Hope Fulfilled
Isaiah 9: 1a, 2, 6
and 7; Luke 2: 1-20
Hope. The American
Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines hope as the wish for
something with expectation of its fulfillment or the theological virtue defined
as the desire and search for a future good, difficult but not impossible to
attain with the help of God.
I was stunned to find nearly two billion references to the word “hope” on the Internet. Quotes about hope do, indeed, abound.
I was stunned to find nearly two billion references to the word “hope” on the Internet. Quotes about hope do, indeed, abound.
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| "Pandora Opens the Box" Walter Crane, 1892 |
But, one day, she became restless and bored and eventually
gained access to the north room which she found empty save for a box. Pandora's curiosity knew no bounds; she felt
compelled to open the box, and when she did, out came hundreds of creatures
looking like insects. These insect-like creatures flew up and away. Finally after
they’d all escaped, she managed to slam the lid shut. Then she heard a tiny voice calling from
inside the box: "Let me out!” Pandora released from the box a
fairy-like creature.
"I am Hope,” said this creature. “Pandora, you have let
out all possible troubles for humankind. There will be no peace of mind for
humans from this day forth. There will be greed and jealousy, insanity and
lust, there will be plague and hatred, famine, pestilence, vice and
destruction. The world will know great sorrow. You have unleashed all manner of
afflictions upon the world, but you have also let me out. I will always be
there to bring hope to humans, whenever they are in trouble. I will always be
there as the promise of Hope!”
Well, as a Christian, I don’t lay the blame for sin and evil
on Pandora’s shoulders and, I hope, none of us looks for hope in boxes even
at this time of year when we anticipate seeing them under our Christmas trees. No,
our hope, as the familiar hymn goes, is built on nothing less than Jesus’
righteousness.
The Bible speaks of hope as an anchor holding the soul firm
and secure. We’re told in 1st Thessalonians that a believer’s
endurance is inspired by hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. Hope is that which
fills and produces joy. Hope is a blessing, and the prophet Isaiah tells us
that those who hope in the Lord will soar on wings like eagles.
Hope. Hope is the focus of this entry as we look to the books of Isaiah
and Luke.
Isaiah 9: 1a, 2, 6
and 7
Nevertheless,
there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. The people walking in darkness have seen a
great light; on those living
in the land of deep darkness,
a light has dawned. 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. Of the greatness of His government and peace
there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and
righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.
Luke 2: 1-20
In those days
Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire
Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while[a]
Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to
register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea,
to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of
David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to
him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the
baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in
cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available
for them. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping
watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and
the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel
said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great
joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to
you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a
baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the
heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God
in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” When
the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one
another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the
Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the
baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word
concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were
amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these
things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and
praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as
they had been told.
*****
Little is known about the prophet Isaiah other than that he
loved Jerusalem, freely associated with Judah’s kings, was married and had two
children. The name Isaiah means “Yahweh is salvation.” His name and the names
of his sons–Shear-Jahsub (“a remnant will return”) and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz
(“the prize shall very quickly be taken”)–were symbolic to the nation. These
three names capture the essence of the book of Isaiah: First, Yahweh is the
source of salvation; second, Yahweh will spare a remnant for Himself; and third, Yahweh’s judgment is certain to come. The book of Isaiah is a book
centered on hope.
Isaiah was a contemporary of the prophets Amos, Hosea and
Micah, beginning his ministry in 740 B.C., the year King Uzziah died. Isaiah accurately
predicted the fall of the kingdom of Judah, the subsequent restoration of its
people and their eventual return from captivity. Isaiah looked even further
into the future to predict the coming of the Messiah, the Suffering Servant,
who would bring salvation in its fullest sense. That Messiah came in Jesus Christ,
whose name means "Savior, Anointed One."
In Luke, and elsewhere in the New Testament, we see the
fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecies in Jesus, the One born of a virgin and heir
to the throne of David. The prophet Daniel predicted the time and place of His
birth, and we see the fulfillment of that prophecy in the first two verses of
Luke, chapter 2.
The Lord entered into a world of darkness not so very different
from the world of Isaiah’s day or our own day. Then the darkness was the darkness of Rome with its sexual
immorality, its inhumanity, its injustice, its selfishness, its slavery, its
pride, its spiritual emptiness.
Then, power was in the hands of men with lofty titles,
impressive names: Caesar Augustus, emperor. Quirinius, governor of Syria. Then,
as now, there were laborers–people like Joseph and the woman who was pledged
to marry him, Mary.
