Bible Passage: Isaiah 52:10
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: December 25, 2025

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In the name of, and to the eternal glory of, Jesus,

The Lord many times comes to rescue his people.  The entire Old Testament tells story after story of the Lord’s gracious and powerful intervention on behalf of his own.  Perhaps the greatest and best-known story in the Old Testament of rescue is the story of how the Lord brought the nation of Israel out of slavery in Egypt.

As one reads the Old Testament, one will notice a certain way of speaking that is often used in reference to the rescue from Egypt.  Let me read a couple verses and see if you can detect what I am talking about.  In Exodus 6, the Lord speaks to Moses and shares the plan with him.  The Lord says, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. (Exodus 6:6)   Six times in his farewell speech to the Israelites in the book of Deuteronomy, Moses refers to what the Lord had done for them with his outstretched arm. (Deuteronomy 4:34, 5:15, 7:19, 9:29, 11:2, 26:8) Later on, the psalm writer Asaph would reflect on what the Lord did and say, With your mighty arm you redeemed your people. (Psalm 77:15)

God’s rescue is described as the Lord stretching out his arm.  Now, God is a spirit.  He doesn’t have arms.  So what we have in these verses is what is called an “anthropomorphism.”  An “anthropomorphism” is when God describes himself using human qualities so that we might understand him better.  When God rescued his people, he pictures himself as a workman rolling up his sleeves, baring his arms so that he can get down to business!  Can you picture it?  You have all seen it.  You likely have all done it.  You roll up your sleeves and get to work!

In our text this festival day, Isaiah does not look back at a time when the Lord rolled up his sleeves.  Isaiah looks ahead.  He says, The LORD will lay bare his holy arm.  Isaiah sees a day when the Lord is going to roll up his sleeves again and go work yet again to save his people.  Isaiah sees the greatest rescue of all.  Isaiah sees the rescue from sin and damnation.  Isaiah sees Jesus.  John tells us in his gospel, Isaiah…saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him. (John 12:41)  Jesus is God rolling up his sleeves!

But God’s “holy arm” is so little!  And helpless!  And weak!  He cannot even hold his head up as we see him in the manger.  This is the muscled arm of God?  Usually when one rolls up their sleeves to go to work, it is impressive.  Football players leave their arms exposed even in sub-zero temps to show their ripply muscles!  Linebackers who sack the quarterback jump up and flex their muscles in a display of power.  What does it mean when the Lord bares his arm and it’s a baby arm!

It means that this rescue mission is a different rescue mission.  Our Savior didn’t need to look like Hulk Hogan or Arnold Schwarzenegger.  He has not come to fight a new Goliath, where bulging biceps might be of some advantage.  He has come to rescue us from sin and its curse.  And so the Lord rolls up his sleeves and it’s…Jesus!

God is not born of flesh so that he can complete some assignment like the “12 Labors of Hercules.”  He is born first of all simply to LIVE.  To live a life of perfect obedience to God’s Law.  To live a life perfectly loving his Father in heaven and perfectly loving all the irritating people around him.  And he does that.  He is holy and righteous.  And he says, “Here.  I have a gift for you.  It’s just what you need and it is just the right size!  You will need this to get into heaven.  It’s righteousness.  You can have mine.”

And then he would do the weakest thing of all, the thing that takes no muscle at all – die!  And it’s not even that he will roll up his sleeves and put up a good fight before he dies.  He will put up NO fight!  But this is Christ crucified.  And there is power in Christ crucified.  A power so strong and unique nothing else in the world could accomplish what the death of Jesus Christ accomplishes.  Paul would call Christ crucified the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:24).  Because by the death of Jesus Christ for your sin, you are rescued from the guilt and curse of sin.  The work God rolled up his sleeves to do when sending Jesus into this world was completed on the cross.  There Jesus Christ declared, It is finished. (John 19)  When God rolls up his sleeves to get a job done, it gets done!  The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is proof.   

Isn’t it a neat thing that all over this world, people are celebrating this birth!  Isaiah told us they would!  All the ends of the earth will see the salvation from our God.  Turn on your news tonight and you will likely hear a report that goes something like this:  “Christians throughout the world celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ.”  It’s a big deal when God flexes his muscles.  So big, the world takes notice!

The prophets called Jesus many things.  Isaiah has some of the most memorable.  Isaiah foretold the one who would be Immanuel.  Isaiah foretold the one who would be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.  Isaiah foretold the Branch from the stump of Jesse and the Suffering Servant of the Lord.  Our text today could be counted in with those.  For today Isaiah reminds us that Jesus is God rolling up his sleeves!

Amen.