CHRISTMAS and THE POWER OF PROPHECY

Advent and Christmas are seasons which are magnificently full of prophecy. The prophet was literally a “mouthpiece”, a mouthpiece for the voice of God, and, as Amos so pointedly stated, his importance lies in the fact that “Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). Thus the purposes and plans of God are to be found in the prophecies of Scripture, and nowhere is this truth more evident than in prophecies of the coming of Jesus.

I have little doubt that virtually every church this Christmas will hear the prophetic words, “For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given … And he will called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his rule and peace there will be no end” (Isaiah 9:6-7). These words were written several centuries before Jesus was born, words drawn out of the heart of Isaiah the prophet by the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit and looking to a future long off. Though so few in number these words encapsulate precisely what was to happen in the birth of Jesus. A child would be born by the normal birth process, he would become a ruler and he would carry the names and descriptions that belonged to God himself, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. Prophecy frequently merges with the poetic and here in an extraordinary poetic way the vital truth of incarnation is captured. I think myself that the poetic capture of so profound a mystery is worth considerably more than overmuch theological dissection. Certainly the Christian church did not have to invent the idea of incarnation – it’s there, loud and clear, in the prophets, announced centuries before it happened.

This prophetic utterance, magnificent in itself, nevertheless gains from the verses in Isaiah which precede it and which are also normally read at Christmas though not so readily understood; “In the future he will honour Galilee of the Gentiles…. The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned … You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy.” It is a prophecy which speaks of the future of Galilee of the Gentiles. It describes that land as one of darkness and distress. This was certainly to be the case in Isaiah’s own era when it was overrun and destroyed by the merciless Assyrian armies and largely repopulated by gentiles, and it was to remain like that right up to the birth of Jesus, always looked down on by the Jews of Jerusalem as a place of spiritual darkness. But the prophecy does not stop there and goes on to say that Galilee would see a great light and resound to great joy.

Even more significant is the fact that the emergence of this great light and subsequent joy was directly connected with the human/divine child who was to be born since the exact words of Isaiah are, “the people who lived in darkness will see a great light FOR (because, on account of) to us a child is born”. The child would bring the light. What an extraordinary fulfilment of that prophecy took place when Jesus grew up and actually became that great light to (of all places) Galilee in his earthly ministry. If the land had been spiritually dark over several centuries it ceased to be so when Jesus walked its towns and villages with his preaching and miracles, and leaving in his wake profound joy and hope among so many people. The light of the kingdom had never shone so brightly before in such a needy place. How astonishing that Jesus actually had his home in Galilee (first Nazareth and then Capernaum) and that not a few of his apostles were Galileans. What a devastatingly accurate prophecy of God’s intentions.

I say that this earlier part of Isaiah adds to the prophecy of the birth simply because of the fact that if we should be tempted to believe that the idea of a human/divine incarnation might be a bit of poetic and imaginative fancy then the accuracy of the prophecy about the great light in Galilee brings us up sharply to recognise that this passage (which is one piece) is moving in the realms of provable reality. The very light shone by his teaching and his power, authority and miracle demand one who is uniquely from above even if he was born so humbly below.

We need always to remember with prophecy that it is given precisely so that our faith and understanding might be strengthened as we see it fulfilled. God speaks, and then he fulfils his words so that we might respond from our depths, “He really is there, and the whole world and its direction are in his hands”. So let's rejoice in the prophetic at this time of the year.


Bob




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