It’s amazing to consider how people make entrances. President Donald Trump makes a grandiose entrance nearly everywhere he goes, most especially at his Inauguration. But he also likes to create grand entrances for others who may be foreign heads of state or dignitaries. But outside of political settings, even in sports like football games we often see grand entrances. There are banners, music, sometimes spectacular fireworks, and incredible amounts of pomp and circumstance and fanfare. It’s a part of our culture with graduations or large social events or others festive occasions, grand entrances are what we expect. This was true in Roman culture, especially when the emperor or notable political figure came to a certain town, they would roll out the proverbial “red carpet”
But when it comes to Christmas and the coming of Christ into our world it is quite a different story. Jesus is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords! No other ruler has higher authority and power. He is the Lord of Glory who had riches beyond measure and glory that even the heavens could not contain. Yet we marvel at how he came to earth. I referenced this before, but it bears repeating as in the song, “O Little Town of Bethlehem” and the now familiar lines, “How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given.”
It’s almost shocking when you think about how Christ came into this world. Not only how silently He came but the helpless way He came. He came not only as a human, but the most vulnerable form of humanity, as a baby. We can hardly think of anything more vulnerable than a child, helpless and totally dependent on parents or those watching and caring for them. In biblical language we call this the incarnation. Jesus took on flesh and came to dwell among us as John tells us. But the humble way Jesus came to earth indicates a great deal about His mission or the reason why He took on human flesh.
From Matthew’s perspective we begin to see more about the reason Christ came by noting the names that were given to Christ. There are two names that Matthew identifies about Christ. One of those is “Jesus” and the other is, “Emmanuel”. Hence the title of our sermon today, “Jesus our Emmanuel”.
Let’s look at the first name and the one that is perhaps the most well-known. The instruction Joseph was given is they would call his name, “Jesus”. Often people ask me what I am going to be preaching on the next Sunday. This happened recently. I thought well, I’m still working on that. They said, “You’re still working on that and it’s Saturday?” I said, “Well I can tell you one thing, I’m going to be preaching on Jesus”. That’s always the right answer, isn’t it? But the significance of the name “Jesus” is from the Old Testament “Joshua” which means, “The Lord saves”. And hence they were to call him “Jesus” for he will save his people from their sins. Luke’s gospel tells us that “the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost”. (Luke 19:10) Without doubt the gospel message begins with Jesus as our Savior.
There are two primary ways that Jesus comes to save us. First, Christ comes to save us by forgiveness of our sins. The scriptures declare that we’re all sinners. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23). I can illustrate this by driving. Bad driving abounds. We see it all the time. People do not give signals when they are turning. Sometimes they run red lights and stop signs. Sometimes they forget to turn off their high beams at night. Sometimes they drive while they’re texting. Sometimes they drive while they are putting on their makeup. Sometimes they are driving while trying to discipline a child in the back seat. Sometimes they’re driving while trying to find something in the glove compartment. We’ve all seen these different times while on the road. Some of you may have done this even while driving to church this morning!
