Immanuel
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (Matthew 1:23)
By Tanja
Do you remember the crisis of Covid and lockdowns four years ago? By now, things are resolved, we are reflecting on the future and trying to move on. If you’ve met or had contact with a child who was born in that time, their life span started in that crisis, but now they are a happy child, learning, playing and discovering the world. They are a generation walking towards a future full of hope!
In Isaiah, king Azah was facing a crisis, in this crisis, he was not trusting God. Yet, Isaiah had come to talk with the king and had come with his son, Shear-Jashub -meaning- “leftovers will come back.” Just by bringing his own son, he stated that there is a future generation. Still, Ahaz did not want to hear counsel from the Lord, but he was troubled in his heart. Isaiah, giving signs to the king, told him about a young woman who would have a child. After this child reached a mature age, the crisis that he faced would dissolve.
Think about how vital the lifeline of a generation is. Jesus was also a part of the ancestral line. Matthew’s genealogy and Luke show that Jesus belonged to a Jewish family line because of his earthly father, Joseph. Luke’s genealogy focuses on Jesus’s ‘physical genealogy’, and Matthew focuses on Jesus’s Kingly significance.[i]
“Jesus is God’s Son, who has entered this world and become human, and even though he is physically Mary’s son, he is also Joseph’s legal son and thus heir to the Davidic throne.”[ii]
Even though Isaiah gave a timely prophecy to king Ahaz, Christians understand the verse in Isaiah 7:14 to refer to Jesus. “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14
In Isaiah’s passage, the child’s name in the prophecy is of high importance: “Immanu means “with us” and El means “God,” so Immanuel means “God is with us.” [iii] Even though it appeared that God was not with Judah (Israel), because the situation was a mess.[iv] Isaiah was declaring with his message that God was with Judah.[v] “Immanuel’s birth would somehow serve as a sign of Judah’s deliverance.”[vi]
In the context of the book of Matthew, the author, Matthew, specifies that the young woman is a virgin.[vii] “No child with a human father could be the fulfillment of Immanuel, “God Among Us.”[viii] The point is that Jesus’s lineage was from a human family, however, if Jesus had only human DNA how could He stop the continuation of sin? How could He be any different to the first man, Adam? God is a holy God, right? Jesus had to be holy and pure, it would not be good enough if he had a “fallen human nature.”[ix]
The significance of His mother, Mary was that the Holy Spirit led the birth of Jesus. This gave humanity a new start, we can be a new creation and have a new heritage because of Jesus. He is the new bloodline to creation and humanity, and we can be new creations because of Jesus.
The prophecy and sign were meant for the situation that they faced in the historical setting, however, it was also a prophecy of the coming King Jesus, the Messiah. The same lines were repeated and quoted in the book of Matthew:
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (Matthew 1:23)
What is significant about Jesus’ birth? He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Like the Christmas carol- Silent Night
Silent night! Holy night!
All is calm, all is bright
’round yon virgin mother and child!
It is one of our core beliefs as Christians that Jesus’ birth was a virgin birth as stated in the Apostles Creed. The Apostle’s Creed sums up Jesus’ parentage concisely;
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
Jesus is the hope for our future, He came to give us eternal life. Jesus came so that we can be right before God, that we can stand before God. Jesus is the one that we need to trust and to have hope in everyday. He is the God that we should worship and no other. When Jesus came as Immanuel to humanity, He gave hope to all generations yet to be born. It is a blessing to have God with us, rather than not have God at all. Why should we fear when God is with us? His name is Immanuel, God with us. He came to us at the Virgin Birth, Jesus died and rose again and will be our returning King.
[i] Stephen J. Wellum, God the Son Incarnate: The Doctrine of Christ, Foundations of Evangelical Theology Ser (Wheaton: Crossway, 2016).Accessed November 3, 2024. ProQuest Ebook Central.
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[ii] Wellum.
[iii] Bryan E. Beyer and Bryan Beyer, Encountering the Book of Isaiah (Encountering Biblical Studies): A Historical and Theological Survey, Encountering Biblical Studies (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007). Accessed November 2, 2024. ProQuest Ebook Central.
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[iv] Beyer and Beyer.
[v] Beyer and Beyer.
[vi] Beyer and Beyer.
[vii] Zodhiates, Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible, 905.
[viii] Brian Simmons, The Book of Isaiah (2020 Edition): The Vision, 1st ed, The Passion Translation Series (Savage: BroadStreet Publishing, 2022).
[ix] Wellum, Stephen J.. 2016. God the Son Incarnate : The Doctrine of Christ. Wheaton: Crossway. Accessed November 3, 2024. ProQuest Ebook Central.
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