Joy of Ministry

Isaiah 7:10-16 and Matthew 1:18-25 4th Sunday of Advent 2025

The Advent Tree was our Advent study in Sunday school.

Have you ever prayed: ‘Lord give me a sign’?

I know I have.

God, point me in the right direction.

Lord, show me the next step.

Father, help me by indicating the way.

Give me a sign!

In our modern world, we encounter signs all the time,

not divine signs but directional signs.

Exit signs to get off the interstate.

Stop signs to remind us to look both ways.

Speed limit signs, school crossing signs,

intersection, road construction, falling rock, and

so many more street and road signs.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you and I could translate

such signs to life…

We are going too fast for life….

obey the speed limit, stop, look both ways…

you will get where your journey takes you, however,

be present in the moment.

Perhaps warning signs of danger…

          road construction, falling rock, evacuation route…

lets us know there may be challenges coming up

in life, be prepared.

Intersection, school crossings, railroad crossing…

          unexpected encounters may be coming our way.

And maps and GPS can show us the way home.

Our scripture from Isaiah talks about receiving

a sign from God.

 Isaiah counsels Ahaz to trust in God rather than foreign

allies, and tells him to ask for a sign to confirm that

this is a true prophecy.

Ahaz refuses, saying he will not test God.  

Isaiah replies that Ahaz will have a sign whether he asks

for it or not, and the sign will be the birth of a child,

and the child’s mother will call it Immanuel,

meaning “God-with-us”.

Some scholars interpret Isaiah’s reference to a coming

child, to Emanuel, as possibly Hezekiah.

Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, will be a good king for the

people.

That is a subject for another sermon, back to Ahaz.

What does it mean when Ahaz is told to ask for a sign

that is ‘deep as sheol or as high as heaven.’

Sheol is the underworld place of stillness and darkness

which is death.

Sheol is not ‘hell’; it is a place where both the righteous

and the unrighteous dead go,

regardless of their moral choices in life.

As Sheol is the lowest place and Heaven the highest,

a sign from God has no limits.

Isaiah’s account is not a whimsical story about wish

fulfillment.

This is a call for faithfulness in the face of crisis and a

declaration of God’s willingness to act on behalf

of God’s people.[1]

As I was reading this week, one commentary noted…

The Lord has set 2 choices before Ahaz.

The implicit one is to trust in God and the divine promises

 of salvation.

The implied one is to trust in human wisdom and human

aspirations, while ignoring God altogether.

The choice that Ahaz makes reveals the king’s mindset…

Ahaz knows that to accept God’s offer of a sign at this

moment will set limits on his ability to act

independently and will draw him into God’s plan and

God’s desired outcome, which the king himself does

not appear willing to follow.[2]

Ahaz is afraid of asking for a sign because he would then

have to follow it and God’s will.

I mentioned earlier that some scholars interpret Isaiah’s

reference to a coming child, to Emanuel,

as the birth of Hezekiah.

In our reflection and interpretation of the Old Testament,

we see this as a prophesy of the birth of Christ.

I spent some time this week reading ahead in our

Advent study book.

Here is something interesting from Isaiah’s prophecy.

As we look to the coming of Christ, we remember that

we are part of the greater, ongoing story of the

Divine…

Matthew’s quotation from Isaiah has closely linked

Isaiah’s prophecy to the birth of Jesus within modern

Christianity.

While the story of how Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled is

contained within the book of Isaiah, it is possible that

prophecy can have more than one fulfillment,

as God’s story with humankind has always been

an ongoing work in progress.[3]

Matthew’s gospel tells of the angel visiting Joseph in a

 dream to reassure him that

…do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife,

 for the child conceived in her is from the Holy

Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him

Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 

Joseph recalls the prophecy…

          “Look, the virgin shall become pregnant and give

birth to a son, and they shall name him Emanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” 

Joseph was given a sign through a dream from an angel.

Throughout the Bible, Old and New Testaments, dreams

are a way God communicates with the people.

Jacob’s dream at Bethel,

Joseph’s interpreting Pharoah’s dreams as years of

plenty and years of famine;

it was within a dream that Solomon chose wisdom

as a gift from God, the magi’s dream of warning, and

many more dreams for Joseph, husband of Mary.

Throughout the Bible, dreams are one way that

‘God is with us.’

You and I today long to feel God’s presence.

We long for a sign.

Remember with Jesus’ birth,

          Jesus did not come into the world to bring good news

for the elite and wealthy, Jesus’ message of good

news was for all humankind including

ordinary, everyday folks.[4]

God appears to the ordinary (Mary and Joseph),

the lower class (shepherds), and

even ritually unclean foreigners (the magi).[5]

We long for a sign of God with us.

The final words of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew

assures us of His presence…

…and remember, I am with you always,

to the end of the age.

There’s your sign.

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[1] Connections Year A Volume 1 page 52

[2] Connections Year A Volume 1 page 52

[3] The Advent Tree by Kara Eidson Advent Week Four Tuesday -A Young Woman

[4] The Advent Tree by Kara Eidson Advent Week Four Thursday -Jesus born in Bethlehem

[5] The Advent Tree by Kara Eidson Advent Week Four Friday -Shepherds visit Jesus