So spake the seer of the Old Testament, Isaiah, in his prophecy as he looked down the long corridor of the centuries and envisioned the entrance of the Son of God upon the stage of world events. Down through the ages there have been many prominent men whose personalities and exploits have fired the world with admiration, but the prophetic finger pointed past them all and singled out the Man Christ Jesus. "His Name shall be called Wonderful" (9:6). Not only is He wonderful, but that is His Name.

With untiring eagerness we ponder the wonder of this Man. The strange paradox which the same prophet Isaiah predicted was that He whose Name is Wonderful would have no appeal to the average man: "no beauty in Him that we should desire Him" (53:2), but by divine revelation His beauty and glory have dawned upon many hearts with the brilliance of cloudless day.

The Wonder of His Person

His Name is wonderful because of His very Person. He is the eternal, ever-existent One without beginning of years or end of days (John 1:1,2; 8:58; Colossians 1:16,17), the one and only Potentate; the Creator and Upholder of all things; co-equal with the Father; Jehovah the Saviour. Yet the contemplation of these attributes of His eternal Godhead, while they may bow our hearts before Him in holy reverence, they do not tell us all the story of this One whose name is Wonderful. He who knows Him only as a supreme Being in the unknowable realm of Godhead greatness will never catch Isaiah's vision of Him. Isaiah spoke of One who, being the eternal Potentate, was making a descent from those heights of heaven's glory and divine majesty down into the world which His hands had made. "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given."

The Wonder of His Birth

It is when I first see this blessed Person as God incarnate, as God tabernacling in flesh, that the wonder of it dawns on my soul. His coming had been foretold by inspired prophets for centuries before. Moses had told of what race He would come; Isaiah predicted the virgin birth; Micah told exactly where He should be born—in Bethlehem of Judea; Daniel gave us a prophetic clock upon whose face we should read the time of His coming. These things alone serve to set this wonderful Person apart from all others ever born into this world.

And as we contemplate the wonder of His birth we stand again yonder on the darkened hills of Judea. We watch the star. It was "His star"; it travels in jewel beauty across the dark bosom of the night to direct the wise men to His birthplace. This is no errant star by some accident of nature strayed from its appointed orbit. I think of this star as set in the heavens, its course planned from creation's birth; its pace set by divine accuracy, that it might travel its unhurried journey through trackless infinitudes of measureless space to arrive with utmost precision in the eastern sky the very moment these wise men cast their inquiring gaze heavenward for divine direction. Its journey of many centuries brought it to shine directly overhead upon the humble dwelling where the Christ Child lay. Nor was the star alone in its miraculous mission for, while the shepherds were standing yonder among their sheep on Judea's hillside, the angelic host was proclaiming, "Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." And the shepherds went to Bethlehem and saw "this thing which is come to pass."

Never was a baby born like this when all heaven was engrossed in the wonderment of it yet only a few wise men and shepherds were stirred enough to come to witness the spectacle. No room for Him in the inn! This Babe must be born among the mal-odors of the stable; not in the great metropolis of Jerusalem but in the little town of Bethlehem; not wrapped in royal linen or costly silken garments, but wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a feeding trough. Can this be He to whom Isaiah pointed the prophetic finger saying, "His Name shall be called Wonderful"? Yes, this is He! Had He come like a prince of earth to be born in the palace of the Herods with royal acclamation and great fanfare, to be hailed by earth's grand and great, then His Name would not be Wonderful, but He who "thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation and became in the likeness of men"—That is wonderful!

The Wonder of His Life

Yes, He is wonderful in His birth and none less so in His life. I see Him as He grows up. He is a carpenter's boy and he learns the trade also. With increasing wonder I contemplate this One who made the worlds, working with patience and with grace for some twenty years as a carpenter. Our imagination bewilders us as we think what it must have been to have had a plowshaft or a yoke made by His skilful hand. How perfectly they fitted, never bruising the shoulders of the beast of burden. I wonder if He did not have something of this in mind when He said, "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; … My yoke is easy, and My burden is light."

Yes, these many years He waited in the obscurity of His native village, unknown and unobserved by a heedless world until He was about thirty years of age when He stepped forth before the public eye. Beginning in Nazareth where He was brought up He presented Himself in the synagogue to the wonderment of the Rabbis who handed Him the sacred scroll. He went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed. He opened blind eyes; He delivered the demon possessed; He restored the impotent; a woman who was bent over double He made stand and walk erect; a helpless cripple He made strong enough to carry his couch; He spoke peace to troubled hearts. Rich and poor; Jew and Gentile; proud and humble; all received from His gracious hand. And how was He requited?

In Nazareth they sought to stone Him; in Jerusalem to cast Him over the brow of the city's hill. The Pharisees spurned Him; the Sadducees mocked Him. Multitudes thronged Him to eat of the bread He gave and then deserted Him when they were filled from His bounty. He was hated, cursed, spit upon, mocked, slapped in the face, scourged with a whip; throngs in the street put their tongues out at Him; drunkards sang their obscene ditties about Him. Children were pushed away when they went close to His side. He was hailed to the Sanhedrin and given a mock trial; a thief and murderer preferred before Him; a purple robe of mock dignity was put on Him and then torn off; a crown was put on His head, but it was a crown of thorns that cruelly tore His brow. A giant cross was hoisted to His shoulders and the blood thirsty rabble drove Him laden with its weight up Calvary's steep incline. And there they crucified Him between two malefactors as He said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." His Name is wonderful!

The Wonder of His Death

Having then suffered ignominy and shame at the hands of ruthless men, He becomes the sinbearer, and for three long hours the judgment of a Holy God against sin falls upon His blessed head. The sun hides its face in abject shame, and the world is plunged into an abyss of black night that bespeaks the anguish of soul of the blessed Man who hung on yonder cross. Then, when it seemed as if the blackness of the pit itself had sheathed the world in an envelope of eternal night, the voice of the crucified was heard from out the shadows crying, "It is finished." His voice shook the universe to its core as the Prince of life died for the ungodly, for all men, for me, for you. "God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). The wonder of His death is that because God made Him who knew no sin, to suffer and die for sins, now the repentant sinner can be brought to God in an eternal relationship as His child. His Name is wonderful!

The Wonder of His Resurrection

Three days and nights rolled by and the body of the Lord lay in Joseph's new tomb. Then, as the dark shadows of night lay low upon the garden where Mary of Magdala kept lonely and sorrowful vigil, the stars shining like distant torches in the dark heavens, He broke the silence of the tomb and came forth triumphant from the grave. Now this living Saviour offers eternal life to all who trust in Him. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into [judgment]; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24). Are you, dear reader, passed from death unto life? Do you know Him whose Name is Wonderful as your personal Saviour? You will share in His victory over sin and death as you by faith lay hold upon Christ who died for your sins, was buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). The risen Christ alone is able to save, and He offers salvation to whosoever believeth in Him. His Name is Wonderful!

The Wonder of His Coming Again

After forty days He ascended into heaven and there He sits today on the right hand of the Majesty on high. Soon His saints will hear His voice for He will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God. The dead in Christ will spring forth from the dust of the tomb, the living shall be changed, and caught up together to meet Him in the air. Seven years later He will come to earth in power and great glory, and every eye shall see Him, and they that pierced Him will wail because of Him. Then the benign gladness of His magnificent kingdom will bring peace and joy to this sad earth, and Isaiah's prophecy will be fulfilled to the letter: "His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end" (Isaiah 9:6,7).

—T. Westwood