Isaiah was called as a prophet to the nation of Judah and to Jerusalem during the reigns of King Uzziah, King Jotham, King Ahaz, and King Hezekiah. His writings were produced between the years of 740 - 680 BC. His name means "The Lord is Salvation." How fitting for God to choose this man, this prophet, to foretell so much about the coming of Christ.
Isaiah was special, chosen by God to tell His chosen people of His son. And if the people had been listening to Isaiah, they would have easily recognized Christ when He came. They could have rejoiced that He would be born of a virgin, Isaiah 7:14; that He would come from the house of Judah, Isaiah 37:31; that He would be from the house of David, Isaiah 16:5; that He would be from Nazareth, Isaiah 9:1-2.
Isaiah gave us these words: For unto us a child is born, unto a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever, Isaiah 9:6-7.
Those words are the epitome of Christmas. Those words are what we celebrate. Those words are what give something called a "holiday" a meaning beyond our wildest dreams.
Because those words give us hope. Hope for a future, for peace. Hope for eternity. Hope for a God who is with us forever.
There cannot be a Christmas story without Isaiah. Because His prophecies were the map for God's plan. God didn't just spring a Messiah on His people, on the world. It was His plan from the beginning.
You know, the Jews of Jesus' time knew the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the others. They knew that the Messiah was to come from the house of David, and would offer them hope and salvation.
Unfortunately, they ignored other prophecies. They were waiting for a political and military hero, one who would free them from Roman rule, expunge them of their enemies, and restore them to a great nation. Their way.
They were not waiting for God's son.
They were not waiting for Jesus.
If they had really read Isaiah's words, really inspected his prophecies, they would have seen these words from chapter 53: "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted,yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand."
Isaiah is important to the Christmas story, because hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, before His ministry and His teaching, before the controversy, before He was betrayed and handed over - Isaiah told us all about it. From His virgin birth, to the day of His death, Isaiah told it all.
God used Isaiah to prepare the hearts of men for the Christmas story. And He uses him today, in our lives, to remind us of His great plan, all along.
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