ChristmasReading2022A - Flipbook - Page 28
Wonderful Counselor
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will
be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God, Everlas ng Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his
government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s
throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with jus ce
and righteousness from that me on and forever. The zeal of the Lord
Almighty will accomplish this. Isaiah 9:6-7
These words were rst heard in an cipa on of a me when a “great
light” would dawn in Jerusalem. It would be in contrast to the
darkness, the: distress and darkness and fearful gloom” (Isaiah 8:22),
tra cked by the barbaric Assyria. The morning light would come and
sca er the long night of discouragement. Peace, jus ce and
righteousness would displace the dread.
These words looked back to something God said to David about his
descendant reigning forever and ever (2 Samuel 7:12-13). Some see
the prophecy of Isaiah 9 poin ng to a new prince come into the world
by the name of Hezekiah. He would become king toward the end of the
eighth century BC and did resist Sennacherib through the interven on
of an angel of the Lord decima ng the Assyrian army (Isaiah 36). And
then the Babylonians arrived and the story turned south…again.
Centuries later, God-the-Son would come into the world through a
virgin birth connected again to words of the prophet Isaiah (7:14). This
me the power confronted would be Rome and its not-so-peaceful
“Pax Romana,” enforced by Roman legion and paid for by Roman
taxa on. The long night of discouragement seemed never ending. How
is it then that Jesus comes into the world as “wonderful counselor”?
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Jesus would introduce into the world an extraordinary wisdom and
understanding of life as it was meant to be. Wisdom is not a collec on
of facts, but how to navigate successfully the unpredictable winds of a
broken world. His wisdom would o en contradict the conven onal
human wisdom of His day. For example, blessing was not the sole turf
of the a uent and powerful (as was assumed), but comes to the poor
in spirit, to those who mourn, to the meek and even the persecuted
(Ma hew 5:3-12) who choose to live in the Kingdom of God.
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DAY Thirteen: December 10 - Saturday