Emmanuel in Me and Emmanuel in You

AM: Psalm 132 • Isaiah 63:7-16 • Matthew 1:18-25
PM: Psalm 34 • 2 Chronicles 6:12-17 • Ephesians 3:14-21

“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,”
which means, “God is with us.”

I wonder what Mary and Joseph thought of this name during Jesus’ first year of life. Did it change their conception of God?

Jesus communicating in the only way he could, through cries, grunts, and wild gesticulations – God is with us. A baby needing his diapering clothes to be changed – this is God here with us. Emmanuel lifting up his arms and embracing Mary’s neck with boundless affection – these are God’s arms, this is God’s affection. Waking in the middle of the night worrying that their baby was still breathing – responsible for keeping God here with us.

When we conceive of another as the incarnation of God it changes our idea of who God is. Jesus was God and human in the same form. Yet, each of us is also the hands, feet, face, body of God moving throughout the world.

What would it mean if each person you interacted with was a reminder that God is with us? The gas station clerk, your hormonal teenage child, the person you are arguing over politics with online, those who you would call friend, and those that you would call enemy. In each of them – God is with us.

Written by Samantha Clare

Samantha Clare loves Jesus, fresh cut flowers, and baby snuggles.