THE SON OF DAVID ISAIAH 8:11-17; 8:19-9:7
“WHY A MESSIAH?”
Last week we looked at a number of prophetic puzzle pieces pointing to the coming messianic king, a descendant of David, who'd be annointed with the Holy Spirit! In Jesus' day, Luke informs us, “Everyone was expecting the Messiah to come soon.” (Luke 3:15) Jesus was even asked,“Are you the Messiah we've been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?” (Luke 7:19) But the question remains, why is such a messiah needed today? The Davidic family line ceased to rule long ago, did it not? We're not Jews. Besides, we're a people who pride ourselves on self-reliance. Our nation was born out of a struggle for independence & self-rule. Why do we need a king?
After all, doesn't the Bible say, 'God helps those who help themselves?' Okay, that was actually Benjamin Franklin, who was a deist not a Christian, but the point is...we don't like to be dependent on anyone or told what to do. We want to make something of ourselves without any meddling. As author Jarod Kintz put it, “I want to make something of myself. I believe it's called a statue.” {posing}
So who needs....?! The Samaratin woman at the well reveals one reason: “I know the Messiah will come, the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he'll explain everything to us.” (John 4:25)
She notes that one reason we need the Messiah is because he's able to explain things - answer our questions. Why are we here? What's the point...? What's the meaning to life? (Alpha!)
Another reason we need the Messiah comes to light when Mary and Joseph bring their young son, Jesus, to the temple where they meet Simeon. “Now Simeon was a devout and righteous man. He was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he eagerly expected the Messiah to come and rescue Israel.” Simeon took the child, Jesus, in his arms, and declared: “I have seen the Savior you have given to all people. He is a light to reveal God to the nations and he is the glory of your people Israel!”
(Luke 2: 2:25, 30)
The Messiah, then, reveals God's loving plan to us! We need the Messiah because without him we can not fully know God. Without the Messiah God seems distant and removed. So it is that the Messiah comes to shine a light on the face of God that we may come to know God personally.
In his gospel Matthew connects Jesus' ministry with multiple messianic prophecies, such as Micah's He'll “hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea!” (Micah 7:19), or Zechariah, who foresaw how A branch of David's family “will remove the sins of the world in a single day”.
(Zechariah 3:9)
The theme is echoed in the instructions the angel provides Joseph with before Jesus was born: “You are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)
Couldn't be more clear than that! The Messiah saves us from ourselves. C.B articulates this....:
Charlie B: Christmas vacation is almost here and I still haven't written my book report on Gullivers
Travels. I haven't even started to read it yet! Why don't I get started? Why do I pubt stuff off ? What is wrong with me? (The Parables of Peanuts, p. 97-98)
Paul asked a similar question: “I want to do what is right, but I can't. I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. What's wrong with me? There is another power that is at war with my mind that makes me a slave to sin... Oh, what a mis-erable person I am! Who will free me from this? The answer is in Jesus the Christ.” (Rom 7:18-25)
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That's what's wrong with you, Charlie Brown. That's what's wrong with all of us. Isaiah identi-fies 4 forms of spiritual darkness or sin to which we're all vulnerable. First, he asks, “So why are you trying to find out the future by consulting mediums and psychics? Don't listen to their whisperings and mutterings. Can the living find out the future from the dead? Why not ask your God?”
(Isaiah 8:19)
Isaiah's questions here reveal what is so wrong with consulting psychics – it's a trust issue. In a bit of sardonic, social commentary, cartoonist Bill Watterson offers this...:
Calvin: I've decided I believe in astrology and horoscopes.
Hobbes: Really?
Calvin: You bet. It only makes sense that every facet of our daily lives should depend upon the
position of celestrial bodies hundreds of millions of miles away... Look here. Today I'll
have “many key policies implemented.” I get to have my way!
Hobbes: (walking away, past piano....) Oh, those mischievous planets.
Calvin: (yelling after Hobbes...) The newspaper couldn't print it if it weren't true...!
Mom: (walks up on Calvin's blind side....) I thought I told you to take your bath.
Calvin: Sorry, Mom. You have no say in this.
Mom: You're in for a surprise, buster. (taking C. by hand and slowly pulling him away...)
Calvin: But circumstances are going to turn in my favor - that's what my horoscope says! All human affairs are determined by stars and planets, and today they say my key polices will be implemented. That means no bath and no bedtime! By golly, it's not good to thwart the intentions of the universe!
