In the Name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Grace
and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and may our Lord
and Savior sanctify you in the truth, for His word is truth. Amen
Christmas Day (2011)
What
Child is This?
Isaiah 9:6-7 (ESV)
For to us
a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his
shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting
Father, Prince of Peace. [7] Of the increase of his government and of peace there
will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it
and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and
forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
One of the most natural of human events is the birth of a baby. Needless
to say, to happy parents, it is the greatest thing to come to pass. The same is
true of the birth of our Lord Jesus. No one except Mary and Joseph appeared to
be concerned about it, but to the virgin mother and her husband, the Child who
saw the light of day in a stable was particularly precious. Moreover, mingled
with the joys of parenthood, was the remembrance of the angel’s prophecy
concerning their Son. Yes, there was both wonder and miracle wrapped up with
this Baby in the swaddling clothes lying in a manger.
Angels from heaven proclaimed His birth to shepherds in the
fields. A bright star guided gift-laden kings to His lowly manger bed, while
another king, in his mad effort to destroy this Child, soon martyred innocent
male babes in that blood bath in Bethlehem.
A newborn child is an unknown potential, usually full of promise,
but this Child whose birth we celebrate today is in every respect unique,
beyond compare. The question quite naturally arises, asking; What Child is This?
700 years before the birth of this Child, God promised a Deliverer
to His people in these words of His prophet: “For to us a
child is born, to us a son is given.” The whole Book of Isaiah is full
of marvelous promises of the Messiah. Elsewhere Isaiah says: “Behold,
the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel”
(Isaiah 7:14 ESV), God with us. Thus Isaiah anticipates the announcement
of the angels to the shepherds: “For unto you is born this day in the city
of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11 ESV).
As
we look at the Child lying in the manger we are peering at the miracle of
miracles—the eternal God in the form of a helpless infant, a baby born of a
virgin, the baby who has “no father on earth and no mother in heaven.” This
miracle is the fulfillment of God’s promises to His people of the Old Testament
times, and of the angels promise to Joseph, and of the annunciation of Mary: "The
Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow
you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God” (Luke
1:35 (ESV).” Furthermore, we confess our faith in the miracle of
Christmas in the grand and simple words of the Creed: “I believe . . . . in
Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit;
Born of the Virgin Mary.
Christmas
is the time of gifts. Isaiah’s prophecy reminds us that the miracle of
Christmas is God’s gift to man: “to us a son is given.” What did man do to deserve such a priceless
gift from God? Look back over the history of the world. Think back to the first
rebellion of man against the holy will of his Creator. Recall the continued
apostasy of the human race, defying the divine will, exalting its own selfish
desires and ambitions. Review your own life; look beneath the surface of
personal righteousness and good works. Then ask again, what has the world—what
have I—done to merit this miracle of Christmas? The answer may be given in one
word: Or in two: absolutely nothing. On the contrary, we by our sin have only deserved
God’s wrath and judgment.
It
is vitally necessary to understand this if you would know the true importance
of Jesus Christ for you and the world. Think! If Christ had been deserved or
merited by us, then He could not truly be called a gift; for a gift is not
earned. However, the prophet expressly calls Christ a Gift. That means this
Child is given by God’s boundless grace alone; God’s pitying love to a lost,
sinful, undeserving world.
Where
a gift is concerned, three things are usually involved: the giver, the gift,
and the receiver. If one is missing, the action cannot be completed. The lack
of a receiver frustrates the good intention of the giver, and someone is the
poorer. Does this not suggest your place in God’s plan of Christmas? Whoever,
whatever, and wherever you are, God earnestly desires you to be a recipient of
his great Christmas Gift. Remember the angel’s message:” Fear not, for behold, I bring
you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people” (Luke 2:10 (ESV)
— the people of
What Child is This? The answer may
also be known from the exalted titles given to Him in prophecy: “For
to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon
his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace,” (Isaiah 9:6 ESV). Ordinarily the
name of a child does not tell us anything about this Child. However, the names
and titles given by God to His Son, long before His incarnation, accurately
describe His person and work. They reveal to us not only what he is like, but
what He is. Each of the titles is overpowering in its majesty. Together they
are utterly overwhelming, a “name that is above every name” (Philip. 2:9
ESV) a name before which the sinner might well shrink in awe and
terror. But no! These glorious names are intended to reveal to His rebellious
children God’s great love for them in His only-begotten Son.
