Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Isaiah 7:10-14
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date:  December 5, 2018

Standing at the edge of the Upper Pool, a rock-hewn aqueduct, near the Gihon Spring, we find King Ahaz of Judah, deathly afraid. King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah of Israel had joined forces and were moving toward Jerusalem. It was at the edge of the Upper Pool that Isaiah met Ahaz with a message. “Be careful, keep calm, don’t be afraid, don’t lose heart.” Rezin and Pekah would not be victorious. God would not let them destroy Judah. What a wonderful promise! What great news! And what was Ahaz’s response? Silence. He said nothing. No words of praise, no words of thanksgiving. Just the stony silence of unbelief.

God had reached out with gracious promises of deliverance to an unbelieving and wicked king and his people. Yet that message did not bring about repentance, only silence. And that’s when “The Lord spoke to Ahaz again. He said, “Ask for a sign from the Lord your God. Ask for it either in the depths below or in the heights above.” Ahaz’s silent rejection was not the end. No the Lord would not remain silent. One more time Ahaz is offered the opportunity to repent and trust. “Ask for a sign, any sign. Ask a for a sign from the Lord your God.”

But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, neither will I test the Lord.” Now, when invited by the Lord, Ahaz finally speaks and tells God, “no.” And to make matters worse, he tries to sounds pious “I don’t want to test the Lord, that’s why I won’t ask.” Ahaz spits out faithless rejection of God and tries to dress it up as piety. Perhaps you’ve heard statements like this before. “Our Lord says, “Pray for your leaders and submit to their authority.” And although people don’t say “no” to his face, they do use the Lord’s name as a weapon to badmouth the president, the governor, and those they disagree with. Our Lord says, “Do not commit adultery.” And some say, “Well, I would never cheat on my spouse, and what I look at in private isn’t hurting anyone.” In fact perhaps we can imagine the gall it takes because we too sometimes try to reject God by purposely misusing his Word to justify ourselves. So what did our Lord do with Ahaz?

“So Isaiah said: “Listen now, you house of David. Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you all a sign. Look! The virgin will  conceive and give birth to a son and call his name Immanuel.”

Ahaz didn’t want a sign. But he got one anyway. As odd as it may be, the promise of Immanuel was a pronouncement of judgment upon Ahaz and Judah for their rebellion and unbelief, as well as a promise of comfort and salvation for those who trust in God. In the last possible place that anyone would look for God, there he would be found. There in the womb of a virgin, Immanuel. Matthew quotes these very words of Isaiah and gives us that helpful explanation, the meaning of Immanuel, “God with us.”

In what sense is God with us? “The Lord Almighty is with us, the God of Jacob is our fortress.” the psalm declares. Certainly God is with us as our protector. But this is more than that. This is God himself with us. This is God taking on human flesh and being born as one of us. And while judgment would come upon Ahaz and Judah for their rejection of the Lord, for us Immanuel is a comforting name.

We are comforted because of what Jesus came to do by taking on our flesh, by becoming one of us. He came to take our place. The judgment pronounced on Ahaz could just as easily be pronounced on us. We know what we are capable of doing. But Jesus came to take our place. He took on our flesh and blood. He shared in our humanity. He placed himself under God’s law and he kept it perfectly. And then he placed himself before God’s wrath and bore the punishment that our sins deserved. And after his resurrection, he promised us that he would always be with us. “I am with you always to the very end of the age.” He truly is Immanuel!

What a comfort it is to know that our loving Savior is with us. He’s not with us in some impersonal, far-off way. No, he understands us completely. He knows what it’s like to live in this sinful world. He knows what it’s like to be bombarded with temptation. He knows our pains, our fears, our sins because he bore them himself. He has come to be with us with his message of love and forgiveness and giving us his perfect life and wrapping it around us.

And our Savior Jesus still comes to us in an intimate and personal way. He gives us his very body and blood that he took on in his Supper. To each one of us individually he says, “I shed my body and blood for you, for the forgiveness of your sins.”

Immanuel, God with us. Our God has sought us out and found us. Through his Word, the Spirit has worked faith in our hearts to trust in these promises. And that’s really what Advent is all about. Preparing our hearts to welcome Jesus again and again by remembering who he is and what he had done and continues to do for us. What a comfort to know that God is with us, now and always. AMEN