“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” Matthew 1:23
Emmanuel means that God (Deity) came to be with us (Humanity). God did not come to us as an idea, a concept, a philosophy, or an ideal. He didn’t come as the sun, the moon, or a star. He didn’t come as a statue or an untouchable being. He came to us as a man. He took on human flesh. Jesus Christ is completely God and completely man.
God with us—not in heaven, not out of touch or out of reach, not a phantom, not a shadow, not a legend or a myth; God with us in grace, in truth, in mercy; God with us in human flesh, touchable, seeable, knowable.
Love breathing, love giving, love caring, love dying. Walking where we walk, crying our tears, knowing our pain, feeling our grief, bearing our sorrows.
God with us—in the manger, in the temple, on the road, by the well, in the boat, upon the hillside, in the home, at the table; healing the sick, feeding the hungry, comforting those who mourn.; speaking to the multitude and seeking out the individual; with arms extended, with words that beckon, with a voice that calls, “Come unto Me.”
God with us—to believe in, to follow, to proclaim, to seek, to worship, to love, to cherish forever!
