Isaiah 9: Hezekiah & Jesus, New Dawn at Jerusalem & Nazareth -- 2019/09/25

Rev. Bernard Ross, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Alma, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 9. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder.” These familiar words are said every year around Christmas, whether at midnight on Christmas Eve or at home during “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” We know this is a prophecy pointing ahead to the birth of Jesus, but is there anything more to it? Does it say anything to Ahaz and Isaiah and the people of their day? We sometimes act like it was obvious that the Messiah would come from Galilee or that He would turn out to be God in the flesh. It says “Galilee of the nations” and “Mighty God,” after all. These things were anything but obvious. The prophecy originally anticipated the birth and rise of King Hezekiah, who would unlock the light of God’s Word to shed spiritual light and temporal peace on both Judah to the south and Israel to the north, including the nations of the world put there by Assyria. Jesus Christ is the ultimate Hezekiah, who opens up our minds to the true meaning of Scripture, who brings us the true Passover celebration, and who brings true and lasting peace.