One of my absolute favourite descriptions of Jesus, is Immanuel, God with Us. This advent it is good to know that even in the busyness, He is right with us. And when we feel alone or overwhelmed, Jesus is still our Immanuel.
God With Us
“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son,
and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
Matthew 1:23
In Matthew 1:18 -21 we are told the story of Joseph, and his dream encounter with an angel of the Lord. Joseph is told that He should not be afraid to take Mary as his wife, as the child she carries was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Then in the following verses Matthew adds a quote from Isaiah (Matthew 1:22-23). Jesus’ birth is going to fulfil another messianic prophecy. He will be called ‘Immanuel’ which means ‘God with us’ (Isaiah 7:14). It wasn’t to be His actual name, rather an expression of what His coming meant.
A God Who Understands
God Himself, in the person of His Son, descended into humanity so that He could live among us. We can put from our minds all thoughts of a distant, uninterested God. Jesus was born into poverty, hardship, shame, fear and uncertainty, under Roman oppression. He chose to experience these things, as well as injustice, hatred, misunderstanding, loneliness, physical torture and death. Jesus suffered these willingly, for our salvation, but also so that He could fully understand our pain and suffering (Hebrews 4:15).
He truly made Himself God with man, and this is our comfort. There is nothing that we can face that He has not experienced Himself. We can never believe that He does not care, because He truly knows how we feel. He also had no problem identifying with the undesirables – from the shepherds, to tax collectors and prostitutes. He came to be with those who needed Him most, God ‘with’ every person, whatever their status.
Our Battle Cry
But ‘Immanuel’ occurs elsewhere in Isaiah, in chapter 8 and verses 8 and 10. Here it is not a name but a cry of trust, from a nation facing humiliation and defeat; it is a yell, ‘God is With Us!’. Immanuel is our comfort but can also be our battle cry.
Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;
Speak the word, but it will not stand,
For God is with us (Immanuel). Isaiah 8:10
Whatever we face, He, our Immanuel, is truly with us. ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’ is His promise (Hebrews 13:5). We too can cry ‘God is with us’! Our protector and defender stands victorious in heaven, but also lives within us by His Spirit. We never have to face anything without Him.
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Ask Yourself: Does it comfort me that Jesus suffered as a human being, or do I find it hard to accept that He understands what I am going through?
Ask God: Show me Jesus, how and when to use ‘Immanuel’ as my battle cry.
Pray: Thank You Jesus that You are Immanuel, God With Us, in every sense of the word. You made Yourself as one of us in coming to live on earth. You are with me still, living within me by Your Spirit. Thank You that You promised to never leave me to face difficulties alone. I can stand in the face of hardship, knowing that the Victorious One stands with me. Almighty God is on my side, He is with me.
Help me to take comfort from the fact that You know what it means to suffer and that You truly care and understand. Help me to trust You to fight for me and with me.
Amen
Further Reading: Matthew 1:18-25
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Christ Illuminated: Seeing Jesus for who He is, an Advent Devotional
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