The Gospel According to Isaiah: Isaiah Sees the Christ Child

“Behold, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).
“For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given” (Isaiah 9:6).
Isaiah hath foretold It,
In words of promise sure,
And Mary’s arms enfold It,
A Virgin meek and pure.
(ELH 121 v. 2)
Are you thinking the timing is all wrong for this subject? That this belongs better in December? This is six months too early! Try 700 years. These words which are a “Christmas Gospel” were written by Isaiah 700-plus years before they took place. Isaiah was enabled to see the Christ.
READ:  ISAIAH 7:10-16
(You are encouraged to read Scripture portions from your Bible.)
The prophecy of the virgin birth came in the midst of a political crisis. Isaiah’s country, Judah (the Southern Kingdom), was being attacked by Israel (the Northern Kingdom) along with Israel’s new friend Syria. The king of Judah was tempted to make friends with the reigning world superpower, Assyria.
This would mean joining with heathen idol worshippers in the interest of worldly peace and physical safety. In this moment of crisis, God sent the prophet Isaiah to King Ahaz with an invitation to ask God for a sign (v. 10). He was calling upon Ahaz to trust God. Ahaz refused: “I will not ask!” He refused to trust God.
The prophet Isaiah then spoke the words of promise: “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” This is the Gospel. He calls us by the Gospel, in the midst of our political crises and darkness of this age, to be enlightened with (dwell in the light of) His gifts.
Luke 1:30-35 and Matthew 1:18-23 show this coming true in precise detail. The angel tells Joseph and Mary that Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit. Although He received true human flesh from Mary, He did not receive a sinful flesh. He was conceived holy, for us. He remained without sin (Hebrews 4:15). He purifies our sinful flesh and cleanses our conscience. When we eat His body in the Lord’s Supper, and our flesh is joined with His flesh; and when we drink His blood in the Supper, which cleanses us from all sin, we see that He is truly Immanuel – “God with us.”
READ:  ISAIAH 9:2-7
(You are encouraged to read Scripture portions from your Bible.)
Perhaps you know by heart the beautiful names given to Christ: Wonderful (nothing more wonderful than sins forgiven!), Counselor (bringing true consolation), Mighty God (destroying the work of the devil), Everlasting Father (you are His child by baptism), Prince of Peace (bestowing peace with God).
But the greatest part is that Isaiah – who earlier had seen that a virgin would give birth – does not say that unto the virgin Mary is the Child born, but: “Unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given.” This is what the angels said: “Unto you is born … a Savior.”
Martin Luther said: “This is for us the hardest point, not so much to believe that He is the Son of a Virgin and God Himself, as to believe that this Son of God is ours. He who does feel it has become another man. Truly it is marvelous in our eyes that God should place a little child in the lap of a virgin and that all our blessedness should lie in Him. This Child belongs to all mankind.” (The Martin Luther Christmas Book, 23)
Reverend Jerry Gernander
Bethany Lutheran Church
Princeton, MN