Matthew 1:23
Matthew 1:23
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
The prophecy is applied to Mary and to Jesus by Matthew under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. A decent man, Joseph, considered divorcing his betrothed. It is the angelic messenger from God who changes Joseph's perspective. It is very clear to Joseph from the angel that Mary is not pregnant by a human male but by the Spirit of God. Essentially, this prophecy serves to point out that Jesus was the promised Messiah to be with us and to save mankind from its sins. It was the Lord who laid aside His great glory and humbled Himself in order to become a helpless and vulnerable newborn baby. In order for fallen humanity to be brought back into full fellowship with God, He had to endure humiliation, rejection, suffering, and pain, and ultimately, to die by the cruelest method of execution imagined by the evil minds of wicked men. It is imperative that we rid ourselves of our commonplace apathy towards God's Words and recognize the truth of Christ as Lord of heaven and earth. To become Emmanuel, God with us, He unveiled His majestic heavenly glory and wrapped it in a mantle of human flesh. By shedding our filthy rags, we can become joint heirs with Christ and become children of God.
John 16:21
A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.
Luke 1:41
And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost.
Genesis 21:2
And Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
Psalms 127:4
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.