For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders, and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

Long before the shepherds received the angel’s good news of great joy, Isaiah prophesied (Isaiah 9:2-7) that a child would be born for us, a child who would be named: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Authority would rest on his shoulders; his authority would grow continually, and there would be endless peace. 

But, I think it is fair to ask: Is this child enough, for us and for our world? Where is the promised peace? Is this child, whose birth we celebrate this holy night, enough, in the face of all that we see happening in the world around us? In the midst of the ongoing wars both in Ukraine and in the Holy Land? In the face of all the concerns we all have for our nation and world? Is this child really enough? 

And even as we look to our families and friends, and see struggles there that upset us and that cause us to wonder, we can’t help but ask: Where is God when we need him? Is this child truly enough? 

These are not new questions, of course. Every generation, I daresay, has had to ask them, and answer them, for themselves. Because every generation has had to endure its own brokenness and pain, its own suffering. And what every generation has done with these questions is turn to God’s Word for answers. There, in God’s timeless Word, we find the hope that has sustained countless generations through unimaginable tragedies, and countless individuals through equally unimaginable heartache. 

In God’s Word we discover the purpose of Christmas, the reason God’s Son was born for us. We discover that God’s Son is enough. He is enough today, just as he was enough in times of world wars, and terrible famines and plagues, and in days of dictators and in every time that has lived in darkness. 

“The people who walked in darkness,” the prophet Isaiah said those many ages ago, “have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness – on them light has shined.” And the light that Isaiah looked for is given by the child whose birth we celebrate tonight, with carols and candles; a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

This child has many names, of course: Son of David, Son of God, Messiah or Christ, Emmanuel, Lamb of God, King of Kings, to name a few. But long before he was ever born, the prophet Isaiah spoke for the Lord in also naming him “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” 

And each of these names has something important to teach us about the one named Jesus. Together, they help us to see the way in which Jesus truly is enough, for us and for our world. So tonight, I want to reflect on each of these names, on the passage from Isaiah where we hear the good news that:

“A child has been born for us; a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Authority

Note that before the child is even named, the prophet Isaiah tells us that authority would rest upon this child’s shoulders. Authority on the weak shoulders of a newborn child? What a strange authority this is! 

And even when this baby grows up, it gets no less strange. Then he will place on those shoulders a cross. And on that cross and those shoulders, he will bear all the pain and sin of the world. 

But because of that cross, and his willingness to suffer for us, we know that there is no pain and no suffering that God doesn’t already know. His own Son knows our suffering. He knows our pain. And he brings it all to the cross. Jesus was born that we no more may die, born to raise each child of earth, and he does this through his death. 

You might wonder why his death must be mentioned tonight. But his birth means nothing without his death. The cross and the manger cannot be separated. For when we see the manger in the shadow of the cross, we see a baby whose shoulders are more than strong enough to bear the authority of the world, because they are more than willing to bear the sin and the suffering and the pain of our world.

There is no tragedy that is stronger than God’s love in Jesus, because his love is stronger even than death itself. And it is the cross and his resurrection that prove it. 

Wonderful Counselor

And so, we can’t help but worship this baby lying in the manger, as we should. The baby whose name is Jesus. But one name cannot be enough for God’s Son. And so Isaiah also declares to us that he is named: “Wonderful Counselor.”

Because Jesus is full of wonder, this name teaches us, he is full of counsel, of wisdom. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the Good Shepherd, who guides us through the valleys of life. When we see in Jesus the wonder of the Son of God, when we are filled with wonder, his words and deeds become full of wonder. And they offer the most profound and most helpful wisdom that the world has ever known. 

If we look to the manger without wonder, on the other hand, we see nothing worth our time. We see no wisdom, no counsel, no answers to the questions of our lives. Surely a baby lying in a manger has nothing to teach us unless we, like the shepherds and the wise men, fall on our knees to worship this baby, and receive him as our king and our savior. When we do that, we learn what a wonderful counselor our savior truly is.

Mighty God

He is also named “Mighty God.” This child lying in the manger is none other than God himself. This is the mystery of the Trinity: God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; God is one. This helpless baby, whose birth we celebrate tonight, is God. 

Yes, it seems impossible, but it is true: God became a child. Small, vulnerable, emptied of divinity and majesty and might. But, still: God, mighty God. 

And because this is true, the child in the manger teaches us that our God chooses to rule not by might, but by love. This love is often questioned and challenged. Is it enough? Don’t we need a mighty God, not just a loving one?  

Jesus is called “Mighty God” because he is. He is full of might. Jesus was there in the beginning when our universe was created. He is seated now at God’s right hand. No one who has ever lived has had more power than Jesus. But he chooses another way to show us his might; he chooses the way of love, the way of peace, the way of mercy. God’s tender mercy is what the birth of Jesus shows us;  and surely we need that as much as we need God’s power and might. And so does our world, whether it knows it or not. 

Everlasting Father

Jesus is also called “Everlasting Father.” How can this be the name of the child? We might ask. The name of God’s only son? And yet it is, because this child reveals the Father’s love like no other. He and the Father are one, as Jesus teaches us. When we see Jesus – his words, his deeds, his love – we see our heavenly Father. We see the creator of the universe. The one who created all that is seen and unseen, is also, in a mysterious and powerful way, the one lying in the manger. If we want to see the Everlasting Father, look at the child in the manger. For they are one. 

Prince of Peace

And, finally, this baby is named “Prince of Peace.” Now this is a name that we can understand, isn’t it? Prince of Peace. When the angels sang in celebration of our Lord’s birth, they sang of this peace: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” 

Peace is the true gift of Christmas. The gift of peace from the Prince of Peace. But not just any peace. The peace that only Jesus can give. “Peace I leave with you,” the Prince of Peace tells his disciples, and tells us, too. “My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” 

Isn’t this the gift that our world longs for more than any other? The peace that we long for more than any other? The peace that only Jesus can give? 

It is the peace which he offers to those whom he favors, sing the angels. And who does he favor? In a word: the world. God so loved the world that he gave his only son. Born for us. Given to us; to all the world. The authority of the world resting on his shoulders. Our wonderful counselor. Our mighty God. Our everlasting Father. Our prince of peace.

The Hope of the World

Is this child enough? The one who offers us wonderful wisdom; the one whose might is guided by love; the one who shows us the Father; the one who gives us peace? He is enough, because Jesus is all of these things and more. He is the hope of the world, because he is the Savior of the world. It was why he was born, why he died, and why he promises to come again. 

And while we wait for this blessed hope to return, we share our hope, and our love, and our peace with this world that so needs it. This world needs a Savior; it needs hope. And this world has been given one. And Jesus asks all who worship him to share it: To return to our homes and communities, as the shepherds did all these years ago, glorifying and praising God for all we have heard and seen, and sharing the hope that is in us. 

We know about this child because every generation before us has not only looked to him for hope, but also shared the hope they found lying in a manger. Let us continue this holy task, until the blessed day of his promised return. To the glory of God. Amen.