Christmas Devotional Series: Immanuel

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). -Matthew 1:23 

God is with us. 

This may not have made sense at the time, but Jesus was fully man and fully God. He came to earth as a baby in a manger, yes, but He was raised in a family just like you and me. He had a mother who cared for Him. He required food, water, and sleep, all the basic, human needs. The difference was that He was able to make food and water appear with a snap of His fingers. He was fully God, too. Throughout the New Testament, we see how He healed the sick and performed miracle after miracle. From the feeding of thousands to raising dead men from the grave. 

Jesus was fully God and God came to walk earth to be amongst us. 

Probably the most beautiful part of this was Jesus was God, Himself, and was able to feel everything that we humans feel. He felt hunger and dehydration when He wandered the desert for forty days. He was tempted by Satan while there, just as you and I get tempted. He’s known the exhaustion as He took a nap in a boat while a storm rocked the socks off of His disciples. He experienced grief as He wept over the death of His friend, Lazarus. He experienced it all as fully a man, and yet, He is fully God. 

But always remember that truth. When you’re crying over the sorrows of life or your feeling exhaustion from a kid keeping you up at night. Remember this: That Jesus knows. He knows all that you feel because He’s felt it too. He’s put Himself into our shoes and He suffered on the cross so that He could be with us for eternity. He knows, Mama. And He is still with us. Every day. 

Oh, Immanuel—God with us.

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