“All this took place to fulfill with the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which means God with us.”
– Matthew 1:22–23
Oh, what a verse, what a reality. From the very beginning, this introduction to Jesus in Matthew 1, and there are so many verses we could pray according to in Matthew 1.
Matthew 1:22–23 Teaches About Jesus’ Humanity
But this verse specifically talking about the miracle of the virgin birth, the incarnation, the humanity, and deity of Jesus in one. “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son.” There’s His humanity, God in the flesh coming to us as a man born from a mother, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which means God with us. It is God, His deity, humanity in deity, in one person, Jesus, fully man, and fully God. This is the miracle of the incarnation, arguably the most astounding miracle in all the Bible.
You might think, “Well, resurrection of Jesus from the dead. That’s pretty astounding.” Well, sure it is, but once you realize that Jesus is God, it’s not that remarkable that He rose from the dead. What’s remarkable is that He died in the first place. Like this changes everything. This is the truth which divides Christianity from Judaism, Christianity from Islam, everything flows from this. And I just want to encourage us on this day to pause in a fresh way. Consider the wonder of who Jesus is, and all this means He is like us.
Matthew 1:22–23 Reminds Us Jesus is Acquainted with Human Weakness
Jesus is familiar with our suffering. “He is sympathetic with our weaknesses,” Hebrews 4 says, and He is God. Jesus is able to save us from our sin and to save us ultimately from suffering. And one day, He is coming back for us. So we pray, Lord Jesus, God the Son, fully human, and fully divine we worship you, we glorify you, we praise you. There is no one in history like you.
All of history before you pointed to you, all of history since you came has pointed back to that day you were born. And all of history right now is looking forward to the day when you return, when you will come back, and all who’ve trusted in you from every nation, tribe, and tongue who believe in you as Savior and Lord will be with you forever and ever.
Oh, Lord Jesus, help us to follow you for all of our hearts today. We praise you for the privilege of following you. God the Father, we praise you for the privilege of being your children through faith in God the Son. We pray that you’d help us to make this mysterious, majestic good news known in and through our lives. God, please use us to introduce people to Jesus today, tomorrow, in the coming days, over the coming year. Please use our lives to point people to the beauty, and majesty, and supremacy of Jesus.
Praying for the Bengali Muslim Shaikh
And God, we pray for the spread of this good news among all the nations, among Muslim people, groups like the Bengali Muslim Shaikh in Bangladesh, 133 million of them. This Muslim people group, 133 million strong who don’t know, most haven’t heard the truth. They’ve heard lies about who you are. Jesus. That you’re not just a prophet, that you’re the Lord God with us in the flesh. God, please cause that good news to spread to Bengali Muslim Shaikhs. We ask, please hear our prayers for them, bless the spread of the gospel to them in Bangladesh.
Please God, cause laborers to go there. That they might know about the virgin birth, about the coming of God in the flesh to save them from their sins. Immanuel, oh God, please keep us from ever letting this mystery, the incarnation, grow overly familiar in our lives. May we be continually filled with awe and wonder by it. And may we proclaim it with awe and wonder, people around us, and to the nations that they might know you truly.
In Jesus’ name we pray according to Matthew 1:22–23. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
