Growing up, my childhood church put on the production of Handel’s Messiah every year. I loved being a part of the cast. I started my very short-lived acting career as a sheep. We’d crawl around the stage heading to the manger with the shepherds, some sheep heading the wrong direction or crying. When I got a little older, they moved the bigger kids into the roles of angels. We got to wear white robes and sparkly wings and halos. Our cue was the song “For Unto Us a Child is Born”. The choir would sing the words, “Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”. The lights would shine so bright as all the angels would walk down and fill the isles. It was amazing!

When this passage was written, it wasn’t delivered quite in that same way; there were no angels and no bright lights and no choir singing. During this time, Israel was longing for a king, someone that could defeat their enemies and restore their nation. So hearing this prophecy, they are probably thinking, “Okay, God is sending someone that is going to come save us from our problems - another king, but sounds like a pretty great king”. Little did they know, this was a Saviour that was coming to save the entire world!

God had such a greater plan for His people than sending another king to fix their political issues for a generation. He sent His Son to save the world, not only to save the people back 2,000 years ago, but to save us here in 2025. How amazing! God sent us a Wonderful Counsellor, a Mighty God - not just someone that can defeat nations, but someone that can defeat sin and death! An Everlasting Father, a father whose love never ends. And lastly, the Prince of Peace, because Jesus is the only real source of peace there is. We get to read about how this prophecy from Isaiah unfolded, and we get to have a relationship with that little baby that was born in a manger, the baby that would save the world!