Seriously... a baby?

I can just imagine what Ahaz might have been thinking. Vast armies arrayed against him. His neighbors turning on him. His fear that he won't be able to protect his kingdom. So, God decides to send him a sign of hope. Not a large army of angels to defend his territory. Not some newly developed weapon to defend his borders. No plague to wipe out the opposing army. Nothing powerful or mighty or deadly. Instead, God sends a baby. A baby! Seriously... what was God thinking? How was that suppose to bring comfort?


I mean, seriously, how was a baby supposed to bring comfort to anyone? How is a baby supposed to bring comfort to us today? What does it matter that God sent a baby into the world? Though, of course, God did not just send a baby. God came as a baby. God in little human vulnerable baby form. Did God really entrust god's self into our care for those few years of childlike vulnerability? Did God, the God separated by God's otherness and holiness and transcendence, really cross all of those chasms just to be with us? To walk among us? To take on our form? To save us?

A baby... a sign of hope in the midst of war torn times... Immanuel... God with us.