What’s in a name? For most Americans the answer is,“Not much.” Names typically carry a merely functional purpose, something we use to distinguish one person from another. The meaning behind a name has very little relevance, if any. However, when God gives a name in the Bible, that name carries great significance. He changed Abram’s name to Abraham (“Father of a multitude”) in Genesis 17. He changed Jacob’s name to Israel (“He strives w/ God”) in Genesis 32. And Jesus changed Simon’s name to Peter (“Rock”) in John 1. All of these name changes served a purpose of declaring something great about what God was doing in moving along His grand story of redemption.
In Isaiah 7:14, God spoke of another name. He proclaimed that “the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” This was no ordinary proclamation, and this was no ordinary name. This prophecy pointed ultimately to an event more than 700 years in the future. Matthew 1:23 tells us that Jesus is this Immanuel, which means “God with us.” At the first Christmas, Jesus became “God with us” in the form of a Galilean man.
So, what is the meaning of this name Immanuel, “God with us?” There is no better answer to this question than the following excerpt from an 1854 Christmas Eve sermon by Charles Spurgeon:
“Oh! may God teach you the meaning of that name Immanuel, “God with us!” . . .“Immanuel.” It is wisdom’s mystery, “God with us.” Sages look at it, and wonder; angels desire to see it; the plumb-line of reason cannot reach half-way into its depths. The eagle wings of science cannot fly so high and the piercing eye of the vulture of research cannot see it! “God with us.” It is hell’s terror. Satan trembles at the sound of it; his legions fly apace, the black-winged dragon of the pit quails before it. Let Satan come to you suddenly, and do you but whisper that word, “God with us,” back he falls, confounded and confused. Satan trembles when he hears that name, “God with us.”
It is the laborer’s strength; how could he preach the gospel, how could he bend his knees in prayer, how could the missionary go into foreign lands, how could the martyr stand at the stake, how could the confessor acknowledge his Master, how could men labor if that one word were taken away? “God with us.” ‘Tis the sufferer’s comfort, ’tis the balm of his woe, ’tis the alleviation of his misery, ’tis the sleep which God giveth to his beloved, ’tis their rest after exertion and toil. Ah! and to finish, “God with us,”—’tis eternity’s sonnet, ’tis heaven’s hallelujah, ’tis the shout of the glorified, ’tis the song of the redeemed, ’tis the chorus of angels, ’tis the everlasting oratorio of the great orchestra of the sky. “God with us.”