Winter 1989
Reformed Quarterly Volume 8, Issue 4 Reverend Charles McGowan is the senior pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee. On the board of numerous organizations, McGowan is also vice-chairman of the Mission to North America Committee for the Presbyterian Church in America and a ministerial advisor to RTS.
The Christmas story told by Isaiah hardly resembles the one that is familiar to us. He never mentions a star, a hillside with shepherds, a stable with a manger. In a sense Isaiah brings us to reality. He forces us to correct the charming, somewhat distorted, picture we have constructed in our minds. The real story is not so quaint. Oh, the manger was real and so were the shepherds and the star. But it was not warm and cozy. The spotlight of history was not focused on Bethlehem as it is on London when a royal baby is born. Unlike royalty, Christ grew up unnoticed. His ministry was not widely accepted. The amazing thing about the Christmas story is that Christ survived the antagonism of Herod; that anyone would follow Him; that the church was established; that the message of His redemptive ministry is known around the world. The astounding thing is that this baby born in obscurity became the most significant personality in human history. That is the real story. Isaiah speaks of Jesus Christ 600 years before His birth. He speaks of Him in majestic terms as one would expect the Messiah to be described. He would be Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. He would be the light shining in darkness. But Isaiah also speaks of Him as one who would be despised and rejected of men. His initial entry, according to Isaiah, would be like a "root out of dry ground." He would grow up as a "tender plant." It is the picture of a fragile little shoot that begins to bud and grow off the edge of a stump cut close to the ground. The huge tree is gone. There is only the tiny, tender sprout. With only a slight touch it could break and fall away. To make the picture more drab, the stump with its tender shoot is located in a barren, dry desert. The chances of surviving the burning heat, the scorching noonday sun, and the waterless environs appear to be nonexistent. It is Isaiah's way of saying that the Messiah's life would be hard and unattractive -- no mighty oak growing majestically in a prominent place. The chances of survival, much less success, would be slim by human estimates. But, perhaps even more importantly, Isaiah suggests that Christ would derive nothing from the soil in which He was to grow. He would not depend on the environment to sustain His life. He would survive and grow in spite of it. In fact, this tiny, tender plant would grow to be such a lovely and magnificent tree that only its presence would make the barren desert livable.
The Christmas story told by Isaiah hardly resembles the one that is familiar to us. He never mentions a star, a hillside with shepherds, a stable with a manger. In a sense Isaiah brings us to reality. He forces us to correct the charming, somewhat distorted, picture we have constructed in our minds. The real story is not so quaint. Oh, the manger was real and so were the shepherds and the star. But it was not warm and cozy. The spotlight of history was not focused on Bethlehem as it is on London when a royal baby is born. Unlike royalty, Christ grew up unnoticed. His ministry was not widely accepted. The amazing thing about the Christmas story is that Christ survived the antagonism of Herod; that anyone would follow Him; that the church was established; that the message of His redemptive ministry is known around the world. The astounding thing is that this baby born in obscurity became the most significant personality in human history. That is the real story. Isaiah speaks of Jesus Christ 600 years before His birth. He speaks of Him in majestic terms as one would expect the Messiah to be described. He would be Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. He would be the light shining in darkness. But Isaiah also speaks of Him as one who would be despised and rejected of men. His initial entry, according to Isaiah, would be like a "root out of dry ground." He would grow up as a "tender plant." It is the picture of a fragile little shoot that begins to bud and grow off the edge of a stump cut close to the ground. The huge tree is gone. There is only the tiny, tender sprout. With only a slight touch it could break and fall away. To make the picture more drab, the stump with its tender shoot is located in a barren, dry desert. The chances of surviving the burning heat, the scorching noonday sun, and the waterless environs appear to be nonexistent. It is Isaiah's way of saying that the Messiah's life would be hard and unattractive -- no mighty oak growing majestically in a prominent place. The chances of survival, much less success, would be slim by human estimates. But, perhaps even more importantly, Isaiah suggests that Christ would derive nothing from the soil in which He was to grow. He would not depend on the environment to sustain His life. He would survive and grow in spite of it. In fact, this tiny, tender plant would grow to be such a lovely and magnificent tree that only its presence would make the barren desert livable.
