Christmas Day – O Emmanuel December 25, 2020
Isaiah 7:10-14
God With Us and For Us
v. 14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
O Emmanuel, our King and Lord, the anointed for the nations and their Saviour: Come and save us, O Lord our God.
Dear friends in Christ—Merry Christmas! It has been quite a journey these past weeks, hasn’t it? We have walked our way through the Scriptures—through time and history—as we have studied the ancient hymns of praise to Christ our King—the O Antiphons of Advent. And now He is here! He has come! We rejoice this day as we celebrate His birth—for now our Emmanuel has come and God is truly with us—in the flesh!
However, as we look at our final antiphon, we must remember that God with us is not immediately, nor necessarily, Good News. For what does it mean for God to be with us if we are His enemies? What does it mean for God to be with us if we are His rebellious people? Is it a good thing to be an enemy of One who is the Almighty God King of all creation—who with a word created the heavens and earth and all therein—is it a good thing that He is with us when all we do is sin against Him and rebel against His Word and truth?
As sinful human beings, having God with us means our death—our destruction—our consummation—for He comes to destroy sin and punish those who turn away from Him. No indeed, this is not Good News at all! This is terrible news! We don’t want God to be with us in wrath and judgement—that is a terrifying thought! We need God to be with us in mercy...in peace...in love. The only way God with us can be Good News—is if He is with us to save us.
Which, of course, leads us into our text for this morning as the prophet Isaiah foretold the coming of the One who would be born of a virgin—who was to be called Emmanuel. However, we know this prophecy is fulfilled in Luke 1 and 2. Yet, Mary is not instructed by the angel to name her Son Emmanuel, but rather Jesus. Why? Because God has come to be with us as Saviour and friend.
So—rejoice in the Lord, always—I will say it again, rejoice! For Jesus your God and King has come in the flesh to save you. He has come to slay our enemies—to wipe them out by His mighty hand—to free the human race from the bonds of sin and death.
For our biggest problem in this life and world is not whether the Leafs make the playoffs—a dim hope to be sure—or whether all the family can be together for the holidays (a difficult task in time of pademic)—or even whether our retirement funds are secure—or those test results come back negative and we can breathe a sigh of relief. Rather, our biggest problem is to have God with us—but to be without His favour. Our biggest problem is to be godless—without Him favourably in our lives—for without Him setting His face toward us in kindness and mercy—we must bear the just punishment for all our sins.
Therefore, the best solution for our problem is to have God with us—in favour—in mercy—in love and peace. This He has come to do in Jesus the Christ. He has taken on human flesh so that He may fully be on your side—He is here not to get you—but your enemies—sin, death, and the devil must now flee His divine wrath and fury—for He has come to swallow them up in the victory of His life and resurrection. He has lived the perfect life that you and I never could—but which God demands—He has died the death that you and I fully deserve—He has risen in triumph—all for you.
That is really the point of this antiphon—indeed, of all the antiphons. This final verse of praise to Jesus is the culmination of all those that have gone before. Jesus is the Wisdom, the Lord, the Root, the Key, the Dayspring, the King, and so much more—and He has come to be a Saviour, FOR you. He has come to defeat death through the forgiveness of sins that He purchased and won with His own death and glorious resurrection—in the flesh!
Jesus is here—has come—for the nations. He has come to save. And He has come not only to save the human nature—dreadfully corrupted by sin and death—but has come to save human persons—you and you and you—to set you free from captivity—to release you from the chains of the evil one—to set your hearts free so that you are no longer in the darkness of sin and death and rebellion against God—but are changed by His mercy and forgiveness to love the Light—to love He who is the perfect Light and Life—to be healed from your fears, anxieties, everything that plagues you. They find their answer—their defeat—in Jesus of Nazareth. For as Paul says in Romans 8, “if God is FOR us, who can be against us?”
Indeed, according to our human reasoning, the last place we would expect to have God with us would be at the cross—with Jesus hanging dead on a tree. But as we go into the darkness of death—as the years grow long and heavy—as the light in our eyes dims—we know we have a God who has been there. We know we have a Saviour who has entered into death—has gone through it—and He has been victorious. And this same Victorious Man who is God in the flesh—is with you and for you as you walk through the valley of the shadow of death. You need fear no thing—for the One beside you has beaten it back—and He radiates light and life and peace.
The entire goal of Jesus' coming to be with us was so that we might finally be with God—as He intended it—as He had always planned until sin drove us away from His presence. He wants us to have our life in Him and Him alone. That is why He gets so angry with idols and false gods—for as we place our trust in these things—we choose death—for they are false and empty things—incapable of giving us what we truly need and desire—life everlasting.
What is more, God continues to be with you in His church—for you—in His own body and blood—given and shed for you in the holy Sacrament of the Altar. For He knew—and He knows—that we as sinners do not merely need someone to help us—no, indeed our state is far beyond the point where anything could help us. We need a rescuer—we need a Saviour—and that is why and that is how Jesus has come. To rescue you from your sin and death—to bring you to His side in glory and life eternal. Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus our God who is WITH us and FOR us. Amen.
