Jesus as Immanuel

We humans need someone both to do work for us and to work in, with, and among us

Joseph's Dream by Daniele Crespi, c. 1625

Commentary on Matthew 1:18-25

Greg Carey

Imagine a careful reader, perhaps a curious confirmation student, encountering this passage for the first time. The most vexing part may involve two presentations of Jesus’s name: “you are to name him Jesus” (1:21), followed by “they shall name him Emmanuel” (1:23). The story elaborates upon each name. “Jesus” indicates that Yahweh saves, while “Emmanuel” means “God with us.” Wise preachers should practice reading like clever seventh-graders, attending to the puzzles and curiosities more experienced readers tend to pass by. Which is it then, Jesus or Emmanuel? Is this Messiah one who saves us or one who dwells among us?

Perhaps a recent experience of mine brings out the problem. When we encounter someone with a problem, we learned, we have options. We can neglect the person, we can do something to them, we can do something for them, or we can do something with them. The name “Jesus” brings forward what Jesus does for God’s people by delivering us from our sins, while the name “Emmanuel” indicates Jesus’s presence with, or alongside us. We could oppose these options to one another; however, I believe the better path is to read the two names as complementary rather than conflicting.

Setting the stage

Matthew stands apart from Luke not only by opening with a genealogy but also by focusing upon Joseph rather than Mary. Joseph plays no active role in Luke, acting on his own only when he leaves Nazareth for Bethlehem for Augustus’s census (2:4). Indeed, Mary plays a more active role in Luke than Joseph will in Matthew—but she is entirely passive in Matthew’s infancy account. In Matthew Mary “was engaged,” or betrothed, and “found to be pregnant”—both passive constructions (1:18). In contrast, Joseph is “righteous,” aiming to divorce Mary and rid himself of the shameful situation quietly—presumably a gracious choice.

We live in an age marred by Christian nationalism and its narrow, often punitive construal of righteousness. Would it be a distraction for preachers to observe that Matthew portrays Joseph’s righteousness as kindness? If we make this choice, we must avoid framing it as if Joseph chooses mercy over against the Law. Matthew’s Gospel emphasizes Jesus as an interpreter of Torah, not as someone who critiques or undermines it: “not one letter, not one stroke of a letter” (5:18). Here Joseph’s righteousness expresses a righteousness ancient Jews would recognize rather than a “Christian” correction, an idea absolutely foreign to Matthew’s imagination.

The gift of double vision

Buckle up—this is about to get nerdy. For the author of Matthew, the assignment of two names to Jesus might not be as awkward as it seems to us. Matthew has a reputation for its distinctive way of interacting with the Hebrew Scriptures, featuring a dozen instances of fulfillment formulas: “Such and such happened in order to fulfill,” followed by a direct quotation. The first such instance occurs in our passage, when the Gospel quotes Isaiah 7:14 in applying the name Emmanuel to Jesus (1:22).

I suspect that Jesus’s double name stands as another example of scriptural allusion in Matthew. Matthew presents Joseph as a man of dreams (1:20; 2:13; 2:19), evoking another “dreamer” named Joseph from Genesis (37:19). In the Jewish Bible, dreams figure especially prominently in two books: Genesis and Daniel. Dreams shape the stories of Joseph in Genesis; in Matthew, Joseph’s dreams may well shape Daniel’s story line. Joseph and Daniel not only experience dreams; they exercise the God-given capacity to interpret the dreams of others while they live as captives in foreign lands. For his part, Matthew’s Joseph will take his family to a foreign land, Egypt, where the first Joseph protected his own family. Dreams will lead Jesus’s father to return to Israel and settle in Nazareth.

As Jesus does, several characters receive double names in Genesis. Abram becomes Abraham, Sarai becomes Sarah, and Pharaoh names Joseph Zaphenath-paneah. But the most prominent name change belongs to Jacob, Joseph’s father. Jacob’s name evokes how he emerged from the womb second after Esau but later supplanted him as the child of promise (Genesis 25:26). But Jacob’s mysterious adversary gives him the name Israel, reflecting his grappling with both God and mortals (32:28). The two names do not conflict. Jacob is a man of conflict.

Jesus and his work

We humans need someone both to do work for us and to work in, with, and among us. We all find ourselves trapped in sin, whether our own harmful patterns or the limitations imposed upon us in an unjust world. As Savior, Jesus does for us what we cannot do for ourselves by living the life of God among humans, overcoming sin with his own righteousness. But more than any other Gospel, Matthew emphasizes how Jesus dwells with his people. Aside from the name Emmanuel, Matthew’s Jesus reminds his disciples that he is present among them whenever even two or three assemble in his name (18:20) and as they go out making disciples among the nations (28:20). Jesus dwells gently with those who entrust themselves to him (11:28–30).

Matthew’s apparent double naming of Jesus as a Savior who acts for us and as God who dwells with us poses a problem only if we must read reductionistically. If we attend to Matthew’s sophisticated engagement with Scripture and remain open to the multiple ways in which Jesus blesses God’s people, we may find a gospel for everyone. Whether acting for us, working with us, or dwelling alongside us, Jesus meets each individual where we are.

PRAYER OF THE DAY

God of promise, you made a commitment to Joseph that you would make Jesus a savior to all. Renew your commitment with us, so that all may know the saving grace of your son, Jesus. We pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.