Why is Jesus called Emmanuel, God is with us? When contemplating who Jesus is, the best place to start is at the top. If you start at any other place, you will get who He is wrong. Jesus is not saying He is a mere man with great moral insights like other religious figures. He is saying He is God in the flesh who walked among us. Jesus isn’t just saying He is sent by God, that He speaks the words of God or that He lives perfectly in the ways of God. He is saying He is God.
How can this be? Jesus’ earthly mother was Mary but His Father was God. To explain the human/divine nature of Jesus, the bible begins by saying that Mary, His human mother, was a virgin when Jesus was conceived. There was no human father in the equation for His conception. The Holy Spirit came upon Mary and provided male component needed for the development of the child Jesus. Phil 2:6-8, that says Jesus “being in very nature God” was “being made in human likeness.” Jesus was born and was “found in the appearance as a man.”
Mary certainly, more than anyone, knew that Jesus was conceived in holiness. She knew she hadn’t been with another man and it would have been impossible for her to become pregnant. At any point, in the beating, and torturing, and crucifixion of her son, she could have called out and confessed that it wasn’t true. But she knew it was true.
Matthew found the message of Jesus’s promised presence so important that he bookends his gospel with it. In Matthew 1:23 is says, “the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel—which means, “God with us.” In the last chapter of Matt 28:20, Jesus says, “And surely, I am with you always to the very end of the age.” Jesus was and will always be with us from beginning to end. It is a promise that we will never be alone.
The birth of Jesus and His deity was foretold in the Old Testament. [Is 9:6-7] “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given…And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Note that it says a son is given. Jesus is that son. Not just a son to Mary but God’s Son, the Son of God. And it says He will be called Mighty God. That is because Jesus is God.
John 1:1-2, affirms Jesus’ deity. Jesus is described as the Word. John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” Jesus is distinct from God but God in the fullest sense. He existed before he became man. Then in verse 14a John says, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” And that is Jesus Emmanuel. No other person in the world can truly be called this holy name in the fullest sense of the definition.
At one point Jesus asks the Twelve disciples, "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.’” His true followers knew who He was. If they didn’t believe it to be so true, they wouldn’t have died as martyrs for Him.
Jesus purposefully sought to be with certain people. He invited Himself over to Zacchaeus the tax collector’s home; He invited zealots and fisherman to follow Him, He intentionally went through Samaria to meet the woman at the well, He hung out with sinners, He touched people with every kind of deformity and disease, and He said, “Come unto me and I will give you rest.” This should bring us great comfort that although you may feel alone, hated, and an outcast, Jesus desires to be with you today and every day.
[John 14:1-4] Jesus tells His disciples, “I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am…Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me…I am going to prepare a place for you...When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.”
