Three sets of readings are given for Christmas Day. Any one of the sets can be used. If a vigil or other service is held on Christmas Eve, then one of the sets could be used for that and an alternative set for Christmas Day. The Old Testament reading in this first set has been chosen because of the reference to a child born ‘for us’ who will usher in justice and righteousness ‘from this time forward and for evermore’ (v. 7) and the theme of light shining in the darkness (v. 2). It relates to the Gospel reading for today, Luke 2:1-14(15-20), which speaks of the birth of Jesus.

While today’s reading starts with words of joy and hope at v. 2 in our English Bibles, it lacks any real context if we neglect the material immediately before it, Isa. 8:16-22. Although the passages may not have been connected originally, the editors of Isaiah have placed them together and provided some thematic connections. The desolation of the land (8:21) prepares for the anguish in 9:1. The references to ‘no dawn’ and ‘darkness’ in 8:20 and 22, suggest the image of the dawning of a new day in 9:2. In making these connections, the editors have firmly linked 9:1-7 with the story of King Ahaz of Judah, whose political dilemma and debate with the prophet Isaiah were described in chapters 7-8.

The time was 734-732 BCE and Ahaz faced the threat of attack from his northern neighbours Israel and Syria. One option he contemplated was calling on the superpower Assyria to defend him against his neighbours. But that would mean making a political alliance that, in the end, could be as destructive for Ahaz and Judah (see Isa 5:28-30 with further references to darkness and distress, v. 30). Some scholars have thought the mention of Zebulun and Naphtali in 9:1 could relate to an Assyrian campaign and conquest of the coastal regions of northern kingdom of Israel (cf. 10:9). The incident, if the reference is to this, is not mentioned in any other sources. Furthermore, the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali were fairly insignificant ones, so the events referred to in 9:1 remain obscure. The reference to the day of Midian (cf. Judg 6:33ff) may provide a further northern connection. In the Judges story Gideon led the northern tribes of Zebulun, Naphtali, Asher and Manasseh, against the Midianites and Amalekites.

In the face of Ahaz’s political dilemma Isaiah urged a solution that required the bringing of religious belief into the world of real politics and national security. He urged Ahaz to stand firm in faith (Isa. 7:3-9). This is echoed in 8:17, where the prophet speaks of his own ‘waiting’ for the Lord. The Hebrew word for ‘wait’ is the same as the word for ‘hope’. Moreover, the assurance Ahaz had been given that God would indeed come to his aid, hardly seemed impressive. It consisted of the prophet, his word and the children whom the Lord had given the prophet, who bore names with prophetic import (8:18; cf. 7:3; 8:1 and possibly even the child with the name Immanuel, 7:14). A man’s word, and the names of a few children. That is all that is offered by way of a ‘sign’ for Ahaz, a king used to making decisions based on firmer knowledge and intelligence. How easy it was for Ahaz to dismiss the word of the prophet in the face of more urgent and pressing ‘realities’.

Admittedly, the prophetic poem, which begins in Isa. 9:2, does not seem to go far toward alleviating Ahaz’s dilemma. If offers to replace the ‘gloom’ and ‘anguish’ experienced by the people with joy and exaltation, but it does not remove the need for faith and an engaged waiting. The ‘deep darkness’ that has spread over the land will be pierced by light, but a light which will start simply as the flicker of a small flame. The reason for the joy spoken about in vv. 2-4 is given in vv. 6-7: ‘For a child has been born to us, a son given to us’. While as Christians we might easily associate this text with Jesus and read it with all the confidence two thousand years of Christianity encourages, in its original context the statement raises a number of questions.

One question relates to who is speaking in these verses. Another, to whom is the reference of a ‘child … born to us’. It could be that the people celebrate the birth of a king. If so the word ‘given’ is important. This one in whom the people’s hopes are centred is one who comes to them as a gift. There is a strong sense of the gift of liberation and salvation. Alternatively, the speaker could be God, and the occasion the coronation of a new king (cf. the language of Ps 2:7 which might also come from that context). In either case, the occasion is the advent of a new king in whom are centred hopes for a new future. The list of titles at the end of v. 6 could echo the list of throne names (usually five) given to the Egyptian Pharaohs (cf. also 2 Sam 23:1 for similar epithets for the king in Israel). All the trappings of royalty are present in the poem. They stand for the power and security of the nation, a comforting aspect given the threat Ahaz faces. But that power and security are laid on the shoulders of a child who ‘has been born for us’. The child may have all the authority of the kingdom and God ‘upon his shoulders’ but that authority, as well as the child, has yet to grow (v. 7a). While Christians have read these verses, especially v. 6, messianically in relation to Jesus, in the context of v. 7 and in their ancient setting they are messianic only in terms of the Davidic dynasty and expectations on the human kings of that line. Those expectations are great and bear the promise of God (see the comment for Advent 4 on 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16) but they are still vested in frail human beings. There is an element of human frailty attached to them. Ahaz himself is a prime example of that.

This aspect of these ancient words is still relevant for Christian who have invested them with greater significance. Attention to the context of the Isaiah reading relates to the Gospel message on Christmas Day in a couple of ways. First, in Isaiah there is a call to faith in a world where the signs of faith seem insignificant. So too the birth of the messiah in the Gospel reading (Luke 2:1-14) is told in terms of a vulnerable and insignificant event given all that surrounds it: a child is born to a poor refugee family struggling for its very survival. Secondly, the expression of joy and hope fulfilled in Isa 9:2-7 is to be seen in the very real and risky world of political alliances. Likewise, the story of the birth of Jesus in Luke is set in the hard world of refugees and political oppression (Lk 2:1-7). The messiah in Luke’s Gospel also comes into a real and risky world. It is in that world too that the text calls for and proclaims joy and celebration (Lk 2:14)

As we celebrate the joy of Christmas this year, we do so in the context of continuing war in Afghanistan and armed struggle in many places other places, the ongoing threat of terror within communities in many countries, the continuing struggle and suffering of those who face recovery from both natural and human made tragedies, and in the context of global financial uncertainty and rumours of recession. We celebrate joyfully ‘a son given to us’ not in spite of all that is horrible, dangerous, or distressing about the world around us, but precisely because of it. In the birth of that one we hear again the call to faith that has always been there for God’s people. At the beginning of the story of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke we hear of insignificant shepherds being called to celebrate the gift of God’s peace in the very face of the power and oppression of the Roman Empire (Lk 2:8-14). The prophet and the evangelist both point us to a reality that transcends all that is darkness about us; to a light that shines even in a world of deep darkness.

Psalm reading: Psalm 96

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