Jesus is our Immanuel

They shall call His name Immanuel (which means, God with us)         Matthew 1.23

 

Immanuel means ‘God with us’

 

Can you imagine what it would have been like to go from the bright presence of God the Father in the beauty and happiness of heaven to being curled up inside the dark of a woman’s tummy for months? What would it feel like to be born, and to suddenly have the pain of hunger, the limits of skin, the need for drink, the inability to do anything for yourself when you had created everything?

An angel told a young woman named Mary she was going to have a baby, even though she was not married, because God’s Spirit put the baby inside her. The angel said this baby would be ‘God with us.’ Can you imagine the awe of knowing God the Son would be with people in a way they could see and touch? He would be named Jesus and would save His people from their sin. Then an angel told a man named Joseph to take Mary as his wife, adopt Jesus as his child, and to take care of them both.

When Mary was almost ready to have the baby, they had to take a long journey. The government was forcing everyone to go back to their hometowns. Joseph was David’s (26 greats) grandchild. Since David was from Bethlehem, that is where they went.

Joseph had to find a private place for Mary to rest, but all the places to stay were full except where the animals stayed.  When Jesus was born Joseph and Mary put him in a manger, which normally held hay for animals to eat. They must have wondered, “Why would God’s Son be born around animal smells and noises?” Even though they didn’t understand everything, Joseph and Mary (unlike Adam and Eve) believed God was true and good. They had faith that His plans were greater than what they could see, and they trusted Him.

Jesus did not glow with heavenly light when He was born. Really, He looked just like other little babies. Mary and Joseph might have had glimpses of God’s plan for His son, but so much of their lives would be spent waiting to see it. Meanwhile, they fed Jesus, taught Jesus, and took care of Jesus.

Before Jesus was born, God gave him another name. Every Christmas the world celebrates this name. It is ‘Immanuel, ‘ which means ‘God with us.’ Isn’t this amazing? How could our holy (above all and perfect) God be with sinful people? In the Temple, the high priest needed to sacrifice many animals before he stepped a toe into God’s presence in the Holy of Holies. How could it be possible for humans to walk and talk with God on earth?

This is something we cannot fully understand or explain, but we can be in awe of it. God’s ways are not man’s ways. In Jesus, God the Son stayed God and yet also became a tiny human that could be held in the arms of a young woman next to a manger in Bethlehem.

God is with us in Jesus. The wonder of that will never end. God the Son came to us in the soft form of a baby. Our awe at God’s amazing gift will forever bubble up as faith in the hearts of God’s people. Jesus, thank you for being God with us! Jesus is our Immanuel.

 

Here is how Jesus was born.     Luke 2.6

 

What does the name Immanuel mean?

What is hard to imagine about God the Son coming to earth as a baby?