When our New Testament writers tried to make sense of the birth of Jesus, they sorted through the many scrolls that were what we think of as the Old Testament books of the Bible, and unrolled Isaiah – but not too far, as they found what spoke powerfully across the centuries in its opening section.

By the way, when Jesus grew up, his first sermon in his hometown also was based on a passage he located as he unrolled a scroll of Isaiah. We can envision his and their scrolls, as we have one from the same time period found among the Dead Sea Scrolls: 24 feet long, made of parchment (animal skins) stitched together. It was heavy.

For Isaiah, hearing God’s words was a heavy load. He knew how to get very quiet, as he heard God speak. He also had a vivid imagination. He gazed intently on the architecture and décor of the temple, which everyone thought to be grand – but for him the room came to life, angels flying about, and God actually speaking out of the smoky haze. God can find us through our imaginations, and our dreaming.

Isaiah had some social standing. He could walk right into the palace whenever he wished. God likes to utilize whatever social standing or access or personal capital we have to further God’s work.

Isaiah was creative with names and words – or maybe we should say God gifted him with creativity and whispered what was in God’s mind and heart which Isaiah then articulated creatively. He was always giving newborn children quirky nicknames that were little sermonettes. I wonder what his wife thought when he called her sons Maher-Shalal-Hashbaz and Shear-Jashub?

But two boys in the royal household, perhaps the king’s own sons, Isaiah called Immanuel – “God is with us,” the greatest nickname ever, so profound and revealing of the reality of God that it was applied to Jesus! And then “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” – What a mouthful of a name! My little Advent book this year (And His Name Shall Be Call-ed) unpacks the name and all it tells us about God.

Isaiah wasn’t gazing into a crystal ball foretelling the future. The citizens of Jerusalem were terrified, with the Assyrian army besieging their city. They needed a Word and some hope from God that day. Their hope was “God is with us,” the God who is “Wonderful, Mighty, Everlasting, the Prince of Peace.” But those names and their message, directed toward panicked, faltering people, unveil what is always in God’s mind and heart. God promised then, and always, This is Who I am: I am with you always. So when God’s mind and heart were fully revealed, in the flesh in the birth of the baby Jesus, those words, those nicknames, applied more fittingly than ever before.

Mary, of course, knew Isaiah’s words well, including those symbolic, sermonic names. Had she thought of the mother bearing little Immanuel back then? Did she come to cherish her and understand her life path through her? I know that woman. I am that woman. Did Joseph think, Gosh, it’s Mary. Did Mary tell someone (Joseph? Anna? The Gospel writers?) of her connection? As my friend Ben Witherington says, “It is perfectly possible for God to fulfill his word more than once.” How good of God to do so and to envelop Mary’s anxious season with an ancient promise.