Radical Life Support

Rick is a non-traditionalist, rock-n-roll, evangelist who likes to stir things up. And Robin is a traditional, choir member, encourager who does not like to rock the boat. They come together to challenge and discuss how to live a radical life for Jesus.

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Radical Life Support

Jesus is Emmanuel

December 18, 2020 • Rick and Robin Moe • Episode 70

Why is Jesus called Emmanuel, God is with us? When contemplating who Jesus is, the best place to start is at the top. If you start at any other place, you will get who He is wrong. Jesus is not saying He is a mere man with great moral insights like other religious figures. He is saying He is God in the flesh who walked among us. Jesus isn’t just saying He is sent by God, that He speaks the words of God or that He lives perfectly in the ways of God. He is saying He is God.

How can this be? Jesus’ earthly mother was Mary but His Father was God. To explain the human/divine nature of Jesus, the bible begins by saying that Mary, His human mother, was a virgin when Jesus was conceived. There was no human father in the equation for His conception. The Holy Spirit came upon Mary and provided male component needed for the development of the child Jesus. Phil 2:6-8, that says Jesus “being in very nature God” was “being made in human likeness.” Jesus was born and was “found in the appearance as a man.”

Mary certainly, more than anyone, knew that Jesus was conceived in holiness. She knew she hadn’t been with another man and it would have been impossible for her to become pregnant. At any point, in the beating, and torturing, and crucifixion of her son, she could have called out and confessed that it wasn’t true. But she knew it was true.

Matthew found the message of Jesus’s promised presence so important that he bookends his gospel with it. In Matthew 1:23 is says, “the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel—which means, “God with us.” In the last chapter of Matt 28:20, Jesus says, “And surely, I am with you always to the very end of the age.” Jesus was and will always be with us from beginning to end. It is a promise that we will never be alone.

The birth of Jesus and His deity was foretold in the Old Testament. [Is 9:6-7] “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given…And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Note that it says a son is given. Jesus is that son. Not just a son to Mary but God’s Son, the Son of God. And it says He will be called Mighty God. That is because Jesus is God.

John 1:1-2, affirms Jesus’ deity. Jesus is described as the Word. John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” Jesus is distinct from God but God in the fullest sense. He existed before he became man. Then in verse 14a John says, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” And that is Jesus Emmanuel. No other person in the world can truly be called this holy name in the fullest sense of the definition.

At one point Jesus asks the Twelve disciples, "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.’” His true followers knew who He was. If they didn’t believe it to be so true, they wouldn’t have died as martyrs for Him.

Jesus purposefully sought to be with certain people. He invited Himself over to Zacchaeus the tax collector’s home; He invited zealots and fisherman to follow Him, He intentionally went through Samaria to meet the woman at the well, He hung out with sinners, He touched people with every kind of deformity and disease, and He said, “Come unto me and I will give you rest.” This should bring us great comfort that although you may feel alone, hated, and an outcast, Jesus desires to be with you today and every day.

[John 14:1-4] Jesus tells His disciples, “I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am…Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me…I am going to prepare a place for you...When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.”

Emmanuel is a name and in both Hebrew and Greek it means “God is with us.” In the Hebrew, when translated to English it is spelt with an “I” but in the Greek, when translated to English it is spelt with an “E.” For purposes of our ABC alphabet format, we are using the Greek spelling with an “E.”

Why is Jesus given the name and is called Emmanuel, God is with us? This name states quite plainly from before He was born that Jesus is God. He is God with us. When you are contemplating who Jesus is to you, the best place to start is at the top, at the beginning, at the highest point. Jesus is God. He is the Son of God. If you start at any other place, you will get who He is wrong. You see Jesus is not saying He is a mere man with great moral insights for all mankind in comparison to those figures in other religions like Ghandi, Mohamed, or Budda. He is saying He is God in the flesh who walked among us. Jesus isn’t just saying He is sent by God, that He speaks the words of God or that He lives perfectly in the ways of God. He is saying He is God.

