Isaiah 9:6 * Christmas Day 2008 *
Pastor Leyrer
Dear Friends in Christ, our Newborn King:
There was no attempt to be original or come up with something never seen or heard before. Nor was there any desire. Nor was their any need. The message on the simple but tasteful postcards we distributed this year really says it all: To us a child is born.
We, of course, were not the first ones to say this. The prophet Isaiah prophesied and proclaimed it seven centuries before it actually took place. But today we observe once again the event that virtually the entire world stops to take note of; the moment in time so significant that all of history marks its progression as happening either before or after it…
This is what we are told. This is what we know. And this is why we are here:
TO US A CHILD IS BORN
In the prayers that are part of our worship service on any given Sunday here at St. John’s we routinely offer up prayers of thanksgiving to God for blessing a couple with a child. While we all rejoice as members of the same congregation, we also know that God has given that child to that particular couple. The child is theirs, not ours.
Which makes Isaiah’s statement so interesting and so compelling. Notice how Isaiah personalizes these words. To us a child is born; to us a son is given. Mary and Joseph had the privilege of raising Him, but this is our child.
And He came to us for a reason.
Cur Deus Homo is a Latin phrase that thoughtful Christians have contemplated ever since the birth of Jesus. Theological scholars also recognize it as a famous book written by a man named Anselm in the 12th century and still in print today. It is a question. Loosely translated it asks: Why did God become man?
Good question. And you will hear people respond to it in various ways. Some will say Jesus came to teach us love each other. Others will say Jesus came to somehow make the world a better place to live by providing the ultimate example of care and selflessness.
While this may be true to some degree, there is a simple, better answer to the question why God became man. We say it every time we recite the Nicene Creed when we confess this about Jesus: “For us and for our salvation He came down from heaven.” God became man in the person of Jesus Christ for our salvation. And we are reminded of the blessed Gospel message…
How Jesus took on our flesh and blood to live a perfect life in our behalf and die a sacrificial death in our place, all as our willing substitute before a just and holy God. Beyond the cradle lies the cross. This was the plan: What we couldn’t do for ourselves, God did for us. And while the plan was conceived by God from eternity, the implementation of the plan begins today when “to us a child is born.”
And what a child has been born to us today! Isaiah describes him in terms that leave no doubt of His specialness and divinity. Christmas is all about lists. Let’s run down this glorious list of descriptions.
Wonderful Counselor. In the Hebrew language, behind the word “wonderful” is the idea of something extraordinary, something hard to understand, something even miraculous. And behind the word “counselor” is the idea of one who gives advice or counsel, as well as the idea of wisdom.
That’s a good description of the One whose birth we
celebrate today. Certainly He is a
wonder. Something extraordinary. A miracle.
We think of who He is and we are filled with wonder. “Veiled
in flesh, the Godhead see. Hail the
incarnate Deity. Pleased as man with us
to dwell, Jesus, our Immanuel.”
Think about this. People sometimes like to talk about God or a “supreme being” as being unknowable. God is framed in vague and nebulous terms purposefully chosen to convey a sense of distance and otherworldliness. The intended conclusion is that man will never be able to understand Him.
Today we beg to differ. That’s simply not true. In the Babe of Bethlehem God becomes understandable. He is knowable. The marvel of Christmas is that God became one of us and lived among us. We know Him and He knows us. Is not this a wonder?
In addition to being a wonder in and of itself, the Child
born today is our Wonderful Counselor. In
other words, the counsel He provides us with is as equally wonderful
(extraordinary, miraculous) as He is.
The counsel He gives us in our times of emotional unrest is
this: “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
The counsel He gives to a world looking
for answers to the big questions in life is this: “I am
the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through
me.” The overall counsel He gives to
us when life seems complicated or when we find ourselves traveling down paths
we would not choose for ourselves or when things do not go according to our script
is: “Fear
not. I will never leave you or forsake
you.”
That’s wonderful counsel from a Wonderful Counselor. But He is more.
He is also Mighty God. The mystery of the incarnation is that this child is both true man and true God. Mighty God calls to mind thoughts of power; power and might which this Child would from time to time display throughout His life.
Go to the pages of Scripture and ask blind Bartimaeus to
whom the Savior gave his sight and he’ll tell you that Christ is Mighty God. Ask Lazarus whom Jesus resurrected from the
grave and he’ll tell you that Christ is Mighty
God. Ask the disciples who saw Jesus
walk on water and still the storm and they’ll tell you that Christ is Mighty God. Ask the scores of people instantaneously
healed of their sicknesses and infirmities and they’ll tell you that Christ is Mighty God…
Today He looks so small, so helpless, so dependent on the lap of His mother Mary. But the reality of Christmas is this: He is Mighty God. Able to do great things. Able to make good on His promises. Able to take on the formidable foes of sin and death and hell and save the world from their damning consequences. Able to guide and direct the affairs of this world in the interest of His church and His children.
He is also Everlasting
Father. Everlasting speaks of His nature.
He is from eternity. Today He
takes on our flesh and blood as the baby in
It is good for us to contemplate the eternity of Christ because it helps us measure in some small way the tremendous act of love that took place today. We are the visited planet. Today the God of all eternity condescended to break into our space and time and become one of us. Today the infinite merged with the finite. Today heaven intersected with earth. Today Jesus left His eternal throne on high so that He could carry out His mission, which is to give us what for 33 years He gave up – the eternal glory of heaven.
He is eternal. And from everlasting He is our Father.
Human fathers try their best out of love for their children, but none are perfect. Jesus, on the other hand, embodies all the attributes of the perfect Father. He protects His children. He has compassion for His children. He provides for His children. He empowers His children. And His children find Him approachable and trustworthy.
And here’s the best news yet. This perfect relationship marked by
satisfaction and security will span the eons of eternity. Because He is our Everlasting Father.
Finally, He is our Prince
of Peace. Peace is what this Child
brings. But let’s not
misunderstand. There is a war going on
in
But that’s not the kind of peace Jesus came to bring. The peace He provides is bigger than that. The peace He provides transcends tragedy and hardship and our personal circumstances, whatever they are and however difficult they may be.
As has often been said, the peace Jesus provides is not peace from trouble, but peace in the midst of trouble. The peace Jesus provides manifests itself in the inner tranquility of knowing our sins are forgiven, that we are loved and taken care of, that we are right with God, that heaven is our home, that the best is yet to come.
It’s the peace Isaiah describes as a river that flows wide and deep within us. It’s the peace the Apostle Paul says surpasses all understanding.
And it’s all connected to Jesus, our newborn King, the
Prince of Peace. Who would grow up to be
a man. And as a man He would die on the
cross for our sins as our substitute.
Just as Isaiah tells us in chapter 53, “the punishment that brought us
peace was upon him.”
Today we once again make the holy trek to
So Christians, rejoice.
“For unto us is born this day in the city of