Sermon Text: Isaiah 7:10-14
10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, 11 “Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.”
12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.”
13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
(I) Ransom Us from Exile
(II) Free Us from Satan’s Tyranny
(III) Cheer Us in the Face of Death
(IV) Take Us to Our Heavenly Home.
Dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
An evil being out to destroy Christmas is the story line of many books or movies. Quickly coming to mind is “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”
The good news is that Christmas Day will come. Well, I suppose one thing could prevent it. Should the Lord decide to have his Second Advent before then, there would be no December 25th. Of course, then every day would be better than Christmas for us. Short of that, Christmas will come. We don’t have to worry about some Grinch or Scrooge ruining Christmas.
There is one thing we can be even more sure of than the arrival of Christmas Day. That is the arrival of the Savior. God had made a promise to send the Savior. He doesn’t break his promises. Never has. Never will. And in that promise, God said he himself would come. Emmanuel—God with us!
While we wait for Christmas – and these next couple of days are going to be the longest in a child’s life – we can rejoice already now. We know Christmas will be here soon. Emmanuel shall come. God promised it in these words of Isaiah. As we sang, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. (I) Ransom Us from Exile. (II) Free Us from Satan’s Tyranny. (III) Cheer Us in the Face of Death. (IV) Take Us to Our Heavenly Home.
I
“O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear” (CW 327, v. 1). Yes, Emmanuel, ransom us, your Israel, from exile.
King Ahaz was feeling the pressure. The kings of Israel and Aram had joined forces to attack Jerusalem. From a human perspective, it looked like it was all over for King Ahaz. What should he expect? Death? Or exile? Either way it didn’t look inviting.
Worse than that outlook was Ahaz’s unbelief. It would result in an exile far worse than to another country. It would result in a death far worse than that at the hands of an enemy. For he would be separated from God in the eternal death of hell.
Yes, Ahaz was all that bad, spiritually. Through Isaiah, the Lord informed Ahaz that those two kings would not conquer Jerusalem. Rather, within 65 years Israel would be in exile and foreigners would inhabit the land. Then the Lord warned, “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all” (Is. 7:9). Ahaz received this gracious warning with unbelieving silence.
Ahaz’s fate is the same fate that awaited us. We were in exile from God. Our sinful natures had made us the enemies of God. As such, we were unwilling and unable to obey or trust him. And we deserved only to remain in exile from him. Like Ahaz, we deserved the eternal fires of hell. So, yes, our cry is heartfelt and real: Come, Emmanuel, ransom us from exile.
“Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel!”
II
“O come, O Root of Jesse, free your own from Satan’s tyranny; from depths of hell your people save, and bring them vict’ry o’er the grave” (CW 327, v. 2). Yes, Emmanuel, free us from Satan’s tyranny.
Despite Ahaz’s despising of God’s Word, the Lord graciously offered him a sign as proof of the truth of his words. “Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights” (v. 11). Ahaz could ask for any kind of miraculous act now or in the future, something that would confirm the Lord’s words for him. God’s grace is amazing. Here it is still seeking out this hardened unbeliever.
That same amazing grace is at work in our lives. For that amazing grace caused him to send his one and only Son to be our Savior and free us from Satan’s tyranny.
Jesus faced off with Satan. While in the desert, Satan fired temptation after temptation at Jesus. Each time, using God’s Word, Jesus knocked down the arrows of the tempter. Jesus remained faithful.
When it didn’t work in face-to-face confrontation, Satan tried to get to Jesus through others. Remember one time when Jesus announced his coming suffering and death? Peter took Jesus aside and rebuked him for talking that way. Jesus immediately recognized this as an attack of Satan and rebuked Peter: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns” (Matthew 16:23). Jesus remained faithful.
Even in Satan’s final attack, the crucifixion of Jesus, Jesus was victorious. He crushed the head of Satan. He defeated Satan’s power by his resurrection from death. Jesus remained faithful.
Satan’s power lay in sins, but Jesus won forgiveness. Satan’s power lay in death, but Jesus rose from the dead. Satan’s power is in fear, but Jesus tells us “Don’t be afraid” and calms us with his peace.
Ahaz’s reaction to God’s grace was to brush it off. “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test” (v. 12). It sounds very pious. But the Lord had instructed him to put him to the test. Not to do so was a proverbial slap in the face.
How do we react to God’s grace? He offers it to us in his Word, in Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Do we brush off his offers? Lord, I’m too busy today to worship you. Lord, there are all sorts of reasons why I can’t stay for Sunday school and Bible Class. Lord, I just communed two weeks ago, I don’t need it again yet. Lord, when I have time I’ll start home devotions and Bible reading. Like Ahaz, we too can be fast and free in refusing God’s grace. Lord, help us to put into practice our statement that we treasure your Word and sacraments. And by them, come, Emmanuel, free us from Satan’s tyranny.
“Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel!”
III
“O come, O Dayspring from on high, and cheer us by your drawing nigh; disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death’s dark shadows put to flight” (CW 327, v. 3). Yes, Emmanuel, Cheer Us in the Face of Death.
Ahaz rejected the Lord’s word, yet the Lord gave him a sign. That sign was that the Lord himself would come. He would come as the child of a virgin. “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (v. 14). (By the way, it doesn’t make any difference whether you spell Emmanuel with an I or an E.) Emmanuel, God with us. God himself would come to us to be our substitute. As we are under law so God himself would be under law in order to perfectly obey it. As we are deserving of punishment for our law breaking, God himself would endure the punishment in our place. As we face death, God himself would die and rise from the dead, the firstfruits of those who fall asleep. As we need power to be God’s people, God himself would come to us and by his drawing nigh empower us. Indeed, he would disperse the gloomy clouds of night and death’s dark shadows put to flight. He has. As the God-man, our Savior, Jesus has done all this. In the face of death he gives us certain hope. The reason Jesus shared in our humanity was so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death (Hebrews 2:14-15). Emmanuel has come to us and cheers us in the face of death. Death no longer holds terror for us. If we were still in our sin, then death would be terrifying. For then we would have to face the Judge who would condemn us to eternal punishment. Since our Savior has taken our sin off of us, as we are personally assured in the Lord’s Supper, death simply means we are taken to our heavenly home to be with our Lord in glory forever. Come, Emmanuel, cheer us in the face of death.
“Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel!”
IV
“O come, O Key of David, come, and open wide our heav’nly home; make safe the way that leads on high, and close the path to misery” (CW 327, v. 4). Yes, Emmanuel, take us to our heavenly home.
Emmanuel has opened wide the gates to heaven. That was shown when the curtain in the temple tore from top to bottom at the death of Jesus. Just as the way into the temple’s Most Holy Place – a symbol of heaven – was open, so Jesus is the Key that unlocked the gates of heaven and threw them open. He has gone into heaven to prepare a place for us and will come back to take us to be with him where he is. Come, Emmanuel, take us to our heavenly home.
“Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel!”
Christmas Day is almost here. Our days of waiting are almost over. Emmanuel has come to us. Emmanuel still comes to us. Emmanuel will come to us.
O come, O come, Emmanuel!
“Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel!” Amen.