Carolyn E. Jacobs

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. – Isaiah 9:6a For this week’s name of Jesus, we turn again to Isaiah. Because, despite what Andy Stanley might say, unhitching from the Old Testament is a really bad idea. The Old Testament adds depth and context, an understanding of God’s character we wouldn’t have if we ignored the Old Testament. One common characteristic of Hebrew poetry is parallelism. When I first studied Isaiah, I muttered, “You just said that,” more than once. Why did Isaiah need to repeat himself – a Child is born, a Son is given? The real question is, however, did he…

When I was little, I loved to go to the Omniplex, the science museum in town. One of my favorite exhibits was a stationary bike connected to a row of lightbulbs. You could generate electricity with pedal power. The faster you pedaled, the brighter the bulbs. I loved making my own power, but it was hard work after a few minutes. If I’d been dependent on producing my own electricity, I’d have spent a lot of time in the dark. And sometimes that’s how I feel as I run this race. My light feels pretty feeble. Jesus more than called us to be the light of the world. He said…

Now that we’ve moved into the names of Jesus, you might think we’d start with Jesus’s birth. No, Ann Spangler takes us back to the beginning. John’s gospel doesn’t have a nativity account. He goes all the way back to the beginning. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. – John 1:1 Compare this to the beginning of the Book of Beginnings which also begins with “in the beginning.” There’s no before before Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. – Genesis 1:1 Jesus, the Son, the Word, the second person of the Trinity, was there…

This week’s name is Immanuel, means God with us. Matthew bookends his gospel with this promise. When Jesus was born, the Jews had been waiting over 700 years for the fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14. How was his coming announced? Joseph, a godly man, found himself betrothed to a pregnant woman. Not what he expected. He intended to put Mary away (divorce her) quietly UNTIL: 20 But when he had thought this over, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the…

Today, I’m going off on a bit of a tangent. Cosine, secant, tangent, sine, 3.14159! Goooo Trig! Woo-hoo! Our name this week, Immanuel, was given as a sign. One that God gave when he told Ahaz to ask for a sign. “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14 Now in modern, evangelical Christianity, the idea of asking for signs can make us a little uncomfortable. After all, Jesus had some harsh words for those who sought signs. Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.” – John  4:48 and “An evil…