The Prince of Peace (Luke 1:76-79)
“God has done this. God will manifest his power. That is what Christmas is about. Not what men are going to do, nor what they should do. No, no—what God has done. We are asked to stand back and to look and listen.”
—David Martyn Lloyd-Jones
The Foolishness of Wisdom (Proverbs 14:8-15)
“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.
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.”
—Isaiah 9:6-7
God's Plan and Presence (Ezekiel 43:1-9)
“For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.’”
—Isaiah 57:15
Gounded, Radical, Cosmic Hope (Ezekiel 37:1, 11-14)
“Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself. Is everything sad going to come untrue?”
—JRR Tolkien, The Return of the King
Our Compassionate Shepherd (Ezekiel 34:1-6, 11-16)
“Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, ‘Behold your God!’ Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.”
— The Prophet Isaiah
One Lord Over All (Ezekiel 28:25-26)
“The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.’”
— Exodus 34:6-7
“And now the LORD says…
‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
I will make you as a light for the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’”
— Isaiah 49:5-6
Radical Solidarity (Ezekiel 20:33-38)
“We follow One who stood and wept at the grave of Lazarus – not surely, because He was grieved that Mary and Martha wept, and sorrowed for their lack of faith (though some thus interpret) but because death, the punishment of sin, is even more horrible in his eyes than in ours.”
—C.S. Lewis
A Heart to Desire, A Spirit to Inspire (Ezekiel 11:14-21)
“High King of heaven, my victory won
May I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s sun
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall
Still be my vision, O ruler of all”
—Be Thou My Vision
Awe Inspiring Mercy & Justice (Ezekiel 10-11)
“Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best thought, by day or by night
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light”