IMMANUEL - GOD WITH US

IMMANUEL

Matthew 1:18-25

When you look at a manger scene, the focus is rightly on the baby Jesus. He may be in the manger or in the arms of his mother, Mary, who gets a lot of attention at Christmas also.

But, often, my eyes slide over to Joseph, wondering what he was thinking. It had been a tough year for him. His fiancé turned up pregnant. He was going to be a good guy and break the engagement quietly. But an angel appeared to him and told him the Baby was from the Holy Spirit. Try explaining that one to your mother!

To further complicate matters, he had a dream and an angel told him the following:

Now the birth of Jesus Christ[a] took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed[b] to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

The baby would be named Immanuel. This was not the name he would be known by, which was Jesus, but a name designed to tell us what he was and who he was.

Matthew, empowered by the Holy Spirit, looked back at the word of the Lord spoken to King Ahaz (about 7 centuries before!) and said the birth of Jesus fulfilled the words of the prophet Isaiah: "they shall call his name Immanuel". (Isaiah 7:14)

To help those who do not read Hebrew, Matthew interpreted it for us: it means “God with us”.

Matthew saw this as a momentous occasion, God fulfilling words he spoke 7 centuries before in the birth a baby. And the occasion is the birth of “God with us”. And it was told to Joseph first.

Why is that important?

It is important because God has always, and will always, want to dwell with his people. He showed this in the beginning, creating a perfect place for men and women to live and to abide with him. He walked in the Garden with them.

Genesis 3, of course, shows us that the man and woman rejected God and he cast them from his presence in the garden. But, he did not give up on the concept of dwelling with them.

Just a couple of examples of that are the Tabernacle, the pop up church of the day, that the Israelites carried with them and placed in the middle of the camp when they stopped. Another is the Temple, especially the first one, where God’s presence dwelt in the midst of the capital city of Jerusalem.
But even the Tabernacle and the Temple were remote to the individual. Only the priests could enter it, and only the High Priest could enter the room where God’s presence actually dwelt. That remoteness was a product of God’s holiness. He cannot tolerate sin in his presence.

That problem would be fixed by the baby named “God with us”, as he removed the sins of those who believed in him and lived so that his righteousness could be imputed to us.

And, he dwelt with his people. The apostle John picked up on this and wrote “and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”. (John 1:14) Jesus dwelt with his followers for the years of his ministry. He was with the Twelve every day and night during that time.

But, what about when he died? Well, the resurrected Christ told his disciples that he would be with them until the end of the age. In other words, he would never leave them, he would dwell with his followers through the Holy Spirit all through their lifetimes until they were either reunited with him at death or when he returns at the end of the age. He said this in John 14:1-3 and 14:19-20.

Like the infomercials say: but wait there’s more!

When this age does end, where will God be? He will be fully and finally dwelling with his people. He shows us this in Revelation 21:3. God’s dwelling place is with mankind.
 
So, Joseph looked at that baby and thought, this is the God-Man, the savior, sent to restore Eden and dwell with mankind again. And he is my responsibility. That would be weighty, wouldn’t it?
But, I hope there was some joy there for Joseph as well, that maybe he understood just a little of what was happening, that God had finally taken this huge step that would result in restored fellowship with his people, those who believe in Jesus.

Joseph believed and did what the Lord told him to do. He eventually died, and, I believe, Jesus fulfilled his promise to come for him and take him to be with himself, now the glorified king in heaven. And Joseph is walking around heaven telling the story with a big smile on his face, looking over at that throne and thinking “I knew you as the little baby in the manger”.

And I hope you, when you look at the manger scenes this year, will experience the awe of the momentous occasion that it represents and remember that God said he would dwell with you forever.