirit would make it possible to overcome his old way of life.

When you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, God will give you His Holy Spirit so that you can live a life that is pleasing to Him. His power will make the difference between a struggle in which you are destined for defeat and a battle in which you will have ultimate victory.

In what area of your life do you need to believe God’s promise of victory through the power of the Holy Spirit?

It is a wonderful truth that Jesus fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law for us. But what Paul says here is that God sent His Son into the world so “that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us.”

How is that possible? How can you live the life to which God calls you? Perhaps the greatest misunderstanding of the gospel is that Jesus was simply a good moral teacher who told us how to live. And that if we want to please God, we must follow His teaching.

Maybe you are saying to yourself, “If I really focus and exercise self-discipline, I can live a life that’s pleasing to God.” That’s what the Pharisees did. But if you try this, you’ll soon find that it is unsustainable.

You are trying to be something that you are not, and sooner or later, you will say, “I can’t do this anymore. I have to do what I really want to do.”

The only way you can live the life to which Christ calls you is if righteousness becomes your deepest desire. That is why Jesus said to Nicodemus, “You must be born again.” You are trying to live a righteous life, but unless the Holy Spirit brings you to a new birth, you “cannot see the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:3).

Christ calls you to pursue a life of love, a righteous life, and that is only possible by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Have you been trying to please God in your own power?

This is an astonishing statement. The scribes and the Pharisees devoted their entire lives to the pursuit of righteousness. How could our righteousness ever exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees?

Jesus was scathing in His critique of the Pharisees, first, because their righteousness was arrogant. The Pharisees liked to pray where they could be seen. Jesus said to His disciples, “When you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret” (6:6).

The Pharisees liked people to know what they were giving. Jesus said to His disciples, “When you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” (6:3–4).

Then Jesus was critical of the Pharisees because their righteousness was external. “You clean the outside of the cup... but inside they are full of greed and self–indulgence” (23:25). Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart.

It would be easy to say, “This is why we need to trust Jesus as Saviour, so we will have His perfect righteousness, which is far better than that of the Pharisees.” This, of course, is true. But it’s not what Jesus is saying here.

Jesus is calling His disciples to the pursuit of a righteous life, a righteousness that is better than the Pharisees, a righteousness that is humble and that comes from the heart.

Can you see some ways in which the righteousness that you are pursuing may be arrogant or external?

Jesus came into the world to fulfil the law and the prophets, and He did so in His life and in His death.

1. In His Life
Isaiah said that a virgin would conceive and bear a son (Is. 7:14). And when Mary bore Jesus, that prophecy was fulfilled. Micah said that the One who would rule and shepherd God’s people would come out of Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2, 4). And when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, that prophecy was fulfilled.

Jesus fulfilled the prophets in His life. And Jesus fulfilled the law in His life. “He who sent me is with me… I always do the things that are pleasing to him” (Jn. 8:29).

By God’s grace, we can sometimes do the things that please the Father, but only Jesus could say, “I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” He fulfilled—lived out—all that the law requires in His life.

2. In His Death
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’” (Gal. 3:13). The prophets spoke about a suffering servant who would be “pierced for our transgressions” (Is. 53:5).

In Psalm 22, David depicts a man whose hands and feet are pierced, who is mocked, whose garments are divided by casting lots, and who cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Jesus fulfilled the prophets in His death. And Jesus fulfilled the law in His death. The law prescribes blessings for obeying God’s law and curses for breaking it. We have an obligation to the law that we have not fulfilled. And that brings a curse.

But Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the law in His life, and He paid the penalties of the law in His death.

What if Jesus hadn’t fulfilled the law or the prophets?

A good teacher always anticipates misunderstanding, and here, Jesus corrects a false assumption about why He came into the world.

Perhaps you have thought the message of the Bible is that we are all sinners, but Jesus paid the price of our sins, so now we can get on with our lives much as we did before. This would be a complete misunderstanding.

Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets.” Then He says, “Truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (5:18).

One day, heaven and earth will pass away, and God will create a new heaven and a new earth. This old planet will finally be released from its pain and its groaning.

When that day comes, the law will pass away because its work will be done. The righteous will be declared “not guilty,” and the wicked will be condemned.

When that day comes, the prophets will pass away because all that they predicted will be accomplished. Faith will be turned to sight: God will be with His people, and He will wipe away our tears (Rev. 21:3–4).

When “all is accomplished” (Mat. 5:18), the law and the prophets will pass away, but until that day, the law and the prophets remain. The law stands as God’s definition of righteousness. God tells us what a good life looks like, and it would be a complete misunderstanding to think that because Jesus came, we have no more duty towards the law of God.

How have you been thinking about the role of the law in your life?

At Christmas, we celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ into the world. God came down from heaven and entered our world. Why did Jesus come? The entire New Testament answers that question.

Paul tells us that Jesus came to reconcile us to God. “In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them” (2 Cor. 5:19). John tells us that “the Father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world” (1 Jn. 4:14).

Hebrews tells us that He came to “destroy the one who has the power of death” and to bring “many sons to glory” (Heb. 2:10, 14). Revelation tells us that He came to ransom people for God “from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9).

Does Jesus Himself ever speak directly about why He came into the world? Yes. Perhaps the best-known example is “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (Jn. 10:10). What a marvellous promise!

On other occasions, Jesus speaks indirectly about why He came: “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Lk. 19:10). “The Son of Man came... to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mk. 10:45).

But there are seven occasions where Jesus tells us directly and personally why He came into the world. Three of them are recorded in Matthew and Luke. Four of them are recorded in John. Over the next month, we are going to hear from Jesus’ own words about why He came into the world.

Of the many reasons mentioned today, which one sounds most important to you right now?