As Jesus was about to come into the world, Matthew reminds us that his birth by a virgin was planned long before and that God had prophesied the event in Isaiah 7:14. This verse is quoted in Matthew 1:23 as an explanation for the revelation by Gabriel that Mary was going to have a son even though she never had been with a man.
“‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel’ (which means, God with us)” Matthew also helps us by giving us the meaning of the title, Emmanuel. He tells us that it means ‘God with us’. What better description of Jesus who was the son of God the Father and in fact was God could there be?
Sometimes it seems confusing to us because we think the prophecy was that his name would be Emmanuel and we know he was named Jesus. But the phrase that translates as ‘shall call his name’ or ‘shall be called’ doesn’t mean that will be his name, but that he will be described this way. There are all kinds of examples of this. James and John were called the sons of thunder, but that was not their name and their father was not thunder. We call Jesus: Lord, Christ, Messiah, King, etc.; however, none of those are the name he was given by his mother. We should not think that there is a problem with this prophecy just because Mary didn’t name her son Emmanuel. The prophecy was that he would be called ‘God with us’ and that is certainly what the early Christians called him and what we still call him today.
“‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel’ (which means, God with us)” Matthew also helps us by giving us the meaning of the title, Emmanuel. He tells us that it means ‘God with us’. What better description of Jesus who was the son of God the Father and in fact was God could there be?
Sometimes it seems confusing to us because we think the prophecy was that his name would be Emmanuel and we know he was named Jesus. But the phrase that translates as ‘shall call his name’ or ‘shall be called’ doesn’t mean that will be his name, but that he will be described this way. There are all kinds of examples of this. James and John were called the sons of thunder, but that was not their name and their father was not thunder. We call Jesus: Lord, Christ, Messiah, King, etc.; however, none of those are the name he was given by his mother. We should not think that there is a problem with this prophecy just because Mary didn’t name her son Emmanuel. The prophecy was that he would be called ‘God with us’ and that is certainly what the early Christians called him and what we still call him today.
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