This Christmas the one word I have kept coming back to is "Immanuel", the name given to Jesus in Matthew's account of the virgin birth. But the verse in the gospel is a quote from the old testament scriptures.
Isaiah chapter 7 tells a story from around 735BC when Ahaz was king of Judah. Israel is divided and the northern kingdom is marching against Jerusalem in order to tear apart kingdom of Judah. God speaks to the prophet Isaiah and tells him to go to Ahaz with a message. Ahaz is told to not be afraid nor lose heart, and then God tell him to ask for a sign. However, Ahaz refuses saying that he will not put God to the test...
Then Isaiah said, "Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of God also? 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 v 13&14
It seems a strange sign for God to promise in the midst of the battle. And stranger, yet, when you consider that it was not fulfilled until centuries later. But the more I have looked at this story, the more parallels I see between the struggles faced at time of Ahaz, the story of Jesus's birth and life, and the state of the world in which we now live.
This may not seem a very Christmassy poem, but this is Immanuel - God with us. Here and now.
You are with us here.
Here, where the wars rage
and nations quake with fear
divided
and broken
once-united peoples
fall.
Here, where treaties are debated
and signs are offered
tested
and rejected
with pious purity
man lies.
Here, with the forgotten people
seemingly insignificant for centuries
silent
and unnoticed
gathering on the margins
of faith.
Here, with the virgin
meek and mild.
Here, with the child
broken and rejected.
Immanuel.
You are with us here.