And then too, there were oppressive governments, harsh taxes,
insufficient housing, insensitive people and episodes of great violence.
God broke into this darkness with light. There was the light
that accompanied the angels who appeared to the shepherds as they tended their
flocks in the Judean fields. There was the light that appeared to the magi--the wise men--of whom we read in Matthew’s gospel. And THE Light came
in human form, in divine form, in the Christ child, Jesus, who was born to lead
us out of darkness, born to be a light unto our paths. Jesus, the Light of the
World. Jesus, the only hope for the world.
The infant Jesus–in that stable in Bethlehem–was from
all normal, surface indications–as far from the earthly power, fame and might
of Caesar as anyone might be and yet He was so infinitely beyond Caesar that
one cannot even begin to make a comparison.
Here was the God of glory coming down to our level, our
conditions, being subject to our pain, our humiliations, our frustrations, experiencing
joy and love.
From Luke, we learn that this child would grow up in much
the same way as other children. He would be obedient to His earthly parents. He
would work with His hands. He would kneel in prayer. He would agonize over
suffering. He would enjoy the company of friends. He would weep. He was fully human
and yet fully God–-the One who would be called our Lord Immanuel, which means
“God with us.”
His birth in Bethlehem was a miracle that affirms God’s
power. In Micah 5:2, the prophet proclaims: “You, Bethlehem Eprathah, though
you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who
will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times.”
The words Micah uses here indicate that he expected a
supernatural figure, a ruler, God in human form, and only in Jesus Christ does
this prophecy and hundreds of others find fulfillment.
The Hebrew name “Beth-lehem” means House-of Bread. The
Bread of Life was born in Beth-lehem. And at His birth, he was placed in a
manger, a feeding trough. Disturbing imagery at first glance. But Jesus
clarifies the meaning for us in words to His disciples during a feeding of the
multitudes.
Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Your forefathers
ate manna in the desert yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down
from heaven which one may eat and not die. I am the “living bread’ that came
down from heaven. If one eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread
is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world. And in Matthew 26, the
Last Supper is recalled, when Jesus took the bread, gave thanks and gave it to
them saying, “Take, eat, this is my body.”
Jesus tells us that we should not be as concerned about
perishable food as about the food that lasts forever which He gives us. That food
is Himself–His body and blood–of which we partake symbolically in the
Lord’s Supper.
Bethlehem–“House of Bread.” Bethlehem Ephrathah, this
specific Bethlehem. It is this Bethlehem to which the author of Genesis refers when
he speaks of the burial place of Rachel. It is here that Ruth gathered grain in
Boaz’ field and here that David was anointed king. The designation Bethlehem
Ephrathah is used by Micah to distinguish this Bethlehem from other towns of the same name.
Seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus, a man named
Micah prophesied that out of Bethlehem would come the Messiah whose greatness
would reach to the ends of the earth. And Micah’s contemporary Isaiah predicted
that this child would be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace.”
In the Old Testament, there are more than 300 distinct
prophecies that were fulfilled in this one Christ child. From the third chapter
of Genesis, we learn that the Savior would be the offspring of a woman, from
the line of Abraham and Isaac, a descendant of the tribe of Judah.
Jeremiah predicted that there would be a slaughter of
infants following the Savior’s birth and we find recorded in Matthew’s gospel,
the fact that King Herod ordered the destruction of all male children under the
age of two in hopes of doing away with the baby whom the magi had announced as
the long-awaited Christ child.
Another prophet, Hosea, writing hundreds of years before the
birth of Jesus, prophesied that the Christ child would escape destruction by
fleeing into Egypt. The fact of this flight is recorded for us in the gospel of
Matthew.
Isaiah also prophesied of Christ’s virgin birth, His
ministry in Galilee, His rejection by His own people, the false witnesses who
would come against Him and His silence before His accusers. The Psalms speak of
His betrayal by a friend and Zechariah prophesied that He would be sold for 30
pieces of silver and that the money would be returned for a potter’s field.
Isaiah also foretold that the Lord would suffer on the cross; that His hands
and feet would be pierced; that He would be mocked and insulted; that He would
be given gall and vinegar to drink; that He would pray for His enemies; that
His side would be pierced; that soldiers would cast lots for His clothes; that
not a bone of His body would be broken; and that He would be buried with the
rich. All came to pass in Christ Jesus just as the prophets had written
centuries earlier.
