“The Center of the Season is the Christ” Isaiah 61.1-4, 8-11, Dec. ’14 Series B…
1. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The message from God’s Word this 3rd
Sunday in Advent is taken from Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 and is entitled, “The Center of the Season is the
Christ.”
Jesus comes to bring the greatest news from God, and He comes to fill the greatest need
of men. Dear brothers and sisters in
Christ.
2.
On this
Third Sunday in Advent, the mood of repentance, evident in the first two
Sundays of the season, gives way to a great sense of joy as we come closer to
the celebration of Christ’s birth. There’s eagerness and anticipation in these
words. Although Isaiah has words of prophecy here for us and although they
point forward to an event in the future, they speak with the certainty that an
action of God has been completed and stands as a finished product. Isaiah reminds us that, the center of the season is the Christ.
3.
Isaiah’s
word of prophecy about the Messiah, is like a greeting card designed to tell us
about God’s perfect gift at Christmas. Why does the Savior hold our attention
and bring our praise year in and year out beginning at Christmas? The fullness
of the Spirit of God was poured out on our Lord, giving him the gifts He needed
for his ministry (Is 11:2–5; 61:1). That same Spirit attracts you and me to him
today and every Christmas season. The one anointed to preach good news is
Jesus Christ. He’s the speaker. He’s the heart of the good news.
4. Those who witnessed the life of
Jesus said that no man could’ve done the things he did unless God was with him.
His gracious words, mighty miracles, and tremendous love demonstrated by his
death on the cross were all enabled by the Spirit, and “through the Spirit of holiness [he] was declared with power to be the
Son of God by his resurrection from the dead” (Rom 1:3–4). In the synagogue
at Nazareth, Jesus exclaimed in Luke chapter 4, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me!” (Luke 4:18). When Jesus finished
reading our text from Isaiah in Luke chapter 4, “The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him” (Luke
4:20). At Christmas, may all eyes be fixed on Jesus Christ!
5.
The
center of the season is the Christ because
He’s the perfect promise of God. Isaiah’s words describe a future generation
of his countrymen. The Israelites would find themselves in the worst of
scenarios. God’s judgment fell upon them for their idolatry and evil ways. The
mighty Babylonians conquered Judah in 587 B.C. and carried away the Israelites
into exile. Among them were the intelligent and educated, the rich and famous.
They were humbled and brought to repentance. They mourned. But, help would come.
The Lord promised to rescue and restore his people. Babylon fell to Persia, and
in 538 B.C. (the edict of Cyrus) the Israelites were set free to return to
their homeland. But, both the promise
and the fulfillment extend beyond the 6th century B.C. to our Lord’s ministry,
through the New Testament age, down to the present day, and even to the Second
Coming of Christ. That’s how far Isaiah’s great prophecy reaches.
6.
The
center of the season is the Christ because he brings help for the poor and brokenhearted. Isaiah addresses the discouraged, humble, and
meek who yearn for God to save. Though many of us are outwardly free and
prosperous, God calls for all of us to be poor in spirit before him, to humble
ourselves in his presence. The awareness of our sin makes us feel captive,
imprisoned, and enslaved to evil, and guilty before God. What we need is
forgiveness! Only our Lord Jesus Christ can fulfill that need.
7.
The
center of the season is the Christ because He brings liberty and freedom to the
captives. In the fullness of time, God
sent his Son Jesus to announce “the year
of the Lord’s favor,” the time when the grace of God would be revealed. God
sends his servant to liberate, and set free the captives. Does Isaiah mean to
say that we’re captive, that we need to be liberated by the Lord? Yes! We
Americans are free to walk and travel, free to strive and achieve, free to
build and accomplish. But, in so many ways we’re held captive by our sin, in
bondage to fear, to memories of the past, to regrets. We’re slaves to the gods
of fortune and pride, bound by the shackles of greed and lust.
8.
How
blessed we are to hear of the One who is able to defeat the tyrants that hold
us captive! What a liberating effect the Christ Child had upon those around him
even during the early days of his life on earth. Already then he was freeing
the captives! The shepherds were set free to tell what they had seen and heard
at Bethlehem. Later, the Wise Men were set free from trivial pursuits. They
directed all their energy toward finding him who was their Lord and King. Old
Simeon in the temple was finally free to close his eyes and die in peace after
he saw the Lord’s salvation in the Christ Child.
9.
What
tyrants hold you captive? Maybe it’s a certain sin, a bad habit you can’t seem
to stop, or something that happened in your past which you have been unable to
escape. Maybe it’s fear, fear of commitment, responsibility, aging, or death.
Maybe it’s worry or anxiety about the future. No matter what it is, you have a
Savior who has come to set you free! He is the one Isaiah speaks of today. By
the power of the Holy Spirit he sets you free! Look to the cross where he died
for your sins! “If the Son sets you free,
you will be free indeed!” (John 8:36). At Christmas, we captives are set
free!
10. The center of the season is the
Christ because He brings comfort for those who mourn. Everyone, it seems, is happy at Christmas, or
at least a little happier than at other times of the year. But, this time of the year can also bring
about sadness to those who continue to mourn their loved ones who have died. “He has sent me,” says the Servant, “to comfort all who mourn, and provide for
those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning” (vv 1–3). People may grieve and
mourn for many reasons, but none evokes more bitter sorrow than the death of a
loved one. Who can help those who grieve?
Who can change their sorrow to a crown of life? The answer is Jesus Christ! He comforts
those who mourn. Following his resurrection from the dead, he was there,
bringing gladness to the grieving. While Mary wept at the tomb, Jesus called to
her, “Mary!” His life, his
resurrection, and his power bring joy.
11. The center of the season is the
Christ because He brings to us security and stability. The Lord helps with the sorrows of life. He
gives us his righteousness that we might be firmly rooted in his grace. “They will be called oaks of righteousness,”
shouts Isaiah (v 3). We can be that strong in him, for through our baptism (Gal
3:27) he has clothed us with the “garments
of salvation” (Is 61:10) and placed upon us the mantle of praise and the
robe of his righteousness. As a bride and groom meet in their finest attire, so
the Lord decks us in glory at Christmas as he gives us his Son as our gift. May
our response of praise spring up to catch the attention of all the nations (v
11).
12. Yes, Jesus is the center of the Advent
& Christmas seasons. We see bumper stickers in this season that say, “Put Christ back into Christmas.” Such a
slogan reminds us that it’s all too easy to be occupied in the externals of the
holiday and to exclude the center. Yet such a slogan is an overstatement.
Christ is in the name of Christmas. He never left. He remains. Our business is
to come and adore him. Amen.
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