“And he will be called Wonderful Counselor ….” Isaiah 9:6b

What’s in a name? Artist Anne Geddes lists my name in her Baby Names Keepsake as derived from the Old German words for “labor” and “strength”. I take pride in such meanings although I often feel sapped of strength and tempted to laze around at barren times. I’m glad my name did not derive from some ugly and mean words.

My friends took time finding names for their kids. My former roommate Gerlen named her baby Mayumi, Filipino word for “fine”, “lovely”, and “ladylike.” Another couple-colleague named their baby Eurih Psalm, probably to remind them to constantly break in thanksgiving and praise.

If names were just meant to call our attention and distinguish us from each other then we could just combine monosyllables, numbers, and characters or adopt familiar sounds for our names. We can even use our email password. But I really don’t want to be called “Psst” (produced by pursing the lips) or “Tingtingting” (pealing the bell three times) or 9807M. I don’t have a sheepish instinct to be content with a whistling call for a name.

Names in the Scriptures are significant. Their meaning often relates the parents or the child to God. Hannah named her son Samuel because “(she) asked the LORD for him.” Zechariah insisted that her son be named John “because he will be a joy and delight” and a source of much rejoicing.

The first Name that the Prophet Isaiah calls Jesus is “Wonderful Counselor”. In the New Testament Jesus calls the Spirit by the same Name. He sends the Spirit in His place to testify about Him, to guide His disciples to all truths, to convict the world of guilt, and to comfort the disciples. The Spirit-Counselor is an Enabler.

My work as InterVarsity staff includes counseling which demands attentive listening and genuine interest in people’s lives. It requires the ability and readiness to give. I also see counselors in times of distress. I look at the counselor as a help, as someone ready and able to take up my cause, an ally. The counselor, for me, is a listener, a comforter, a source of wisdom and strength.

Looking at the helpless babe in the manger, it’s hard to imagine that He is what I look for in a counselor. Indeed, He who was dependent on Mary’s breast milk for survival is the world’s Counselor. I recall Jesus’ conversation with so-called unwanted people: Zacchaeus, the Samaritan woman, the criminal on the cross, Nicodemus, the disciples. The words He spoke to them are certainly words of comfort, of hope, of life. He neither gave them a string of harsh and condemning words nor a litany of sermon. Rather, He listened to them and responded in love.

Jesus sought us where we are. He came to our place. He identified Himself with our weakness and powerlessness. By doing this, He became our Counselor par excellence. May Christmas draw our hearts to God’s love in Jesus.

Written by Millicent A. Guarin