The Child does it all for us.

 

Christmas Eve, December 24, 2024

The grace of the Almighty God, the peace of His Son, and the comfort of the Holy Spirit be with you all.  Amen.

Isaiah 9:2-7  ²The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.  For those living in the land of the shadow of death, the light has dawned.  ³You have multiplied the nation.  You have increased the joy for it.  They rejoice before you like the joy at harvest time, like the celebration when people divide the plunder.  ⁴For you have shattered the yoke that burdened them.  You have broken the bar on their shoulders and the rod of their oppressor, as you did in the day of Midian.  ⁵Every boot that marched in battle and the garments rolled in blood will be burned.  They will be fuel for the fire.  ⁶For to us a child is born.  To us a son is given.  The authority to rule will rest on his shoulders.  He will be named: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  ⁷There will be no limit to his authority and no end to the peace he brings.  He will rule on David’s throne and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from now on, into eternity.  The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this. (EHV)

The Child does it all for us.

Dear rejoicing friends,

            The Lord our God put such rich depth in these few verses that over four days of the 1532 Christmas season, Martin Luther preached five very long, very rich sermons on just this text.  I promise you, I won’t make you sit through four or five hours of preaching tonight.  Still, in just these few minutes, we can be richly blessed by God’s words here.  This text lists many magnificent names and accomplishments of our Savior, so many, that we learn The Child does it all for us.

Do you remember what you were like the day you were born?  Likely, no one does, but I’ll bet that you remember what your newborn children were like, and we were no different.  We were all little tyrants!  We all came out of the womb needing and demanding that everything be done for us.  We had to be fed.  We had to be dressed.  We had to be held and comforted and burped and cleaned and taken care of from morning until night, and I can assure you that our neediness didn’t stop when the sun went down.  No, we needed to be taken care of right on through the night, or we were screaming bloody murder with each slight discomfort.

Pretty much in every way, none of that has changed.  We still need someone to make sure that we are fed, that we have clothes to wear, a home to live in, a job to go to so we can pay for the things we need.  We even need someone to make sure we keep on breathing, but most important of all, we still need someone to clean our mess; someone to take away our disgusting sins so that we don’t have to be discarded into the eternal fires of hell.  Now that’s a pretty rude awaking for Christmas Eve, isn’t it?   Yet, the Good News of this birth we are celebrating is that The Child does it all for us.

Isaiah says, “For to us a child is born.  To us a son is given.”  By nature, we, and all babies, are born extremely self-centered.  But this little Baby born in Bethlehem was exactly the opposite.  He did not enter this world so that He might be served, but rather, so that He could serve us.  Of course, Jesus did not come to serve us at our demand, because we, by nature, were too self-centered to realize we needed Him.  Instead, God’s Son entered this world because God knew we needed Him.  The Son of God laid aside His Mighty power and the glory of His throne in heaven to rescue us from sin, the devil, and the grave.  Plus, it is God’s great gift to us that Jesus serves without any merit or worthiness on our part.  God gave His Son to save you and me, little self-centered tyrants that we are, simply because of His great love and mercy and grace.

Now, understand that the baby Jesus had the same physical needs that we all had as infants, but you and I need to realize that all the while Jesus was here on earth growing up to be a Man, He did so without the temper tantrums, selfish demands, and corrupt desires that shame us, and even as He allowed Himself to be taken care of as a little child, He remained completely God and perfectly in control of everything this world needed for our everlasting good.  The Child does it all for us.

Isaiah prophesied, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.  For those living in the land of the shadow of death, the light has dawned.”  Dear friends, each of us once walked in the darkness of sin.  The self-centeredness that is our human nature kept us blind to the truth of God’s love.  Thus, we were marching wearily along in the darkness of sin without even comprehending that we were lost, until Jesus entered our world and brought everything to light.  As His Law was preached, we were shown the depth of our sin, bringing terror to our hearts.  Yet how the Light shined on us in the wonderful saving message of Christ’s Gospel.  His Good News gave light to our eyes bringing life, forgiveness, and the salvation Jesus entered this world to win for us.  The Child does it all for us.

