“. . . She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” (Matthew 1:21-23, NASB)
The Apostle Matthew, in his account of Jesus’ birth, writes that when Joseph found out that his fiance, Mary, was pregnant, Joseph, “being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.” (Matthew 1:19) But an angel visited him in a dream. The angel told him that Mary’s child was conceived from the Holy Spirit, and not to be afraid to take Mary for his wife. (v. 20)
The option Joseph considered was divorce (betrothal was as good as marriage at the time). The possible penalty for Mary, according to the Law of Moses, was being stoned to death. But Joseph is described as “a righteous man,” and didn’t want “to disgrace her.” The angel also describes Joseph as “son of David,” along whose lineage the Messiah would come.
In the passage above, the angel tells Joseph that the Child’s name would be “Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Matthew reports, “Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which translated means, ‘God with us.'”
The prophet Isaiah foretold the event we celebrate on Christmas. “Immanuel” means “God with us.” If you’re a Jesus-follower, not only is God with us, but He lives in us in the person of the Holy Spirit! If you don’t know Jesus, this season of Advent would be the perfect time to ask Him to be the Lord of your life! Would you do this today? Then God would not only be WITH you, He would be IN you! That’s the hope of Christmas!