The first name we hear Jesus introduced as in Isaiah 9:6 is "wonderful counselor" and the second name, "mighty God," continues to establish Jesus as a King but it goes one step further.
Instead of introducing Jesus just as a king with authority, mighty God moves our introduction into Jesus with an understanding of His supernatural power.
When I was writing my book, "how much more?" I had a few comments from an editor asking me to not use the word "supernatural" as much. She encouraged me to find another word because to her it felt dated and unfamiliar in our culture today.
She was right.
But I also think it's the perfect word to describe God and when we are introduced to Jesus as "mighty God" we are meant to see He is a God of supernatural power–power that is outside of the human experience, power that is set apart and holy.
"Mighty God" introduces us to the idea that Jesus is not just a human with authority and wisdom, but a God with authority and wisdom. And not just any god, but the one true God. This power is beyond human understanding, it's more than manifesting or hopeful anticipation but it's the power that allowed Jesus to feed thousands with a few loaves of bread and call a dead man out of his grave.
Isaiah 11:2 tells us,
"The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD—"
He is a God with wisdom, but also a God with power that is spiritual. In Hebrew, the word for "mighty God" is better translated to "Hero-God."
When we think of the superhero stories we know and love, we know that they always have special powers and abilities that make them different from the people in their world.
Jesus' name "mighty God" shows us He has heroic power that originates in His identity as God. Rely on this power that makes Jesus divine. In any circumstance you face this Christmas season, you can celebrate that a mighty God with power beyond our understanding has come and promised to come again.