Emmanuel

  A favorite and well known Christmas hymn is "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel."  The title Emmanuel, which means God with us, comes originally from Isaiah 7:14 which is cited in Matthew 1:23.  The birth of Jesus was the ultimate fulfillment of "God with us" when the second person of the Trinity chose to be born as a human being, live as a human being, and die as a human being.
  We sing the hymn today as both a remembrance of what Jesus did and looking forward toward the second coming of Jesus when he will return to rule over the earth and bring about the complete fulfillment of the kingdom of God on earth.  It is a tremendous thing to look forward to, and, like Isaiah, I doubt that we know the true meaning of our words.  As Isaiah did not know that Emmanuel would literally mean that God would be with us in our humanity, we do not know what the literal fulfillment of the kingdom of God on earth will look like when we sing "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel."
  Let us pray.  We thank you, Jesus, for choosing to be with us, to become one of us, to live and to die for us.
  

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