Jeremy Duncan: When we read this final line as, for God is with us, we almost come away with the assumption that the prophet is suggesting that God welcomes this war. God wants this war because God is on the side of Judah in this war. And I don't think that's what's going on here at all. But I think the whole point of this whole section, everything that Isaiah is saying is that God is trying to warn us away from war. We did just finish up a 6 week series on the parables of judgment.
And now we're making a bit of a hard left turn into Christmas. But I really do think it's an important and helpful series of conversations we've just come from. I hope perhaps that you began to think differently about the grace of God that has been searching us out. And all of those conversations are of course available on our podcast and our YouTube channel. So check them out if you missed anything.
But my real hope is that even in the hard parables, what we end up seeing is the God who is with us all around us, just as Jesus said last week, present in the least among us every single day. We don't need to wait for some spectacular second coming to encounter the God that wants to be known in the simplicity of something like a manger. The incarnation through which we discover that God actually wants to be known not for power and glory and thrones and judgment, but for God's willingness to draw near. So, let's pray, and then we'll begin our approach together. Oh, God of eternal love, and master of glorious, simple, unexpected gifts, Today marks the beginning of our approach.
Our anticipation of this great festival in honor of your decision to save the world. And so we cast aside now our feverish pace, and we open our pressured lives to the first sounds of your gentle promise. Help us to be quiet enough to hear your voice, and eager enough to catch every word of grace, where we tread on familiar territory, and we read stories we have heard a 1000 times before, may we, this year, come to Christmas with new imagination. Fresh eyes and open hearts, trusting that you might meet us again as if for the first time. In the gentle name of the Christ we await, we pray.
Amen. Today we have some source criticism. A war on the horizon. Behold a young woman, and old stories that are made new. But over the next 4 weeks, we are going to look at 4 snapshots in the story of Jesus that come from perhaps before the Jesus that we know from his public teaching and ministry.
Today, we'll look at how the Jesus story repurposes an even older Hebrew tale. We'll look at the birth of Jesus next week. We'll explore that small glimpse that we have of Jesus as a growing boy, and finally we'll focus on Jesus' first miracle, where he introduces himself to the public stage. But in this we hope to prepare ourselves to celebrate God arriving fully in our midst on Christmas Eve. And we'll start together by reading our entrance into the Christmas story, and we'll do something a little different today.
I'm gonna ask you to stand with me as I read. This is from Matthew 1, verses 18 to 25. This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph, her husband, was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace.
He had in mind to divorce her quietly, but after he had considered this an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife. Because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. And all of this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel, which means God with us.
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took Mary home as his wife. But they did not consummate their marriage until Mary gave birth to a son, and they gave him the name Jesus. You may be seated. Now, this is a story that we rehearse every year during Advent. It's quite familiar.
Next week, we're going to look more closely at this specific part of the story. The dual pregnancies of Mary and her cousin Elizabeth. But we should notice here that Matthew adds an intriguing wrinkle. He says this, that all of this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. And what we find is that the Gospel writers, in particular Matthew, believes that the Christmas story begins eras before angelic pronouncements, or surprising pregnancies, or certainly long before Jesus first cries from his mangered crib.
Because Matthew is in fact repurposing an even older story to shape the story that we are familiar with at this time of year. And I think one of the most fascinating parts of Christmas in general is the ways in which incarnation takes very ancient ideas, and very familiar stories, tales that perhaps seem very unlikely to surprise us, and makes them new all over again. And so, as we begin our approach to Christmas this year, we want to do today is go back, all the way back, back to before there was an angel, or a baby, or even a pregnancy, to look at this promise in Isaiah 7. And as we do that, there's a couple things we need to know about Isaiah. First, we should understand that Isaiah is likely written in different chunks.
Now scholarship has tended to read Isaiah in 3 very distinct parts for most of the 19th 20th centuries. And that's because the first part spends a lot of time talking about the coming fall of the Hebrew kingdoms, Judah and Israel. That's chapters 1 to 39. The second part is pretty gloomy, and it talks about life in exile in Babylon after the fall of Jerusalem. That's chapters 40 to 54.
And the third part, chapter 55 through to 66, generally makes a bit of an upbeat swing and begins to look forward to a hopeful ending, the full restoration of Israel and all of God's creation at some point in the future. And so the thinking was for a very long time, well, these must obviously be 3 different people writing in different time periods. And over time they've all been collected together under the name Isaiah. And to be fair, even the writer stops referring to himself as Isaiah after chapter 39. So there's likely some truth to some of these divisions.
