When I hear “Immanuel”, I think Christmas. The two have been synonymous in my mind for a while. We see this name for Christ on ornaments; we hear it sung in carols.
So, I was surprised to realize this week that Immanuel is really a name we should focus on at Easter.
I am coming to believe that there are two groups of thinkers out there: those that imagine God first in the past each time they consider Him, and those who imagine Him first in the present. Because I always fall into the second group, I read scripture looking for God to show up in that moment, in my life. I read the accounts of Christ, and I think about what it means for me right now…today.
Here’s where I’ve sold the name Immanuel, which means “God with us,” a bit short. Quite a bit, really.
I pictured “God with us” and immediately applied it to my current reality. God is with me, in this day, in this moment, in this coffee shop. He is always with me. I have celebrated Immanuel for many years as the God who is a part of my present and who never leaves me.
But not until this week did I consider Immanuel as a name with a back story. You see, “God with us” doesn’t just mean that He’s with us in this moment. It also means that He made a very real decision over 2000 years ago to be with us, once and for all.
How is it we consider Immanuel at Christmas, but we never talk about God as Immanuel at Easter?
I think I’ve cracked that nut. It’s easy to celebrate the coming of a baby as Immanuel, God with us. It is difficult to participate in the price that Jesus paid to be Immanuel, God with us.
But that is what Easter is about. It’s appropriate to consider on this “Good Friday” that Christ entered into our suffering and truly became Immanuel by giving His life as a sacrifice for our sins, that not only He might be with us…but that we might be with Him.
Take the time this Easter to participate in the incredible loss our Heavenly Father felt when He allowed Jesus to come and walk among us, then die for our sins.
Celebrate the resurrection! Yes! Revel in it. But not before you participate in the gift of Immanuel, God with us. For He is with us, once and for all.
