EMMANUEL!

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Luke 1:35
The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.
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In elementary and high school days, my classmates would call me Roberto, my real name. But in college, I changed it to how my parents call me since birth, that is Jun. And I would also be called various names and aliases like Manacsa (military training), Love (by my wife), Papa (by my kids). But all of these refer to one person, and that is me.

There is no one in history that has been given more names or titles than Jesus Christ. Throughout the pages of Holy Writ over 100 names and titles are given to Jesus. However, there is no name more significant than “Emmanuel”. This name, which Matthew refers to in his Gospel (Matthew 1:23), was first given to Jesus by the prophet Isaiah 700 years before His birth (Isaiah 7:14). And this very special Christmas name, as Matthew tells us, means "God with us." Jesus Christ is Emmanuel, “God with us”.

And God has send Him to be with us because only He can undo what we have done. Only the One who created us in the first place can restore us again. Only our Creator can break down the wall of sin that separates His creatures from Him. Only He can give their lives the meaning and completeness they were supposed to have. Only "God with us" can rescue us from the oblivion that we are heading toward.

Emmanuel. In this one name, everything humankind needs and the entire plan of God's salvation is subsumed. How blessed we are that Jesus Christ became Emmanuel, GOD WITH US.

Let us pray +

Almighty Father, so great was Your love for us, Your fallen creation, that You let Your glory to come here. And through His perfect life and death on the cross He broke down the wall of separation that our sin had built and reconciled us to Himself. Through Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, our sins are forgiven and we have fellowship with You, our Creator again. Amen +

For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.