Dr. John Reddy

"The virgin will conceive..."

 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. [Isaiah 7:14]  [Written 700 years before Jesus was born].

 Virgin Mary with Baby Jesus

“This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,because he will save his people from their sins.”

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:  “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). ”  [Matthew 1:18-23]

   

"Immanuel — God with us"

As Matthew recorded these events, he realized that a new era had dawned in the history of God’s dealings with the human race. The words of a messianic prophecy, long dormant, had now sprung to life.

Isaiah’s cryptic prophecy was now fulfilled in Mary’s Child:  “So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet.” Matthew claims divine inspiration for the words of Isaiah—the Lord had spoken by the prophet at least 700 years before Christ.

The prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 included the foretelling of a unique birth (“Behold, the virgin shall conceive”), the sex of the Child (“and bear a Son”), and the name of the Child (“and shall call His name Immanuel”).  Immanuel means God with us.

As a result of the angel’s intervention, Joseph abandoned his plan to divorce Mary. He continued to recognize their betrothal until Jesus’ birth, after which he married her.  In taking Mary as his wife, Joseph also took her Child as his adopted Son. This is how Jesus became legal heir to the throne of David. 

Thus the Messiah-King was born. The Eternal One entered time. The Omnipotent became a tiny Infant. The Lord of glory veiled that glory in a human body, and “in Him dwells all the fullness of Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9).

 "  Christ, by highest heaven adored;
Christ the everlasting Lord;
Late in time behold him come,
Offspring of the favored one.
Veiled in flesh, the Godheadd see;
hail the incarnate Diety
Pleased as man with men to dwell,
Jesus, our Immanuel
Hark the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King""