“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, Yehovah with us.” Matthew 1:23
Dr John C Maxwell, the leadership coaching expert, says the two things which will more accurately define you and your future than anything else are, 1. the books you read and 2. the people you hang out with. The content of the books you read can be summed up as what you input into your heart, mind and spirit. As the saying goes, “Rubbish in – rubbish out.”
When the angel appeared to Joseph, who was engaged to Mary, the mother of Yeshua, he quoted the promise recorded in Isaiah 7:14, that Yehovah gave King Ahaz, that “a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” The fulfilment of that prophecy was the birth of Yeshua, the Son of Yehovah, who spoke into being the heavens, the earth and all that has ever and will ever exist. Because, as John 3:16 tells us, Yehovah so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son. Yeshua left His throne and the splendour of Heaven to come and pay the ransom necessary to make us righteous before Yehovah.
Yeshua told us He would never leave nor forsake us, that He would be with us, and in us, and that one day He would return to take us to be with Him for all eternity. Those of us who have been followers of Yeshua for many years could read those words and easily miss the magnitude of their meaning. So, let us just imagine you receive an invitation to visit your nation’s king, queen or president, to sit and talk with them one to one. What an incredible honour you would recognise that to be. But to have them visit and spend time with you at your home would be unimaginable. And yet Yeshua, Emmanuel, which means ‘Yehovah with us’, has chosen for us to not only live with Him in Heaven for all eternity, but has come to live with and in us during the here and now. Using today’s language, He has chosen to “hang around with us.” What a privilege, what an honour. This is what defines Him to all mankind as our forgiver, gracious redeemer, sanctifier and friend.