He
is called Wonderful, that is, miracle; for He is the Miracle in the manger, the
Word made flesh, our Brother and our Redeemer. He is called Counselor; for He
is our omniscient, all-wise Counselor, who knows our deepest wants and needs
and who is able and willing to help in time of need. He is called mighty God;
for He is our Creator and Protector. He is called the everlasting Father; for
He is our Father in heaven whose mercy is from everlasting to everlasting and
whose truth endures to all generations. He is called the Prince of Peace. If
the prior names tend to inspire great awe and fear, then surely this last will
relieve all fear and dread; for He is a Prince who brings not wrath and
judgment, but peace. “He is our Peace.”
The
world is blindly groping for peace. Nations, while continuing to design and
build new weapons of war, all protest that they are doing this in the interest
of preserving peace. In spite of their efforts and claims, this peace, which is
so precariously preserved, is no real peace at all, but a calm based on fear of
mutual destruction. If men in this “advanced era” of civilization, with its
ever increasing stockpile of mental and material resources, have so little
success in maintaining peace on earth, how can they possibly establish and
preserve the greater peace with God? In
this respect the resources of sinful man are nil. It is not only that we lack
spiritual power, but that we are by nature actually in opposition to God and
His holy will. Let us keep the record straight—it is not God who is at war with
man, but man who is at war with God. God is for peace between man and Himself. “For
I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not
for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come
and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me. When you
seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:11-13 ESV). God has promised
and God has sent at Christmas that One who is the “Prince of Peace.”
Our
Prince of Peace has vindicated His title before the world. His battle to win
our peace took Him from the manger to the cross. There as the Lamb of sacrifice
He bore the sin of the world in His own body on the tree. In another prophecy
Isaiah explains: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his
own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6
ESV). Later
Today
the Prince of Peace once again seeks to come into the hearts and homes and
lives of each of you. Remember, the peace He brings is the peace which rests
upon His blood-bought forgiveness, that peace which removes fear of God and
assures you of His abiding love; that “peace which the world cannot give”; that
peace which “passes all understanding.” May God keep us from turning our hearts
and homes into a modern
What child is This? The answer may
also be found in the prophecy concerning His gracious rule. Isaiah says, “and
the government shall be upon his shoulder,” and “Of the increase of his
government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over
his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with
righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of
hosts will do this” (Isaiah 9:6-7 ESV).
The
Messiah will govern righteously. His reign will be marked by justice and
judgment. It will increase and it will endure forever. All this refers to the
spiritual
In
these days of wars and rumors of war you may be inclined to fear for the
welfare of the Church. However, do not be overly concerned about the safety of
the Church. You have the Founder’s word of assurance: “The gates of hell shall not
prevail against it” (Matthew 28:18 (ESV). You should
rather be concerned about your personal relation to His Church, the relation of
your family and your friends; and of others who do not yet know the Christ Child as their Lord. Only
Christian’s members of His kingdom can truly know the eternal blessing of
Christmas. If you know it today, it is largely because someone before you passed
this blessing on to you. Therefore, you, as one who possesses and prizes the
blessing of Christmas—you also have a holy obligation and debt to the people of
today and of tomorrow to make the blessing known to them.
Today
reflect upon the joy Christmas has brought you, and think of it in terms of
your personal, congregational, and synodical efforts to preach the Gospel to
all nations. Be grateful for your church, your school, your colleges and
seminaries, your charitable institutions, and your missionaries at home and
abroad. Remember them in your prayers. Support them liberally with your gifts
of love.
The
example of the Shepherds who knelt at the Savior’s manger and then rose to make
know aboard what he had seen and herd, and the great commission of the Prince
of Peace: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:18 (ESV).
suggest a fitting thought with which to conclude, namely, that the way to “keep
Christmas” is to share Christmas. Amen.
May the Peace of God which passes all understanding
keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.