Day 3: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

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by Iris Edwards


 "...name him Emmanuel’, which means, ‘God is with us.’" ~Matthew 1:22-23


    Emmanuel.  God with us.  GOD with us!  God WITH us!!  God with US!!!

    Only recently was it pointed out to me that it was Joseph who first identified Jesus as this Emmanuel.  In his life-changing dream, the angel convinces Joseph to marry Mary in spite of all his misgivings, and says, "you, Joseph, will name him Jesus-- 'God saves' ", citing the prophet Isaiah, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel" (which means, God with us).

    There it is!  GOD with us!  God WITH us!!  God with US!!!

    I have long thought that Joseph might have had more faith even than Mary, at least initially.  He knew what had (or had not) happened, he knew what he was told, and what he saw with his own eyes; and he believed and trusted God.  I love the occasional Nativity scene which shows Joseph holding the baby! 

Joseph too was  chosen by God, and to him too was Jesus born. 
And the beauty of this part of the story is this: our God chooses us, comes to us where we are, and with whatever level of faith we have, and is born in us over and over again!

In this season of Advent, we recognize that  God fully came into the world—even to the point of death (Christ has died)  AND ALSO that God is fully with us now (because Christ has Risen) AND ALSO that Christ will come again to redeem and restore all things still broken. So we still pray: Emmanuel come. Christ come! Be with us again.     
Emmanuel.  God.  With.  Us. Amen!

    




Read what the angel said to Joseph
What does your name mean?
Ask your family why you were given that name. 
One of the names we have for Jesus is “Emmanuel” which means “God with Us.” We use the name “Emmanuel” because it means that God came to the world in a special way. God fully came and breathed and stood with people and all their hurts! We  pray and sing “O come Emmanuel” because some things in the world are still broken by sin and people are still hurting--we need God's help and healing. 

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