Christmas - 4 Ps’ Of Messiah And Beyond...

CHRISTMAS - 4 PS’ OF MESSIAH

For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.- Isaiah 9:6-7

A reader may be forgiven if the 4 Ps’ in the title of this message remind him of the 4 Ps’ of Marketing. Yes, the magic mantra of success in Marketing is all about putting the right product in the right place, at the right price, backed by right promotion (thanks Marketing guru E.J. McCarthy). Now can you believe it that Messiah as far as his apparent earthly nature is concerned is an irresistible mix of 4 Ps’? Confused? Let me explain keeping the above-captioned Scripture portion in focus which is quoted time and again during the Christmas season.

First things first. The promised Messiah who is to be worshipped more than anything else for HIS UNIQUE QUALITIES would be fully Divine (MIGHTY GOD) and fully human. Events in Jesus’ life especially towards the end of His earthly journey attest to this fact. There you see Him DYING on the cross (Luke 23:46 ). Hey, can the Divine die? NO! His earthly body died as an atonement for sins of mankind even as His Divine being entrusted NOT TO THE GRAVE but into the Heavenly Father’s hands went into the ethereal realm to perform supernatural works as the following Scripture portion proclaims

So he went and preached to the spirits in prison— those who disobeyed God long ago when God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat.- 1 Peter 3:19-20

Besides His Divine attributes it is the magnitude of greatness in his apparent “human” traits which would make us fall in love with Him again and again. Now Isaiah the Prophet toeing the line of a creative Modern day Biblical Scholar could well have used the words “Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient” to capture the essence of the Messiah’s character. Why then was he guided by Divine Inspiration to prophetically describe the Messiah as…EVERLASTING FATHER…WONDERFUL COUNSELLOR, PRINCE OF PEACE BESIDES DECLARING THAT GOVERNMENT WOULD REST UPON HIS SHOULDERS. The answer is as simple as it is profound. For only then would the Messiah instantly and truly appeal as an “irresistible mix” to the Jews truthfully embodying as He was the 4 different types of leaders’ in the Jewish history!!!

To the uninitiated, let me explain that Israeli history spanning 2000 years before the advent of Christ divides itself neatly into 4 parts of approximately 500 years each. At every stage of their “four installment” history, they were led by towering personalities whom we can classify on the basis of their calling into 4 categories beginning with…what else…letter P!!! Firstly, the first of the Ps’…

I) PATRIARCHS

And He will be called …Everlasting Father…

Any recounting of Israeli history be it in OT or NT times begins by first training the spotlight on the call of the greatest Patriarch of them all ABRAHAM (Joshua 24:3 / Acts 7:2 KJV ) who is reverently addressed by one and all as Father Abraham (Remember the Sunday School Choral sung by swinging arms matching the beat of marching legs…Father Abraham has MANY SONS…). Agreed, the twelve tribes may have originated from another great Patriarch Jacob (Abraham’s grandson) but there was none greater than Father Abraham amongst the Patriarchs’ for it was with him the Divine Covenant was made (Genesis 12:1-3 ) and the ceremony of circumcision initiated (Genesis 17:9-13 ). Well Father Abraham who was mortal and rejoiced to see the first advent of the Messiah was not even born WHEN THE EVERLASTING FATHER -THE MESSIAH THE GREAT I AM- was in existence (John 8:56-59 ) from eternity.

Well, the Jews may take pride in identifying themselves with Father Abraham calling themselves even as his children (Matt 3:9 ) be that as it may Dear Reader this Christmas how about becoming a child of infinitely greater EVERLASTING FATHER (John 1:12 ) by accepting Him into your hearts. Every one born as a descendant of fallen Adam (including the respectable ones’ of the society) needs to accept Him, for all of us by birth inherit the fallen Adamic nature (Romans 5:12 ). Well Yours truly did it 29 years back…on October 16th, 1983 to be more precise. After becoming His child, Ah… the joys of walking with Him when He starts leading us playing the role of… oh it brings us to the second sub-title

II) PROPHETS