God With Us: Part 1
This is part one of a three part series on Immanuel, God with us.
While wrapping up the last little bit of fundraising before moving to Sicily, I was invited to share at a church in Michigan for the first week of Advent in December 2023. In my preparation I was led to the first chapter of Matthew. As I was reflecting on what “God with us” meant for Mary and Joseph, I was seeing some parallels in our personal journey to the mission field. I want to share some of those with you. First, let’s take a look at the passage in Matthew.
Matthew 1:18-25 reads this way:
“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.”
God with us: He comes to unexpected people.
Mary and Joseph were very unexpected people to be asked to raise the Son of God. Truthfully, no human being is worthy enough to be called the mother or father of Jesus. Yet, Jesus needed to come in this way. Therefore, someone had to be chosen to bring Him into the world and raise Him. Mary and Joseph were the ones for the task. But they were also very ordinary, unexpected people. What do I mean by that?
Mary was a virgin and Joseph was a lowly carpenter. Then there is the fact that these people are from Nazareth. And if you have read your bible, you know that “nothing good ever comes from Nazareth” (John 1:46, paraphrase mine). Not only that but Luke’s account of the birth narrative gives another interesting fact. In following the Law of Moses, Mary and Joseph took their son to the Temple to offer a sacrifice. Luke 2:22-24 says, “And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” Yet, according to Leviticus 12, a lamb a year old and a turtledove or pigeon were to be presented as a sacrifice. Only if you keep reading, an interesting caveat is made for certain individuals. Leviticus 12:8 says, “And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons.” Interesting. Luke tells us that Mary offered two turtledoves or two young pigeons. Which means she did not offer the one year old lamb. I imagine there is much here we can explore. But the point I am making is that Mary, and Joseph as well, were poor people from Nazareth. They couldn’t afford to buy the proper sacrifice. God is bringing His Son into the world. This Son is to be a king. He is to be a ruler. He is the Messiah. Shouldn’t He come to a family of royalty? Shouldn’t He come to a family of means? I mean, should He at least come to a family that can afford a one year old lamb as a proper sacrifice?
God comes to unexpected people, doesn’t He?
This makes me think of my family and our work in Sicily. I am often a little surprised why God called us to this place. I am often humbled by the fact that God thought it was a good idea to entrust His message of reconciliation to a people like me and Rebecca. I think of the people we get to share the love of God with: Italians, Gambians, Somalians, Moroccans, Nigerians, Colombians, Egyptians, and many more. What an interesting place to be. Why do we, a couple from rural-Indiana, who have almost nothing in common with the people we minister to, have this kind of responsibility? Truthfully, I am not sure I really have an answer to that question other than…
God likes to come to unexpected people.
We are simply joining a long list of people that God has chosen to use across human history. No offense, but you are also an unexpected person. I don’t know where you are as you are reading this. You could be a college student still trying to figure out your calling in life. You could be a young mom or dad struggling through the early years of raising a child. You could be a pastor or ministry leader struggling with where you are. You could be a parent to adult children or a grandparent and wondering what these later years of life will look like for you. All of us are unexpected people. Which means we are prime candidates, in God’s eyes, to pour out His Spirit on us and do a work that, in our flesh, is impossible, but through His Spirit, can be life-changing. So, let’s not worry about who we are, where we come from, what our accolades are, or anything like that. Let’s focus on Immanuel, God with us. That is a special reality worth reflecting on this Christmas season.
