Luther's Christmas sermon on Isaiah 9:6

to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder

Luther preached a sermon on Christmas day, 1531, on Isaiah 9:6.

It is a good example of two great aspects of Luther's teaching: the proper application of the pronoun, and the free nature of the gift.

1. to us a child is born:

For whom was he conceived and born? For whom did he suffer and die? For us, for us, for us! Always add us! That is why the fathers rightly put the word [in the creed]: “And in Jesus Christ, our Lord.” We should relate this word to every sentence: conceived for us and born for us, suffered for us and raised for us, ascended for us and sitting at the right [hand of God] for us. For [it is no accident that] the words, “I believe in God, [the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth],” [are followed by,] “And in Jesus [Christ his only Son] our Lord.” In the same way, this word “our Lord” must be included with all [the following] sentences so they don’t just stand there naked. They are all about us. Christ didn’t need these works. He would have remained a lord quite well without them. Rather, his conception and birth, his suffering and death, his ascension and sitting at the right hand are all for our benefit. They belong to us. Note that well!

2. to us a Son is given:

it is not enough that he is “born” to us; he is also “given” to us. What does “given” mean? He is a [pure] gift, a present. There is nothing I have to give or pay in return.

He then has some wonderful things to say about the government resting on Christ's shoulders.

even the good authorities are carried on the shoulders of their subjects. But the rule of that Son who was born to us works the other way around: he carries us! We rest on his shoulders; he is our bearer...This is wonderful. Christ’s kingdom is not under his feet...it is on his shoulder...He must pay for us; he must make satisfaction and suffer. He must carry us, not we him. He does not want to be served, but to serve and to carry us. [He says,] “I will give you everything; all your guilt will be on my shoulder.”

Sort of a Christmas post

A list of barren women in the bible who God granted children:

• Sarai
• Rebekah
• Rachel
• Samson's mother (I don't think we know her name)
• Hannah
• Elizabeth

All gave birth to significant biblical figures. Sarai and Rebekah continued the seed of promise that would culminate in Christ. Rachel, Samson's mother, and Hannah all gave birth to saviours of the people. Elizabeth gave birth to the greatest prophet ever born before the coming of the Kingdom. So when we read early in Luke and Matthew that a virgin is going to give birth to a child the lights should be flashing! This child is going to be like those great heroes of the past that were born miraculously of barren women (Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Samson, Samuel, John the Baptist), but astonishingly he is surely also going to make those heroes look very small indeed once he accomplishes what he has been given to do.

I am not a big Christmas fan, and yet the birth narratives are incredibly exciting to read. Like a good trailer you can barely wait to see what is going to happen. If you are not filled with anticipation when reading the first few chapters of Luke and Matthew you have watched just a few too many nativity plays.

By the way, Merry Christmas everyone!