I recall an incident in my own life that happened with a friend driving back from an evening hunting trip. He had a truck with his four-wheeler in a trailer with two orange triangles on the back of the trailer. As we were driving back home, he was talking and looking over at me, swerving across the middle line more than a couple of times. And he was also speeding. This made me a little nervous and I was about to say something to get his focus back on the highway. But all of a sudden there were blue lights flashing in the rear-view mirror. A State Trooper pulled him over and we were anxious about what was going to happen next. The trooper asked if he could see his license and his registration and proof of insurance. The truck was filled with all kinds of hunting paraphernalia, coats, orange vests, gloves, hats and guns were all over this vehicle. So, my friend was frantically looking for his registration and proof of insurance. He fumbled around and finally found the proof of insurance and handed it to the officer. The officer looked at the document while my friend continued looking for his registration. Then the trooper said, “Sir I hate to tell you, but this proof of insurance is expired.” Finally, my friend found the registration in the glove box and handed it to the trooper. Then the trooper scanned it and then said, “Sir I hate to tell you, but this is also expired.” It was then I thought for a moment with my son in the back of the truck that we were going to jail. And then the trooper said, “By the way those two orange triangles on the back of your trailer are for farm use only and you can only go 35 mph using them”. And do you believe my friend had the audacity to say, “Well since there’s 2 of them can we go 70 mph?” I’m not making this up folks. And then I thought, “if we weren’t going to jail before, we sure are now”. The Trooper told us he was going back to his vehicle and would return in a moment. I thought to myself he is calling in reinforcements. Next, he would impound the vehicle, and we would go to jail! The trooper came back and stated he was going to give us a warning. Wow! I was stunned with unbelief because we were guilty. We were as guilty as could be, driving recklessly, not having valid registration, not having valid proof of insurance, not having anything! And the trooper comes back and says, “You need to get your paperwork in order. Do that immediately. I’m giving you a warning”. That was an extension of mercy. He extended mercy when he could have thrown the book at us. We did not get what we deserved. This is a picture of mercy! We did not get what we deserved!
What we see in the coming of Christ is God extending mercy to us. God is offering forgiveness of our many sins through his Son who came as the only perfect sacrifice for our sins. Psalms 1:30 says, “Lord if you would mark iniquities who would stand?” Without God’s mercy all of us would be under the penalty of sin, which is death, and ultimate separation from God.
Isaiah tells us that God puts our sin behind his back.
Micah says he tramples our sins under his feet, and he throws them into the depths of the ocean. And no matter how deep, how wide, or how many our sins, Christ came to bring forgiveness. The cross overshadowed the manger. Jesus would yield his life and become our Savior in yielding His life as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. No one else could do as he was the only sinless human who could offer himself on our behalf.
He came to wipe the slate of sinful offenses against us clean! He came to say, in effect, “You are forgiven. You are free.” The record against you has been settled. And all that is required of us is to accept his offer and to repent, to confess our sins and to live according to God’s design for our life. John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
I love the great hymn by Fannie Crosby, “To God Be the Glory” and she writes, “the vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives.” We still call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins and the way in which that happens is through the mercy of God. God forgives our sins as we confess them. He is faithful and just to forgive us, no many how many our sins or dark our offenses.
But there is another part of our salvation.
Second, Jesus empowers us, not only to be released from the guilt of our sin (forgiveness) but also from the power of our sin (sanctification).
Why do we sin? The short answer is because we are sinners. We have a sinful nature therefore we sin. So, Paul writes this famous description of the human predicament in Romans 7. You remember the lines, “When I go to do good, evil is always present. And the good I want to do I end up not doing but rather the evil I do not want to do. How can I be released from this? And at the end of that chapter he says, “Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ.” It is that he empowers us so that we may live a life that is holy. So, Jesus came not only to forgive us but to model life for us. Jesus is our Savior and our Lord. He comes to live in us so that we can live in His power.
There is another part of this that is essential when it comes to this issue of forgiveness. The scripture is very clear about this. As we have received forgiveness we are to extend it to others. None of us are worthy or deserve God’s mercy. It’s a gift. So, in consideration of God’s mercy given to us we are to extend this forgiveness to others. This is the greatest gift we will ever receive, the forgiveness of God. But it is also the greatest give we will ever give when we extend it to someone else. I cited the Prayer of St Francis on Christmas Eve about reflecting God’s light in our world. You may recall the line that reads, “It is in pardoning, that we are pardoned”. It parallels what we pray every Sunday, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”. There may be someone who you may need to extend forgiveness. Maybe it’s someone who doesn’t deserve it. But then again none of us deserve the mercy and forgiveness of God. So prayerfully consider that in your own life. Perhaps in your family, your extended family, at your job or wherever that might be in your life. I know this is not easy or automatic. Sometimes it is a process. And sometimes we simply have to start by asking the Lord to help us to be willing to forgive. Corrie Ten Boom said it best, “Forgiveness is to set a prisoner free and find out the prisoner is you”
This other word is “Emmanuel” which means God with us. This was a prophecy that happened 700 years before the coming of Christ. It was originally a word that came to King Ahaz who was the king of the southern kingdom of Judah. There was a civil war going on with fighting between the northern kingdom and Syria. It’s interesting that the same place is in the headlines still today. And this prophecy tells us that a virgin will conceive and a child will be born and he is to be given the name, “Emmanuel” which means God is with us. There’s a promise of deliverance for the southern kingdom through this child that was going to be born. And the New Testament picks up on that prophecy and relates it to the coming of Christ.
