The Prince of Peace

Posted by: Patrick Nugent, Business Development Associate | Monday, December 8th, 2025 (12:00am)

For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end.—Isaiah 9:6-7

When was the last time your heart felt like something was missing? Over the last two years we’ve buried five family members, including two teenagers. Our holiday table does not feel complete. Our hearts ache for who is missing and the fullness we had when they were with us.

The Old Testament authors had a word in Hebrew that refers to that fullness: “shalom.” We don’t have a word in English that is a perfect translation of shalom, so it’s most often written as “peace." However, that single word can’t quite capture the rich meaning the biblical authors intended.

When we think of peace we most often think, “the absence of war,” or we might hear it used by gurus who talk about seeking inner peace. While the word shalom can mean these things, it can also mean good health and welfare, prosperity, safety, wholeness, completeness, and fullness.

So, I’ll ask again in a different way: when was the last time your heart felt like it didn’t have shalom? The sense of being so full that you would, as Jesus put it, “never thirst again?” (John 4:14)

During the holidays many of us feel like we are longing for the people we’ve lost. We don’t feel full. There’s a constant thirst.

Enter Jesus. With him that thirst is quenched, that emptiness is filled, and our tables can feel whole again. If we are willing to surrender our hearts to him, to trust that he is overseeing and working through everything that happens to us and to others, he will fill us in a way our minds cannot imagine. He will provide a peace that surpasses all human understanding (Philippians 4:7).

This is the first holiday season we will have without our niece. In August she lost her life at the young age of 19. Thanksgiving dinner felt different. Her warm smile, her hilarious jokes, and the way she was unashamed about being herself just wasn’t there. As a family, we felt that emptiness. We prayed, inviting Jesus to fill that space in the way only he can.

I cannot explain exactly how God answered our prayers that day, but he did. We found comfort in remembering that, while our niece is no longer here with us, she is now home at with Jesus. And we have hope knowing there will come a time when there will be no more death, no more sadness, and no more tears, because we will all be in the Kingdom of God, back together for all eternity.

This Advent season, if there is an empty seat at your table, I pray you would seek Jesus in the emptiness. I pray that celebrating the birth of Christ will remind us all that he is the Prince of Peace; not just a title assigned by an ancient prophet, but a REAL role he fulfills. The prince of making our hearts full. The prince of shalom.