Isaiah 9:6 “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…Mighty God…”

Do you know what Isaiah is really saying about Jesus when he calls him our MIGHTY God? He is saying that Jesus is our hero!

The prophet does not mean that Jesus is merely someone for whom we have a great deal of respect, like our favorite celebrity, president, or sports star. This kind of hero was a mighty man and deliverer such as Samson, whom God used as a one-man army; or David, who killed the giant Goliath. From time to time God gave his Old Testament people such “mighty men,” warrior heroes. They did the work of many soldiers. They inspired entire armies to fight to victory. The Lord used them to protect his chosen people from their enemies. That is what Isaiah means when he calls the coming Christ “Mighty.”

If Jesus is such a mighty warrior for us, such a hero, that suggests something about us, too. We would not need him to be so mighty, if we were not so weak. That isn’t something we like to admit. We prefer to picture ourselves as strong, independent, self-sufficient types. We may teach our children to sing Jesus Loves Me This I Know, and the humble self-description it confesses: “Little ones to him belong, they are weak, but he is strong.” That doesn’t mean we like to think of ourselves that way.

However, that confession is just as true of us as it is of our children. Spiritually, we are all little ones. We are weak-willed when it comes to temptation. We give in to it often and easily.

Our love for God is weak. We have trouble maintaining our zeal and excitement for his work. It is not uncommon to feel as though the Lord, his word, and his work are getting in the way of what we really love: taking care of ourselves and indulging our personal pleasures.

Truth be told, left alone against the devil and his tricks, we are little more than his playthings. When he tires of playing with us, he may devour us whole, like the cat who finished playing with the mouse he caught and now is ready for dinner.

What we need is a hero, a mighty warrior, a great champion who will fight our battles and win. That is exactly what Jesus came to be. That is what he did. With his perfect life, he resisted temptation. He took Satan’s best shot and he didn’t even flinch. When he gave up his life in death, it wasn’t a defeat. His death crushed the enemy, set us free from sin and death, and destroyed the devil’s power. With Jesus on our side, they don’t push us around anymore.

Do you know what is even more encouraging? Our Hero is not just a mighty man. He is the Mighty God. Psalm 146 warns us, “Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men who cannot save…Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God.” That is exactly the help and hope God gives in the child and son of Isaiah’s prophecy. He is the Mighty God, and that makes us confident he is the Hero who can help and deliver us.