Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
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Tone of specific sentences
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Thus says the king
Sometimes we forget that the scripture readings we read are part of a story.
Granted, they aren’t just any story, they are part of the story of God and God’s people.
The readings are part of a holy story, one that is like no other story ever told.
And yet, the readings are also like other stories.
There are villains and heroes.
There is structure to the stories.
There are all of the parts of what you’d find if you examined another story for the general parts of the construction of a story.
“Thus says the king” is part of one of those pieces.
For what we normally hear from a prophet is “Thus says the Lord”, not “Thus says the king” … even though the words are not Isaiah’s own words, he kept them in for effect.
On the surface, this seems to be a simple comment from one king against another.
Of course the king of Assyria is going to believe in his power over the king of Israel.
He’s had victory after victory in the lands around Israel.
There is no stopping his army.
Appealing to the people makes sense.
If he can throw the people of Israel into a moment of disbelief about Hezekiah’s power, then maybe he weakens their defenses and captures their land even more easily.
However, it isn’t just a comment from the king of one nation about the king of another nation.
By employing “Thus says ...” Isaiah is hoping his listeners, his readers, make the connection that the king of Assyria is really talking as an equal to their god.
The king of Assyria makes it quite clear that not only is he more powerful than Hezekiah, he is more powerful than the God of Israel.
That’s quite a bold claim.
One that shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Thus says the Lord ...
What does God have to say to that?
Through the words of the prophet Isaiah:
God addresses the very basic emotion that is now troubling the people of Israel — fear.
They know that the king of Assyria is powerful.
They believe that all true power comes from God.
So if there’s a powerful king ready to invade, it might be some form of divine punishment, and almost destined to happen.
However, that is not the response of God.
This is not the time for divine punishment.
This is the time for divine protection.
Protection that comes not from the might of the army of Israel, but protection that comes from the word of God.
The Word of God
Words are powerful.
They can cause hurt and division.
They can bring joy and heal.
They can precipitate change, and fear, and hope, and love, and ...
We often talk about Jesus as being the Word of God.
We’ll read this on Christmas Eve:
The phrase, “Thus says the Lord” isn’t in the Gospels, and it need not be.
For if we hear the words of Jesus, we have heard the words of our god.
Nineteen times in the Gospels, Jesus spoke about “peace”.
To me, the most memorable time was in John 20.
At this moment, his disciples had been gripped by fear — just as the people of Israel had been gripped by fear when the king of Assyria had been standing on their doorstep, ready to invade.
For the disciples though, it wasn’t an invasion that they feared — it was the unknown.
How could this Jesus be their Messiah — their king — particularly if he had just been crucified?
It all comes down to this:
In God, in Jesus — the Word of God — we hear that a time will come when swords will become plowshares, and spears, pruning hooks.
The time for war, animosity, hatred and particularly fear, is over.
Through Jesus, we know peace.
Through Jesus, we have the strength to overcome our fears.
Through Jesus the words of kings have no power — because our faith helps us rely on the one that is all-powerful — the word of our God.
Thanks be to God.
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