This beloved Christmas verse evokes a sense of warmth with its familiarity and fulfillment. However, the comfort it offers is often not as deep as its context. It is far more than an oh, yay, another prophecy of the Messiah!

The words that follow verse 14 describe the devastation that will come upon God’s people—their city and the temple will be destroyed; the Jews will be captured and brought into exile. I find it interesting that Isaiah doesn’t prepare them for their captivity with a call to repentance or a speech about endurance. Instead he points them to an event in the far future, beyond their 70 years of bondage, beyond 400 years of silence from Heaven. What he gives them is hope for their ultimate deliverance.

Immanuel, God with us, will be born.

We are still a suffering people. Like the Jews Isaiah spoke to, we feel the pain of desolation, the loss of people we love, the anxiety of an insecure future, the disappointment of our frailty—all keen reminders that we are not “home.” That’s why Isaiah’s words are also for us.

At Christmas we will enjoy festive decorations, giving and receiving gifts, gathering with family and friends, and singing familiar carols. But they will soon be filed under “Christmas 2024” and we will continue to face the troubles and trials of life. The deep and lasting joy we find in Christmas is not only that the Messiah has come, but that He will come again. And He will bring us home, to the place we were created for.

When we say, “Merry Christmas” is not about a day dubbed “the most wonderful day of the year” but for the promised day when, not only will God be with us, but when we will be with Him.