"WONDERFUL COUNSELOR"

Sermon by Pastor John Hollis

Morning, 4^th Sunday in Advent

December 24, 2006

Texts: Isaiah 9:1-7; Luke 4:16-21

In our text from Luke four, we learn that Jesus had come to a people who were sitting in darkness. According to John 1:4-5, Jesus was the light of the world. "In Him was life ; and the life was the light of men. and the light shines in the darkness; and the darkness did not comprehend it." And in the third chapter of John, verses 16-21 we learn that Jesus came into the world to save those who would believe; and this was based upon the love God had for mankind. But judgment had come to the world because people "loved the darkness rather than the light."

It was into such a world that this child was born. He had come into a world that had, for the most part, rejected God and all the pleadings he had made through his prophets; he came to his own people - his own world - and his own rejected him. Yet he was wonderful in letting them know why he had come.

The text from Luke four is the record of Jesus reading the Scriptures in the synagogue on the Sabbath. He had come to deliver the good news to the poor. These were not necessarily the materially poor but the poor in spirit. The proud and arrogant would not receive him but the humble and lowly would receive him.

He had come into a world which was in captivity to sin; he would release the captives, that is, the ones who were being held in captivity to sin.

He would give sight to the blind. Those who were blinded by the world would be enabled to see the good news of redemption. I call your attention to the words of the apostle John in his first letter: "The one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes." (1 John 2:11). Jesus came into a world of hate that he might open the eyes of the blind with the message of love. Oh, how often we are blinded by the hatred that is in this world. Peter even warned his brethren that it was possible to be blinded through forgetfulness. He gives a list of qualities we should supply in our faith; and he says, "For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins." (2 Peter 1:9).

Jesus also came to free the downtrodden. He came into a world that was filled with people who believed that all hope had passed them by. They had longed for centuries for a Messiah who would deliver them from their enemies. Jesus came to give them hope.

Jesus came to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. His coming meant that the day of salvation had come. It was not something they would have to wait for centuries to realize. Today - that day - was the day of salvation. At the conclusion of Jesus reading from Isaiah the prophet, he sat down and the people looked at him; he responded with these words: "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

They would have to wait no longer.

This child to be born would be called "Wonderful Counselor." This means there would be "great doings or deeds" performed by him. "Great doings and deeds" would follow him. When the Spirit came to the disciples on Pentecost, they began to speak in other languages. When the people gathered there heard them they began to question what was happening; and they said, "we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God." (Acts 2:11). And they said to one another, "What means this?" The meaning of it was the Wonderful Counselor had come into their midst. In what ways was he wonderful?

He was wonderful in his birth. When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary the virgin and told her she would bear the child who would be the Savior of the world, she responded: "How can this be?" Gabriel explained to her how it could be, and then he said, "for nothing will be impossible with God." (Luke 1:34-37). The wonder of his birth is beyond the comprehension of the world's intelligence.

His birth was wonderful in that it occurred in an unusual place. It did not happen in the comfort of a medical facility, or the home, or a resting place for weary travelers, but in a stable with animals around them. What a wonderful beginning for the one who would minister to the poor and lowly.

His birth was wonderful because it happened at the appropriate time. As we have mentioned earlier, God's people had waited for centuries for the Messiah to come. But it was God who chose the time. The apostle Paul enlightens us about the time of Jesus' birth: "But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman," (Galatians 4:4). God did not send him until the appropriate time came.

Not only was he wonderful in his birth he was also wonderful in his relationships with the people. He had the compassion for people that led him to associate with sinners. This didn't resonate too well with the Pharisees. They complained to his disciples: "Why does your Teacher eat with the tax-gathers and sinners?" When Jesus heard this, he responded "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are ill. But go and learn what this means, 'I desire compassion and not sacrifice,' for I did not come to call the righteous but sinners." (Matthew 9:11-13). Oh how wonderful was his relationship with people.

He was wonderful in his relationship with the unclean. He had the audacity to touch the lepers. He didn't turn away from the unclean, but healed them through his touch. And he didn't go to the priest to make an offering for his uncleanness because of the touching of the leper, rather he sent the healed leper to the priest to make an offering for his having been cleansed. (Matthew 8:2-3).

He was wonderful in his relationship with the unwanted. He came to lift up the downtrodden, the wandering, the lost. On an occasion where he was welcoming the unwanted to his presence, the Pharisees complained again about what he was doing. And he told them a parable about a shepherd who had a sheep wander from the flock of one hundred, and he left the ninety-nine to go find the lost sheep. When it was found, there was great rejoicing . Then he drives home his point: "I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance." (Luke 15:1-2, 4-7). Isn't that wonderful? Doesn't that touch your heart? Doesn't it thrill your soul?

