The names that Isaiah gives to his listeners referring to Jesus are incredible.
“For to us a child is born, 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.”
Isaiah 9:6 ESV
Each of these names has a profound meaning with great depth that many of us who have not had to reach out to Jesus for our very grounding and existence may not recognize. Whether we see counselor as someone who helps to bring grounding into our lives or as one who advocates for us, the help that many people who are wandering or struggling can appreciate the importance of divine help in the seemingly mundane complexities of life.
Believing that Jesus is strong enough to face and all the heart wrenching problems of this life brings hope to the broken, sin sick, and devastated among us. Knowing that the one who has called us His own can defend and provide for His redeemed in a world filled with broken promises calms the anxious heart.
Everlasting Father reminds that even in this world filled with death and grief, broken relationships, and the absence of true love, God is our stable, everlasting ‘Father who will not be taken away, tempted or corrupted. In this truth we find hope and comfort to find rest and renewal in the one who gives instead of the one who is empty and devoid of love and takes away.
Hearing of the Prince of Peace in a world of striving and wars whether from Isaiah’s time says that this to shall pass. The blood soaked ground will be washed in the holiness of God, sins will be washed away and a right living will happen, encompassing all of creation. The contrariness of our current situation will cease and the wholeness of heavenly living will descend into incarnate living.
Yet the prophecy that Isaiah preaches in 7:14 sums up the greatness of Jesus’ Gospel and the importance of relationship in the Gospel,
14 All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).
Immanuel, God with us.
Where is Jesus when I was sick?
God with us.
Where was Jesus when I was looking death in the face?
God with us.
Where was Jesus when I was at my lowest point in my life?
God with us.
where was Jesus when . . . ?
Immanuel, God with us.
May we have the eyes to see Christ, and the ears to hear Him calling to us, inviting us into His peace.
