Reconciliation and the Holidays — Peace of Advent

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Ezra 5 Listen: (3:02)
Read: Revelation 4 Listen: (2:09)

Links for this weekend’s readings:

Read: Ezra 6 Listen: (4:24), Read: Revelation 5 Listen: (2:39)
Read: Ezra 7 Listen: (4:39), Read: Revelation 6 Listen: (3:12)

Scripture Focus: Ephesians 2:17

17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.

Romans 5.1

1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ

Reflection: Reconciliation and the Holidays — Peace of Advent

By Erin Newton

This week, we have looked at peace within ourselves and among those around us. Divine peace enables a full sense of our identity and the ability to resolve or avoid conflict, to restore and uphold justice, and to calmly rest in his providence. The greatest peace bestowed upon us is God’s goodwill toward man. The peace of Advent is our reconciliation to him.

Peace between God and humanity is perhaps where we should have started. But in our busy and stressful lives, we want to see peace first in our anxious minds or among our tiresome friends and family. We’re tempted to think that if peace can just be established out there, we’d find some peace in here.

Have you ever heard of the vertical and horizontal relationship axes? The horizontal axis is our relationships with those around us. The vertical axis is our personal, solitary relationship with God. They work in tandem at times; our lives with friends and families overflow from our personal relationship with God. And our relationship with God tends to always be in tune with how things are going with those around us.

The peace of Advent covers both axes. We’ve explored the ways divine peace helps us where we are. But even if all outer peace is shattered, we always have peace with God.

Advent points to the intermediary we always needed. Christ is God-made-flesh and God-among-us. The Prince of Peace is not just a bow breaker or sword smelter—he is a bridge builder between Creator and creature.

Meditation on the peace of Advent should lead us to moments of rejoicing in our reconciliation, knowing it is as firm and true and evergreen as He has promised. Sinners in the hands of an angry God? Not anymore.

Advent is the start of the church’s liturgical year and, oddly, the end of our calendric year. I find this rather helpful as we sit in the season of Advent-waiting. In the moments we are afforded to think about hope, peace, joy, and love, we reminisce on how God has worked and expectantly wait on the further revelation in the year to come.

Stay with me in this peaceful moment and meditate on (1) your soul made whole, (2) the resolution of particular conflicts, (3) accountability upheld, (4) relief from a busy mind, and (5) the reality that He calls you “friend.” That is peace.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, Lord God of hosts; let not those who seek you be disgraced because of me, O God of Israel. — Psalm 69.7

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more about Peace from Strife — Peace of Advent

When you are constantly on edge from conflict, it is easy to expect the answer to your crisis will come in the form of a fight.

Read more about Supporting Our Work

Help promote biblical literacy, rhythms of discipleship, and gospel-centered, Spirit-guided action in our readers’ lives. Please consider becoming a donor.

Why The Cross?

Scripture Focus: Matthew 2.13
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” 

Galatians 4.4-5
4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.

Romans 5.7
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

Reflection: Why The Cross?
By John Tillman

If salvation merely needed the blood of the sinless one, then any death would do. Herod’s soldiers could have killed two-year-old Jesus. He could have leaped from the top of the Temple as he was tempted by Satan. His friends and neighbors could have thrown him off of a cliff. He could have been stoned. He could have been beaten with clubs or killed with the sword.

Why the cross?

Inside and outside Christianity, people express discomfort with the cross. “Isn’t it gross?” “Isn’t it violent?”

Ancient people agreed. Perhaps the first historical depiction of Jesus’ crucifixion is the Alexamenos graffito, dated to about 200 AD. It scoffs, “Alexamenos worships his god,” under the image of a donkey-headed crucified man. 

I saw a set of memes recently from a former Christian who is now a skeptic/atheist. The AI-generated images showed life if Rome used guillotines rather than crosses. In a beautiful cathedral, a guillotine hung in shafts of stained glass-colored light during a wedding. Monks carried a flower-bedecked guillotine through festival streets. Elaborate guillotines decorated headstones and crypts in a peaceful graveyard.

Why is the cross worthy of architectural enshrinement in our places of worship? Why is it worthy of remembrance in festivals, jewelry, and decor? Why is it worthy of being a symbol of reverent hope on headstones? Why obsess over a gruesome instrument of torture?

