Ahaz is weary of
prophets getting in the way of his politics and so even the offer of a sign as
high as the heavens and as deep as Sheol can’t get him to swallow his pride and
ask the God of Israel for help. God who is wearied by Ahaz’s feigned piety offers a
sign anyway, a sign that Matthew will apply to Jesus even though Isaiah was most
likely speaking of Hezekiah, neither of which are named Emmanuel, by the way,
but then that is the way of prophecies. They point to a truth larger than the
literal one and the same word that finds fulfillment in Hezekiah and Jesus
finds fulfillment in our everyday. Emmanuel, God with us is the point of the
promise. God with us when we go our own way, choosing the evil and refusing the
good. God with us when we feed ourselves with false promises and illusory
hopes. God with us for the day when we tire of wearying God and turn again to
the promise as high as the heavens and as deep as Sheol and recognize that the
hope of God with us is that we would finally and fully choose to be with God. Amen. Come, Lord
Jesus.
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