He was wonderful in his miracles. We think of his blessing a wedding feast by turning water into wine. We think of all those who were ill who were brought to him and he healed them. But I think the most wonderful of all his miracles was the resurrection of the dead. When Lazarus died, Jesus came to see Mary and Martha. Jesus said to Martha that her brother would rise again. She agreed that he would rise in the day of resurrection. Jesus then revealed to her this wonderful truth: "I am the resurrection and the life." (John 11:22-26). When they arrived at the grave, Jesus asks that the stone be removed from the tomb. Martha objected. Jesus said to her: "Did I not say to you, if you believe, you will see the glory of God." (John 11:40). The glory of God was going to be displayed in the raising of Lazarus from the tomb. This was a wonderful miracle.

Jesus was wonderful in his teachings. At the close of the Sermon on the Mount, "the multitudes were amazed at His teaching; for he was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes." (Matthew 7:28-29). On one occasion some officers were sent to arrest Jesus; they returned without having done so and were asked why they had not arrested him. They answered: "Never did a man speak the way this man speaks." (John 7:44-46). When he taught in his home town the people asked: "Where did this man get this wisdom?" (Matthew 13:54).

When he taught he taught words of eternal life. Jesus was teaching about life and how this life is received, and some of his disciples left him because they thought his teachings were too difficult to receive. Jesus asked those who remained if they would also leave him. Peter replied: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life." (John 6:66-68). And Jesus assured them that the words he was teaching were words from God, and it was important that they receive them. He said, "He who rejects Me, and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day. For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me commandment, what to say, and what to speak. And I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just at the Father has told me." (John 12:48-50).

He was wonderful in his death. He willingly gave his life. He was not made to lay down his life. He said, "For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father." (John 10:17-18). He not only gave it willingly, he prayed to the Father that those who were nailing him to the cross might be forgiven for their crime. (Luke 23:34).

Just as his birth was at the appropriate time, so was his death. He realized that the time for his death was near, and he wanted to prepare the disciples for this. He said to them, "The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." (John 12:23-24). The Hebrew writer assures us that Jesus came to do the will of God; and we are "sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." (Hebrews 10:9-10). God's plan for rescuing his people from sin was carried out at the appropriate time.

Jesus was wonderful in his resurrection. The resurrection is the center of God's scheme of redemption. Everything is dependent upon Jesus resurrection. Paul wrote to the Christians at Corinth that if Christ has not been raised, then their faith is in vain. But he has been raised from the dead; our faith is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:18-22).

One of the wonderful things about his resurrection is that it was also his birth. He became the firstborn from the dead. He was also "declared with power to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead." (Romans 1:4). And notice these words: "But God raised Him from the dead; and for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now His witnesses to the people. And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, 'Thou art My Son; today I have begotten Thee.'" (Acts 13:30-33). What a wonderful event his resurrection was.

He was the Wonderful Counselor. Of course his role as counselor was to give counsel. He gave counsel to his disciples about how to build lives (Matthew 7:28-29). He gave counsel to sinners. We think of the time he counseled the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well about the living water (John 4:1-26). We can think of the occasion in which a woman came and washed Jesus' feet with her tears and anointed them with perfume. When Simon complained about this, Jesus used the occasion to counsel Simon as well as the woman. (Luke 7:36-50). He counseled his friends, Mary and Martha, at the death of Lazarus (John 11:25-26). He prepared his disciples for his death and his leaving them to return to the Father. He wanted them to know everything would work out for their good. (See Acts 1:6-8; John 14:27; 16:33).

Today he is a Wonderful Counselor to us. Christmas is a time in which many people are saddened by difficulties they face in their lives. When families are separated for different reasons, this brings sadness. Some are sad because they are not financially able to buy gifts for family and friends. But we look beyond all these things and see our Wonderful Counselor saying, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light." (Matthew 11:28-30). He is called Wonderful Counselor because he has so much to offer us. We need to listen carefully to his words.

Not only did he say "come to me," he also said "do as I do." On the night when he was arrested and tried and condemned to death, he washed all of the disciples feet, including Judas; and he said to them, "If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you." (John 13:14-15). This may be counsel that we do not want to hear, but it was out of love that he did what he did, and he wants us to love one another and do good to each other.

And then he counsels us to abide in him: "Abide in Me, and I in you." (John 15:1-10). In this parable, Jesus counsels us about the importance of maintaining our connection with him. And he rejoices in our doing so. We earlier mentioned that Jesus was wonderful in his relationships; so in our relationship with him we stay closely connected and we bear fruit that passes his inspection, and he is filled with joy. "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in You, and that your joy may be made full." (John 15:11).

It is wonderful that we have such a counselor to whom we can turn in full assurance that what he tells us is truth and will lead us in the right paths of life. At all times our prayer should be, "O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord Emanuel."

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