Messiah: Immanuel – God with Us

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14. NKJV). “Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ‘Behold a virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us.’ “ (Matthew 1:22-23. NKJV).

Christmas Day! The birthday of a King! “Immanuel – God with us!” This was the name of the son born to the virgin prophesied by Isaiah and fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ to the virgin Mary in Bethlehem of Judea. In the Old Testament the term is used twice, in Isaiah 7:14 and again in 8:8. The sign of God was communicated through the birth of a son, born of a virgin—a miracle within itself. The name given to the child, both in Isaiah and Matthew, indicates the mission of the One born: In Him God dwells with us.

When Adam and Eve were created and placed in the Garden of Eden, they had communication with God—He was with them—until by wrong choice sin entered man’s domain. The relationship with Immanuel (God with us) changed in a twinkling of an eye. Man’s sin, or his fall from grace, was responsible for the break in fellowship. From then until the coming of Jesus into the world, God was available for fellowship by man, and we have many accounts of those who sought God and knew His presence. But because of man’s continuing wrong choices and rebellion (a shorter term is sin), mankind could not have the relationship with God that was intended. God’s “sign” and His plan was a holy child born of a virgin—Immanuel. In Jesus’ sinless life, His God-inspired teachings, His immaculate life and example, and His atoning death and victorious resurrection, Jesus demonstrated God-with-us, Immanuel. Through the promise and coming of the Holy Spirit, Immanuel is still continuing His work—God with us. The plaintive plainsong, translated from the Latin by John Mason Neale and Henry Sloane Coffin and set to the tune “Veni Emmanuel” is often sung at Christmas.

“O come, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here, Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel!

But we don’t have to wait any longer. “Joy to the world, The Lord is come! “And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn…And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:7, 14. NKJV). We have only to believe and invite Jesus into our heart. Immanuel is here!

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Saturday, December 25, 2010

Messiah: Born of a Virgin

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14. NKJV). “Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ‘Behold a virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us.’ “ (Matthew 1:22-23. NKJV).

Messiah – born of a virgin! How important is this truth? We cannot put a weight to it, but can know that it was God’s way of entering finite life with His “only begotten son.” The prophecy was made in Isaiah when King Ahaz of Judah was about to make an alliance with Assyrian kings which was displeasing to the Lord. Ahaz refused to ask the Lord for a sign, as he should have. But God gave a sign anyway: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” It would seem that the child would be born shortly so He could grow up to defend the nation of Israel at a crucial time. Again, God had other plans in mind. It would be over 700 years before a virgin would conceive of the Holy Spirit and bear a son who would free His people—not from an aggressive enemy in war—but from the curse of sin.

Our Catholic friends have a term for the virgin birth: ‘immaculate conception.’ That which was conceived in Mary was not by human means of intercourse, for Mary had not known a man. She was chosen and ordained by God to be the mother of the Son of God. For centuries, as the word of the anticipated virgin birth was spread from generation to generation, each young Jewish maiden as she matured to the time in her life when she became a “virgin,”(that is, from the Hebrew word ‘alma’—meaning girl or young woman of child-bearing age) wondered if she would be the one selected for the mission of bearing God’s chosen child. It is noteworthy that when the New Testament writers, Matthew and Luke, recorded Mary’s conception, they used the Greek term parthenos which means a young woman of child-bearing and marriageable age, but one who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. Knowing what we know of human biology and the formation of a fetus, the conception of Jesus without a human father seems impossible. But as God told Mary when she questioned the message she heard from the angel: “Nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37). “The virgin birth was God’s chosen way to become incarnate; the invisible, spiritual God became human.” (Clair M. Crissey. Comments on “Matthew,” in The Disciple’s Study Bible. Nashville: Holman. c1988. p. 1170). We must take the virgin birth on faith. We cannot explain it. It is a marvelous miracle showing the exception to the natural order of conception. We accept the truth of the Holy Spirit’s action and Mary’s willingness to be ‘the handmaiden of the Lord.’ God kept His promise and sent us the Savior. Amen!

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Friday, December 24, 2010

Joseph, Earthly Father of Jesus

“And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ. …Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”—Matthew 1:16; 20b-21 (NKJV)

In this month leading up to Easter, I am examining briefly the lives of some of the people close to Jesus while He lived and moved, walked and taught, suffered and died upon earth, and was resurrected. Today, we look at Joseph, earthly father of Jesus.

The Bible does not teach us much about Joseph, husband of Mary of Nazareth. As to his genealogy, Matthew states the lineage in 1:1-17. Genealogy was important to the Jewish people and was normally listed according to the father’s lineage in Jewish accounting. To go back to Abraham the patriarch from whom Joseph was descended, was very important to know in ancestry. Through Joseph, Jesus was “somebody,” for he had the ancestry to prove it. Compare Matthew’s genealogy to that given by Luke in 3:23-38. Listed in reverse, that is from Jesus to Joseph and all the way back to Adam and to God.

