(Matthew 1:23)

Whenever I read this verse, I am always struck by the word Emmanuel. The text in

Matthew is quoting the prophet Isaiah saying that a virgin will have a son and name him

Emmanuel—which means God is with us.

What a wonderful promise of God. The promised one of God is called Emmanuel—

stating that God is with us. God becomes human in order to be one of us and live among

us.

This promise is also echoed at the end of Matthew’s gospel. At the end of Matthew, Jesus is with

the 11 remaining disciples on a mount and instructs them to go and make disciples of all nations,

teaching them and baptizing them. Then Jesus tells them as they go, to remember that he will be

with them always even to the end of the age—for he is Emmanuel.

But what does this promise of God being with us really mean? For me, it tells me that no matter

what happens or how I feel; I know that I am not alone. Many times throughout our lives it is

easy to think that we are alone or that no one is there for you. Whether we receive bad news or

some type of tragedy occurs or even if someone does something that offends us—these and other

events can cause us to think that nobody cares about us or that we are alone through whatever is

going on within our lives. It is amazing to me that with all the ways that we can be connected

with people (cell phones, Facebook, email, twitter, etc.) it is still so easy to feel disconnected

from others and alone.

This verse combats this understanding. It declares emphatically that Jesus was born so that God

could be truly present with humanity. It tells us that God is with us! No if and or about it. God

is with us through Jesus who is the Word that became flesh and dwelt with us.

Even while this whole understanding of God with us is good news; it can be both comforting and

unsettling. Michael Card (Christian Musician) echoes this in his book ‘Immanuel’ which are

reflections upon his songs about the life of Jesus. He writes:

‘The implications of the name Immanuel are both comforting and unsettling. Comforting,

because he has come to share the danger as well as the drudgery of our everyday lives. He

desires to weep with us and to wipe away our tears. And what seems most bizarre, Jesus Christ,

the Son of God, longs to share in and to be the source of the laughter and the joy we all too rarely

know.

The implications are unsettling. It is one thing to claim that God looks down upon us, from a safe

distance, and speaks to us (via long distance, we hope). But to say that He is right here, is to put

ourselves and Him in a totally new situation. He is no longer the calm and benevolent observer

in the sky, the kindly old caricature with the beard. His image becomes that of Jesus, who wept

and laughed, who fasted and feasted, and who, above all, was fully present to those He loved. He

was there with them. He is here with us.’

When we stop and think about the fact that Jesus is ‘Emmanuel’ this is a significant thing—for

now God is with us now and always.