Jesus’ Names

While there are many parts of Isaiah that are unfamiliar and confusing to many people, today’s chapter is not one of them. The first section of this chapter is known even by some who know nothing about the Bible and make no claim to being a disciple of Jesus. And the reason, of course, is Hallmark and its competitors. Verses from this chapter are used annually at this season of the year. Isaiah 9 reminds us of the birth of Jesus. So, it’s appropriate that we consider it this morning.

Before I read the chapter to you let me give you an overview. It appears that the chapter divisions are working against us here. The first part of chapter 9 is connected to what Isaiah was talking about in the previous chapter. In fact, what is verse 1 of chapter 9 in the English Bible is, in the Hebrew Bible, verse 23 of chapter 8. This first part of chapter 9 is a response to the dark ending of chapter 8. Here, Isaiah sounds a note of great hope and joy. This morning’s sermon will focus on this section of the chapter. The second part of chapter 9 is a return to the theme of punishment. Here, Isaiah points to the pride of Israel, the northern kingdom, which is also called Ephraim, after the main clan, and Samaria, after the capital city. In this section Isaiah stresses God’s intense rage against His people. He does that by the repeated use of this phrase: ‘For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.’ You’ll hear this several times including once in the first part of chapter 10 which I will include in this morning’s reading since it is tied to our chapter.

Please listen as I read Isaiah 9.1-10.4.

Let’s start by looking at these names of Jesus that Isaiah gives us.

Remember that in the Bible a name is often more than just a label. It is a description of the person. So, Isaiah is here describing this special child who is to be born. He is describing Jesus.

The first name is Wonderful Counselor. This word ‘wonderful’ has lost some of its punch over the years. The original thought was about something that is full of wonder, something that amazes. The Jesus who has come is not humdrum plain, a blend-into-the-crowd kind of person. No, He surprises and amazes. People who encounter Him are left stunned and speechless. There is nothing humdrum plain about Him. Isaiah focuses that sense of wonder by the other half of this name: counselor. A counselor is someone who offers wisdom. He has insight into people and situations, and he shares that insight with others, whether they be kings and rulers or friends seeking advice. That’s what a counselor is really all about. So, Isaiah presents Jesus as one who has wisdom to give and such wisdom that He leaves people marveling. Read through the Gospels. Consider how often Jesus leaves people simply amazed as He walks into their lives. ‘Let Him who is without sin throw the first stone at her.’ ‘Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?’ ‘Not My will but Thine be done.’ This Jesus remains a counselor today, a wise counselor who still fills people with wonder. He still shares His insight with His people by His Spirit. Jesus is still the wonderful counselor, and He is that for us. Remember, ‘Unto us a child is born’. Don’t let the evil one get you to settle for humdrum. As Jesus counsels you with His wisdom, as He leads you through this life, He will surprise you, mystify you, amaze you. Following Jesus is not monotonous routine. And while this perplexes some, it can be such an encouragement for you. As you consider your life, it doesn’t feel as if you are in control. Things pop up that you didn’t expect or plan on. There isn’t the predictability to life that others seem to have, along with its sense of safety. And you wonder if you’re doing something wrong. Well, the fact of the matter is that you may be doing it exactly right. Jesus is Lord of you life, and He is filled with surprises. Sometimes those surprises are not pleasant. But as you see Him more clearly in such things, He brings wonder. And you find yourself amazed at His wisdom. Don’t try to be in control. Don’t aim for predictability and its false sense of safety. Follow Jesus whose counsel surprises, and experience the wonder of it all. And as you become more comfortable with that, your life will shine more and more brightly with the beauty of the Gospel.

The next name is Mighty God. Isaiah’s claim is clear as He tells us that the coming Savior is God Himself. There are those who try to evade this, but it’s just too clear. Now, if it’s true that there are no throwaway words in the Bible – and it is true – then we need to ask a question. Of all the adjectives that the Spirit could have chosen as He guided Isaiah here, why did He choose ‘Mighty’? Why not ‘Majestic’ or ‘Holy’ or even ‘Terrifying’? All are true and appropriate. But this adjective highlights what the people of God needed to hear, and still need to hear. Their situation was difficult. Solutions seemed remote. The need of the hour was someone with enough power to effect real change. Thus, ‘Mighty God’. A quote from another prophet fits here. ‘Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.’ Isaiah’s contemporaries needed to be told that the Coming Deliverer would be one with power to change what seemed to be the impossible. He is the Mighty God. What a note of hope! We can never be in a truly impossible situation. Jesus has come! And He comes as the Mighty God. He has all the power needed to deal with any problem we face.

Great might tied to great wisdom. What could there be that would prove impossible to Him and thus to us, His people? Life is difficult. There will always be something that needs to be dealt with and overcome. Always. But we can still be optimistic. Our Jesus is the Mighty God. He can do the impossible and thus make a way through any problem. He is so powerful that He can even change us.

