MONDAY, DECEMBER 21
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone…”
Isaiah 9:2 (ESV)
SILENT NIGHT
A little boy and a little girl were singing their favorite Christmas carol in church the Sunday before Christmas. The boy concluded “Silent Night” with the words, “sleep in heavenly beans.” His sister elbowed him, and said, “No. Not beans, peas!” The way many of us feel by the time we are ready for Christmas, the song might just as well end with beans or peas instead of peace. Because sometimes in the frantic rush to get everything done the peace and point of the season seems to elude us.
When Isaiah wrote this letter, he gave us four names for Jesus, in Isaiah 9:6 that tell us about the needs of the day and the needs of today. They also tell us that the son born of a virgin would be the fulfillment of these names and our issues. He is Wonderful Counselor and He has the plan. He is Mighty God and has the ability to carry out the plan. He is Everlasting Father and has the spirit and attitude that motivates Him to carry out the plan. These names would be repeated on the first silent night of the birth of Christ.
It’s hard to improve on the commentary of Charles Spurgeon on Isaiah 9. Spurgeon wrote, “How complex is the person of our Lord Jesus Christ! Almost in the same breath the prophet calls him a “child,” and a “counselor,” a “son,” and “the everlasting Father.” This is no contradiction, and to us scarcely a paradox, but it is a mighty marvel that he who was an infant should at the same time be infinite, he who was the Man of Sorrows should also be God over all, blessed forever; and that he who is in the Divine Trinity always called the Son, should nevertheless be correctly called “the everlasting Father.” How forcibly this should remind us of the necessity of carefully studying and rightly understanding the person of our Lord Jesus Christ! We must not suppose that we shall understand him at a glance. A look will save the soul, but patient meditation alone can fill the mind with the knowledge of the Savior. Glorious mysteries are hidden in his person. He speaks to us in plainest language, and he manifests himself openly in our midst, but yet in his person itself there is a height and depth which human intellect fails to measure. (Charles Spurgeon, Metropolitan Pulpit)
REFLECTION
In all this, Jesus is the only one qualified to bring hope to our dark world. This week we will revisit the names of Jesus as discussed by Mike on Sunday. For now, take time to read Isaiah 9:1-7. Underline all the descriptions of Jesus in this passage.
