Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria (Acts 1:8; 8:4-25)

Acts opens with this: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Still, it's a marvel that the Jerusalem church would take the gospel to Samaria, because history had driven a wedge between Jerusalem in the South and and Samaria to the North.

Saul came from the North, David from the South; and after Solomon's death, long-simmering North-South divisions ended up in outright schism. After that, David's sons ruled the South by a God-ordained dynasty and built the God-ordained temple on Mount Zion. But non-Davidic kings ruled in the North and even built a faux temple on Mount Gerizim, one of the two mountains from which Israel echoed blessings and curses just before they entered the promised land. This in turn formed the ritual for a covenant renewal ceremony (Deut 11:29; 27:12-26; Josh 8:30-35). Hence its significance to Israel.

Exile came to the North two hundred years before the Southern exile, and one result was a lot of Gentile intermixture among families in the North. So the Samaritans were viewed as at best a half-breed offshoot of God's covenant with Israel (2 Kgs 17:24-41). After the exile, those tensions only increased when the returnees began rebuilding in the South. The Jews refused Samaritan attempts to get involved in rebuilding Jerusalem (Ezra 4:1-3); in turn, the Samaritans undermined Jewish attempts to rebuild Jerusalem's walls, society, and temple.

Even their canon of Scripture varied, which meant their messianic hopes differed widely. The Samaritan canon consisted of a specially edited Pentateuch (Genesis - Deuteronomy). That excluded the prophetic histories of the Davidic line that led to Judah's royal messianic hopes. It also excluded the latter prophets' messianic prophecies of Daniel's heavenly "Son of Man" (Dan 7:13); Isaiah's "Immanuel" (Isa 7:14), light to the nations (Isa 9:2), and suffering Servant of the Lord (Isa 52:13-53:21); and Jeremiah's new covenant (Jer 31:31-34), which Jesus initiated with the new cup (Luke 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25).

So the Samaritan's "messiah" wasn't a Davidic figure who would bring in a renewed manifestation of God's rule; rather, he was a pseudo-Mosaic figure who would restore the institutions and patterns of Samaritan worship on Gerizim. They weren't looking for a New Jerusalem, they were looking for a New Gerizim.

And yet, the Jewish Messiah from the Davidic line sent his disciples out to take the gospel to all the world, even to Samaria--and they went! Seems like they had taken seriously the Great Commission (Matt 28:19-20), and the original job description for the people of God to bless the nations (Gen 12:1-2).

Messianic Light to the Nations

Isa 9:1–7

Yesterday we saw Isaiah leading all of Hezekiah’s court and temple personnel in prayer for deliverance and prophesying the downfall of their enemy. Today’s reading shows him prophesying that God would raise up his ultimate deliverer in Jesus Christ, who will rule the world.

“The people who walk in darkness will see a great light” (Isa 9:2; Matt 4:16)

Sin darkens life with the very shadow of death, and salvation can be described as coming into the light (Eph 5:8, 13–14; 1 Pet 2:9; 1 John 1:5–7). One way of talking about the coming of the Messiah was to say, “the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death” (Luke 1:78–29a; see John 12:35, 46). This light was the light at the end of the tunnel of slavery and foreign oppression (Isa 9:3–5), but the light was not only for Israel. Jesus was “a light to reveal God to the nations” (Luke 2:32). Indeed, Jesus Christ came claiming, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life” (John 8:12).

“For a child is born to us, a son is given to us” (Isa 9:6a)

This was to come not through the birth of a child, a “son” after the fashion of Psalm 2:7. He would be God’s own son and a son in Israel, a son from the line of David whom God himself would call “my son.”

He will be given great titles (Isa 9:6b–7)

I suppose the first thing to note is that we have four not five titles. I’ve sat in a fair number of Christmas programs and heard: “He will be called ‘Wonderful’, ‘Counselor’, ‘Mighty God’, ‘Everlasting Father’, and ‘Prince of Peace’,” which has followed the older translations (e.g., KJV, ASV). But the first of these titles is “Wonderful Counselor,” not just the unattached adjective “Wonderful.”

Wonderful Counselor - I like the NET Bible’s rendition of this as “Extraordinary Strategist.” In the ancient Near East, the office of counselor was often attached to the palace, and it could even be a royal title in its own right (Mic 4:9). Certainly it took on messianic scope (Isa 11:2). He would rule God’s people wisely.

Mighty God - Perhaps in Isaiah’s own context it indicated that the coming king would be the warrior God’s own representative (e.g., Ps 45:6), much as the sign child born in Ahaz’s time could be called “Immanuel” (Isa 7:14). Certainly the New Testament’s use of this saw it as an indication of the messianic king’s deity. Certainly, even for Isaiah himself, the understanding would have been that fighting against this king was fighting against the Lord himself (see Ps 2:2).

Everlasting Father - We shouldn’t misunderstand this title as collapsing the Jesus’ sonship into fatherhood; the New Testament clearly portrays the Son and the Father as separate persons. Rather, this symbolic use of “father” portrays the messianic king as a protector of his people, just as we see elsewhere (e.g., Isa 22:21; Job 29:16). The qualifying adjective “everlasting” would be especially appropriate to the one who inherited the eternal Davidic promise (2 Sam 7:1–18; 1 Chr 17:1–15).

Prince of Peace - This title depicts the messiah as one who establishes the kind of security and strong position for his people that ensures their reliable well-being. The Hebrew term shalom doesn’t indicate just the absence of strife; rather, it indicates a strong and secure position wherein the benefits of the kingdom of God are ensured and enjoyed in comfort. Indeed, this sometimes comes about through messianic warfare to subdue all enemies (Pss 72; 144).

He would inherit the throne of his ancestor David. This would be the ultimate branch of the Jesse Tree, the ultimate fulfillment of every promise and hope that belonged to the Davidic dynasty.

This memorable promise was not forgotten. When Jesus Christ was born, they realized that this was the wonderful child that Isaiah had promised (Luke 1:78–79). A child—indeed—but the Mighty One come to give his people light and peace.

Questions, Reflections, and Commitments

• Do you think you would have believed an old priest if you had been there to hear him tell people that this baby was the almighty messiah king? (Luke 1:67–79) What does your answer to yourself tell you about how open you are to God?