Word of Salvation – Vol.12 No.45 – November 1966

 

Emmanuel!

 

Sermon by Rev. J.F.H. VanderBom on Matthew 1:22,23

Scripture Readings: Isaiah 7:1-17 and Matthew 1:18-25

Suggested Hymns:

Psalter Hymnal: 334, 289, 342, 343, 468

 

Brothers and sisters,

In our text we read about the wonderful fulfilment of prophecy in the Name Emmanuel, God-with-us.  Have you ever thought over the full meaning of this name?

God with us, this means, first of all, that God is not far away.  He is not ‘up-there’, somewhere, ‘but nobody knows where, and even our space-men cannot find Him…!’  No, Emmanuel tells us that God is very near us, He is with us,

Still this seems to be very hard to imagine.  For so many things seem to be right against us.  There are terrible wars.  There are the rumours of more wars.  There are the incurable diseases.  There are the sufferings of thousands of little children who starve.  There is political and social insecurity.  And apart from all that, there are the smaller problems in every home and family and in every human heart.

Yes, we have our many, many questions, especially at Christmas.  But God has spoken to us in His Son.  And this is why we sing our Christmas songs about Emmanuel.  God is not far away.  God is not even against us, as our Enemy.  He is with us.  His anger has turned off and He comforts us.

The Emmanuel name is a very precious name,

Parents have chosen this name for their children.  Are there any children here in the church, who have this name, Emmanuel, perhaps as a second name?  This is a real Christian name, isn’t it?

Christian organizations have adopted this name, and even youth clubs.  Yes, and the name Emmanuel was even used in war time.  The pious and God fearing Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus used this very name for a battle cry in Reformation time, to rally God’s people together…. just like it was already done in the days of the prophet Isaiah, when there was darkness and danger in the land.  We get the impression that then this name Emmanuel was used as a cry of hope to rally God’s people, the remnant of the believers, together under the shining brightness of this name.  God-with-us.  So then, if God is for us, who is against us?

But: who is able to say this?  Who is allowed to use this precious name?  Are we permitted to use it in our youth club?  May we use this name in the wars of South East Asia?  And what about our homes and families?  Is it granted to every mother with child to take this name upon her lips?

When we read the Bible, it will strike us that this name Emmanuel has always been used in the strangest and most impossible situations.

So it happened during the reign of King Ahaz.  You remember, in Isaiah 7 he was described as Ahaz, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah.  However, there was never a king of Judah more wicked and unfaithful.  Ahaz was a real pagan.  This man on David’s throne boasted in pagan gods.  And of course these gods failed.  They could not help when war broke out.  And this is what actually has happened.  A strong federation of powers gathered themselves together.  An alliance of world powers made themselves ready against Judah and Jerusalem, with the one outspoken purpose; to make an end of the house of David.

The question arises: was this possible?  To make an end of the house of David, what (in those days) would mean: to make an end of the Church of God and of the promise of the Christ.  Can there be an end of the Church?  Sometimes we shiver and we think: it would be well deserved… when we see how often the Church has sunk into paganism.  When we realize how little our modern Christian has to do with the sovereign Christ of Scripture, then it would be well deserved for the Church to lose the battle.  But… can the Church lose?  Or don’t we sing with one of our psalms:

As long as heaven stands on pillars firm and sure,
So long shall David’s seed through endless years endure…!

Now if Ahaz, king of Judah had been a man of great faith, he would immediately have recited for himself one of the Lord’s own promises: ‘Judah, your brothers shall praise you, and your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies…!’  Yes, the Church must be able to face it.  When Jerusalem, which is the City of God with the temple in her midst, and where there is also the throne of David, is surrounded by the powers of the enemy, whom should it fear?  For Jerusalem is surrounded with just as many promises as there are the many mountains round about Jerusalem.

And in the days of crisis we would wait to see the gold of real faith, real strength and courage and hope in the Church.

However, Isaiah 7 told us a completely different story.  When the house of David was told about the enemy his heart and the heart of his people shook (shivered) ‘as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.’  There was no strength in Judah’s oak trees, God’s planting shook before the wind.  There was no courage, no confidence, no faith.  There was only failure.

But it was then and there, in such an impossible situation that the Lord sent His prophet Isaiah to encourage the proud but nervous king: ‘Take heed, be quiet, do not fear and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smouldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah.’

Don’t lose your nerves, O King; don’t be afraid O Church, because the Lord’s work must stand.  It must become Christmas!  Yes, many questions could be asked, For Ahaz who was such a wicked and God-forsaking king, and for the people as a whole there seemed to be every reason to be terrified by the enemy.  Moreover, the alliance of the enemy seemed to be so strong.

Nevertheless there is the word of the Lord that His work must be done, His kingdom must come.  Therefore your heart may not faint.  In these days you ought to remember who is the Mighty One of Israel.  The enemy will and shall not stand and its power to destroy David’s house shall not come to pass.  Only – if you O King will not believe, surely you shall not be established.

Wasn’t this a royal and generous prophecy?  And then, in one breath, the prophet continues to extend that most wonderful invitation: Ask a sign from the Lord your God.  Open your mouth wide, O your nervous majesty and tell God what token he must give you.

