Friday, December 31, 2004
The Venerable Theophylact of Ochrid
8th Nativity Vigil: Isaiah 7:10-16; 8:1-4, 8-10 Epistle: James 2:1-13 Gospel: St. Mark 10:23-32
Isaiah 7:10-16; 8:1-4, 8-10 LXX, especially vs. 14: "Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign;
behold, the virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bring forth a son, and you shall call His Name Immanuel." This
present passage begins (vs. 10) in the middle of a conversation (Is. 7:3-9) between God the Almighty, "the Lord of Hosts"
(Is. 7:7), and King Ahaz of Judah. The Lord spoke to the king through His Prophet Isaiah. It was a time of national crisis,
an attack on the nation of Judah. Rezin, the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, had formed a
military coalition and come up "against Jerusalem to war against it" (Is. 7:1). Their intent had been to replace Ahaz as king
of Judah and put "the son of Tabeel" (Is. 7:6) on the throne of Judah. Their motivation was a survival response to the
aggressive Assyrian empire that was threatening conquest of the entire region. The Syrian and Ephraimite kings first tried
to convince Ahaz to join them in an anti-Assyrian coalition, but Ahaz refused, and so they sought to effect a coup d'etat
and establish a friendly government in Jerusalem.
Isaiah reports that the soul of King Ahaz "was amazed, and the soul of his people, as in a wood a tree is moved by the
wind" (Is. 7:2). Very simply, the Lord was seeking to reassure the king: "take care to be quiet, and fear not, neither let your
soul be disheartened because of these two smoking firebrands: for when My fierce anger is over, I will heal again....This
counsel shall not abide" (Is. 7:4,7). However, King Ahaz was not convinced, and so the Lord invited the nervous king,
"ask for yourself a sign of the Lord your God, in the depth or in the height" (Is. 7:11). Ahaz could not see beyond his fear
and evaded in a pious-sounding demur: "I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord" (vs. 12).
The Lord's response to King Ahaz touched both the depths of the creation, that is, the lowly earth and all its inhabitants, as
well as the height of God's creation, the very Heavens themselves. By the power of God from Heaven, that which is
impossible in the depths of earth is to occur: "the virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bring forth a son" (vs. 14).
And thus, the poor, ineffectual, unbelieving, and timid king of Judah is told of the wondrous Incarnation of God in the
flesh; and, further, he is informed of the child's dual nature (as both God and man), "you shall call his name Immanuel"
(vs. 14), that is, to say, "God with us."
The remainder of the reading focuses on the work of Immanuel - of God with us. First, the reality of the Lord Jesus'
sinlessness is revealed: "before the child shall know good or evil, He refuses evil, to choose the good" (vs. 7:16). In this
prophetic utterance, the Lord declared centuries in advance of the birth of our Savior that which the Apostle affirmed after
the death and Resurrection of Christ our God: "we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses,
but [One Who] was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. 4:15).
Then, God directed His counsel to the immediate circumstances of the Syro-Ephraimite invasion and the looming threat of
Assyria. These were temporal threats with consequences for the nations of mankind at a certain point in history, but in no
way would their plans disrupt the counsel of God. Centuries later the counsel of Herod and Pilate would lead to the
crucifixion of Christ and would scatter the disciples, but those decisions did "not stand...for God is with us" (Is. 8:10).
"Whatsoever counsel [men] shall take, the Lord shall bring it to nought" however it conflicts with His purpose to give
eternal life in Christ Jesus. "For God did not send [Immanuel] into the world to condemn the world, but that the world
through Him might be saved" (Jn. 3:17).
God is with us, understand, O ye nations, and submit yourselves: for God is with us. Hear ye unto the ends of the earth, for
God is with us (Is. 8:10, as used in Great Compline).