How can this be? Jesus’ earthly mother was Mary. His Father was God. To explain the human/divine nature of Jesus, the bible begins by saying that Mary, His human mother, was a virgin when Jesus was conceived. There was no human father in the equation for His conception. The Holy Spirit came upon Mary and provided male component needed for the development of the child Jesus.

Think of it from a biological point of view with a new human being requiring both an egg and a sperm. Our human genome is organized in 23 pairs of chromosomes. We have 22 pairs of autosomes and one pair of sex chromosomes and they provide our gender. What makes a female is a paring of two XX-chromosomes and what makes a male is a pairing of an X- and a Y-chromosome. The gender of a child is determined by each parent providing one of their chromosomes. A mother (female) only has X-chromosomes and each of her eggs only has one X-chromosome to provide. A father (male) sperm can have either one X- or one Y-chromosome. The gender of a child is determined by whether a female egg receives an X- or a Y-chromosome from the sperm of their biological father (male). So, since Jesus was born a human male on this planet, He had an X-chromosome which came from Mary who could only contribute an X-chromosome, so then His Y-chromosome which made Him a male could only have come from the Holy Spirit. And that Y-chromosome was holy and divine. In Jesus, like no other, there was a union or pairing of a human X- and a spiritual Y-chromosomes. I am sure there is more to it than this in regards to the spirit and soul of Jesus but in combination from a biological standpoint it is what makes sense to me, that which makes Jesus both fully man and fully God. Jesus is God in human flesh, He is God with us, He is Emmanuel.

This comes together and is explained in Phil 2:6-8, that says Jesus “being in very nature God” was “being made in human likeness.” Jesus was born and was “found in the appearance as a man.”

Mary certainly, more than anyone knew that Jesus was conceived in holiness. She knew she hadn’t been with another man and it would have been impossible for her to become pregnant. At any point, in the beating, and torturing, and crucifixion of her son, she could have called out and confessed that it wasn’t true. But she knew it was true.

Jesus reveals He is Emmanuel in the Word.

[Gen 28:15] God told Jacob, “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go…I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” NIV commentary states that God is not like other surrounding gods of pagan religions, where people believed these gods could only provide protection in their local territories. God was omnipresent and He assured Jacob that He would be with him no matter the location. And from Jacob’s lineage would come the promised Messiah.

God’s promised omnipresence is further shown in [Joshua 1:9,5] when God tells Joshua, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged; for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go…As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Jesus also quotes similar words to His disciples at the end of His ministry. After His resurrection and just before His ascension into heaven, He says in the last chapter of Matt 28:20, “And surely, I am with you always to the very end of the age.” In the gospel of Matthew, he found this message of Jesus’s promised presence so important that he starts and ends with these words.

In Matthew 1:23, he quotes a prophetic passage in Isaiah 7:14 saying, “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel—which means, “God with us.” It is like a bookend for the gospel of Matthew meaning that Jesus was and will always be with us from beginning to end. It is a promise that we will never be alone.

In the gospel of John 1:1-2, this disciple also affirms Jesus’ deity. Jesus is described as the Word. John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” Jesus is distinct from God but God in the fullest sense. Then in verse 14a John says, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” NIV commentary states that the word “became” is a transition word stating He existed before He became man. So, here we have the Word who was God dwelling among us. And that is Jesus Emmanuel. No other person in the world can truly be called this holy name in the fullest sense of the definition.

It says in [Heb 2:14-15, 17a] “since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death…For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way.” Jesus humbled Himself to become one of us to free us from sin and death. He was not born with a sin nature like we are. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit; but He was as a man, and was tempted in every way as we are but never sinned. Only Holy Emmanuel, our Savior, could free us from our sin nature.

Jesus reveals He is Emmanuel in the World.

The bible says God is spirit. So, in the OT we find God over, before, and above the Israelites. God was on the mountain, in the temple, in a cloud, and in a burning bush. When God came in the flesh, He could be closer to us and we could see His demeanor and facial expressions. I am so jealous that the disciples got to hear the inflection in His voice. Jesus dwelt among the people for 33 years. He didn’t live in a palace as His royal heritage deserved. He touched lepers, healed the blind, fed the hungry, and raised the dead. He ate and was thirsty, he sang songs and read scripture, he slept and was tired, He got angry and He wept. He did everything with compassion, care and empathy using all of His emotions. He was with us in every sense in that He did everything we did.