Next: Everlasting Father. I have to admit that this name threw me for the longest time. Whenever I would read this I would think, ‘But Jesus is the Son, not the Father. How could His name be ‘Everlasting Father’?’ But I came to see that this isn’t about relationships within the Trinity of God. This is about relationships with us. This is about authority structures. In the Bible, those in authority are often styled as ‘fathers’. So, Elisha, the prophet, shouts to his mentor, Elijah, ‘My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen.’ And King Joash said the same things to this Elisha when it was his turn to leave this life. Similarly, the Apostle Paul described himself as a father to the saints in Thessalonica. The kings of Israel were to be as fathers to their subjects, caring for them in love. The northern kingdom of Israel never had a Godly king. They all, in one way or other, followed after the first king of Israel known in Scripture as ‘Jeroboam the son of Nebat who caused Israel to sin’. The northern kingdom never had a king who fulfilled the calling to be a father to his subjects. Judah was only somewhat better. There were some good kings who worked at obedience to their God. These tried to be good fathers to their subjects. But even the best of these could not fulfill the task. Sooner or later they would die. And many of them were replaced by evil kings. Ahaz, whom we have met, showed his true colors back in chapter 7. Fear or faith? He chose poorly and his children, that is, his subjects, paid for his failure. He was, however, followed by Hezekiah who was one of the better kings of Judah. But he, of course, also died, leaving Manasseh as ruler. But Manasseh was not a Godly king. He returned to the evil ways that Hezekiah had worked to eradicate. But Jesus is different. He rules as a good father. He loves His subjects. He leads them with their welfare at heart, unlike so many others. And He will not leave them to some other who would only lead them astray. Jesus will never die. His rule will last forever. He is an Everlasting Father. There is such comfort here for us. Jesus is our Lord, and that means that He cares for us as a good father. There will never come a time when that care will cease. Never.

This leaves the last name, ‘Prince of Peace’. Peace is the Hebrew word shalom. And that is the opposite of being broken. And isn’t that an apt description of this world? Sin has entered and everything is broken – not utterly destroyed, but broken, like a beautiful watch that doesn’t do as well as it once did at keeping the time. It’s broken. It’s not destroyed, but something is wrong. The beauty of this world has been marred. Things are broken. And, sometimes, it’s so bad that all you can find are the shattered pieces lying at your feet. But Jesus has come to change all of that. What once was shattered will be restored. The broken will be healed. ‘And all shall be well. And all shall be well. And all manner of thing shall be well.’ Once again, the note of hope is sounded. But it takes trust to experience this hope. We still encounter broken things and broken lives. But we do not give in to despair. Nor do we give in to complacency. We cling to hope and work for change because we trust Jesus. One day it will all be perfect again because of Him.

Jesus’ names. He is Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

One more question. As I pointed out earlier, this Jesus is given to us. ‘For unto us a child is born.’ Who is this ‘us’? How does Isaiah describe this ‘us’? From verse 2: ‘The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.’ This walking in darkness is just another way to talk about being a sinner, walking in the darkness of sin. Notice how Isaiah describes this at the end of chapter 8. ‘They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.’ These are not ‘nice’ sinners – if there is such a thing. These ‘will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their God’. These are angry at God. Isaiah is talking about people who, at heart, are rebels. The gloom and darkness that they are walking in are the results of their rebellion. ‘…they will be thrust into thick darkness.’ Jesus does that. He has thrust them into darkness. The ‘us’ of chapter 9 are sinners whose lives are defined by the darkness, whose every sin is an act of rebellion. But here it gets surprising. It is to these sinners that this child is given. Why? Why should Jesus be given to sinners? Why should Jesus be given to us? Why should we enjoy Him as the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace? That question becomes more and more pressing the more that you see your sin for the ugliness that it is. Sadly, there are way too many who do not even pose the question. And the reason is clear. They are not surprised that they would be rescued. It actually makes sense to them that Jesus would come to save them. After all, they’re not all that bad, not like some others. But those who have some sense of the awfulness of their sin understand the point of the question. ‘Why did He save me?’ And they don’t have a good answer to it.

But you can tell who it is that raises that question. There is something about them that the other group knows nothing about. They celebrate! The wonder of Jesus coming for them results in celebration. Listen to Isaiah. ‘You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.’ Isaiah points to two kinds of celebrations that the people of his day understood well. The one is the celebration after a good harvest. The other is the celebration after victory in battle. In both cases the reason for the celebration is that same: We aren’t going to die! There is food and not famine. Our enemies who wanted to destroy us have failed. Likewise, we celebrate because we aren’t going to die. There are those who understand something of their sin and the amazing thought that ‘unto us a child is born’. These celebrate that Jesus has come. And they celebrate for the same reason that the people in our text celebrate. We aren’t going to die. We should. We deserve hell, the second death. But Jesus has come, and He has come for us. We aren’t going to die. Jesus has broken the power of sin and the death that it brings. Love has come, and we are safe. We need to celebrate! And that is what Advent is about. It’s a time to celebrate, to celebrate that Jesus has come. Isaiah says so.