As Jesus himself took on flesh, God in the flesh, he revealed to us the very character of God. How does Jesus perform this? I think a keyway that Jesus performs this function is through His priesthood. Hebrews 4:14 put is like this , “Since then we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect who has been tested or tried as we are yet without sin. Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need.”
This tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ when he took on flesh and became a human being he fully identified with our humanity. He identified with our weaknesses. He identified with our sins although he himself was sinless. This means that God is with us in the midst of our struggles, in the midst of our temptations, in the midst of our trials. God is fully present in our sorrows and especially near the brokenhearted. Sometimes we may feel His presence more deeply than other times. But He is always present.
In one of her last competitive events my wife Beth and I went to Maui for her triathlon World Championship in 2017. On the day of the race, it was windy and a little chilly for Maui. And the ocean was not calm. Quite honestly, I was anxious about her getting into the water. I was anxious about any of those athletes getting into the water that day because it was so rough. As I was thinking about that moment and how to pray for her and all of the other athletes, I was reminded of Isaiah 43 which talks to us about the presence of God in our life. Isaiah 43 says, “Now thus says the Lord he who created you o Jacob. He who formed you O Israel, do not fear for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine. When you pass through the waters I will be with you. And through the rivers they shall not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire you will not be burned. And the flame shall not consume you for I am the Lord your God the Holy one of Israel, your Savior.” Thankfully, she made it through the waters and others did also! Although some could not finish the swim, we felt the prayers of many others that day. And we are grateful to sense the presence of God to bring assurance.
One final story as we look at this from another angle. Several years ago in college football, you may remember the name Pat White. He was a graduate of Daphne High School and came to play football at West Virginia University. That was in 2006 almost 20 years ago. Several of the schools in Alabama looked at Pat White and knew he was a great athlete. But he wanted to be a quarterback. They would not position him as a quarterback. Fortunately for WVU, he became the quarterback. He established a very winning tradition through his presence and his athletic ability on the field. He led many victories for the Mountaineers. In every bowl game he played, he won. Most notably he won in the Sugar Bowl against Georgia and the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma. When the coach talked about him this is what he said, When the game is on the line I want the ball in Pat White’s hands. He went on to say, “I’m just glad he is on our side”.
When I think about those words it reinforces the difference one person can make by their presence. Then more spiritually, I thought about the presence of God in Christ in our lives every moment, every day. In Martin Luther’s great hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” he says,
Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing,
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle
Thanks be to God that he has won the battle. And in the name of Jesus, we know that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, “He is Lord”. Through Jesus we know that our sins have been forgiven. And we have been delivered from the penalty and power of sin in our lives. And in the name of Jesus our Emmanuel we know that God is present in our lives now and forever! So, the greatest question for us in accordance with that great hymn of Martin Luther becomes, Is the right man on your side?
What a glorious gift that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who has come to seek and to save the lost, the one who forgives us and extends mercy to us and delivers us from the power and the penalty of sin. Thanks be to God for the wonderful gift of Emmanuel which means the power and presence of our Lord is with us in all the circumstances of our lives.
It’s not really Christmas until we invite this Lord into our hearts and experience anew the forgiveness He offers and to know his presence with us always. So today if the right man is not on your side I pray you will invite him to be in your life, in your heart, and in your family’s life. All you have to do is invite him and he will come. And if he is on your side…Just continue to worship and praise Him and serve Him as Jesus our Emmanuel…Jesus our Savior and Lord! Amen!