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Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, "Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven." But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test." And he said, "Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah---the king of Assyria."
Isaiah 7:10-17
Perhaps we, like King Ahaz, are guilty at times of attempting to be holier than God.
As Pastor Eric pointed out in Sunday's message, King Ahaz had, prior to this meeting with Isaiah, been guilty of seeking the help of pagan gods instead of trusting in the God of Israel as King David had done. In this passage, Yahweh Himself assures Ahaz that his current fears will not come to pass and even offers Ahaz the opportunity to ask Him for a sign. Rather than taking Yahweh up on His offer, Ahaz essentially tells Him, "No thanks," piously quoting a line from Deuteronomy that warns against testing the Lord.
Sometimes we point to specific passages of Scripture in an attempt to defend our positions. Perhaps, for instance, a particular set of verses seems to justify our dissociating from certain people. Yet the life of Jesus is marked by (and much of the criticism directed at Him came as a result of) His willingness to befriend sinners, tax collectors, prostitutes, and the like...the very sorts of people those aforementioned verses seem to indicate we should avoid. Suppose, though, we are making the same mistake as King Ahaz, misusing segments of Scripture as grounds to perpetuate a stubborn desire to appear as though we have our acts together while missing the real point. Maybe we don't even realize we are doing so.
Love is spoken of extensively in the New Testament, and Christ's followers in the early church are consistently called to it, yet we sometimes make the assumption as we read Scripture that descriptions of the sorts of unrighteous behavior we are to avoid are grounds on which to abandon our call to extend love to certain others. But God Himself did not shy away from the sort of messy context we often try to steer clear of, choosing to have His own Son enter this world by way of an unmarried woman's womb. Oh, the scandal! Our Savior entered into the chaos of our sin and brokenness under circumstances that would raise eyebrows. So, too, He calls us to live in ways that we might be inclined to question - loving our enemies, praying for those who persecute us, and turning the other cheek (Matthew 5:39-44).
Christ's life and teachings often seemed heretical to the religious leaders who misused Scripture in order to maintain their sense of power, but He was showing them the bigger picture of what it meant to be the people of God. Sometimes, like King Ahaz or like these religious leaders, we, too, allow minute details to distract us from seeing the bigger picture. But just as Ahaz's short-sightedness didn't stop God from giving His people a sign, neither does ours hinder Him from accomplishing His purposes in this world. We may choose to cooperate or we may stubbornly refuse, but God will follow through with His intent to reconcile people to Himself. And this is the good news of great joy that will be for all the people (Luke 2:10).
Take some time to consider the following. Perhaps it would be helpful to record your responses in a journal.
Are there teachings of Jesus that bother you? (Matthew 5 might provide some food for thought as you answer this question.) Can you think of Scriptures elsewhere in the Bible that might seem to contradict some of His teachings? If Jesus came to fulfill the Law (Matthew 5:17), do you think it's possible that we could learn more about how God wanted His people to live by studying the life of Christ than by memorizing specific lists of behaviors in which to engage or from which to refrain?
Here is a prayer in response to today's text. You can pray this as your own or use it as a prompt for a spontaneous prayer.
Jesus, thank You for not being afraid to enter into our world in ways that challenge our logic. It is almost unfathomable that You would come not as a King demanding our allegiance but as a helpless baby, born to parents whose situation was surely frowned upon, only to serve humbly and to eventually be rejected and wrongfully murdered. Your entire life was marked by love, grace, humility, and forgiveness. Help us not to depend on our own understanding of Scripture as we walk through this life but to acknowledge You, the author and perfecter of our faith, in everything, following in Your footsteps as we go about our days seeking to bring glory to the Father. We love You.
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