| December 22, 2020 Good afternoon, ” 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, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6Isaiah is a very old piece of Scripture. It may have been written in somewhere between 586-538 B.C., when the Israelites were in exile in Babylon. Babylon was the Empire of the day, like the USA, or China or Russia of today. The Israelites had been taken from Jerusalem, their place of worship destroyed and were placed as slaves/servants in the capital. It was a challenging time in the life of faith. Isaiah speaks for God. He wants a Saviour to arrive. In chapter 9, he describes what he wants in that Saviour. The new prophet will be born, and he will be great. He will rule the government. We hope that he will be a just and peaceable leader. This leader did not arrive in the time that they stayed in Babylon. He was not born when the people of God returned. A Saviour did not come when they rebuilt the Temple. It was a long journey. Jesus was born when there was a new Empire in charge. Herod and Quirinius were in charge of Palestine. Even though the baby Jesus transformed the world, we still await the leader that will be the ‘ Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Wonderful Father, and the Prince of Peace.’ The Messiah musical piece reminds us every Christmas. Every Christmas provides us with an image of a better world. What do you hope for on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this year ? Salaam and peace in our world this Christmas. AMEN Fred |
