A Mysterious Sign

10 Later, the Lord sent this message to King Ahaz: 11 “Ask the Lord your God for a sign of confirmation, Ahaz. Make it as difficult as you want—as high as heaven or as deep as the place of the dead.”

12 But the king refused. “No,” he said, “I will not test the Lord like that.”

13 Then Isaiah said, “Listen well, you royal family of David! Isn’t it enough to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my God as well? 14 All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’). 15 By the time this child is old enough to choose what is right and reject what is wrong, he will be eating yogurt and honey. 16 For before the child is that old, the lands of the two kings you fear so much will both be deserted.

17 “Then the Lord will bring things on you, your nation, and your family unlike anything since Israel broke away from Judah. He will bring the king of Assyria upon you!”

We often hear this passage about a virgin in readings and songs at Christmastime. It had meaning for Isaiah’s audience many years before the first Christmas. And its ultimate fulfillment came when Jesus was born (see Matthew 1:22-23).

But what did it mean in the days of wheeling, dealing King Ahaz?

The king had made power deals with other nations and had worn out God’s patience with his false piety. But still some of God’s people remained faithful. Isaiah said there would be a young woman who would bravely name her son Immanuel (“God with us”). The sign in Isaiah’s day was not a virgin birth but a young mother’s faith in the midst of war and rumors of war. Her faith would shame the king. He trusted in deals, but she trusted in God.

Many years later, when Jesus, the Son of God, came to live among us, Matthew explained, “All this took place to fulfill” the words of Isaiah (Matthew 1:22; see also John 1:9-14). “Immanuel” is a cry of faith come true. God is bodily with us in Jesus.

This presence changes but never stops, for when Jesus leaves the earth, he assures us, “I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28.20; see Acts 1-2). “Immanuel” (“God with us”) becomes a promise and a reality in hard times, at Christmas, and every other day as well.

Lord, give me faith, that I may trust in your presence even in hard times. Holy Spirit, help me to rejoice that Immanu-el has come. Amen.