Word of Salvation – Vol. 13 No.47 – November 1967
The Child… The Son
Sermon by Rev. M. H. MacFarlane on Isaiah 9:6a
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 8:16 – 9:7
Psalter Hymnal: 318; 85; 415; 14; 373
Beloved Congregation in the Lord Jesus Christ,
Isaiah is known as the great prophet of the Messiah, the Christ. His inspired prophecies are shot through with concepts of the promised one who will do great things for God’s people.
Isaiah — and the Messiah. There is even the striking similarity in the sound of the names. And not only the sound. Isaiah means: “The Lord saves”, or “The Lord is salvation.” And the coming of the Messiah was to be the coming of the Saviour-Lord indeed. Again: This man who prophesied in such a remarkable way about the coming Messiah-King, himself is generally believed to have had royal blood in his veins. Certainly he had the royal touch with his pen. For brilliance of imagery, splendour of diction and beauty of style, he is unrivalled among Old Testament — or New- Testament — writers.
Isaiah prophesied over a period of some 40 years, towards the close of the 8th century B.C. It was a critical time in Juda’s history. On the surface there was prosperity; even piety and peace. But, below the surface, things were not so good. Spiritual corruption in the form of idolatry issued inevitably in political, social and moral corruption. And, on top of that, there was an uneasy feeling in the air about Assyria, the “reds” of the day. Under their king, Tiglath-Pileser III, who was anything but the retiring type, the Assyrians were carrying all before them — and carrying off their captives for a stretch of hard labour back home in Babylon. When Ahaz came to the throne of Judah, he thought he would be smart. Instead of waiting to be invaded by the Assyrians, he got the idea of buying them off — with tribute-money. And not only paying tribute-money, but going all the way with Tiglath-Pileser by worshipping his gods as well. These gods seemingly had done great things for T-P. If Ahaz worshipped them, they might do the same for him, too. So he decreed: The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was no longer to be worshipped in Judah. The doors of the temple were to be closed, shut tight – as tight as the ears of Ahaz were closed against Isaiah’s warnings of what must be the inevitable result of such crazy policies – destruction, desolation, darkness.
Yet, looking beyond all this – beyond the fall of Jerusalem, beyond the long period of exile for God’s people in Babylon – Isaiah sees LIGHT. Yes, he sees JOY. He sees HOPE. In a tremendous sweep of time, some 700 years before the actual event, he already sees the shining of a GREAT light …. THE light of the world! All this, in the person of a child…! THE Child! The long- promised Messiah!
“For unto us a child is born;
unto us a son is given.”
With these words, we come to the climax of this particular portion of prophecy in the book of Isaiah concerning the Messiah. Words that are at the very heart of Isaiah’s entire Messianic message… at the very heart of the whole message of salvation as we find it in the Bible. The world has been waiting for this event – for the birth of this child. Everything hinges on this event, and its outcome. Here, the destiny of man, of all creatures, is being decided. This is God’s decisive showdown with sin. And Satan knows it. That is why he puts it into the heart of Herod to kill the child. Of course, it still remained for Jesus to suffer and to die on the Cross; to rise again from the dead; to return to his Father in heaven, and to pour forth his Spirit on the Church at the time of Pentecost. But all these things are already accomplished IN PRINCIPLE with the birth of the Child.
And this means: the powers of darkness are already dealt with, in principle. Satan is still at large in the world, like a lion roaring for its prey. But his doom is sealed. So Isaiah can say in this context: The light has shined. Oppression is ended. And the people may rejoice. The armies of the Assyrians; of all nations, of all ages are smashed, broken, pulverised to dust; weapons, armour, everything to do with warfare is burnt, as fuel for the fire.
How? Why? Simply because of WHO this Child is; simply because there is no longer any place for these things in the new kingdom which is established with the birth of this Child, with the gift of this Son. Not just another earthly kingdom. Not even “the mostest” of all earthly kingdoms as the Jews liked to think of it. (This idea even lingered on in the minds of Jesus’ disciples). No…! This kingdom Isaiah sees as an everlasting kingdom; a kingdom that cannot be moved. A kingdom of PEACE…. ruled over by this Child, who is the Prince of Peace.