But the truth is, Joseph knew that the babe known as the first-born son of Mary and Joseph was really the son of God, for his beloved wife, Mary, was “ found with child of the Holy Spirit,” and Joseph followed God’s directions to take as his wife the young girl to whom he was already betrothed. Joseph was honorable.

Joseph was a carpenter by trade. When Jesus taught later in the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth the people asked, “Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon and Judas?” (Mt. 13:55). Extra-biblical accounts from ancient times about Joseph tell of how he was able, wherever they went to protect Jesus and to find work as a carpenter to support his family. Joseph was an honest worker and head-of-the household, the family provider.

Joseph was a devout man. In dreams he heard and heeded the messages God sent him by angels. “Fear not to take Mary as your wife. She is pregnant of the Holy Spirit.” And Joseph, a righteous man and not wanting her to come to public disgrace, married Mary. They were already engaged, promised to each other, betrothed. He took Mary, according to decree of the government for census-taking, to Bethlehem, his ancestral home. But this action, though mandated by law, was God’s way of working out the ancient prophecy: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth have been from of old, From everlasting” (Micah 5:2, NKJV).

Joseph participated in the naming, circumcision and dedication of the Baby Jesus. Read this wonderful account, and God’s blessing upon it, in Luke 2: 21-38. Joseph obeyed the voice of the angel and took Mary and Jesus to Egypt to prevent Jesus’ death in the terrible decree of Herod to kill all the young male children (read about this in Matthew 2:13-23).

Joseph was a concerned father. It is evident that he brought Jesus up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord, for the young Jesus “grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him” (Luke 2:40, NKJV). Furthermore, “the parents went every year to Jerusalem at the Feast of the Passover” (Luke 2:41). It was when Jesus was twelve that He got lost from his parents—that is, they lost him. Jesus was still in the Temple being questioned by the “doctors of the law” and confounding them with His understanding. Read this beautiful story of Joseph as a concerned father in Luke 2:41-52).

The account of Joseph, earthly father of Jesus, ends with this account of him helping Mary find Jesus in the Temple. Scholars believe Joseph died before the time of Jesus’ public ministry, for we have only Mary appearing from time to time throughout the earthly ministry of her son, Jesus.

Joseph had done an honorable work and set an example as an earthly father.God had this purpose for Joseph of Nazareth, son of Jacob, descendant of Abraham. He was important and necessary in the earthly life of Jesus, Son of God, whom God entrusted to Mary and Joseph to rear. “For with God, nothing will be impossible,” the angel had told Mary (Luke 1:37). With what we know about him, Joseph lived true to this belief.

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Mary, Handmaiden of the Lord

"For with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.”—Luke 1:37-38 [Read Luke 1: 26-56]

During this month of March, leading up to Easter on the first Sunday in April, I hope to think about persons in the life of Jesus Christ who were close to Him and made a difference in God’s plan for Emmanuel—God with us. Where better to begin than with Mary, humble handmaiden of the Lord? When the angel Gabriel told her she, a virgin, would conceive and bear the Messiah, her response was “be it unto me according to thy word.” Unbelievable as the announcement from the angel was, Mary consented to be “the handmaiden of the Lord.”

Mary as a devout Jew would have known the prophecies concerning the birth of the Messiah. They are too numerous to list in this brief devotional, but one of the most beloved was given by Isaiah: “Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” (Isa. 7:14 – NKJV). Young Mary of Nazareth became this chosen virgin. But note that she had a choice, too. She could have said No to the heavenly announcement, but she willingly agreed to be the one who would bear the Son of God.

The angel told Mary, “Nothing is impossible with God.” Within God’s plan for her, others gave earthly aid to the divine plan. Joseph, to whom Mary was betrothed, accepted his role as Mary’s protector and husband and step-father to the divine Son of God. Already betrothed to her, He married Mary, “not wanting to make her a public example” (Mt. 1:19). When the angel appeared to him in a dream with the news of Mary’s conception, he accepted the news and acted according to the angel’s direction. Read this part of Mary and Joseph’s story in Matthew 1:18-25. Mary went to her cousin Elizabeth’s house, this one who in her old age had conceived and would bear John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Christ. Elizabeth (and the baby in her womb) immediately recognized that Mary was to be the mother of the Lord. (Luke 1:42-45).

Young girl, willing to be the chosen vessel in the line of God’s plan to restore His people! Was it any wonder that she broke forth into song, giving us the “Magnificat of Mary” recorded in Luke 1:46-55? “He has done great things for me!”

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Monday, March 1, 2010