Names of Jesus: Immanuel
It’s December! And that means Christmas, which means Advent. Perhaps not all of my readers are Christians, but I am. Which means that for me, Christmas is not just a nice holiday, but an important religious and spiritual celebration. Christmas is the time of year wherein we specifically focus on celebrating the birth of Jesus. Because of that, I have decided to publish a special, four part Advent series each Wednesday this December. This year, I will be exploring his four names as found in Matthew chapter 1.
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The Virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel.”
Matthew 1:22
Those of you who are familiar with Matthew chapter 1 will know that “Immanuel” is the last name that comes up for Jesus. So why am I starting with it?
Well, of the four names Jesus is called throughout this chapter, this one is unique. This name is unique because it was spoken in reference to Jesus several hundred years before he was actually born. It was spoken as part of a prophecy by a man named Isaiah, during the time when Ahaz, son of Jotham, was king of Judah. In fact, we have a record of what was happening when this prophecy was given. We find it in Isaiah chapter 7.
Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14
So… what does this name mean and why does it matter?
What does “Immanuel” mean?
Every name has a meaning. My name, for instance, means “victorious”. Immanuel is no exception.
Literally, Immanuel means “God with us”. As I reflected on this name earlier, I was intrigued by the fact that it is not “God is with us”. A small grammatical difference, but it makes a big difference.
In essence, the man Jesus is not “God is with us” but he is “God with us”.
Why does the name “Immanuel” matter?
For the significance of this name, I decided to dig into the context in which is first appeared. That is to say, I decided to read what the historical record (the book of Isaiah) had to say was going on when the prophecy this name was part of was given.
I would highly recommend you go and read this document for yourself, it is very readily available. If you don’t want to read all 66 chapters of it, though, chapter 7 is where you want to go.
In summary though, Ahaz is the king of Judah, based in the capital city of Jerusalem. Meanwhile over to the northeast in Aram (part of what is now Syria) a guy by the name of Rezin is king. He decides he wants to team up with Pekah. Pekah is son of Remaliah. Remaliah is the king of Israel, Judah’s neighbours to the north.
So, you have Pekah and Rezin working together. And what are they doing? They are marching south and attacking Jerusalem, which has everybody more than a little bit terrified. In fact, they “were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind” (Isaiah 7:2).
Enter Isaiah. Now, Isaiah has a special relationship with God. Namely, he is God’s personal messenger. And he’s here because God has a message for Ahaz. This message basically boils down to “don’t worry about Pekah and Rezin, I’ll deal with them”.
In the middle of the message, God stops and is like “hey, hey, ask me for a sign.”
To which Ahaz replies “No, I don’t want to test you.”
Which has God all “seriously? I just told you to ask. You know what, Imma give you a sign anyway. A virgin will get pregnant and give birth to boy. He’s gonna be known as Immanuel. That means “God with us”, btw. And before he is born, these guys will have been dealt with.”
Or, in other words, Judah was in a desperate situation, and God was like “hey, don’t worry. One day I’m going to do this incredible, impossible thing and there’s going to be a baby, born to a literal virgin, and he is going to be God with you.”
So, in summary, why does matter the name Immanuel matter?
Because it is the promise, the proof and the reminder that God is with us. He had not abandoned Judah to their enemies, nor has he abandoned us.
The name Immanuel is the sign, the proof, of God’s power that he is able to make a virgin pregnant, and for that to result in a son - Jesus.
The name Immanuel is the sign, the proof of God’s goodness. He himself is with us, he himself was born as a baby. And Jesus was that baby.
The name Immanuel is the sign, the proof, of God’s faithfulness. Because Jesus may have been born to a virgin several hundred years after God said he was going to do this, but he was born. God followed through on his word. And that means we can trust him.
Other posts in this series
Part 2: Son of David
www.claphamcorner.com/blog/2019/12/11/names-of-jesus-son-of-david