Imagine the chance of such an offer, a chance which numbers of people before him and after him would have loved to get; the wicked and God-forsaking king of Judah himself may decide what token he wants to see; a token from heaven or even from hell…!  A token to put God to the test… to prove God.  Show us whether you are still there, God.  Do you still exist, do you listen, God?  Yes Lord, I am an ungodly man, but show me a sign of your presence, show me that you still remember your covenant.

This was the chance of his life for Ahaz.  The chance for a bad and faithless man to prove the Lord that He is faithful and good, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.

But Ahaz refused.  Although he chooses some pious words, he flatly rejects the offer of God’s grace.  And this was the most horrible of all the horrible sins which the king has committed.  We won’t have the time now to go deeper into this subject.  But let us remember that of all the sins of the world this one is the most horrible to reject God’s offer of grace, to say ‘No’ (perhaps a pious No!) where God tells us to open our mouth and to ask.  Here follows the sign of Emmanuel.

The prophet Isaiah stands still waiting.  He must have been very upset at the King’s refusal.  And now, under deepest excitement he calls the house of David to the test for their unbelief:

‘Hear then, O house of David!  Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also?  Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.  Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel!’

What was going to happen?  In that day of crisis and panic and rumour of war, where a whole people shivered and everybody had lost their head, this would be the sign that a young woman (probably well known to the king) in gladdest confidence and happiness of faith would give birth to a child and give him a name of faith.

Bearing of children is always an act of faith, isn’t it?  Or rather, the way in which our children are received proves our faith.  What questions, what alarming thoughts fill parents’ hearts when they look at their little ones who are born in such a world of crisis…  What shall this little child become?  Shall we call him: Sore Afraid?  Or: There Is No Hope?  Or: War Comes?

But a young woman put all the king’s men and princes to shame by calling her child: Emmanuel.

And now we must quickly turn to the pages of the New Testament, for this promise has received its highest fulfilment in the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ in the night of Christmas.

Yes, then it was night.  And there hasn’t been any moment in world history in which all things went so strange, so unbelievable and so completely impossible as then, in the fullness of time when God sent forth his Son.

How many questions could be asked, then?  Questions regarding world politics and questions regarding the forlorn state of the house of David, and of Judah as a whole.  Questions also regarding the desperate state of a people of God in their sins.

The throne of the house of David was gone… the world was filled with a peace that was even worse than war, because this peace was dictated by the angry men who occupied the highest places of the world.  And the highest place of Palestine, the palace in Jerusalem was also occupied by such an angry man.

But in a little town, called Nazareth, there lived an unknown and insignificant young woman.  She was not recognized at all.  Nobody knew her and saw her when she conceived her Child.  And even the man to whom she was betrothed considered to divorce her.  O poor and lonely virgin Mary, there is every reason for you and for your child, to call Him Benoni, son of many sorrows.

But this was exactly the fulfilment of God’s time, ‘Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel’.  Yes, many questions may be asked at Christmas… and believe me, that in that first century in which our Lord.  Jesus has lived on earth and in which the Gospels were written, then were there the many questions being asked.

But here is the Evangelist Matthew’s answer to all the questions which people asked him, and in particular to the questions of his compatriots the Jews who always wanted to see a sign: How can this be the Messiah?  The Evangelist points them with all their questions back to prophecy.  ‘ALL THIS took place to fulfil…!  Yes, all these strange and impossible things are a strict and straight fulfilment of the Word of God which was made flesh.  Immanuel!  He was born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.  Immanuel, in whom all the promises of God find their Yes and their Amen.

Brothers and sisters, again it will be (or: has been) Christmas. and again the birth of Christ is celebrated in a world of crisis.  Again there are the wars and the rumours of wars.  Again there is the fear of such peace that would be even worse than war because such a peace would make an end of ‘the House of David’.  There is great alarm in many hearts, if not: panic.  There are many who ask: O that we might see some good.

But blessed are all those who take refuge in Him, says the Psalmist (2).  And: fear not, says the angel.  I bring you glad tidings of great joy.  You, people who worry because of the many sins or our nation; and you, who question whether God is still there, or whether He is still the same there is one thing that all of you must do:

In all simplicity you spell that Name: EMANUEL, GOD WITH US.  Spell this name.  Mothers with little children, use this name in your prayers, when you plead with God on behalf of your children in the covenant of grace.  Spell this name, young people.  Yes, you may even use it for your battle cry, when you must stand alone and there is no strength.  Remember in your fights to spell this precious name Emmanuel.

He has remembered all his mercy; his truth declared to Israel.

The Word was made flesh, Prophecy was fulfilled.  Emmanuel.  Lo, I AM WITH YOU, all the days, even to the end of the world.

And: where the two or three (no matter how small the number of the church) are gathered together in My name, THERE AM I IN THE MIDST OF THEM.

So then do not refuse the offer of grace.  Do not reject His Word and His Sacrament.  For: if you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.  For he who believes in the Son has eternal life.  But he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him,

Emmanuel…  Can you imagine what this means?  Not far away is your God; even not against you as your Enemy.  God with us: blessed are all who take refuge in Him.

Amen.