Isaiah said it first... then Matthew chimed in: "A virgin will bear a son and he will be called Immanuel, which means 'God with us'" Immanuel. God with us. It's almost unbelievable if we think about it. It's something that we long for, but it can be challenging, even disturbing, to have God with us. Ask the Pharisees who rejected his grace and the law of love that he taught. Ask Herod or Pilate, how they felt about having God with them. One of them tried to kill him and the other one... did. Ask Peter, who rebuked him and denied him three times, or the people in Nazareth, who attempted to shove him over a cliff. Ask the mob who cried out, "give us Barabbas," how they felt about Immanuel, or the demoniac, who put it succinctly when he shouted, "Jesus, what do you have to do with me?" Ask the one who is being called right now- sinner follow me- and yourself, when you consider what sort of person you would be... if you trusted enough to surrender.
Jesus may have been a sweet baby, but he was (and is) a most demanding sort of man. He breaks into our lives and overturns the way we've arranged things. He challenges us to see things and people in a totally new way, and if we're not careful, he will have his way with us... and give us a new identity entirely. He breaks into our homes when someone in the family gets religion, and he breaks into our ballgames when someone holds up a sign that reads, "John 3:16." All may have been calm when he was born, but having God with us can be anything but calming. Mary struggled to understand the "good news" of Jesus' birth, and Joseph initially planned to divorce her when he heard that she was pregnant. He resolved to quietly put the whole matter behind him, but God had other plans for him- plans that called him to believe in things that he couldn't understand. And believing in things that we don't understand is part of what it means to have God with us. Immanuel. Mary and Joseph were nice people, I'm sure, but they weren't inclined to color outside the lines. But God is,,, and accepting this is part of what it means to have God with us.
The lowly shepherds were near the bottom of the social hierarchy in Jesus' time, and they weren't even trying to find God, but God found them... and serenaded them with a heavenly anthem. Being found by God in the ordinariness, the dreariness, even the dirtiness, of our days- being surprised with startling good news in the darkest of nights- feeling that you- lowly shepherd that you are- have been personally blessed is part of what it means to have God with us. Even if He disrupts and changes everything we've known, and prompts us to run around and tell others about it, as if we don't have any sense at all. The wise men- the astrologers from the East- were looking and looking for a sign. Then, suddenly, there it was... and they did what men must do when God appears- they gathered their gifts and journeyed to worship him... because going, and bowing down and worshiping and giving is a big part of what it means to have God with us. The child was God with us, and he grew to show us that... His being with us... is a challenging, sacrificial, and life-changing reality- the price... and glory of which can never be captured in any manger scene or Hallmark card.
What child is this... so tender and mild? A child, they say, who didn't cry at all in his manger... but as he lived among us, he cried over Jerusalem, and over Lazarus' tomb, and from Golgotha's hill. What child is this? A child who crawled out of his crib and onto Calvary's cross- that's who. A child whose name is scrawled on our bridge abutments- JESUS SAVES. From the animal shed to the cross, Immanuel fed the hungry, touched the lepers, gave sight to the blind, spoke to the women, embraced the kids, dined with sinners, and told all who would listen... that the kingdom of God had arrived in him... because that's what God does when He is with us. Believing that God is found in barns... and on crosses is part of what it means to have God with us. Immanuel.
Christmas has never existed in a vacuum. We cannot talk about Immanuel as if He is just a well-behaved baby, because Christmas is inextricably connected with Jesus' decision to empty himself of divinity and come down, down to this planet... and to hang on Golgotha's cross until his work was finished! Non-believers can pretend that Christmas is just a snowy night, or a good meal, or a shopping binge, but they are wrong. Christmas is the day when God appeared in the flesh... and changed our world forever- not by making it sweeter- but by filling it with hope and salvation. The world would have us believe that Christmas is either a party or a sentiment or just another holiday... but we know that it is God with us. Immanuel. This alone makes life worth living! Merry Christmas.
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