Matter of Perspective

Sometimes, how you understand something is a matter of perspective. Consider the mayor of a small town. One day he was going through the city square. This was a beautiful place. The grass was rich and green. The flowers were in bloom and sported rich colors. The trees provide many places of shelter from the hot summer sun. It was truly a gorgeous place. And such a wonderful place required lot of work to keep up.

The mayor happened to notice a couple of workers going up Main Street. Each one carried a shovel. One would go and dig a hole and then the other would come up right behind him and would fill the hole back in. The mayor observed this spectacle for quite a while until his curiosity finally got the best of him and he went up to workers to inquire about all the digging and filling that was going on. The one who dug the holes, leaned on his shovel, wiped the sweat off his forehead and said. “We are the city tree planting crew. But the guy who plants the trees called in sick this morning.”

Sometimes, how you understand something is a matter of perspective. Now consider our text for this morning from Isaiah. This text about Immanuel is one that we love dearly. It is a text that we associate with this time of year and all the good stuff that goes with it. That is our perspective on the text. And it is a good perspective to have.

But that wasn’t the case for King Ahaz. For him the promise of Immanuel was a judgment against him. Ahaz was facing some pretty difficult times. His neighbors in Syria and Israel had formed an alliance against him and laid siege to Jerusalem in an attempt to destroy the entire kingdom. And while Ahaz had Yahweh the one true God, king of the universe on his side, Ahaz was an unbeliever. And instead of looking to God for help he went to the Assyrians.

In the face of this turmoil God sends Isaiah to the king with a message of hope. Be careful. Be quite. Do not be afraid and do not let your heart be faint. The plan of your enemies will fail. It will not come about. It will not happen. Stand strong, put your faith in God and he will save you.

But Ahaz refuses to believe. God tells him to ask for a sign to confirm the word of God. Ask for anything. Let it be has deep as the grave or as high as heaven. And Ahaz arrogantly refuses. “I will not put the Lord to the test.” He says. This was because he preferred his own plan with the Assyrians. He wanted nothing to do with God or God’s plans because they didn’t fit with his plans.

So God chooses his own sign. The virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. There is in this sign good news and bad news. The good news is that Syria and Israel will be gone before the boy is old enough to know right from wrong. The bad news is that Ahaz will face even greater trouble than Syria and Israel in the form of the Assyrians. If you have ever heard the phrase about the cure being worse than the disease, well then this is the perfect example of that.

Sometimes, how you understand something is a matter of perspective. Consider what this news about Immanuel meant for Joseph and Mary. They were living through some scary times. The occupation by the Romans was no walk in the park. Mary was pregnant, and they weren’t married yet. Joseph was even considering divorcing Mary.

But God sent an angel, and that angel gave him hope. The baby that is growing inside of Mary is the son of God. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. In fact, his name will be Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. This is the ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy. Jesus is God in the flesh. He is God with us. This comforts Joseph and he takes Mary home as his wife.

Sometimes, how you understand something is a matter of perspective. What does the promise of Immanuel mean for you? We live in a time of fear and doubt. There are wars raging in our world. There is the threat of wars as well. The economy is a mess. There is lots of anxiety and fear as we face all the uncertainties that are out there in our world.

But for us, Immanuel is a word of hope and encouragement. Jesus is God with us. And he is with us always, even to the very end of the age. Therefore we have hope. So do not be afraid. The price of peace gives us peace. Therefore we have peace with God, and peace with one another. We have a peace that surpasses all human understanding.

Jesus saves us from our sins. He takes all our sin, and all our fears, all our conflicts and brokenness and imperfection on himself. He paid the price for them on the cross. So that for his sake we have forgiveness and life that never ever ends. Those things are removed from us as far as the east is from the west.

Sometimes, how you understand something is a matter of perspective. The promise of Immanuel is fulfilled in Jesus. And because this is true, then no matter what we are facing, we will have hope. Not just the hope that we will get through the tough times, although we do have that. But hope that God will see us through those times and will always be with us. And that one day he will return and restore all of creation back to its glory and splendor and perfection that it had before the fall. It is a hope that moves us to share God’s love with others around us. It is a hope that moves us to pray, “Come, Lord Jesus. Come quickly. Amen.”