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“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.”
Rumors and speculation about the arrival of the true Messiah had filled Israel for centuries since the proclamation of the last prophet. Who would Messiah be: a great new prophet, the redeemer of Israel from despised Roman occupation, the slayer of enemies, the restorer of the Kingdom that dated back before Saul and David? The Messiah was imagined to be religious or political or mystical depending on the viewpoint of the imaginer. But all carried their hope for the mission of Messiah – to restore the nation and the people to their right place with God.
Isaiah presents the Jews with a Messianic leader who will be born among them and will govern them and will represent God and, perhaps, will be God. This idea was a blasphemy in ancient Israel but Isaiah states it and shielded by his stunning authority, he is able to pull it off. In verse 7, Isaiah comments that this ruler king will expand his government throughout the world till the end of time, built on the foundations of justice and righteousness. This passage raised the bar for the expectations of the coming King.
We have knowledge of the unfolding of God’s mysterious plan. Most Jewish readers would not have known, or imagined, how to interpret this passage. For Christians, it makes complete sense, but we have the gift of hindsight. God sprung Jesus onto an unsuspecting world. It was not and is not easy to believe that God became a baby human and grew up as one of us. This rather stunning proclamation that the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace could walk among us as one of us strains the ability to believe.
In reality, God does not seem to want to make it easy to believe. From the manger forward, our faith is built on a tension, an uneasy struggle that presses us beyond the limits of simple reason. It does not contradict reason but the faith struggle forces us to keep working to understand it. Christmas is a time for anticipation and reflection but not a time for smugness. If you are taking Jesus for granted this Advent, you are not dealing with the real Messiah: the Christ born of Mary as the child self of the Almighty God. |
