December 13, 2023 Advent 2 Midweek Sermon Isaiah 9:2-7
Advent 2 Midweek
Isaiah 9:2-7
December 13, 2023
“King of Kings”
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
In many and various ways God spoke to His people of old by the prophets, including among that list of prophets our dear brother, Isaiah. Through Isaiah God spoke to His people of old about His Son who would come now in these last days, saying, “For unto us a child is born, and unto us a son is given.” Seven hundred years before that child and son was delivered by the labor of His mother, Mary, and placed in a manger, Isaiah already saw Him and spoke of Him, and declared to us the wonders and mysteries of the babe of Bethlehem.
Isaiah speaks of this baby in chapter 9 as a great light shining into the darkness, as a great joy like that of the time of harvesting, as a great freedom for those under burdens and oppression, as a great and peaceful government carried upon His shoulders, as a Wonderful Counselor, a Mighty God, an Everlasting Father, and a Prince of Peace. Words, it would seem, will always fail us, even fail the greatest prophets of old like Isaiah, to communicate the immeasurable attributes of this child and Son, Jesus Christ. He is, without any qualification nor exaggeration, the King of all kings and the Lord of all Lords. He is our King and our Lord.
St. Matthew joyfully recalled these first words of Isaiah, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light,” in chapter 4 of his Gospel, when Jesus went into the region of Galilee to begin His work of service after His baptism and temptation. Jerusalem would hold the distinction of being the city where they put Jesus to death on a cross, but it would be the region of Galilee up north where Jesus would shine His great light into the darkness. Galilee, a land which had seen much and deep darkness, would be the place from where Jesus called disciples, where He healed lepers, where He miracled water to wine, where He calmed wind and waves, where He fed thousands, and where He raised the dead.
Galilee, where people dwelt in darkness, in the region and shadow of death, would be enlightened by the very voice that spoke in the beginning, “Let there be light.” Not Jerusalem and Judea, but into Galilee of all unexpected places the light shone most brightly on fishermen, on lepers, on the demon-possessed, on tax collectors and harlots, on the sick and the dead, and on Gentiles.
In the same way today, the light of Christ doesn’t shine brightest in the glitzy and glamorous lights of Hollywood nor in the bright spotlights of NFL or MLB stadiums, nor in the bright mansions of the world’s rich and powerful, nor in the blinding, blue light screens that blind our eyes and our minds for hours every day. No, the rays of Christ’s light shine brightest on those walking in the darkness of grief, on those trudging the dark paths of shame and regret, on those limping through the darkness of pain and physical suffering, on those lying on hospital beds and in nursing homes waiting to be nursed, on those locked inside institutions, on those groping around in the blackness of mental depression, on those walking the dark walk of loneliness, on those who have walked with loved ones through the deep darkness of the shadow of death. To all of them and all of you, walking in the darkness of sin and evil and death, the light of Christ shines most brightly.
This light of Christ multiplies the nation in Isaiah 9:3. Many sinners, like the ones gracing the pews here tonight, come to the light so that the nation, the people of God, the Church of God, multiplies by thousands upon thousands, by myriads upon myriads. And as the Church multiplies, so the joy increases by proportion. This joy of the Messiah, our Lord Jesus, is compared by Isaiah to the joy of harvesttime or to the rejoicing when people divide the spoil. It’s the joy of a Thanksgiving table filled with ham and potatoes and all sweet things as your family and loved ones divide the potluck spoil with smiles on all faces. So the Church of God joyously lines up around the Lord’s eucharistic table of bread and wine and the sweet Lamb of God and joyously divides the spoil of forgiveness, eternal life, and salvation.
This joy is multiplied around the Lord’s Supper because (verse 4) the yoke and staff and rod of our oppressive burdens have been broken by our strong and mighty Gideon. It was Gideon, on the day of Midian (verse 4), who drove away the Midianites with the trumpet call of God, the light of His glory, and the shout of His victory using only three hundred men against the Midianite army of thousands. Our strong and mighty Gideon, our Lord Jesus Christ, has driven away our sin, the devil, and death itself and has broken the yoke, staff, and rod of those hellish oppressors.
And our Gideon, Jesus Christ, fuels the fire of victory with all our muddy boots from the battle tumult and our filthy rags and garments rolled in our own blood and the blood of Abel our brother which cries out from the ground. He casts our sin and shame and guilt and violence into the fiery furnace, never to be seen again, and He walks us through the flames so that they consume us not nor are we burned. No longer will we be slaves to the Egyptians or to the Philistines or to the Midianites or to the Assyrians or to the Babylonians or to the Romans or to the grave or to death or to hell or to our sins.
“For to us a child is born, and 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. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.”
Next to this King of Kings, Jesus Christ, all other kings are but vapor and mist and smoke. Never mind that He is a child born and a son given, for His reign is everlasting. All other kings and governments are vanities of vanities. The shoulders of King Ahaz will crumble to pieces along with the shoulders of governmental giants such as Kings David and Solomon, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus of Persia, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and George Washington. Not even to be named in the same sentence are such governmental peons as Donald Trump or Joe Biden. Their names sound like noisy gongs or clanging cymbals next to the sweet melody and four-part harmony of this fourfold name: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
He wonderfully, mightily, eternally, and peacefully governs you as your Counselor, God, Father, and Prince in a kingdom and world that will never end and will be upheld in righteousness and justice forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of all angel hosts and armies with do this. He is zealous in bringing this King Jesus to you. So walk in His shining light, rejoice around His joyous harvest table with all the Church of God, walk free with Him through the fire that burns up all the oppression of sin and guilt and death, and live under His government and peace from this time forth and forevermore.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.