Advent | A Family ReflectionVoorbeeld

The Promised Child by Todd Wilson For to us a child is born, to us a son is given. . . . And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 Isaiah 9 is a magnificent celebration of hope in the face of national trauma, disaster, and even despair. Israel is facing foreign invasion, so it is shrouded in the “fearful gloom” and “utter darkness” (Isa. 8:22). The Assyrians are threatening to invade from the north and haul them off into exile, which they will do a few short years from the time of this writing. Against the dark backdrop of national despair and gloom, Isaiah envisions the dawning of the light of salvation (vv. 1–2) which results in great joy for God’s people (v. 3). God is going to bring about liberation from foreign oppressors (v. 4), but more than that, he is going to bring about a complete cessation to warfare itself (v. 5). How is he going to do that? Through the gift of a son: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given” (v. 6). This magnificent chapter gives us the prophet's first major exposition of Israel’s coming king, her long-awaited Messiah. Isaiah had already hinted at the birth of this world-transforming child earlier when he announced that “[t]he virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (7:14), which means “God with us.” But, here, in 9:6, he elaborates about who this child will be, using four more names: “And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” What the prophet Isaiah could only see in outline, we now see in full color. This child that is born, this son who is given, is none other than Jesus of Nazareth. He is God’s wonderful counselor. He is God’s wisdom incarnate. He is the embodiment of God’s saving plans for the world. Contemplate Isaiah 9:1–7. How does Jesus fulfill each of the names in verse 6? Todd Wilson is senior pastor of Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park, Illinois, and cofounder of the Center for Pastor Theologians.