The Gift of a Wonderful Counselor
A description of the Messiah that we may not regularly emphasize comes from the famous Christmas passage in Isaiah 9:6: “And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor.” We tend to focus on the other marvelous descriptions of Christ (“Mighty God,” “Prince of Peace”) that we may miss this very meaningful dimension of Christ’s messianic ministry to us. “Wonderful Counselor” is translated literally as “wonder of a counselor,” pointing to the truth that he possesses something far beyond human wisdom.[1] Isaiah applies to Christ a description that is reminiscent of an attribute he elsewhere ascribes to God:
This also comes from the LORD of hosts;
He is wonderful in counsel
And excellent in wisdom. (Isa. 28:29)
In Christ are “hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3). According to the ancient writer John Crysostom, the Messiah is a wonder of a counselor “because of his many other teachings, but especially because he revealed his Father to humankind.”[2] Calvin says of the Lord, “He is in every respect the highest and most perfect teacher” since “all that is necessary for salvation is opened up by Christ.”[3] In other words, all that we must know for our temporal and eternal happiness is hidden in Christ.
In a sermon entitled, “His Name—The Counsellor,” the young Charles Spurgeon describes three ways Christ is to be seen as the counselor—and this is much in line with the long history of Christian thought on Isaiah 9:6.4[4] First, being God himself, he stands in the eternal counselor with God; he is a counselor with God. Second, he is the messenger of the counselor, the one who makes the will of the eternal divine counsel known to us. Third, “Christ is a Counsellor to us and with us, because we can consult with him, and he doth counsel and advise us as to the right way and the path of peace.” It is this third dimension of Christ’s counseling role that is most important for our reflection.
Spurgeon expands on what it means for Christ to be a counselor to us by highlighting three features of his role. First, Christ is a necessary counselor. He is the one whom we must consult in all things if we are to find success in life: “So sure as we do anything without asking counsel of God we fall into trouble.” There is no other counselor that we can describe as absolutely necessary except Christ. Second, Christ is a faithful counselor. Unlike some counselors, he does not counsel out of self-interest but will always guide us toward what is best for us. Third, Christ is a hearty counselor. He is not a detached advisor but one who cares deeply about us. To help us grasp what Christ’s counsel is like, Spurgeon contrasts it with that of a lawyer. He writes of the latter,
He [the lawyer] is as cool as possible; you think you are asking counsel of a block of marble. No doubt his advice will come out all right at last, and it is pretty certain it will be good for you; but it is not hearty. He does not enter into the sympathies of the matter with you. What is it to him whether you succeed or not—whether the object of your heart shall be accomplished or not. It is but a professional interest he takes.
But of Christ, he exclaims, “Oh! for a Counsellor that could tie your heart into unison with his own! Now Christ is such a Counsellor as that. He is a hearty Counsellor. His interests and your interests are bound up together, and he is hearty with you.”
We all want sound counsel; but we would prefer sound counsel coupled with loving empathy. We want someone to care, even as they try to give the best advice they can. This is what we receive and more from the Wonderful Counselor. The necessary, faithful, and hearty counsel of Christ is none other than the counsel of God himself. And we encounter this counsel most readily when we sit at the feet of Scripture.
___
[1] John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 1–39 (Eerdmans, 1986), 247.
[2] John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of John 81, in Isaiah 1–39, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Old Testament, vol. 10, ed. Steven A. McKinion (IVP Academic, 2014), 74.
[3] John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, trans. William Pringle, in Calvin’s Commentaries (Baker, 2003), 1:310.
[4] The following is drawn from Charles H. Spurgeon, “His Name—The Counsellor,” September 26, 1858, in New Park Street Pulpit, vol. 4, https://www.spurgeon.org/.
Content taken from The Goodness of God in the Gift of Scripture by Uche Anizor ©2026. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, Il 60187, www.crossway.org.