In his sovereignty, out of all places, all times, and all means, Jesus chose the cross to bring the greatest good out of the greatest evil. (Romans 5.6; Galatians 4.4-5

Jesus did many good things before the cross. Healing. Teaching. Serving. Jesus did many good things after the cross. The harrowing of Hell. The resurrection. The ascension. The coming of the Holy Spirit. But on the cross is where he accomplished the ultimate good he came for. 

Every good thing before the cross pointed to it. Every good thing after the cross is evidence of the power broken on it.

On the cross, God was in Christ, reconciling us to himself (2 Corinthians 5.18-19), accomplishing all that scripture promised. Sin dead. Death defeated. Satan vanquished. 

The cross is worthy because of the work Jesus did on it: “It is finished.” (John 19.30) So, we are not ashamed of the gospel revealed on the cross. Let us continue to remind ourselves of it, center our teaching on it, and reverence it in every appropriate way.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And are so far from my cry and from the words of my distress? — Psalm 22.1

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

​Today’s Readings
Song of Songs 5 (Listen 2:43)
Matthew 2 (Listen 3:18)

This Weekend’s Readings
Song of Songs 6 (Listen 1:48Matthew 3 (Listen 2:17)
Song of Songs 7 (Listen 1:55Matthew 4 (Listen 3:09)

Read more about The Moon and the Cross
He is about to die on their behalf. The one who hung the moon will hang on a cross.

Read more about The Prayer From the Cross
Jesus knew that most of his audience would recognize the quote and understand that he was referencing the entire psalm.

From Esau to Jacob—Readers’ Choice

Readers’ Choice Month:
This September, The Park Forum is looking back on readers’ selections of our most meaningful and helpful devotionals from the past 12 months. Thank you for your readership. This month is all about hearing from you. Submit a Readers’ Choice post today.

Today’s post was originally published, on June 2, 2022, based on Malachi 1.2-3, Matthew 12.48-50, and Romans 5.8
It was selected by reader, Barbara: 

“This was one of my favorites.”

Scripture Focus: Malachi 1.2-3
2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. 
“But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’ 
“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob, 3 but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”

Matthew 12.48-50
48 He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” 

Romans 5.8
…God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Reflection: From Esau to Jacob—Readers’ Choice
By John Tillman

“Esau I have hated.”

We may wonder: Does God randomly hate people? Am I one of those arbitrarily hated by God?


It is normal to struggle with difficult passages, especially those that have been misused. For example, some passages in Malachi 1, including this one, have been twisted to support slavery. Those who did this surrendered to culture and profit and selfishness, all the while proclaiming themselves wise, biblical, and superior. May we not make similar mistakes.

It’s impossible in a 400-word devotional to unpack a difficult passage like this. I won’t attempt it. Let us simply meditate on a few details from scripture.

  1. “Esau” doesn’t mean the individual. God is using these names as collective nouns to speak to the descendants of these brothers, not the brothers themselves. We don’t do this much in our culture. The closest thing we might understand is using the name of a country’s leader to refer to actions of that nation. For example, “Volodymyr Zelensky” meaning Ukraine, or “Xi Jinping” meaning China.
  2. God’s “hatred” isn’t arbitrary. It refers to justice for Edom’s actions—what they collectively did and continued to do. Esau, the individual, while reconciled to his brother, enjoyed God’s blessing. His descendants continually opposed Israel throughout their history and came to represent, poetically, all people opposed to God and God’s people.
  3. God’s “hatred” is not absolute. Edomites are not arbitrarily cursed or hated throughout history or in totality. In many places, God implies hope for Edom. He shows he cares for them, gives them their own land, and commands that no Israelite should despise an Edomite. (Deuteronomy 2.1-8, 12; 23.7)
  4. This statement’s purpose is to show love, not hatred. God speaks poetically to reassure his people. He points to justice done on their behalf, which proves his love. To Micah’s readers, this justice was the downfall of “The Wicked Land” (Malachi 1.4) that harmed them.

We can be assured of God’s love and justice. We are not innocent. Yet, we are not hated. We are loved. This is demonstrated in Christ as God turns “Esaus” into “Jacobs.”

