WHEN Isaiah with prophetic vision foresaw and then foretold the coming of "The Prince of Peace," he put into one graphic phrase the hopes of untold thousands. Peace in his time seemed far away. Dissension, discord, and the clash of arms marked his day. But through the mists he discerned peace to be inherent in spiritual reality. A later seer described his spiritual vision thus (Mai. 4:2): "Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings."
Centuries later the master Christian set forth the true nature of the peace which the prophet had envisioned. A study of two frequently quoted statements of Jesus' concerning peace is therefore helpful. In one instance, instructing his disciples, he said (Matt. 10:34), "I came not to send peace, but a sword." Yet John, "the beloved," reports Jesus as saying (John 14:27), "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you." In the light of divine Science the apparent contradiction disappears and the true nature of peace appears.
This illuminating Science, Christian Science, reveals the sword of Truth as ever present to destroy any and every sense of peace which mistakenly depends upon material conditions or human personalities for stability and permanence. From reliance upon such a broken reed the sword of Truth must and always does deliver. The peace that was promised by Jesus as a gift is peace based upon a knowledge of God as infinite, unchanging good, present everywhere and operating always with supreme power.
