Thursday, January 05, 2006

God With Us

23"Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel," which translated means, "God with us." Matthew 1:23

Do you have any idea what that means? God with us. At that time, it was as literal as you can get. God was with us in that he had flesh and bone. He felt pain and pleasure and could laugh. He spoke in words we could understand. And had we been there, we could have looked on the face of God without dying. God is with us.
And we still call him by that name. We can still claim that God is with us. He sent his Holy Spirit, a part of himself that lacks nothing in being God.
Yesterday, I pondered this amazing thought. When the time came to pick up my daughter from school, I still had it in my head and heart. I parked on the east side of the school, as I usually do. As I got out of the car, I realized how real the moment was. There's about 40 yards of sidewalk and grass between me and the door. As I walked it, I looked to my right to see Jesus walking beside me. I heard the crisp dry grass crunching under his shoes. He wore a faded pair of jeans and a solid color t-shirt, weathered from use. He had the middle-class American look, hair pulled back into a pony tail and a beard. And on his face was a smile. It wasn't one of those glaring, look at my teeth, smiles. It was that look someone gets when they have known something for a while and you are just figuring it out. A grin. He waved at the little brothers and sisters who were sitting in the cars waiting for their siblings to come out. He shook the hands of fathers standing alone in the yard.
It only lasted a short time. But that is Jesus. He is God with us. He is with us in such banal moments as these. How many times have I picked Jewel up from school and not remembered that 40 yard walk? I will remember yesterday. Jesus is with us in the hard times, sure. He is there when we celebrate. He is with us without ceasing. In the moments we fold laundry he sits next to us. When we lose a close friend or family member, he sits anticipating our prayer and grief. As the sun sets on another lonely day, he wants our company. All we have to do is realize, make him real to ourselves.
Jesus is so much more than a spiritual entity. He's a friend. He's more real than we can know. That is God. With us. Never without us. Do you realize what that means?

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