It is a sleepless night as Joseph wrestles with the thoughts of his fiancée suddenly being "mysteriously" pregnant, and her explanation that it is from God. An excruciating, dark night... then God speaks to Joseph through an angel – an extraordinary word from God for the ages, for you and me;
"As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. ‘Joseph, son of David,’ the angel said, ‘do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: ‘Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’ When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife." Mt 1:20-24
The beauty of this spectacular, divine moment is the contrast between the name of Jesus and His essence, His reputation, His promise. The angel said to "name him Jesus" and that Jesus would be "known" as Emmanuel, meaning "God is with us.” His name is Jesus which means "Savior," but his role is that of "God is with us.”
That is the promise of Christmas: God is with us.
God sent a Savior to us, with a promise that He, God, would never leave us, never forsake us. Joseph named his son Jesus, our Savior...but, the promise that lives in us today, because of His life in us is – God is with us!
In every situation, every place we go, every wonderful moment, every difficult day – GOD IS WITH US!
Here is the promise written again in the book of Hebrews:
"...For He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. I will not, I will not, I will not in any degree leave you helpless, nor forsake nor let you down (relax My hold on you)! Assuredly not!" (Hebrews 13:5 AMP)
AMEN!
