Matthew 1:23

THE DIVINE PRESENCE

‘They shall call His Name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.’

Matthew 1:23

This glorious statement is made on the basis of a glorious prophecy which Isaiah uttered at an important era in Jewish history (Isaiah 7:14). The name of Jesus was exceedingly wonderful—‘Emmanuel,’ ‘God with us.’

I. With us in human form.—This is a mystery which no created mind can explain; yet it is no myth soever: it is a fact as sublime as it is mysterious. ‘Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh.’ And there was absolute necessity for this. Man naturally craves for a God. In Emmanuel there is all that man yearns for (Exodus 33:18; St. John 14:8). Thus the infinite Jehovah has subjected Himself to finite laws for this essential purpose. ‘This is life eternal, to know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou hast sent.’

II. With us in Divine sympathy.—And sympathy is that which man needs next to God Himself. This also is to be found in Jesus; indeed, this was one prime reason why He became incarnate (Hebrews 2:16). His path in life was accordingly made as rough as ours; His foes were as many as ours; His temptations were as fierce as ours; and for three-and-thirty years His cup of sorrow was as full and bitter as ours. All this became Him (Hebrews 2:10).

III. With us in redeeming love.—All men are sinners, and no man can redeem his own soul. God must provide Himself a lamb for a burnt-offering; and He did this by sending Jesus, and Jesus was willing to do His Father’s will.

IV. With us in Heavenly glory.—His own words overflow with consolation and hope: ‘Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me; for Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world.’ Whatever He is in person, and whatever in bliss, His redeemed will share with Him.

Illustrations

(1) ‘In Legh Richmond’s story of “The Young Cottager,” in his Annals of the Poor, he tells how, when he visited the dying girl, he said to her: “My child … Where is your hope?” She lifted up her finger, pointed to heaven, and then directed the same downward to her own heart, saying successively as she did so, “Christ there, and Christ here.” These words, accompanied by the action, spoke her meaning more solemnly than can easily be conceived. She realised the abiding Presence of Christ.’

(2) ‘Simonides, a heathen poet, being asked by Hiero, King of Syracuse, “What is God?” desired a day to think upon it. At its end, he desired two. Then begged for four. The king inquired the reason. The poet replied, “The more I think of God, He is still the more unknown to me.” But Christ is Emmanuel, God with us.’

(SECOND OUTLINE)

A NAME OF COMFORT

If we know anything of Jesus and His love, it is not by chance such knowledge has come. When we were enrolled under Christ’s banner at the Font, it was God’s hand that led us there. When we knelt at a mother’s knee, and lisped our earliest petitions to the throne of grace, it was God’s voice that prompted those prayers. In the hour of Confirmation—or the sacred season of our first Communion—it was not chance, but God who was leading us on. And it is the same all through life. The word Emmanuel is a Hebrew one, and expresses the double nature of Christ. What a comforting word! An ever-present God always with us.

I. In poverty and obscurity.—When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, what humble surroundings were His! Christ’s coming down to earth has sanctified poverty and obscurity. ‘Though He was rich yet for our sakes He became poor,’ and He has thus taught us that earthly position and wealth are as nothing in His sight, unless there be true goodness as well.

II. In our work and labour.—When Jesus lived on earth, His was a hard and busy life. Christ’s coming has also sanctified toil. He is with us in our labour, whatever it may be. And there is no disgrace in being a working-man—whether we toil with our hands or our head. The busiest workers are always the happiest.

III. In our joys and sorrows.—When Jesus dwelt among us, we know how ready He was to rejoice with mankind in their happiness, and to weep with them in their sorrow. The Saviour’s life on earth teaches us that religion need not make us grave and gloomy. There is such a thing as innocent Christian enjoyment, and Christ has given the sanction of His presence to every pleasure and happiness that is without sin. There are enough dark days in life without increasing their number, and Christ meant His followers to get all the sunshine and brightness possible.

IV. In our Christian warfare.—As a man Jesus knew what temptation meant. Now—as God—He looks down from above, and ‘ever liveth to make intercession’ for us. How cheering this is, to have ‘God with us’ in all our struggles and difficulties.

Rev. Philip Neale.

Illustrations

(1) ‘There is a touching incident recorded of a Highland chief who was fighting bravely in the battle of Prestonpans. In the midst of the struggle he fell mortally wounded. And when his soldiers saw what had happened and that their chief had fallen, the clan began to waver and gave the enemy an advantage. Badly wounded though he was, the old chieftain noticed this, and raising himself up, exclaimed, “I am not dead, but looking on to see my warriors do their duty.” And these stirring words from the dying man revived the sinking courage of the brave Highlanders. There is a more powerful charm than this on the great battlefield of life. It is Emmanuel, “God with us,” an ever-present Saviour, watching over us as we fight under His banner, looking on to see His warriors do their duty.’

