Road Trippin With Rachael

As we are working our way through the blog series, Christ in the Carols, we are looking at going to be looking at the classic song, What Child is This. In each carol we are looking at different scripture verses that I think explain why this carol exists. In this blog, we are going to be looking at verses from Genesis 4:1 and from Isaiah 53, as we explore “what child is this?”

Anticipation

If you’ve read the aforementioned verses, one of the first things that you will notice is that there is a sense of anticipation. For Eve, she was anticipating the Offspring that was going to crush the serpent that we looked at in Genesis 3 previously. Eve firmly believed that God was capable of bringing for the offspring that would fix humankind’s relationship with him. Jumping over to Hebrews 11:1 – commonly referred to as the Hall of Faith – I believe that Eve displayed this faith, which is similar to what Hebrews 1:4 references Abel as having.

But it wasn’t only the anticipation who who was going to be coming, but also the anticipation of what Eve was going to go through. Eve knew that the only way she was going to make it through the birth process was because of God. Before you go to the comments about how “of course that would be the only way that she would make it,” let me elaborate. Eve didn’t have a midwife – there was Adam. that was it. She didn’t have anything that would act as a pain killer – not unless her and Adam had already found something that worked, and even then it still wouldn’t be what you get today in a modern hospital. She was the first woman, and the first person to ever give birth – the only thing that Eve knew to expect with her first birth experience would be that it was going to be painful.

Likewise, Isaiah was expecting that this man that was to come was not going to be someone that everyone was going to be immediately drawn to. Where Eve was anticipating the birth of a a child from God, Isaiah was anticipating that man that the child would become. This man wouldn’t be someone that would stand out. Even his name was not going to be something that would stand out. Jesus was essentially the Aramaic equivalent to Joshua – which would common (it’s still common). Jesus was, essentially an Average Joe, because he was what man was originally supposed to be, and he did everything that a Jewish man was expected to do. Somethings that he went through were: went through circumcision on the 8th day after he was born (Luke 2:21-2; he was in Jerusalem every year with his family for Passover (Luke 2:41); he was well respected by the people (Luke 2:52). Jesus was a normal person – someone that you would pass on the street and never give another thought. He was also the Son of God, which is why he was anticipated not only by Eve but also prophecied by Isaiah.

What is to come for this Child

Although this child was greatly anticipated, there was also the understanding for Isaiah that he was not gong to be getting a life that was going to be carefree. In fact, Isaiah makes the prophecy that he will receive an unjust punishment for something that h didn’t do and he does it not because he was going to get anything out of it, but because it is for us. Some of the things that this anticipating Child was going to go through would involve him being beaten and whipped. Luke 23:22-34 records this happening at under the order of Pilate. This happens, not because he did anything to deserve it, but because he was he was disliked by the Jewish leaders (John 18). The bruising and the whipping are not where it stopped, but a criminal death was what awaited him, even though he was an innocent man. When we look to the cross, we see that one of the criminals that is crucified along side him is fully aware that he himself should be there – that he was deserving of the death he was receiving – and he also knew that Jesus didn’t deserve what was happening to him (Luke 23:41-42).

A thief on a cross, had more faith than the leaders in Jesus’ day.

And through it all, Jesus still prays that the Father will forgive the people, because they didn’t realize what it was that they were doing. They didn’t see that that the child that they had been waiting for since the time of Adam and Eve was in front of them. The long anticipated Savior Isaiah had spoken of, was there. Instead, they condemned him.

Who is this Child?

We’ve talked about what child is this that is so anticipated by both Eve and by Isaiah. This is a child that Eve believed God was going to send, and he was going to send him soon. She didn’t know what that meant at the time it was told to her, but she knew that there was going to be pain involved. Isaiah knew that this Savior was going to come and was going to suffer, and those wounds would be received in place of someone else – in place for multiple someone else(s). This child is Jesus.