Isaiah 7:14 "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” (NASB)
Emmanuel is what we sing in various Christmas carols; O come, O come Emmanuel etc. Although we get the idea as we sing that this “Emmanuel” is Jesus, what gives us that idea?
The first clue is within the prophesy of Isaiah concerning a son born of a virgin. Looking back we can say, “That’s only happened once” so it is absolutely a reference to Jesus. When the prophesy says, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign…” we know that He made good on that promise. We know it speaks of Jesus because of the virgin birth.
Why Emmanuel? Someone else can better explain why we sing Emmanel when the Scripture uses Immanuel. Maybe a Biblical scholar can clear that up for us with a comment below, but the meaning of the name is where I’d like to go next. Immanuel is a compound name which has the meaning, “God with us”. In Barnes’ commentary to which I referred it says that it was not unusual to combine a name of God with another word in Hebrew names. Isaiah means “Salvation of Yahweh”. Eliab means, “God my father”. In the name Elijah the two names of God are combined meaning, “God the Yahweh”.
So Immanuel, “God with us” is the name credited to this child of the virgin. It is the meaning of the name then not the actual name itself that holds significance. Jesus is Immanuel, “God with us”. It was true when He came into this world as the baby Jesus whose birth we are all preparing to celebrate. Imagine! God, the author of creation, with us. The birth of Jesus was that point in time when God put on flesh and became fully man while remaining fully God and lived 33 years on this earth. He grew up, worked, ate, prayed and had friends and family as we do.
Romans 8:3 says Jesus took on, “the likeness of sinful flesh”. Hebrews goes on to reveal what Immanuel did or more correctly what He didn’t do, “… One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin”. Hebrews 4:15 Jesus has been there and done that, He understands our struggles because He has literally walked among us.
When we celebrate this Christmas let’s remember Immanuel, "God with us”. AMEN!
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