There was a point in Jesus’ ministry [John 6:66-68] when is says, “from this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed Him. ‘You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.’” His true followers knew who He was. He was Emmanuel, God with them. Can you imagine waking up in the morning and looking over at Jesus sleeping and thinking, “Wow, this is the Christ, the Son of God.” If they didn’t believe it to be so true, they wouldn’t have died as martyrs for Him.

It is so profoundly amazing to think that our gracious, merciful and loving God actually desires to be with us. Jesus said in John 14:23 “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” They want to make a home with us if we will just let them in. We are so sinful yet Jesus wants to draw us to the Father so we can abide with them on the earth and then live as His children in heaven forever. We were the focus of Jesus’ attention as He came, and suffered and died.

There are many stories where Jesus purposefully sought to be with certain people. He invited Himself over to Zacchaeus the tax collector’s home; He invited his disciples (zealots and fisherman) to follow Him, He intentionally went through Samaria to meet the woman at the well, He hung out with sinners which the highest religious leaders wouldn’t do, He touched all types of people with every kind of deformity and disease, and He called everyone to “Come unto me and I will give you rest.” This should bring us great comfort that although you may feel alone, hated, and an outcast, Jesus desires to be with you today and every day.

Dr. Richard Swenson, speaking at a physician’s conference at the University of Wisconsin. He says there are 1021 atoms in human breath. Our bodies replace or turn over one trillion atoms in less than a second. We leak physically. Where do the atoms go? They float off in space and fall on our neighbor. We share atoms with each other all over the world, even with children in Mongolia. They move through common breathing, sneezing, jet stream, rivers, and sluffed skin. God has all of them mapped, He does math at this level. Right now, we think of all of this in a threatening way that we are going to get sick by breathing in germs; but here is another way to look at it. When you take a deep breath, you are breathing in 105 million air molecules that Jesus breathed. There is math to prove this. An interesting way to consider Jesus is with you.

While Jesus was on earth, He was only in one place at a time. When He was about to leave and ascend to heaven, He told His disciples that they should be glad He was leaving because then He and the Father would send the indwelling Holy Spirit who would be with them forever. Each member of the Holy Trinity is committed to being an omnipresent God for His people.

Jesus reveals He is Emmanuel in our hearts.

What does it mean to have Him with us today?

It means we are not isolated from God or Jesus. Whatever we may be feeling, whatever battle we are going through, even if we feel God is far away, the truth is that we are never really alone. I believe when Jesus was in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights tempted by the devil, He knew God was with Him. When one disciple betrayed Him and the others abandoned Him when He was arrested out of fear that they would lose their lives too; in the midst of all that chaos and pain, Jesus knew His Father was with Him. Jesus can identify with us because He became one of us. We can know that Jesus is with us too in our lonely times, in our chaotic times, in our vulnerable and frail times, and in our trials and battles. He always remains faithful to keep His promise to be with us.

[Is 43:2] “When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you.” Rick Warren stated in his devotional, “It means you can have confidence in whatever trouble life brings because you face it with the power of Christ in you.” So, do what is called practicing the presence of God. Seek His calming and fulfilling presence. I find it helpful to visualize my mighty and loving Jesus standing before me, over me, and beside me. It calms my fears and gives me His indescribable peace. It isn’t wrong to imagine Him close because He is close.

The world waited a long time for Jesus to come as Emmanuel. But now we wait again for Him today to come again as He promised to be ruler over all. Dr. David Jeremiah says in his devotional. “While we wait, He waits for repentance. What seems to us like God’s slowness in coming is instead His patience in waiting. [II Pt 3:9] He made the first move when He came as baby Jesus and the sacrificial Lamb to be God with us. Now He waits for us to welcome Him into our lives as Savior and Lord.”

“After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so, we will be with the Lord forever!” [I Thes 4:17]

Living a radical life for Jesus mean believing Jesus is Emmanuel.