Christmas (Page 2)
God speaks through angels, visions, and dreams across the Bible, and Matthew’s Joseph receives his instructions the same way. Jacob’s son Joseph stands behind him. The two Josephs, one in the Old Testament and one in the New, both serve God’s purpose to bring Christ into the world.
The birth of Christ answers the first creation with a new one. Gabriel, the ‘man’ from God, comes to Nazareth, and Mary carries in herself both the sorrow and the joy of Judah. The angel names the child’s attributes, and Mary submits: ‘be it unto me according to thy word.’
Isaiah prophesied to a king, Ahaz, and a people in the northern tribes who had run out of hope. Into that darkness Isaiah 9 promises a great light, the hope of Christ. The world has secularized Christmas, and it misreads the angels’ ‘peace on earth’ in Luke 2:14 in the same way.
Isaiah uses the child as a symbol, and a barren woman conceives by God’s power alone. Isaiah 9:6 names the child Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. The minister’s job is to proclaim that child, and the church confesses him.