Wednesday December 14, 2022

Today is Wednesday, December 14 and this week continues our journey through the Advent season as we celebrate Jesus as Immanuel – God with us.

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14

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Wednesday, December 14, 2022
Today is Wednesday, December 14 and this week continues our journey through the Advent season as we celebrate Jesus as Immanuel – God with us.

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14

The prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 carries the full weight of the Christmas story in one sentence. Let’s look at each piece of the prophecy.

First, a virgin will have a child. That is not a normal sentence. How we think things should happen, isn’t always the way the Lord thinks it should happen. Remember Isa. 55:8-9: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Second, the child will be a son. This sentence seems too normal– we tend to need more spiritual confetti to confirm God’s presence with us. We have no indication that Jesus’ birth, in the stable with Mary and Joseph, was anything other than normal. A woman gave birth to a son. This is the Lord’s great entrance and sets the stage for the combination of normal and miraculous that will be held in tension throughout Jesus’ life among us.

Third, the child will be called Immanuel. Put differently, there will be no distance between the covenant-making God and his covenant people. Jesus will walk among us– eating, walking, talking, and laughing like the rest of us. But his name, and its meaning, will make the relationships different from any we could imagine.

Jesus’ name is Y’shua or Joshua, which was a common Jewish name at the time meaning “the Lord Saves.” Yet, Jesus’ name is infused by a powerful name unused by anyone else in the scripture– Immanuel, “God with us.” In Matthew 1, we are reminded of this connection to Isaiah 7. In Matthew 28, we are again reminded that Jesus, Immanuel, will be “with us” until the end of the age.

The Father is whispering his agenda into the world by the very process we will see unfolding in Jesus’ birth. The Lord will be present with us, coming by an unexpected process, a very human process, and a very relational process. In Immanuel, the Father is present with us and says “Here I am.” We are invited to respond with “Here I am.” Opening ourselves to full attention and availability to God– this is the goal of the Christian life.

Ask
In what situations do you most sense the Lord’s name– Immanuel, God with us– being true to your relationship with him? In worship? In prayer? In community? In service? In Advent, and into the new year, how can you cultivate the practice of being present with Jesus as he is present to you?

God, thank you for your presence with me. I long to respond to your “Here I am.” Lead me in your ways as I encourage others to experience your nearness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Listen and sing along with us to songs that will shape our Advent season. Today we will sing “O Come O Come Emmanuel.” Because there are so many good versions to choose from, we might as well have two today. You can find the first here – and the second here. Subscribe to our Spotify playlist featuring all of our Songs for the Season here.

First 15 through the season of Advent is adapted from Roots: Advent and the Family Story of Jesus available through Seedbed. If you or your small group are interested in using this resource for your Advent study, you can find more information here or send an email to discipleship@fmcm.org.