Emmanuel

Written by cycleguy on December 6th, 2012

In 1990 a movie came out at Christmas time that took the box office by storm.  In the years since its release, this movie has grossed over $500 million.  The movie is Home Alone starring MaCauley Caulkin.  It is Christmas time and the McAllister family is preparing for a vacation in Paris, France.  But the youngest in the family named Kevin got into a scuffle with his older brother Buzz and was sent to his room which is on the third floor of his house.  Then, the next morning, while the rest of the family was in a rush to make it to the airport on time, they completely forgot about Kevin who now has the house all to himself. Being home alone was fun for Kevin: he eats all the junk food he wants; he has a pizza all to himself; he jumps on his parents’ bed; makes a mess and doesn’t have to answer to anyone.  Then, Kevin discovers two burglars, Harry and Marv, are about to rob his house on Christmas Eve.  Kevin acts quickly by wiring his own house with makeshift booby traps to stop the burglars and bring them to justice.  He realized he is vulnerable to danger and after protecting his house, he realizes how lonely he is.  Being alone without his parents and his siblings is not as wonderful as he thought it might be.

An application can be made to our relationship with God.  In the Garden all was fine.  Then we decided we could go it alone-we didn’t need God.  We have been doing that now for some 5-6000 years.  How’s that working out?  Anyway, one day we realized we needed to get rid of the emptiness and loneliness.  We got homesick.  Even in a crowd it is sometimes easy to feel alone.

The name God chose to give His Son in Matthew 1:23 was Emmanuel, which means “God with us.”   Jesus never used that name.  We don’t find anyone in the four Gospels calling Him that name.  It is a title, a description of who He is.  But it wasn’t a cameo role He appeared in.  It was a full-blown lead part in the play.   God with us.  He committed Himself to be with us for all eternity.  This is more than the Christmas story; it is the Christmas miracle.

What does Emmanuel mean to you?  What name of Jesus that we use at Christmas time mean the most to you? 

Make sure you check out to see what Sele and Ed have to say.

 

26 Comments so far ↓

  1. floyd says:

    That movie is hilarious!
    God with us is the miracle. The Holy Spirit is closer to every being on earth than their shirts. Yet so many refuse to reach out…

    “My Lord and Savior,” is probably the one that means the most to me. He is my comforter and friend… Imagine that… Miracle indeed. Merry Christmas!

  2. Ike says:

    “He committed Himself to be with us”……

    I’m sure glad He did or I would be in big trouble!

  3. Zee says:

    My friends were often jealous of me because I often had the apartment to myself even since I was a teenager… But in reality, it was only fun for the first day when I could do what I want… and then it just wasn’t that fun anymore later. There was no one to have tea with, no one to cook dinner with, no one to watch TV with…

    Even though I’m an introvert, I need people to observe… Otherwise I start observing myself and that rarely is a good thing when done in excess.

    Therefore, Emmanuel is the name that comforts me most. Just knowing that even though now I live alone physically, I am not alone spiritually.

    • cycleguy says:

      I like solitude occasionally but being an extrovert I like people. But I do like Emmanuel. You are right about the feeling it gives of not being alone.

  4. Mine might be unconventional. I like the Word from John 1.

  5. Jon Stolpe says:

    Emmanuel is a great word. I love the point in time when we realize that God is with us all the time. Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season it can be easy to overlook this fact.

  6. Betty Draper says:

    Did not realize Emmanuel was not used in the NT. Thanks brother, learned something today.

    Jesus King of all Kings is the one I use the most.

  7. Daniel says:

    I got sidetracked from your question when you wrote that humans have only been around for 5-6k years. Don’t tell me the literalists have taken you too. Fossils of humanoids have been dated to nearly 1M years ago (and I won’t go into all the myriad evidence of the age of our solar system and our galaxy). Do you think God would feel it necessary to plant all sorts of false records throughout the Earth to mislead us? Not that He doesn’t have the power, but this doesn’t seem in any way consistent with His approach. In fact He seems to want us to find His truth. Doesn’t it make much more sense that the biblical record is not to be taken literally (i.e. consider some of the creation account as allegorical)? This seems to be a case where the principle of Occam’s razor should obviously be taken into account.

    I wasn’t going to reply because this point caused me to recoil and I didn’t want to say anything as it is your blog and not mine. But then I thought, you have always been fair and respectful with me. So, I would approach you with my issue and raise my point.

    • cycleguy says:

      I have nothing but respect for you Daniel and take highly that you took the time to respond. I use the 5-6k years to “define” the human record. I have no clue how long the earth et al have been around. I certainly give credence to the idea that the creation account could be more than 24 hours/day. I believe God created it but have no idea how long ago. I have to admit tons of ignorance on that subject and admire your intelligence and research. Thanks for trusting me with your comment. BTW: i will have to research Occam’s razor since I have no clue what that is.

      • Daniel says:

        I loved your response. This is the kind of thing it would be cool to discuss over coffee. But given that we live some 700 miles apart ….

        Anyway Occam’s razor is a principle which states that among competing hypotheses, the one that makes the fewest assumptions should be selected and is most often preferred.

        • cycleguy says:

          Is it okay if I drink Diet Dr. Pepper? And yes, I would love to discuss it, although as you can tell I sorely lack in that area. I can see the logic behind Occam’s razor. Why is it called that?

          • Daniel says:

            The picture of a teeter totter and the different forces on each side and predicting which way it will tip. Occam was some dude in the before time. (smiles)

            • cycleguy says:

              Hmmmm. i spoke with someone yesterday about it and after investigating it he found some flaws. Yeah, I didn’t understand him much either. In fact, my wife and his wife talked about my eyes glazing over. LOL

  8. Debbie says:

    I love Emmanuel too, the comfort of God with us! God bless you as you celebrate all of Who He is!

  9. That’s the only time I’ve seen Home Alone linked to Christianity, heh. For some reason, the name that has always stuck out to me during the Christmas season is “Wonderful Counselor.” I don’t know why it stuck out to me – perhaps it’s just so odd to think of. But it’s certainly an interesting perspective on Christ.

    • cycleguy says:

      It is interesting to see how the different names are different in importance. As for the movie: you can say you learned something new today. 😛

  10. Ed says:

    One name with so much meaning and power and presence behind it…and it’s all Him!

  11. Jan says:

    Emmanuel, and Wonderful Counselor have always been very powerful to me. No matter what His name, I am soooo thankful to have the One in my heart. Great post Bill.