Resurrection Lutheran Church, St Catharines

After the birth on November 14, 1948 it was announced from Buckingham Palace that “her Royal Highness, Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, had safely delivered a Prince at 9:14 pm and that her Royal Highness and her son were both doing well.” Joyful shouts from the crowd outside the palace and shots from the canons relayed the news on the happy occasion. As the world was recovering from the dark history of the Second World War, the birth of a Prince was a bit of bright and glad news coming out of Europe.

 

At that time it was not yet assured that the child would one day be King of the British Commonwealth, but upon the death of his mother, then Queen Elizabeth II, we heard the list of titles bestowed upon the once newborn prince: “the Most High, Most Mighty and Most Excellent Monarch, our Sovereign Lord, Charles III, now, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of His other Realms and Territories King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, and Sovereign of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.” So was he heralded across the Atlantic Ocean.

 

In Canada, the slightly amended announcement of the new monarch included as his titles: “Charles the Third, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom, Canada and His other Realms and Territories King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.” But in the spring of 2023, the Canadian government introduced a bill changing the monarch's titles by dropping the reference to the United Kingdom and the phrase Defender of the Faith. The bill received royal assent on 22 June 2023; a proclamation of the new title was issued on 8 January 2024.

 

Charles III remains in Canada, King, and Head of the Commonwealth. No longer Defender of the Faith or recognized as King of a United Kingdom. One could speculate about the reasoning behind altering the titles. Was it just an update of language or of new political realities? Should we not use our language to declare a united kingdom, or might that give offense to Scottish and Irish separatists? Can we no longer have a king who defends the faith? Is our nation afraid of which faith that might be?

 

The previous monarch Queen Elizabeth II made it clear with her many Christmas messages to her subjects that she deeply held to the Christian faith. Perhaps Canada no longer wishes that faith to be defended, or no longer wishes to have any faith within the nation, or at least not one to be regarded above all others.

 

This Christmas Eve we hear the royal birth announcement by the prophet Isaiah coming in the dark days of the reign of King Ahaz. The days were dark due to both internal and external issues. Within the nation King Ahaz had led the people into open and pervasive idolatry, forsaking the God of Israel who had brought them out of slavery in Egypt and given them the promised land. He was no defender of the faith. Externally, the nations of the foreign gods that the people had been worshipping were marching their armies through Israel and toward Judah and Jerusalem. It was no longer a united kingdom either.

 

There was no hope left for King Ahaz. He wasn’t going to be able to save his people. So the good and glad news of the birth of a new prince would give the people hope, and the more they would come to know who this promised ruler would be, the more they would see the light of a new age dawning and rejoice in the promise of this coming ruler.

 

Under King Ahaz not only was war threatening, but conquest was imminent. Already the citizens of the nation were toiling under the burden of having to make tribute payments to the foreign nations. The joy of their harvests were tainted by the knowledge that much of the produce would be shipped off to faraway lands.

 

So the announcement of a new ruler for the kingdom shone a bit of relief to the dark days of their existence. Perhaps war could be averted and the shadow of death would lift off of the land. Perhaps they would be able to keep their harvests for themselves or sell them for profit, rather than having them seized. Perhaps their new king would conquer these invaders once for all and the spoils of war would be theirs.

 

They would be set free from the threat of death and subjugation. Like their farm animals being able to shed the harness and find refuge away from the driving whip, the people themselves hoped to be free from the oppressive government policies that made their lives so difficult. The weight would be lifted off of their shoulders and any bloody remnants of war would only find use as fuel for the fires that would cook their meals and give them warmth.

 

The announcement of the birth “unto us a Child is born; unto us a Son is given. The government shall be upon His shoulder” (Isaiah 9:), was good and glad news. It meant that it was possible they would no longer bear upon their backs the oppressive weight of costly national policies. Rather, with this Ruler, the government would be upon His shoulder. He would bear the responsibility, the cost, the weight of His own governance. It would be a governing that would take the burden off of the people. A son of their own would be making the judgments for them, no more cowing to foreign interests at their expense.