However, those very clear distinctions and hard lines have shifted a little bit in the last, like, half century or so of scholarship. And today we started to read Isaiah more thematically, rather than trying to recreate the original sources, or the divisions that may have been there at one time, today scholarship tends to read as a unified whole. And there's a couple reasons for that. 1st, Source critical study has fallen out of favor a little bit. We've realized actually decide exactly where things came from.
All we have is what we have. 2nd, even if there were originally 3 different authors, it's not just like they've been slapped together. Someone, or more likely some community, Someone, or more likely some community, has woven these three stories together in a very complex and compelling way. So just breaking them up again, as if they were separate pieces of Lego that can each stand on their own, undermines the real intent of the final Isaiah that was accepted as part of the Jewish Bible, and in fact undermines the intent of the Isaiah that Jesus studied, and read, and taught from. And so, well, yes, we do still think that there were likely different authors behind the text.
Some scholars will break Isaiah into 2 parts, 2 themes today. Some of us still like to keep 3 thematic movements. But the emphasis today in scholarship is working to understand how these different movements build on and interact with each other. Reading Isaiah as a whole and specifically in my writing I've made the argument that the opening movement is Isaiah is really about the immediate personal world around us. The treatment of orphans, and widows, and justice for our neighbors.
The second movement expands the scope out to nations and empires, and it uses exile as a metaphor to critique not just our local individual sins, but our collective and our national failings. And then the final movement expands again, pushes things farther to imagine a day of the Lord. That moment when all of our brokenness will finally be healed and even death will be swallowed up in the kingdom of God. And so, sure it's probably 3 different themes that at one time originated with 3 different authors, but they've been woven together so tightly that reading them independently loses the point. In fact, I've argued that the entire book of Revelation is just one big riff on this same three act movement that unifies the book of Isaiah.
And I realize we are off into the weeds now a little bit of source criticism here. But actually, this is important. Because if you read Isaiah with the assumption that there's a grumpy writer warning the nations, there's a gloomy writer despairing over exile, and there's a hopeful writer imagining a coming salvation, what you miss out on is that we can actually be all of those things all at the same time just the way the book of Isaiah is. My dog died this spring. I told you about it.
I almost cried on stage, not quite. But I remember later that day, I was taking my daughter out for a bike ride. And we have one of those trailer bikes that has an arm that attaches to the seat post on my bike. It means I do all the work and she has all the fun. But whenever we ride to the neighborhood, she likes to yell out and talk to everybody that we pass.
It's very cute, because whatever is in her head is there for the public to process. All their neighbors know what's going on. But I remember, because on that day, as we rode, she would alternatively call out to one person, my dog has died and my dad is sad. And to the next, hey, look. I got new shoes.
They're pink. She contains, as they say, multitudes. But so do we. And in fact, Advent itself is this mixture of hope for the future and desperate longing for today. It's excitement about what's coming in Christmas morning, and it's also the long patient wait of winter.
And so when we notice darkness around us, just like we did when we lit the candle, and we pay attention as it closes in a little tighter every evening, and yet we give voice to our indomitable hope for light to come to find us again this year. That's an important part of Christmas. Advent itself is this same paradox that we see in Isaiah, despair and hope and light and dark all mingled together. It's a truth we encounter every year at Christmas, and we find even in our nerdy, search critical studies of ancient texts. However, now with some of that background, we can actually turn our attention to the source of Matthew's quote here in Isaiah 7.
Because now we all know that because this comes from Isaiah 7 that means it's part of that opening section before exile. And that means the context here for what Isaiah says is the looming threat of war between the 2 Jewish kingdoms of Judah and Israel. So let's read this. Then Isaiah said, here now you house of David. House of David here means he's talking to the kingdom of Judah, the king of Judah right now.
Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you also try the patience of God also? Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. This virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and you can call him Emmanuel. There's a quote from Matthew.
But Isaiah continues, this boy will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right. Before any of that is possible, the land of the 2 kings you dread will be laid to waste. So, first question, who are these 2 kings? And it's all a little bit Game of Thrones, so stick with me here. At this point, a man named Ahaz is the king of the southern kingdom of Judah.
He is a descendant of David. That's who Isaiah is talking to right now. And he is watching the other Jewish kingdom, Israel, form an alliance with another country, Aram, to fight against Aziriah. Now, Ahaz doesn't want anything to do with this. He does not want to get involved, and so Israel and Aram are thinking about teaming up to attack him first.
Because what they want to do is replace him with a king that's more favorable to their aims, and force Judah to get on board with their war against Azeriah. Now Isaiah says a little earlier in this chapter that they want to replace Ahaz, and they want to put the son of Tabiel on David's throne in Jerusalem. What's interesting there is that we have no idea who Tabiel was. And he may not have actually been a real person at all. Because scholars have noticed that tabiel looks a lot like the Aramaic phrase, God is good.
