Isaiah preached 740-701 BC

The first and third readings for the Fourth Sunday of Advent present us with a familiar prophecy from Isaiah and its fulfillment in the Gospel of Matthew:

"Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel. (Is.7:14)

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means "God is with us." (Mt 1:22-23)

The holy of holies in the temple

The central image in the passages is, as we see, the image of "Emmanuel." It seems that Israel experienced God as present to the Chosen People by God's acting in history at certain decisive moments, being present in the Holy of Holies in the Jerusalem temple, and finally, present in the Torah, the Law. These were the ways that, according to Jewish belief, "heaven touches earth."  

So what would this Emmanuel add to their notion of heaven touching earth?  They didn't have a very wide variety of ways in which they could conceive of God being with them. We've been listening to these ideas in the words of the prophets in the liturgy during the past theee weeks: the bringer of peace who would establish a Kingdom that would last forever and who would heal wounds and conquer all sorts of evils, and dry our tears.

But nothing could have prepared them for what the fulfillment of the prophecy would actually be: Not just "God with us" in the old ways of heaven touching earth, but rather something entirely unheard of, something beyond our ability to even imagine: God would come to us as one of us, taking on our human nature with all its limitations and weaknesses. Emmanuel would not only be "with us," but would be one of us, experiencing everything we humans experience except sin. 

So, when the Israelites imagined the promised "Emmanuel" they could have had no idea of just how infinitely loving and gracious and powerful he would be. But we can excuse them, since, as we said above, they had no way to imagine  what the fulfillment of the prophecy would be like.

Okay, that's their excuse for not grasping the fullness of the idea of "Emmanuel;" but what about me? What's my excuse for not confidently handing over all my troubles to God who is intimately one with me? Why am I so reluctant to leave myself open and vulnerable to the loving invitation of Emmanuel?

If I believe that in Jesus Christ heaven has touched earth definitely and permanently, then why do I sometimes stray away, like that lost sheep in the parable, looking for more or better fulfillment elsewhere? Why do I try to invent my own ways for heaven to touch my daily life (possessions,power, prestige, pleasure)? 

May Isaiah's prophecy of Emmanuel serve to challenge to every one of us Christians who hear it to allow heaven to touch earth in our hearts, in our ways of thinking and acting, our way of treating others and our way of handing over our worries to the One who is not just "with" us but living inside us.