As the great prophet of the Messiah, Isaiah not only tells the people of his own day that this promised, anointed one of the Lord WILL surely come. He also tells HOW – in what manner, what form – he will come. He suggests strongly WHERE in what place he will come; and predicts WHAT he will DO when he does come. He will come, says Isaiah, in a miraculous way….. as a baby, born of a young woman who will be a virgin. (So: he will be fully and truly HUMAN). And his name will be called Immanuel (that is: “God with us”. So he will also be fully and truly DIVINE). Now … is not all this a great miracle indeed? The prophecy given to Isaiah, and its fulfilment (as recorded by Matthew in his gospel)… that GOD – the creator of all things, the upholder of all things; the beginning of all things and the end of all things – should come into this world – should bring himself into this world – in the form of a little baby boy! The human mind boggles at the thought of it. And so the unbelieving mind promptly rejects it. Only true faith can accept it.
Do YOU accept it? More: do you accept HIM? This Child, this Son, this Messiah, this Christ, this God-Man Jesus, as your salvation? Is this the one you are thinking about so much, concerning yourself about so much, at this particular time of the year? Is this the one who is at the heart of all your preparations for Christmas… who is in your own heart? If he is not there, then Christmas is not really there either. For what is left of CHRISTmas, without CHRIST?
Isaiah not only tells HOW the Messiah will come; he also indicates strongly WHERE in what place he will come. In Bethlehem. The place where Jesse, the father of David, once lived. And Isaiah says it is from the “stump of Jesse” (not the stump of David) that the Child will come forth, like a tender shoot; like a branch growing out of his roots. And what is it that this shoot, this Child will do when he grows to manhood? He will bring GOOD TIDINGS to the afflicted; he will bind up the broken-hearted; He will proclaim release to the captives and the recovering of sight to the blind; yes, he will set at liberty those who are oppressed, and proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
All this Jesus himself did in fact tell his fellow-countrymen in his home town of Nazareth, when he came to preach in the synagogue there.
What else will this Child do? What else MUST this Child do? He must suffer, he must die so that his people might be free indeed. Despised and rejected by men. Wounded and bruised. Isaiah sees the very stripes of the lash on his back. Yet he does not cry out. He bears it all…. all our griefs, all our sorrows, all our sins…. even unto death.
Such is the full sweep of the revelation of the Messiah, given to Isaiah by God. From the cradle to the grave. And BEYOND the grave! To his ruling over the world, over the universe – “The government will be upon his shoulders”. Even to the end of the world, and his return to judge the world. “With righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek…. and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.”
A Child. A Son. God’s gift to us – out of pure grace, pure love. Given to us… to have and to hold. To possess for our own benefit, our own profit. Oh, how we need to have him! Every hour, every moment of every hour, we need him….. this Holy Child, this Blessed Son! Do you ask what IS the benefit? What DOES it profit us to have the gift of this Son?
You know, beloved; you know!
The very fact of his birth is the benefit. The very fact of God himself becoming flesh; breaking into the course of the history of this world… and thereby breaking into pieces, once and for all, the powers of darkness, of sin, of Satan, so that, by the sufferings and by the death of this Son and by his triumph over death, we sinners may be reconciled to God – may become super-naturalised as citizens of his everlasting kingdom.
It is true, of course: we have never seen this Child, this Son in the flesh, as his disciples saw him. Nor may we see him as the inspired prophet Isaiah saw him. Yet we DO see him, even today, and in a still more wonderful way in his GLORY! With the inward eye of faith – that sees him, that accepts him. We also know and experience his abiding presence through the working of his Spirit in our hearts. And we look forward with eager expectation to that day when he does come back to us again; when we shall see him… face to face! Meantime, with glad and thankful hearts we prepare for yet another celebration of his first coming.
For unto us… a child is born;
unto us… son is given…!
And his name shall be called
WONDERFUL COUNSELLOR…!
full of wisdom and righteousness;
Spirit of truth.
MIGHTY GOD…!
our Shield, our Rock; our Redeemer and King.
EVERLASTING FATHER…..!
whose kingdom shall have no end.
PRINCE OF PEACE…!
“My peace I give unto you;
not as the world gives, do I give to you”.
Oh Child! Oh Son!
Oh Lord, OUR Lord!
How great…. thy Name… in all the earth.
AMEN.