But it seems to have been altered in a way to make it mean something like, not is good. So perhaps what we think is this is a pun meaning good for nothing. Essentially Isaiah thinks this is a bad idea. Israel should not go to war with her brothers. Warmongers like these 2 conspiring kings are good for nothing.
And I actually freely like that. But Ahaz is really worried about this. He does not think that Judah can withstand an attack on 2 fronts. Verse 2 says that the heart of Ahaz was shaken even as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind. So he's panicking.
Specifically, he's very worried about how much water they have inside the walls of Jerusalem. What's going to happen if they have to close the gates to defend themselves? And it's here that Isaiah shows up to steady him. Isaiah actually goes down to meet the king at the aqueduct outside the city where he's checking on the water supply, and he basically says to him, Calm down. Chill out.
Verse 4, Be careful, be calm, but don't be afraid. Do not lose heart. Yes. I know your enemies want to attack. They want to play some good for nothing king on your throne, but it won't happen the way they imagine.
Trust God. In fact, Isaiah goes as far as to prophesy that Israel and Aram have no idea what they're playing with right now. Azaria is far more powerful than they think this war will be their undoing. And it was. Still, Ahaz is terrified, so Isaiah says, Look.
Here's the deal. See this young woman? She'll have a child. That child will grow up safe and strong. Here in Jerusalem, you could name that boy God with us, because before that child is old enough to know right from wrong, those kings you're so terrified of, their lands will be laid to waste.
That's the section we read earlier. Now, as I paraphrase that, you may have noticed a few things. First of all, I said, see this young woman here. That's because in Hebrew, there is an interjection here. It's the word hinna and usually we translate it behold.
It's important because it probably means that Isaiah is actually pointing to some young woman, who just happens to be standing nearby saying, Behold. This young woman will have a baby and he will grow up healthy and strong in Jerusalem. Stop being such a scaredy cat. Now, I have no idea what this young woman thought about all this. She's probably thinking don't drag me into it.
I just came to the aqueduct for a glass of water. Leave me out. But the point is Isaiah is referring to someone right here as an illustration of God's goodness. 2nd, you may have noticed my use of the phrase young woman. Well, when Isaiah is quoted in Matthew the term there is Parthenon.
That's the term that's used by the Septuagint or the Greek translation of the Hebrew scripture. So, not surprising. That's what we read in Matthew. But while Matthew and Luke go out of their way to explain that, yes, they do mean virgin and this birth is spectacular. The Hebrew word almah that Isaiah uses here really does just mean young woman.
She does seem to be chosen at random. We don't know anything about her. We have no idea whether she was married or what happens to her son. And in the context of Isaiah that doesn't really matter. Because the emphasis isn't on the spectacularness of her pregnancy.
The emphasis is on the withness of God there in that moment during Ahaz's fear. Manuel. Now, that's very different from Matthew. And we'll get back to him in a minute. But first, let's see how this plays out in Isaiah.
Because if we flip forward a chapter here, we're going to find Isaiah diverting his attention from Judah and offering some harsh words to Israel. He says this in chapter 8, Raise the war cry you nations, and to be shattered. Listen all you distant lands. Prepare for battle and to be shattered. Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted.
Propose your plan, but it will not stand for God is with us. And what's interesting to me is that this time the same phrase that was translated as a proper name Emmanuel a chapter ago is now written out as a center for God is with us. And that's a problem for me. Because, yes, of course, that's what the name means. No foul there.
But when we show the same phrase one way in one chapter and another way in the next chapter, what it does is it makes it hard for us as English readers to see the connections that the text is making. Making. In fact, when we read this final line as, for God is with us, I think we almost come away with the assumption that the prophet is suggesting that God welcomes this war. God wants this war because God is on the side of Judah in this war. And I don't think that's what's going on here at all.
In fact, I think the whole point of this whole section, everything that Isaiah is saying is that God is trying to warn us away from war. God says, those who want war will be shattered. Their strategies thwarted. Their plans will not stand not because God is against them, but because God is Emmanuel. That's the character of God.
That's who God is. God is with us. And I like the way that Eugene Peterson has translated this passage in the message. There it says, plot all you want nothing will come of it. All your angry words are empty.
Because when all is said and done, the last word is Emmanuel. The last word is the name of God. The last word is the character of God. And that changes something. Right?
God isn't against Israel. God isn't on the side of Judah. God is with us. But it was never one of us, it was always all of us because that's who God is. See, I read it this way.