(2) ‘The fact of our Lord’s abiding presence ought to make us good to each other. Look on your fellow-men, and learn from the Incarnation to respect man, every man, as wearing the flesh which Jesus wears. Learn to look upon all men as brethren, who have a claim upon us in their need. There is a noble family in Italy whose name of Frangipanni means breakers of bread, that is, for the poor. We who are bound together in one family with Him who gives us our daily bread, not only bread for the body, but bread for the soul, should all be breakers of bread with our brethren, helping those who have need to a share of our blessings; for thus alone can we give something to Him who freely giveth all things—our Emmanuel, God with us.’

(THIRD OUTLINE)

TRUTH STATED AND APPLIED

I. The truth stated.—The word ‘God’—what does it mean? God is; He exists, and God is good; His power is good, His righteousness is good, all He does is good—supremely good. Even when He gives sorrows His chastisements are blessings in disguise. Let men say what they will, there is a God; and we are not mistaken about it. It is ‘the fool’ who pleads the contrary. Everything that God has made speaks and says there is a God. At night, looking at the awful lightnings flashing and at all the heavenly host, can you in your hearts say there is no God? And this ‘God is with us.’ It does not simply mean that God is present with us; it means more than that: it means God is with us to share with us, to partake with us in the closest way. Strength is with us, love is with us, happiness is with us, for God is with us. To bring out the full meaning and truth of these words we need to look at the prophecy (Isaiah 7). ‘Butter and honey shall He eat, that He may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.’ That expression is intended to point out the fact that it shall be a real, human Child, not a child of an angel’s nature, not a child that can live on angels’ food, but a Child that shall be fed on butter and honey. All this was fulfilled when Jesus Christ was born. What a wonderful illustration of God’s condescending grace that He should come thus to live with us!

II. The truth applied.—It is a truth that will apply to seekers, if they really seek and want to understand with all their heart. They have this truth for their own. They have been seeking for years, and yet they have not found it. How strange it is! There are some whom God loves with an everlasting love and who love Christ; but they do not feel as if they can grasp such a wonderful truth as this—that God is with us. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus wept and lamented that Jesus Christ was gone, and all the while He was talking to them. You say, ‘Where is God?’ He is with us. ‘Open, O God, the eyes of Thy blind children! Let every one believe and take hold of the fact that God is with us.’ The same truth of the abiding Presence of Christ can be applied to all missionary workers, whether (a) in the foreign field or (b) amongst the slums of our own homeland.

Illustrations

(1) ‘When Napoleon was on one of his voyages to Egypt, as he was pacing up and down the deck one night, he overheard two men discussing about God’s existence. One affirmed that there was a God; the other denied it. Napoleon addressed them and, pointing to the firmament of heaven, said, “Who made that?” John Duncan, one of the most original thinkers the world ever saw, at one time thought there was no God, thinking that which was, to be a mystery. Ah, this thought takes away all the meaning from history, from creation, from man, and even from morality. When a man feels that sin offends nobody, that there is no Being above him called God, that he is answerable to no human tribunal about it, then that man will not think much about sin. Oh, it is a dismal creed, but even John Duncan had it. Sometimes God makes men pray before they believe in a God! And so John Duncan prayed and prayed, and suddenly the thought came like a flash of electricity, and he tells us that on the night when he thus thought he danced with delight. He said, “There is a God! There is a God! There is a God!” ’

(2) ‘There is a passage in Livingstone’s journal about the doctrine of Christ and God’s presence with missionaries. “How soon I shall be called before God I know not.… O Jesus, grant me resignation to Thy will. On Thy word I lean. Wilt Thou permit me to plead for Africa, because it is Thine? See, O God, how the heathen rise up against me as they used to do against Thy Son. I trust in Thee. Thou givest wisdom to all who ask; give it to me, my Father! Oh, be gracious, and all our sins do Thou blot out. I cast myself and all my cares down at Thy feet. They will not furnish me with more than two guns.… I leave all my friends in the hands of Christ.—Evening: Felt much turmoil of spirit in having all my plans knocked on the head by savages; but I know that Jesus came and spoke to His disciples, saying, ‘All power is given unto Me, in heaven and in earth; go ye, therefore, and teach all nations. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.’ ‘I am with you’—it is the word of a gentleman.… I will not cross furtively by night; it will appear like flight, and shall I fly? I will take observations of longitude and latitude.… I feel calm in the Lord God.” Could we find a grander statement in the whole annals of Christian heroism than this statement, which he never knew anybody would read?’