 

And the royal titles that He was given from before His birth inspired this hopeful expectation. “Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:). Every king has counsellors, but this King would counsel the wonders of God, like those that brought Egypt to submission and brought the nation through the Red Sea and the deserts into the land of promise. Every king exercises some might and power, but this King would have the power of Almighty God. Every king should act as a father to the nation (providing for and protecting the people during his reign), but this King would be the Father of Eternity. Every king is supposed to promote peace, but this King would restore the peaceful frame of life that existed before sin ever entered the world.

 

It would not be unusual that the announcement of the birth of a prince would be accompanied by titles that people would hope the newborn would live up to, or even titles that greatly exaggerate what any earthly ruler would ever be able to accomplish. The titles given by the prophet Isaiah at the announcement of a birth that had not yet occurred can only be understood as the birth of God into the world to rule His people with His divine presence among them.

 

And so, their complete fulfillment did not happen through the son of King Ahaz, prince Hezekiah. He was a bit of a bright spot in the history of the kings of Israel. Hezekiah “trusted in the LORD the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. For he held fast to the LORD. He did not depart from following Him, but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses. And the LORD was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. He struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city” (2 Kings 18:5-8).

 

Yet Hezekiah was merely a fore-dawning of the great light of the world to come with the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. For it was at the announcement of the angel Gabriel to a Virgin named Mary, that Isaiah’s birth announcement reached its full meaning. “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:31-33).

 

That is exactly what Isaiah prophesied 700 years earlier, “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 and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore” (Isaiah 9:7). And all of those titles that Isaiah announced hundreds and hundreds of years before, of which Hezekiah could only give a spark, shone through in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Son of Mary and Son of the Most High God, and they continue to shine upon us.

 

The burden of His people, those who hold to Him in faith is taken off of their shoulders and placed upon His. That is, the responsibility to pay for sins is lifted off of you, because it has been placed on the shoulders of Jesus, who carried the cross up the hill to Calvary and was crucified upon it for your salvation. Your burden of guilt and shame and the divine justice that demands that you pay eternally for your crimes against your fellow man and against God has been taken off of you. It was all placed upon Jesus and He has paid the cost for the forgiveness and salvation of all people.

 

As the wonder counsellor He counselled this plan for your salvation from before the creation of the world. As mighty God He came in human flesh so that He might accomplish what no mere human ruler could do for you, no matter how benevolent they might be. As the eternal Father He has provided for your spiritual safety and provision through the proclamation of His Word and the gifts of grace until you attain to eternal life.

 

The Prince of Peace has brought peace between you and the God whom you have offended and opened the way for you to forgive all of the people who have caused you heartache and sorrow so that you might also live in peace with them. This Child, this Son born for you and given into death for you, fulfills all of the royal and divine titles that have been attributed to Him. And He does it all for you.

 

It would be a sad state of affairs if you were to refuse the rule of such a gracious and benevolent King. It would be the highest of insults if you were to reject any of the divine titles that have been attributed to Him; as if you wanted to accept His divine protection and peace, but then say that you don’t think He should control what you believe about certain extents of His authority and rule.

 

For example, if you graciously accepted the forgiveness He offers to you, but then refuse to forgive other of His loyal subjects who have done you harm; or if you would expectantly live in the bright gift of eternal life that He has secured for you, but continue to live in this life as if wallowing in the darkness of your favourite depravities.

 

No, it cannot be that way with this King. He wants His glorious benefits to be yours both now and in eternity, not for one realm only. He has born on His shoulders the whole government of your existence, both now and forever. He has paid the horrible, bloody price of a cosmic war for your soul, all Himself without any cost to you. He has done it all out of an unfathomable love for His people that reaches beyond the bounds of human history. It would be foolish to deny any part of it, for all of it is for your salvation and your peace.

 

This is the light that shines with the good news of the Christmas Gospel. It goes back to the angelic announcement made to the shepherds, “Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). It goes back to the announcement hundreds of years before that, by the prophet Isaiah. It goes back to the first revelation of God’s grace and goodness to mankind, and it continues to go out to the world today, and to you. “Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given.”