Honor the Stable Born King (Isaiah 9:1-7)
Big Idea: Jesus, the divine King who deserves our devotion, came as a humble child to save us.
On Sunday evening, October 30, 1938, millions of Americans tuned into the CBS radio network. They heard an announcer's voice breaking into the music of the orchestra: "Ladies and gentleman, we interrupt our program of dance and music to bring you a special bulletin from the Intercontinental Radio News." Over the next hour, the audience was shocked to hear frantic voices report a Martian invasion, starting on a New Jersey farm and spreading poisonous gases over New York City.
The broken voice of an announcer cried out: "Avoid bridges to Long Island – hopelessly jammed. All communication with Jersey shore closed… No more defenses. Our army wiped out… artillery, air force, everything wiped out. This may be our last broadcast." As the program was broadcast, hundreds of thousands thought that a space invasion was actually happening. Of the six million people who heard the broadcast, no fewer than one million experienced serious levels of distress. Thousands were thrown into absolute panic.
Later, people realized they had been listening to Orson Welles’s Mercury Theatre adaptation of the science fiction story The War of the Worlds. This morning I'd like to look at an invasion that actually did take place. This invasion is not a work of fiction, but a historical fact. And it did not take place from outer space, but according to the Bible, from heaven itself. Unlike the fictional invaders in The War of the Worlds, he arrived quietly and went largely unnoticed, except by a few minor figures of that time.
One of the amazing things is that this coming was foretold hundreds of years before it actually happened. Eight hundred years before a virgin mother conceived and bore a son, the prophet Isaiah prophesied who was coming. As he wrote, the situation was bleak. Assyria was closing in on Israel. Isaiah prophesied to a cocky king and his defiant people that judgment was inevitable.
Isaiah's prophecy in Isaiah 8:21-22 couldn't be much worse:
Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness."
Friends, the scene was a hopeless one. But unexpectedly, Isaiah prophesied that God's salvation would come from an unexpected place: Galilee of the Gentiles, in verse 1. It was the other side of the tracks. And what Isaiah prophesied in verses 2 to 7 is nothing less than political and spiritual freedom. According to Isaiah, a light would come to penetrate the darkness. Israel's enemies would be vanquished. And a king would reign – a king described in verses 6 and 7. He would bear the responsibility of the government. He would reign on David's throne. And there would be no end to his government.
In our darkest times, when it seems our troubles will never cease, the Lord always shows us a way forward. When everything appears to be going wrong, and when it appears as if there is no hope, the Lord has given a light to those of us who walk in darkness. And this morning I want to look at the babe lying in the manger, not through the eyes of the shepherds, the magi, Mary, or Joseph. I want to look at Jesus Christ through the eyes of the prophet Isaiah, 800 years before he was born.
Matthew 4:15-16 tell us that Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophecy. Let's ask ourselves what Isaiah sees as he looks at Jesus. I believe Isaiah tells us two things: who Jesus is, and how he will come. I'd invite you to look with me at verses 6 and 7 as we ask:
Who Is This King?
Who is this divine invader? If you remember the context, Assyria was closing in on Israel. Isaiah prophesied that their defeat was sure. Things couldn't have been bleaker for the nation. Isaiah clearly defines Jesus Christ as God's answer to a desperate situation. Jesus Christ is God's way out of a hopeless situation. When all else seems hopeless, according to Isaiah, this child is the only hope in a desperate situation.
Isaiah uses four terms to describe Jesus. These poetic terms are meaningful but hard to grasp due to changes in language over centuries. But try to understand just who Isaiah says Jesus Christ will be.
Wonderful Counselor
Verse 6 calls him "Wonderful Counselor." The word counselor is different from how we use it today. Today, we think of a counselor as a professional to whom we go with our personal problems. But that's not what Isaiah had in mind. Isaiah was referring to a counselor like the one in 1 Kings 12, who provides advice in government, particularly regarding military matters. This is a person with the wisdom necessary to come up with a plan. The term "wonderful" frequently means supernatural. The phrase "wonderful counselor" suggests someone with a divine or extraordinary plan. This is true of Jesus, who has always been deeply connected to God's plans. He is the very wisdom of God, who knows all things, and nothing ever takes him by surprise.
Mighty God
Isaiah also says that he is Mighty God. In 325 AD, the church declared that Jesus is of the same essence with the Father – in other words, that Jesus is indeed God. But 800 years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah said the same thing. He referred to Jesus as the mighty God. Isaiah suggested that, unlike ancient kings and Caesars who saw themselves as gods, the true king is the Almighty God. It talks about his divine power.
Everlasting Father
The third name Isaiah gives to him is the Everlasting Father. I've always wondered why the Son of God would be given the name, "the Everlasting Father." And the answer is this: it isn't describing his relationship with God; it's describing his fatherly rule over the nation. God's original design for Israel's kings is that they would care for the people as a shepherd would care for a flock. These kings were unsuccessful. Just read the Old Testament prophets. Time and time again, the kings are condemned for mistreating the people and leading them astray. In contrast, Isaiah prophesies that Jesus will be a shepherd who will always care for his people, without end. That's who Jesus is.
Prince of Peace
The last name Isaiah gives to Jesus is also found in verse 6: the Prince of Peace. Jesus is called the Prince of Shalom. For us, peace is a negative thing – the absence of war. But the biblical sense of the word is much different. For a prince or king, this means he will overcome his foes and bring victory to his people. And as well, he will bring divine peace and blessings to his people. Though a king, he will stoop to the role of prince to accomplish a truce among warring nations and divided hearts.
