“And His Name Shall be Called: Mighty God (Isaiah 9:6)" | 12/4/22

Isaiah 9:6 | 12/4/22 | Thad Yessa

One of my favorite Christmas movies is the How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  I’m sure that you are familiar with the plot of this classic Dr. Seuss film, but permit me to review the basics for you:

The Grinch, a bitter, grouchy, cave-dwelling creature with a heart "two sizes too small", lives on snowy Mount Crumpit, a steep, 3,000-foot high mountain just north of Whoville, home of the merry and warm-hearted Whos. His only companion is his faithful dog, Max. From his perch high atop Mount Crumpit, the Grinch can hear the noisy Christmas festivities that take place in Whoville. Annoyed and unable to understand the Whos' happiness, he makes plans to descend on the town and deprive them of their Christmas presents, Roast Beast, Who-hash and decorations and thus "prevent Christmas from coming." However, he learns in the end that despite his success in taking away all the Christmas presents and decorations from the Whos, Christmas comes just the same. He then realizes that Christmas is more than just gifts and presents. Touched by this, his heart grows three sizes larger; he returns all the presents and trimmings and is warmly welcomed into the community of the Whos.

The turning point of the storyline comes when the Grinch has a perspective change.  He suddenly realizes there something more to Christmas than what he realized.  Here’s how Dr. Seuss (as only he can write) makes the point:

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store?  What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?

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“And His Name Shall be Called: Everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6)" | 12/11/22

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“And His Name Shall be Called: WONDERFUL COUNSELOR (Isaiah 9:1-6)” | 11/27/22