The government upon His shoulders

Isaiah 9 gives us a beautiful picture of the coming Savior. It is the prophecy of hope and redemption, the promise of the coming Man who will rectify the chasm between God and His people. Until Christ became the propitiation for sin God could not in His holiness come to us as He desired, and we had no ability to come to Him.

In verse 6 Isaiah prophecies that the government will be upon His shoulders. The Christ would bear the weight of ruling the nations and in return the nations would call Him "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. The fullness of Jesus' name is released to the hearts of those under His leadership. In awestruck wonder we will declare His worth and might for all of eternity.

When examining this verse the correlation is drawn to the priestly temple duties. In Exodus 28:9-10 the shoulder pads of the priestly garments are described. On each shoulder there is to be a stone with the name of six tribes inscribed upon it. Once a year the priest would enter the holy of holies before God. This symbolizes the priest carrying the nation of Israel upon his shoulders into the presence of God. The whole nation was dependent on one man to intercede for them, and to meet with God on behalf of them. Because the holiness of God would kill any man who entered the holy place God instructed the priestly ministry to represent all of Israel. 

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,  and since we have a Great Priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Hebrews 10

Jesus became our High Priest, bearing the weight of our sin upon His body and carried us into the holy place. We can now come boldly before God through the veil of His flesh. To those that have been baptized into the body of Christ, we have literally been clothed in Christ. God no longer sees us as the sinful flesh that we are but as His Son! The beauty of the cross wasn't just in forgiveness of sin, but that we now become our own priest in Christ, representing ourselves before God through the veil of Jesus. Now at anytime we are able to access the throne of God. Thanks be to God who has given us the victory in Christ Jesus. Thanks be to the beautiful One who carries us upon His shoulders into the presence of God.