What’s next?  Isaiah declared, “You have multiplied the nation.  You have increased the joy for it.  They rejoice before you like the joy at harvest time, like the celebration when people divide the plunder.”  Tonight, we rejoice for the great wonder of God’s grace that brought our Savior into this world to serve us sinners who needed Him so much.  We rejoice that Jesus came to win our salvation, and we rejoice because of His loving efforts to share that Good News with us.  We rejoice that as the Gospel is proclaimed, Christ’s kingdom is multiplied as new children enter in.

Isaiah says that people will celebrate Christ’s salvation like they do the harvest.  Do you understand why men celebrated at harvest time?  The ancients didn’t celebrate the harvest because they were glad to be done with their work for the year, or because they suddenly felt rich.  No, they were celebrating because they knew that they could live another year.  Today, people are often so far removed from agriculture they don’t realize that without a harvest, no one survives.  The same is true of Christ’s birth.  If Jesus hadn’t entered the world to save us, or if no one would tell us this Good News, our fate would be eternal torment and death.

The same is true with Isaiah’s picture of victorious people dividing up the spoils of war.  Soldiers rejoice as they plunder a defeated enemy because they know that if they had not gained the triumph, their opponents would be picking through their carcasses.  Likewise, victorious soldiers know that in victory they can enjoy peace and prosperity.  We rejoice for the same reason.  Christ has won everlasting victory for us.  The Holy Spirit shared His win with us, and the devil will never get to pick through our remains, because we will live with Christ forever.

The joyous things we celebrate as we gaze upon that little Baby in the manger in Bethlehem are the peace and eternal prosperity that Jesus entered the world to win for us.  Our Savior entered the world in this humble way so that through His life, death, and resurrection we will have life that can never be taken away, because Jesus accomplished peace with God on our behalf.

Isaiah wrote, “You have broken the bar on their shoulders and the rod of their oppressor, as you did in the day of Midian.”  Jesus entered this world because He, alone, could break the devil’s hold on us.  Jesus, alone, could release us from the slavery of sin and lift the heavy condemnation of the law off our weary shoulders.  We sing our praises to heaven, because by the heavy lifting of His life and sacrificial death, The Child set us free from the devil’s chains.

“He will be named: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”  Jesus is called “Wonderful Counselor” because He is perfect in every way: perfect in His love for all people, perfect in His obedience of the Law in our place, perfect in His Father’s eyes, and His life is the perfect payment for our sins.  His Word shows us how we should live, and how we have sinned, but also shows us our salvation as His Gospel tells us of the redemption He gained for us on the cross. 

He is called “Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” because He now lives and reigns from His Father’s throne, taking care of our every need.  No question is too hard for Him, no need too great for Him to supply.  Yet, like a loving Father, He disciplines us so that we do not wander away, so that we never let go of His strong hand.  Jesus is our “Prince of Peace,” because of the reconciliation He has gained between God and the human race.  He gives that peace to believers like you and me through the work of His Spirit in the Word and the Sacraments.  The Child does it all for us.

Dear friends, “There will be no limit to his authority and no end to the peace he brings.  He will rule on David’s throne and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from now on, into eternity.  The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.”  Our Lord Jesus, even as a tiny babe in the manger, took all the weight of our sin upon His own perfect shoulders, and He carried our guilt away so that we never again have to be afraid to stand before God. 

The peace Jesus won for us is eternal for God declared, “It is enough,” as He raised Jesus from the grave.  When we entered Jesus’ kingdom through faith, we were granted permanent sonship in God’s family.  St. Paul wrote, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither things present nor things to come, nor powerful forces, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:37-39)

For the love Jesus showed for us, the holiness He lived on our behalf, and for the sacrifice He made, God has put all things under His feet.  All authority in heaven and on earth now rests in Jesus Christ, our Savior.  Until the end of time when we are all safely home, body and soul in heaven, all forces, all powers, all governments, all people, and all spirits must bow in submission before Jesus as Judge.  We no longer must answer to anyone else.  Satan can no longer accuse us for Jesus took the just punishment for our guilt as He paid with His life.  The purchase price of His blood bought us for His kingdom.  We are His, and nothing and no one can take that away.  Jesus is our Redeemer, our King, our Savior, and our God.  The Child does it all for us.  Amen.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore.  Amen.