The prophets also foretold that Christ’s resurrection from
the dead and ascension into heaven would guarantee eternal life to all who
would believe and accept what the Savior had done for them by His sacrifice on
the cross.
Faith in Jesus is not a matter of naivete or wishful
thinking. Followers of Jesus worship a God–a triune God–Father, Son and
Holy Spirit–who is real and powerful and active throughout history and beyond
history. He is the worker of miracles and His greatest miracle and His most wonderful
gift is spoken of at length in this second chapter of Luke.
Here we learn that Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a
census be taken throughout the Roman world. This decree brought Mary and Joseph
the 100 miles from their home in Nazareth to Bethlehem where they were to
register so they might be taxed. There the prophecy about this place and the
time of the Messiah’s birth would be fulfilled and it would be done by God
moving the hand of a Roman ruler. This same ruler would not knowingly have given a second
thought to this couple from Nazareth. Nor would most of the ancient world be
paying much attention to Jesus on this night. So much for worldly wisdom.
The world was so busy with its own affairs that it would not
even make room for Him to be born. He had to be born in a stable.
Perhaps no one at all would have noticed the birth if God
had not sent His angels to announce it to the shepherds and had He not, within
time, sent a star to guide the eastern wise men to the little town of Bethlehem.
You see, as I noted initially, things have not changed so
much since the time of Christ’s entrance into the world. Today, as then, many
people are unaware that Christ is in their midst and, even those who know Him,
often do not make much room for Him in their lives.
Jesus–who came to lead us out of spiritual darkness–is
still often overlooked as people stumble on in the rush of the world. God comes
gently and quietly; He doesn’t force Himself upon us but rather invites us to
partake of the peace and wholeness, the filling of the God-sized vacuum within
each one of us. He offers us respite and hope, light and life eternal. But, too
often, too many try to go it alone without God.
But even before God came in human flesh, there were those
who anticipated His coming, who listened to truth and responded. Before Christ
was born, angels appeared to Mary and Joseph to announce the coming birth. Mary
was told she would bear a child--the Son of God–while she was still a
virgin. And Joseph was told not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife because
the child conceived in her was from the Holy Spirit. Both responded with
obedience to the commands of the Lord God. And the fact of Christ’s virgin
birth assures us of His deity, His godhood. No one else in history can make the
same claim.
God broke into history with this miraculous birth and the
entire event is a study in contrasts–Jesus is God and yet man; He is a king
in a manger. And the announcement of the arrival of this king is made to two distinctly
different groups within society: the shepherds who were nomads, poor and humble, and the magi, or wise men, the professors of their day.
There are several lessons in this. We should not judge
others by appearances, by the world’s standards. Remember, God placed the
greatest of gifts in the poorest of packages: His own Son in simple swaddling
cloths in a manger, a feeding trough for animals.
We should remember that it is not possible to judge the end
of anything based on its beginning. From His birth in these humble
surroundings, Jesus went on to serve the people of His time, sometimes
referring to Himself as the Good Shepherd. This servant, who gave Himself for
others, was God enfleshed, glorified above all others.
This Savior, this hoped-for Messiah, came that all those who
would believe in Him and trust in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
In Him is comfort, safety, peace and, above all, hope.
On Christmas day, the Christ of our hope was born. May we
prepare our hearts to welcome our Lord in this season of Advent. May we find in
Him our hope.
If you have never have turned to Jesus as Lord and Savior, you
can offer a prayer right this minute to welcome Him into your life. If you’ve
drifted away or simply want to reaffirm your faith, you can also take this
opportunity to rededicate yourself to Him. Please pray as the Lord opens your
heart and your mouth to do so:
Dear Jesus, I admit that I am a sinner. I am sorry for any
sin I have knowingly or unknowingly committed against you. I want to turn my
life around and live for you. I believe that you died on the cross for me. I–with all sincerity and with all gratitude–accept your sacrifice in my place
and invite you to come into my heart and my life and to be my Lord and Savior. I
place my hope in you and I thank you for the gift of You, the gift that is precious
beyond all gifts. Amen
If you prayed today--in all sincerity--to receive Jesus
as Savior, know that the Word of God promises that you will have eternal life
and you are a new person in Christ from this day forward. This is good news to
share and I’d invite you to communicate that wonderful news to me or to your
loved ones. I pray you will also seek out a Christ-honoring, Bible-believing
church where you can celebrate with others the blessings of your first true
Christmas.
