Christmas reflections: The peace treaty in the manger
- Dan Mueller
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
(A sermon preached at Immanuel Gardens residential care, 10 December 2025).
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
We often look for signs of peace in this world. When nations are at war, we look for the signal that the fighting has stopped.
For thousands of years, that signal has been a simple piece of white cloth. History tells us that this tradition goes back to the ancient world. The Roman historian Tacitus wrote about the use of white flags to indicate peace, and there is suggestion it can be traced back further to the Han Dynasty in China.
The white flag was a way for a soldier to say, “I am unarmed. I want to talk. I want the fighting to stop.” Because white cloth was common and easy to see against the dark mud of a battlefield, it became the universal cry for a truce.
For us as Australians, there is a powerful photograph from WWI that captures this moment. It was taken on 22nd May 1915, at Gallipoli.
The photo shows an Australian officer, Major Sam Butler, walking through the scrub at Anzac Cove. In his hand, he isn’t holding a rifle, but a stick with a white flag tied to it. He wasn’t surrendering the war; he was asking for a pause. He was leading a blindfolded Turkish officer to negotiate a temporary truce so that both sides could bury their dead.
For a few short hours on 24th May, the guns fell silent. Men who had been trying to kill each other walked out into “No Man’s Land,” shook hands, and shared cigarettes. The white flag brought a brief, fragile peace to a bloody field.
But we know that the peace of this world is often temporary. The guns at Gallipoli fired again. The wars between nations continue.
There is a war that happens inside us. In our hearts there rages the battle of a guilty conscience, the struggle with past mistakes, the concern that we are not right with God. Nothing in our own self seems to quieten the guns of that accusing voice.
Where is the white flag for our internal war? Where is the truce for the heavy heart?
The great preacher Charles Spurgeon gives us a beautiful answer. He points us not to a battlefield, but to the manger. He tells us that the white flag we need was found in Bethlehem. Listen to his words:
“But, now, when the new-born King made his appearance, the swaddling band with which he was wrapped up was the white flag of peace. That manger was the place where the treaty was signed, whereby warfare should be stopped between man’s conscience and himself, man’s conscience and his God. It was then, that day, the trumpet blew — ‘Sheathe the sword, … for God is now at peace with humanity, and humanity at peace with God.’ Do you not feel, my friends, that the gospel of God is peace to humankind? Where else can peace be found but in the message of Jesus?” (Charles Spurgeon)
What a comforting image! Picture Mary wrapping Jesus in a white peace flag as I read part of our gospel reading again:
“The time came for the baby to be born, and [Mary] gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger.” (Luke 2:6–7 NIV).
We often think of God as the Judge who we must appease. Or the Master for whom we must labour to pay off our debt. But in the manger, God waves the white flag. By sending His Son, wrapped in those simple white swaddling cloths, God was signalling a permanent truce.
The baby Jesus, wrapped in those swaddling clothes, is the Peace Treaty. In Him, God is saying, “I am not coming to fight you or destroy you; I am coming to rescue you and be with you.” We do not need to fight for God’s approval anymore. We do not need to battle our conscience with excuses or guilt. The accusing voice is silenced. The war is over. As St Paul writes in Romans chapter five,
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.” (Romans 5:1–2 NIV).
Just as those soldiers at Gallipoli laid down their rifles to stand on the same ground, God has come to stand on our ground, among us. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14 NIV).
But unlike that temporary truce in 1915, the peace Jesus brings does not end when the sun goes down. It is a peace that lasts from our baptism all the way through to old age, and even through death.
So, when your conscience troubles you, or when the world feels full of conflict, look to the manger. See the swaddling clothes. That is God’s white flag. He has sheathed His sword He has forgiven your sins. Know that you are at peace with Him, for Christ’s sake.
And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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