Hobbes: Seems fate just isn't what it used to be... Maybe the astrologer was looking thru the wrong end of the telescope. (The Days Are Just Packed, p. 60,61)
Maybe so. There's something seriously amiss in our mindset when we try to find out the future by consulting mediums and psychics, weegee boards and horoscopes. Thru Isaiah, God makes it clear that such behavior shows an inherent distrust in God: “Why not ask God?” (8:19) The implied answer? Because we don't fully trust him. God provides a great deal of insight about our future in the pages of Scripture. The problem is, we're not satisfied. Like Adam & Eve we're seduced into thinking that God is holding out on us and we wander from the truth into the darkness of our own making.
Embracing ideas and practices that contradict Scripture then is the first form of darkness. As Isaiah writes: “Check their predictions against my testimony,” says the Lord. “If their predictions are different from mine, it is because there is no light or truth in them.” (Isaiah 8:20)
Just because something is accepted as the cultural norm doesn't make it right. That's the second form of spiritual darkness: succumbing to peer pressure. As Isaiah shares: “The Lord has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. He said, 'Don't call everything a conspiracy like they do, and don't live in dread of what frightens them.” (Isaiah 8:11-12)
It's not the secular culture of Assyria that God warns Isiah of but that of his religious peers. It's an incredibly timely warning. A second form of darkness we're vulnerable to then is that of listening to and following the voices around us that promote conspiracies and a state of fear of what could be.
The third form of darkness results from times of hardship and pain:“My people will be led away as captives, weary and hungry. And because they are hungry, they will rage and shake their fists at heaven and curse their king and their God.” (Isaiah 8:21)
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In response to hardship, many of us are prone to being “led away as captives”. That is to say, we become prisoners to our pain. This is particularly prevalent among those of us trying to silence the voices within with various forms of escapism – be that drugs, alcohol, food, sex, entertainment, etc
Hungry for validation we look for ways to affirm our sense of worth through a variety of substi-tutes & affirmations. This can lead to a kind of spiritual captivity, a vicious circle of dark thoughts and poor decisions, that is the fourth kind of darkness: “Wherever they look, there will be trouble and anguish and dark despair. They'll be thrown out into the darkness.” (Isaiah 8:22)
That is why we need the Messiah. We're in a world of hurt surrounded by a world of hurt. By trusting in worldly substitutes to ease our burden, numb our pain or quiet the anxiety or anguish within and around us, we are, in a very real sense, shaking our fists at God...and courting the darkness...
In the film, Walking the Line, we catch a glimpse of how prevalent this darkness can be, even for someone raised in the Christian faith, as was the case with Johnny Cash. Having grown up with an angry,unloving father Cash wound up living it out thru constant cursing, excessive drinking, fighting,
lying & cheating until a follower of Christ exchanges truth for his inner lies and helps him find the way
[DVD clip from Walking the Line; 1:50:15-1:52:36]
[“It should have been me who died on that blade not my brother. My Dad' right, I'm a nobody”
“No you're not. You've made your share of mistakes but God's...giving you a second chance!”]
Trying in vain to silence his inner demons Cash medicated himself and sought to affirm his sense of worth by seeking fame and validation. But even still, the voices that demean, distract and deceive persist...and ultimately he winds up in despair. Rosalyn countered with the voice of truth...!
Rosalyn pointed him toward the light of hope. That hope has a name – Jesus, 'he saves'. Isaiah pointed to him long ago: “That time of darkness and despair will not go on forever... The people who walk in darkness will see a great light – a light that will shine on all who live in the land where death casts its shadow... For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light – a light that will shine on all who live in the land where death casts its shadow... For God will break the chains that bind his people!” (Isaiah 9:1-2, 4-7)
Why do we need the Messiah? Why do we need to be saved? Because there's something wrong with us – all of us – our willful, sinful nature and we cannot save our selves! Because an addict can not, by his own effort or will, free himself of that addiction! We need outside help because the darkness we are prone to is of our own making, partnering with another power eager to destroy us. We need an ob-jective perspective, someone who sees the whole picture, one who can stand among us as one of us, but who's inherently greater than any of us, atoning for all that is wrong in us and in the world around us!
There is only one, a Son who has been given to us, who is one of us and yet far greater than us, who can heal your hurt, forgive your guilt and set you free to walk thru that narrow gateway to life...
As we wait for his return, God waits for us to turn to him, that in the asking, God will break the chains that bind his people! (Isaiah 9:7) “Why not ask your God?” (Isaiah 8:19) Let's pray...