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.
Some may say that these names are not used in the New Testament. How do we know that these titles apply to Jesus?
When Jews would read Isaiah 9:6, they read it as part of a greater passage, Isaiah 9:1-7. Its last verse says:
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
The passage is prophetic, telling of something great to occur. A throne of justice and righteousness is to be established. This throne is to be established forever; the passage is Messianic. The last verse of the passage says the one to accomplish it is God (or more specifically "The Lord of Hosts").
In the book of Matthew, this passage is applied to Jesus. Matthew quotes Isaiah 9:1-2, claiming that Jesus, who resided in Naphtali, fulfilled the prophecy in the Isaiah verses:
5 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people dwelling in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,
on them a light has dawned.”
Here, Jesus is identified as this great light. But from Isaiah 9:7, the one who is the Great Light is the same person who is identified as Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. It then follows that these titles directly apply to Jesus.
The titles Mighty God and Everlasting Father especially can apply only to the Lord of Hosts (God) himself. Therefore Matthew says here not only that Jesus is the promised Messiah, but identifies Jesus as God.
Have you spent time to get to know the Prince of Peace?
No comments:
Post a Comment