For to us a child is born
The power of a child who brings peace
I was leading our 20somethings in a workshop on meditation this Sunday. In the spirit of Advent, we picked Isaiah 9:2-7 as our practice text. Here it is, with two verses I want to highlight in bold:
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone.
3 You have multiplied the nation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
4 For the yoke of his burden,
and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 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 it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
One of the 20somethings pointed out the contrast between the violence of verse 5 and the interjection of verse 6: from violent battle tumult to “to us a child is born.” They talked about the beauty of that contrast: how it’s possible for a world of violence to be brought to an end by the Messiah child.
That made me think of this scene from Children of Men, which tragically none of them have seen. It’s a sci-fi where for some mysterious, irreversible reason, women have stopped giving birth; for decades, humanity has stopped growing and started dying. The main character (played by Clive Owen) hears a rumor that somewhere, somehow, a woman is pregnant; you’ll see from the beginning of the clip that the rumor is true, but what’s powerful is how this miracle stops, even temporarily, a war in progress.
Sadly, we know that the birth of Jesus hasn’t immediately brought an end to war. The promise is for the new creation, not for this one. But that scene reminds me of the beautiful promise that the battle tumult will end one day, not as a temporary reprieve but in a final peace and reconciliation. May it come quickly.