Isaiah 7:10-14
God With Us and For Us
v. 14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
O Emmanuel, our King and Lord, the anointed for the nations and their Saviour: Come and save us, O Lord our God.
Dear friends in Christ—Merry Christmas! It has been quite a journey these past weeks, hasn’t it? We have walked our way through the Scriptures—through time and history—as we have studied the ancient hymns of praise to Christ our King—the O Antiphons of Advent. And now He is here! He has come! We rejoice this day as we celebrate His birth—for now our Emmanuel has come and God is truly with us—in the flesh!
However, as we look at our final antiphon, we must remember that God with us is not immediately, nor necessarily, Good News. For what does it mean for God to be with us if we are His enemies? What does it mean for God to be with us if we are His rebellious people? Is it a good thing to be an enemy of One who is the Almighty God King of all creation—who with a word created the heavens and earth and all therein—is it a good thing that He is with us when all we do is sin against Him and rebel against His Word and truth?
As sinful human beings, having God with us means our death—our destruction—our consummation—for He comes to destroy sin and punish those who turn away from Him. No indeed, this is not Good News at all! This is terrible news! We don’t want God to be with us in wrath and judgement—that is a terrifying thought! We need God to be with us in mercy...in peace...in love. The only way God with us can be Good News—is if He is with us to save us.
Which, of course, leads us into our text for this morning as the prophet Isaiah foretold the coming of the One who would be born of a virgin—who was to be called Emmanuel. However, we know this prophecy is fulfilled in Luke 1 and 2. Yet, Mary is not instructed by the angel to name her Son Emmanuel, but rather Jesus. Why? Because God has come to be with us as Saviour and friend.
So—rejoice in the Lord, always—I will say it again, rejoice! For Jesus your God and King has come in the flesh to save you. He has come to slay our enemies—to wipe them out by His mighty hand—to free the human race from the bonds of sin and death.
For our biggest problem in this life and world is not whether the Leafs make the playoffs—a dim hope to be sure—or whether all the family can be together for the holidays (a difficult task in time of pademic)—or even whether our retirement funds are secure—or those test results come back negative and we can breathe a sigh of relief. Rather, our biggest problem is to have God with us—but to be without His favour. Our biggest problem is to be godless—without Him favourably in our lives—for without Him setting His face toward us in kindness and mercy—we must bear the just punishment for all our sins.
Therefore, the best solution for our problem is to have God with us—in favour—in mercy—in love and peace. This He has come to do in Jesus the Christ. He has taken on human flesh so that He may fully be on your side—He is here not to get you—but your enemies—sin, death, and the devil must now flee His divine wrath and fury—for He has come to swallow them up in the victory of His life and resurrection. He has lived the perfect life that you and I never could—but which God demands—He has died the death that you and I fully deserve—He has risen in triumph—all for you.
That is really the point of this antiphon—indeed, of all the antiphons. This final verse of praise to Jesus is the culmination of all those that have gone before. Jesus is the Wisdom, the Lord, the Root, the Key, the Dayspring, the King, and so much more—and He has come to be a Saviour, FOR you. He has come to defeat death through the forgiveness of sins that He purchased and won with His own death and glorious resurrection—in the flesh!
Jesus is here—has come—for the nations. He has come to save. And He has come not only to save the human nature—dreadfully corrupted by sin and death—but has come to save human persons—you and you and you—to set you free from captivity—to release you from the chains of the evil one—to set your hearts free so that you are no longer in the darkness of sin and death and rebellion against God—but are changed by His mercy and forgiveness to love the Light—to love He who is the perfect Light and Life—to be healed from your fears, anxieties, everything that plagues you. They find their answer—their defeat—in Jesus of Nazareth. For as Paul says in Romans 8, “if God is FOR us, who can be against us?”
Indeed, according to our human reasoning, the last place we would expect to have God with us would be at the cross—with Jesus hanging dead on a tree. But as we go into the darkness of death—as the years grow long and heavy—as the light in our eyes dims—we know we have a God who has been there. We know we have a Saviour who has entered into death—has gone through it—and He has been victorious. And this same Victorious Man who is God in the flesh—is with you and for you as you walk through the valley of the shadow of death. You need fear no thing—for the One beside you has beaten it back—and He radiates light and life and peace.
The entire goal of Jesus' coming to be with us was so that we might finally be with God—as He intended it—as He had always planned until sin drove us away from His presence. He wants us to have our life in Him and Him alone. That is why He gets so angry with idols and false gods—for as we place our trust in these things—we choose death—for they are false and empty things—incapable of giving us what we truly need and desire—life everlasting.
What is more, God continues to be with you in His church—for you—in His own body and blood—given and shed for you in the holy Sacrament of the Altar. For He knew—and He knows—that we as sinners do not merely need someone to help us—no, indeed our state is far beyond the point where anything could help us. We need a rescuer—we need a Saviour—and that is why and that is how Jesus has come. To rescue you from your sin and death—to bring you to His side in glory and life eternal. Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus our God who is WITH us and FOR us. Amen.