By REV. DAVID CONSTIEN
Mesquite Lutheran Church
“For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His Name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end” (Isaiah 9:6-7a).
Government. World peace. That’s quite a bit to put on the shoulder of a child! Think of the infant Jesus lying in the manger and those tiny shoulders! How could he carry the weight of world peace, much less “the government” on his shoulders?!
Today we do everything we can to try and shield our children from feeling any weight of the world or our adult issues on their shoulders. We say, “Let kids be kids!” But it’s difficult to do in a world that impacts their lives no less directly than our own adult lives. We are not able to shield them from everything. Nor is it fair to put the weight of all of our hopes for a better future on them.
But there is a Child, we celebrate at Christmas, spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, who carries the weight of our cares upon His shoulder and who gives us the hope of a better future and a peace that never ends!
The increase of His government doesn’t mean a bloated bureaucracy we usually think of! The “government” Isaiah is referring to means the action of governing, of ruling, what we call being in charge, taking care of things, or making sure that everything happens the way it’s supposed to happen.
This is the government Isaiah refers to, that of the Messiah, what Jesus’ shoulders will carry. He will do the work of the Good Shepherd, of the King of Kings, of God Himself in flesh.
Isaiah said of Him, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5).
That work includes all of us, with all of our sins and troubles and our griefs, all the things that need to be set right. Only God’s shoulders are strong enough for that! That’s why Jesus can carry it, because He is
God and human at the same time. And because of His love for us, He carries that weight gladly – to the cross and through an empty tomb to give us an everlasting peace and, in a day to come, a resurrection to a new heaven and a new earth free from corruption, evil, sin, and death.
In a world that struggles for peace and in which we adults have made such a mess of government, what joy, what hope comes to us in this Child born to us! It’s on His shoulders! We have the greatest Gift in the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace who works all things for our everlasting good. It is truly a reason for a Merry Christmas and many blessed New Years to come! May they be His blessing for you and yours this season and always!
Rev. David Constien, Pastor of Mesquite Lutheran Church. Worship Christmas Eve at 5:00 p.m. and on Sundays at 10:00 a.m. 450 Turtleback Rd., Mesquite. Visit: mesquitelutheran.org or Facebook: @mesquiteLCC for more information. (702) 346-5811. Mesquite Lutheran Child Care Center: (702) 346-3954.