God is against this war because God is with Judah, but God is also against this war because God is with Israel. Perhaps, we could say that God is against this war because God is with Aram, and maybe even if we stretch our imagination far enough, we can realize that God is with Aziria. I think God is with Canada. God is with America. God is with Palestine.
God is with anyone who finds themselves under threat of violence at the mercy of those good for nothing kings that want war. That's the beauty of how Isaiah uses this term Emmanuel as a name for God. A declaration of God's character. It's not that God chooses sides. It's that God is always on the side of peace and shalom.
With us, for us, for our good, all of us. But now with all of that background, do you see how much more profound it is when you go back to the Gospels and you see Matthew who's steeped in all of this imagery from birth, now pulling on this thread in Isaiah to narrate the birth of Christ. Matthew is not looking for a proof text to prove the virgin birth here. He's looking at the birth of Christ and realizing that this moment, here in the manger, speaks to something much bigger and much older. The reminder that God has always been with all of us, that God has always been near to the oppressed, but now God is tangibly, physically, fantastically, vulnerably with us in a new way.
It's as if the Gospel writers look at Jesus, and they say, wait a minute. I know this story. This is our story. This is the story that we've trusted in for years. This is the story that always told us if we could just turn our attention toward peace, we would see how close God really is.
And now now it's more beautiful than we even remember it. And sure, it's the supernatural ness of Jesus' birth that grabs their attention and ours, but trust me here. It is the with ness of Jesus' birth that really opens their eyes in this moment. God is here and with us in the peace of a child, and we never saw it coming, but we probably should have. That's Christmas.
And look, maybe you're here and maybe you never saw it coming. Maybe you never expected to be in church again. Maybe you thought that story was dead and buried for you, nothing new to teach you. And then all of a sudden you found yourself surprised by the peace of Jesus that showed up in the humblest of spaces in your life. Maybe you encountered grace somewhere in the world in a gift, or in a child, or in a kind word that came out of nowhere.
And all of a sudden you said to yourself, I know this story. I think for a time I forgot this story, but I I do know this story. You see, when Jesus arrives on that 1st Christmas morning, his people have been subject to Assyria. This war in Isaiah did not go well for anyone. And it only got worse because then it was Babylon, and then Persia, then Greece, and now Rome.
And for centuries now the Jewish people have been desperately trying to cling to the idea that God is still somehow with those who long for peace. But over the years, over the centuries it's gotten harder and harder to believe that. And now Matthew comes along and says, friends, it's true, and not only that, it's more beautiful than we even remembered it. The waiting, and the grieving, the holding, and the expecting, the forgetting, and the remembering. All of that is somehow part of this arrival and this incarnation, this celebration, excitement, and joy that is Christmas every year.
That's why we sing, oh, come oh, come Emmanuel because even when we forget we remind ourselves that God is really with us. That's why every year, I find myself drawn back to my favorite Christmas quote from the 13th century mystic Meister Eckhart, What good is it if Christ came unless he continues to arrive in our time today? That is what Matthew grabs a hold of here in Isaiah. It's the hope that is born again and again and again and again, and for 2000 years now, we have done our best to believe that it can be born again as well. Advent is where?
Old words take on new meaning, ancient images dance to new life. It's where Isaiah's trust in God becomes alive, and fresh, and full of Christmas morning every single year. And maybe you need to tell yourself that same story one more time. You need to remind yourself that you are trusting for something new this year. That you are grieving for something old this year, that you need God with you now just as much as you always have.
And during Advent, this is the season that we pray Christ shows up in old stories all over again, and surprises us with the cries of new born life where we least expect to find it. God with us, all around us, just waiting for us to notice. Let's pray. God, for those moments where we forget your story and your goodness, That you are with us, you are with all of us. And instead we begin to believe in smaller stories, less compelling stories.
Perhaps sometimes easier stories to believe, but stories that won't enliven us the way that the truth does. God, might we return to the large expansive imagination. The God who is with us, but present in the fantastically vulnerable experience of a small infant dependent on us. That the love that holds the universe together could be humble, and small, and fragile, and yet strong enough to unite all of our hopes. May that small story become the big story that echoes again this year and reminds us that every step we take, one foot in front of another, every time we move slowly towards your kingdom imagination, we are inexorably, inevitably moving toward your goodness that heals creation.
In the gentle name of the one we await this Christmas, we pray. Amen. Hey, Jeremy here. And thanks for listening to our podcast. If you're intrigued by the work that we're doing here at commons, you can head to our website commons.church for more information.
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Anyway, thanks for tuning in. Have a great week. We'll talk to you soon.