God loved us when we were like Esau—sinners, rebels, and persecutors. (Romans 5.8) All of us have been children of Esau, but by God’s grace, we can become children of Jacob and brothers and sisters of Christ (Matthew 12.50). Through Jesus, we cry “Abba, father,” (Romans 8.15; Galatians 4.6; Mark 14.36) for “Jacob, have I loved.” (Malachi 1.2)

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
It is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick…And indeed I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners. — Matthew 9.12-13

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Jeremiah 27(Listen -3:52)
1 Corinthians 4(Listen – 3:15)

This Weekend’s Readings
Jeremiah 28(Listen -3:05)1 Corinthians 5(Listen – 1:58)
Jeremiah 29(Listen -5:44)1 Corinthians 6(Listen – 3:03)
Jeremiah 30-31(Listen 11:21)1 Corinthians 7(Listen – 6:09)

Read more about Running to Forgive
In this moment, in a limited way, Esau demonstrates the welcome of the gospel. The wronged party shows undeserved mercy.

Readers’ Choice is Here!
There’s still room for your recommended posts from the last 12 months. Which ones did you share with a friend?

From Esau To Jacob

Scripture Focus: Malachi 1.2-3
2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. 
“But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’ 
“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob, 3 but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”

Matthew 12.48-50
48 He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” 

Romans 5.8
…God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Reflection: From Esau To Jacob
By John Tillman

“Esau I have hated.”

We may wonder: Does God randomly hate people? Am I one of those arbitrarily hated by God?

It is normal to struggle with difficult passages, especially those that have been misused. For example, some passages in Malachi 1, including this one, have been twisted to support slavery. Those who did this surrendered to culture and profit and selfishness, all the while proclaiming themselves wise, biblical, and superior. May we not make similar mistakes.

It’s impossible in a 400-word devotional to unpack a difficult passage like this. I won’t attempt it. Let us simply meditate on a few details from scripture.

  1. “Esau” doesn’t mean the individual. God is using these names as collective nouns to speak to the descendants of these brothers, not the brothers themselves. We don’t do this much in our culture. The closest thing we might understand is using the name of a country’s leader to refer to actions of that nation. For example, “Volodymyr Zelensky” meaning Ukraine, or “Xi Jinping” meaning China.
  2. God’s “hatred” isn’t arbitrary. It refers to justice for Edom’s actions—what they collectively did and continued to do. Esau, the individual, while reconciled to his brother, enjoyed God’s blessing. His descendants continually opposed Israel throughout their history and came to represent, poetically, all people opposed to God and God’s people.
  3. God’s “hatred” is not absolute. Edomites are not arbitrarily cursed or hated throughout history or in totality. In many places, God implies hope for Edom. He shows he cares for them, gives them their own land, and commands that no Israelite should despise an Edomite. (Deuteronomy 2.1-8, 12; 23.7)
  4. This statement’s purpose is to show love, not hatred. God speaks poetically to reassure his people. He points to justice done on their behalf, which proves his love. To Micah’s readers, this justice was the downfall of “The Wicked Land” (Malachi 1.4) that harmed them.

We can be assured of God’s love and justice. We are not innocent. Yet, we are not hated. We are loved. This is demonstrated in Christ as God turns “Esaus” into “Jacobs.”

God loved us when we were like Esau—sinners, rebels, and persecutors. (Romans 5.8) All of us have been children of Esau, but by God’s grace, we can become children of Jacob and brothers and sisters of Christ (Matthew 12.50). Through Jesus, we cry “Abba, father,” (Romans 8.15; Galatians 4.6; Mark 14.36) for “Jacob, have I loved.” (Malachi 1.2)

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living. — Psalm 116.8

Today’s Readings

Malachi 1 (Listen – 2:47)
Matthew 12 (Listen – 6:41)

Read more about Identity Lost, Identity Gained
God, our father, longs to bless us…No one who comes to him will need cry, “Do you have only one blessing, my father?”

Read more about Running to Forgive
In this moment, in a limited way, Esau demonstrates the welcome of the gospel. The wronged party shows undeserved mercy.