The Messiah Anna Longed For

Isaiah 9: 6-7 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this. (NIV)

I can’t read this passage of Scripture without hearing the music of Handel’s Messiah accompanying these words.

Anna didn’t have the musical cues to remember this passage. But I can’t help but think, given her reaction to the Christ Child, that she knew this prophesy from Isaiah.

She focused on his immediate mission, the redemption of mankind, but the result at the end of time would be Christ the conquering hero. And at that time, that future, is when Jerusalem will be redeemed. And eventually it would be reborn as the new Jerusalem as part of the new heaven and the new earth.

How much of that did Anna see? How much did she just guess at? And how much did God bless her with so that she would know not just His truth, but that she would know Him?

 We can’t know on this side of heaven. But she had many years to listen to the priests and the Levites who would teach her. She had many years to pray and meditate on what she did know of God, his Word and his plans for the future of Israel.

So while Anna wouldn’t have known the work of Handel, I think the power and majesty of these words sang through her soul and gave her hope.

These words gave her so much hope that she knew the son given unto us as soon as she saw Him!