He would be the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Verse 7 states that the one who will reign forever will establish and uphold his kingdom with justice and righteousness for all time.
“Enemy-occupied territory – that is what the world is,” C.S. Lewis writes. “Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.”
You don't just humor or accommodate someone whose titles are Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Your only option in the presence of royalty is to show honor.
Queen Victoria took long walks in simple clothes at her summer residence, Balmoral, to avoid being recognized. One day, it started to rain, and she sought shelter in a cottage. She asked the elderly woman inside if she could borrow an umbrella to get home. The woman had never seen Queen Victoria and had no idea who she was. Being a little cantankerous, the woman grudgingly replied, "Well, I have two umbrellas. One is very good and almost new. The other is quite worn. You can take the old one; the new one I don't want to lend to anybody. Who knows when I would get it back?"
And with that, she gave the queen a tattered umbrella with spokes sticking out all around. Queen Victoria thanked the woman kindly, thinking, "An old umbrella is better than none at all." She promised to return the umbrella right away, and graciously departed, smiling. The next morning, a royal servant returned the old umbrella with thanks from the Queen of England, shocking the poor woman. “If only I had known,” she said over and over again. “If only I had known.”
Make no mistake about it. The one born in a stable two thousand years ago was a King, fulfilling many Old Testament prophecies. He is the one who has a perfect plan, and is carrying it out. He is the Mighty God – he has power to conquer his enemies, because he is divine. He is caring for his people like a tender Father, and will never stop doing so. He brings true peace to his people—beyond just the lack of conflict, a deep understanding regardless of circumstances.
I'll say it again: Isaiah presents Jesus as God's solution to a desperate situation. And you know. You know this morning who he is, and your only choice is to worship him. That's the answer to question one: Who is he? The answer is, he's a king like no other. But we need to answer question two this morning, in order to understand the way God is working. The baby born in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago doesn't appear to be this Mighty God. But Isaiah answers another question about Jesus:
How Does He Come?
Not only, "who is he?" but "how does he come?"
And the answer is found in verse 6: "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given." The same person who is the Mighty God becomes a child who is born. The Ancient of Days takes the form of a tiny infant, mere moments old. The Everlasting Father is a gift in the form of a son.
Philip Yancey writes: Before Jesus, almost no pagan author had used "humble" as a compliment. Yet the events of Christmas point inescapably to what seems like an oxymoron: a humble God. The God who came to earth not in a raging whirlwind or devouring fire. The Creator of everything became a newly invisible fertilized egg. This egg would undergo continuous division until it developed into a fetus, growing cell by cell within the body of a nervous teenager.The powerful God who commanded armies and empires came to Palestine as a helpless baby, unable to speak, eat solid food, or control his bladder, relying on a young couple for shelter, food, and love.
G.K. Chesterton wrote, "The child that played with moon and sun, Is playing with a little hay…"
I read about a Hindu who struggled to accept Christianity because he found it hard to believe in a God who would humble himself. Then one day, he came across an anthill. He tried to get close enough to study it, but every time he bent low, his shadow caused all the ants to scurry away. He realized that the only way to truly understand the colony of ants was to become an ant himself. And that was the moment in which his conversion began.
U.S. News and World Report once put out an article on pigs. A man named Dale Riffle received a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig as a gift. At that time, they were popular as exotic pets. Unfortunately, pigs aren't necessarily ideal pets. Dale's pig, named Rufus, wouldn't use its litter box, and apparently began to eat Dale's carpet, wallpaper, and drywall. But the man loved his pig so much, he sold his suburban home and bought a five-acre farm in West Virginia. And he began to take in other "exotic pet pigs" whose owners found them less than perfect companions.
In Dale Riffle's "Hog Heaven," pigs relax on pine shavings, enjoy plastic swimming pools, and listen to classical music. They socialize in age-graded affinity groups. They never need fear that they will one day become bacon or pork chops. Riffle told U.S. News and World Report, "I think we're all put on earth for some reason, and I guess pigs are my lot in life."
It's incredible that someone could love pigs so much that he'd leave his nice, suburban home to live in "hog heaven." But think what the Son of God did: he loved us so much that he left his throne in heaven to be born as a helpless baby in a cave. That's humility!
As we approach the communion table, reflect on who Jesus is. He is God's hope for a desperate situation. He is the Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. And yet he became nothing for your sake. He left his throne in heaven to be born as a helpless baby in a cave, so that he could save you – so that he could redeem you.
How do you honor a stable-born king? You worship him. You give him your all. I don't know if you've worshipped him yet. I don't know what your relationship with him is like. But I'm telling you this morning, you can begin to worship him today. You can respond to the divine invader by accepting his gift of salvation—love and forgiveness that brought him from heaven to a humble cave with animals. And he can become your king today.
The reason Jesus left heaven and all the rights of his majesty was for you. Jesus loved the world so much that he came to a stable to redeem creation. He willingly gave up all his rights to bring you salvation. This morning you can become a subject of this humble King, and turn yourself over to his reign. By accepting his love, and accepting the perfect sacrifice he made for you. If anyone wants to accept God's answer to a desperate situation, please raise your hand.
Christ Jesus, we come to honor you, born in a stable yet still our all-powerful king. This week, help us to be your faithful subjects. As we celebrate the baby's birth, may we also honor you, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace, Everlasting Father! Amen.
