Merry Christmas. I guess some of us could do with a Merry Christmas this year. It might be because of the national and international situation. The cost of living. Having to work longer before retirement. The difficulty of getting on the housing ladder. The threat of AI taking people’s jobs.
Or it might be that a Merry Christmas would cheer us up in the face of personal circumstances. A loved one has a serious illness. Family troubles.
Are we too ‘The people walking in darkness’ that Isaiah spoke of? It certainly feels like it at times.
The people of Judah in Isaiah’s day had all sorts of political troubles. They feared invasion by Assyria, who had already taken over the northern kingdom of Israel. And it was worse for them, because they had no way of voting in a new government. Imagine what good news it is to hear Isaiah saying that ‘The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.’
And Isaiah describes the one who is that great light:
6 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 Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
If the government were to be on his shoulders, they will think this is a political leader, a king. But they will be disappointed. No king in their day fulfils these hopes. Just like us, they pin their hopes on politicians, only to be let down.
The prophecy is only fulfilled in Jesus. He came as the hope of Israel. He is our hope, too. He is the
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
But what do those titles mean? And what do they mean for us?
Well, they go in pairs. The Wonderful Counsellor is the Mighty God, and the Everlasting Father is the Prince of Peace.
Firstly, the Wonderful Counsellor is the Mighty God:
The word ‘counsellor’ here doesn’t so much mean an adviser or someone who listens to your problems. It is to do with someone who makes plans. It is a ‘wonder planner.’[1] The mighty God makes wonderful plans for his people.
And you might be cynical about that, especially if you are going through bad times.
But let me tell you about someone who went through terrible times but still had faith in this God. Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch woman who, along with her father Casper and sister Betsy, in World War Two, hid Jews from the Nazis. When they were discovered, they were arrested. Casper died ten days later. The sisters were put in a concentration camp. Betsy died there. Corrie survived.
After the war, she spoke widely and wrote about her experiences and her faith in those dark times. Towards the end of her life, she said she had lived by the promises of God in the Bible while in the concentration camp and found them all to be true. She observed,
When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off.[2]
One of her most famous quotes about God is this:
There is no pit so deep, that He is not deeper still.
She lived and died by that faith. She knew that the good plans of the mighty God for her were seen in Jesus, who came into the darkness of this world, and even died unjustly. But God worked for good in that.
Are you in a deep pit in your life? I invite you to trust Jesus, who is deeper than your pit. God sent him to be with you, to be alongside you by his Spirit, and to bring hope and light in your darkness.
Secondly, the Everlasting Father is the Prince of Peace:
How do we Christians understand the title ‘Everlasting Father’ when Jesus is not God the Father but God the Son? ‘Everlasting Father’ here is an extravagant ancient description of a king’s relationship with his people[3]. The king who ultimately fulfils Isaiah’s prophecy will be the Prince of Peace.
And that is Jesus. ‘Peace on earth, goodwill to all on whom his favour rests.’
Do you need peace in your life? Perhaps you feel you can never be forgiven for something that has left you with deep shame. Jesus can resolve that. He died on the Cross for you. Nothing is too big for him.
Perhaps you are dealing with the pain of broken relationships. Jesus can help. He can show the way to reconciliation through forgiveness, bearing one another’s burdens, and a commitment to truth and justice. And if the other parties will not respond, he can hold you in the certainty of his love.
Or maybe you are worried by the state of the world, as warmongers and aggressive and violent national leaders take centre stage. We can’t control the actions of others, although we can pray. We know that if those who made a lot of their support for Christianity would actually follow Jesus, things would be different. In the meantime, this too is another case of there being no pit so deep that Jesus isn’t deeper still. He will hold us in the storm.
And one day, as the mighty king, he will put all things right.
Conclusion
I don’t want to give you a long address in a Christmas Eve service. But I do want us all to know as we head towards Christmas Day that Jesus is the best present ever. We can begin and have a lifetime of unwrapping all that he is.
[1] John Goldingay, Isaiah (New International Biblical Commentary), p73.
[2] Corrie ten Boom quotes sourced at https://explainingthebible.com/corrie-ten-boom-quotes/
[3] Goldingay, p72.
Big Circumstance 
What Do You Think?