Isaiah 7,10-14. Christmas II

Isaiah 7,10-14          0822 

Christfest II 08

Stephen, Deacon and Archmartyr. Martyr in Jerusalem 34 

11 Nigerians Martyrs 2019 in NE Nigeria by Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP)

26. Dezember 2021

1. ℣ The Word was made flesh. Alleluia: 

    ℟ And dwelt among us. Alleluia (John 1,14). 

Help, dear Lord God, that we may become and remain partakers of the new birth in the flesh of Your dear Son and be delivered from our old sinful birth.  Amen. (Luther 53,131-32)

2. »Again Yahweh spoke to Ahaz: „Ask a sign of Yahweh your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.“ But Ahaz said: „I will not ask, and I will not put Yahweh to the test.“ And Isaiah said: „Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore Yahweh Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive and bear a son, and will call His name Immanuel.“ 

3. Ahaz, the son of David, the ruling king and Judah from 735–15, did not believe the sign that Yahweh would redeem Israel. But Yahweh would not fulfill His promise in Ahaz’s day. Syria and Israel will be deserted; Judah will also become a target for Syrian aggression (7,10-17; Gibbs 110). The promised Immanuel did not show up during Ahaz’s reign. Isaiah sealed the testimony and pointed the people forward beyond the time of thick darkness to the advent of the Child who would be God with us and Mighty God (7,14; 9,6; Gibbs 113). 

4. After the 8. century bc when Syria, Ephraim and Assyria had come and gone, there was still darkness over the people of Judah (Gibbs 113). Their idolatry had corrupted them, and in 587 bc Yahweh sent them into Babylonian Exile for 70 years, and yet when they returned and rebuilt the temple the people were still in darkness. Yahweh then delivered the people from the persecution of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, and while the mennorah candles miraculously burned far longer than they should have, there was still darkness over the people. Even the exacting and rigorous keeping of the law by the Pharisees could not drive the darkness away, because Isaiah promised a Light in Galilee of the Gentiles – that promise still awaited fulfillment (Gibbs 113).

5. Matthew writes: »But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying: „Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.“ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the Prophet: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel (which means, God with us). And leaving Nazareth Jesus went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the Prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.« (Matthew 1,20-23; 4,13-16). Matthew tells us that this Light in Galilee of the Gentiles is fulfilled in Jesus (Gibbs 113). Jesus is Immanuel – God is with us; in Jesus God is with His people to deliver them and to bring light to the nations (Gibbs 113). Ahaz, who represented the house of David in the 8. century bc, did not accept Yahweh’s offer of a sign, nor believe in the significance of the Child who was promised in Isaiah 7,14 (Gibbs 113). But 8 centuries later, Joseph, who represented the house of David, does except Yahweh’s sign and does believe what Yahweh declares about the Child present in the Virgin Mary’s womb (Gibbs 113). Today we are invited to believe as well, for all who believe the message of Matthew’s Gospel, the Child Jesus will be known as God is with us (Gibbs 113). God’s presence with His people cannot be known apart from this Jesus who is the Glory of Israel and the Light to the Gentiles. 

6. John writes at the beginning of his Gospel: »In the Word of God was Life, and the Life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome It. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His Glory, Glory as of the Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth« (John 1,4-5.14). 

7. You came to hear the good words of the gospel once more today (Nagel 32). This gospel is received where we are at: joyous, or perhaps depressed; excited, or perhaps overwhelmed; optimistic, or perhaps pessimistic. The gospel of Christ’s birth is for you in the good times and also the bad. For our heart is now fixed where true joy is found, and that is more than anything that the world’s perception of Christmas offers (Nagel 32). The gospel tells us that we have a Savior, who is Christ the Lord (Nagel 32). He is given to us this day in hymns, in the Word and in His body and blood. 

8. O Child [Jesus], with all my heart

I will love You very much

In joys and sorrows,

More and more.

Yea, indeed all the longer more and more. (Zu Bethlehem geboren. In Bethlehem Was Born. ELGB 341,3). This is most certainly true. 

9. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippines 4,7).  Amen. 

11. Let us pray. O Lord God, dearest Father, help us to take part in the new birth of Your Beloved Son Jesus Christ in the flesh, and to set aside our old sinful birth.  Amen. (The Pomeranian Church Order and Agenda, 1854 p. 282.2; Stratman 29). 

To God alone be the Glory 

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

 

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart. 

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2019 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2020 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. 

Evangelisch-Lutherisches Kirchengesangbuch. Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft Copyright © 2021.

Gibbs, Jeffrey A. Matthew 1:1 – 11:1. Copyright © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. 

  Nagel, Norman. Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel: From Valparaiso to St. Louis. Frederick W. Baue, Ed. Copyright © 2004 Concordia Publishing House. 

Stratman, Paul C. Prayers for the Evangelical-Lutheran Heritage. Copyright © 2017.