O come, O come, Immanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
Every Christmas, I hear the hymn, “O Come, O Come, Immanuel.” I’ll be honest: I didn’t always like it. No matter how many versions I heard, I just couldn’t connect with it. That changed one day when I found myself singing the refrain: “Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel shall come to thee, O Israel”.
It was around Christmastime in 2017, and I was on my way to Israel. The words struck me in a new way: Immanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. I was traveling to the Holy Land, the place where Jesus was born, lived, died, and rose again. He didn’t just exist; He truly lived. He experienced life fully, relying on a mother and father, learning to eat, walk, work, and speak. He became human in every sense, entering the world He came to save (Philippians 2:6-8).
I saw many things while I was in Israel, and I kept thinking about how Jesus walked the very same soil I was walking on, breathed the same air as mankind, and looked into the eyes of those He came to save. I could imagine passing Him in the street and wondering, Would I even have recognized Him as the Son of God? Scripture tells us in Isaiah that there was nothing special about His appearance (Isaiah 53:2). But I believe it wasn’t His appearance that drew people to Him, it was how He treated them.
He looked at people with compassion. The very people He formed from the clay of the earth and breathed life into by His Spirit (Genesis 2:7) He was now face to face with, peering into their eyes. What did He see? Probably what I imagine He sees when He looked into my eyes: fear, shame, anger, sorrow, regret, and pain. And the Word says He had compassion on them (Matthew 9:36). He had compassion on me. He has compassion on you.
Immanuel had come. And He came with compassion and fiery love. He came and dwelt among us, not just observing us, but being tempted and tried in every way we are (Hebrews 4:15), yet He never sinned. He became the perfect example of a human for us, because He was 100% God and 100% man (Colossians 2:9).
I often wonder if Jesus truly understands what I’m going through. How can He who never sinned know what it feels like to carry this kind of pain and burden? Well, that’s just it: “He who knew no sin became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
I take great comfort in knowing that the God who created me understands what it is to be in my shoes. He lived in the same skin I live in. He took my burden on His shoulders, literally, when He hung between heaven and earth (Matthew 27:50-53). He came and lived, died, and rose again, all for me (1 Corinthians 15:3-4), and is now praying for me at the right hand of the Father (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25). He even sent His Spirit to dwell not just on the earth, but inside me and you (John 14:16-17; 1 Corinthians 6:19) until He comes again, when mankind will be the forever dwelling place of God (Revelation 21:3).
So when people ask or want to argue about what makes Jesus so good, I would offer this: yes, He is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16), yes, He died for me (Romans 5:8), and yes, He heals me (Psalm 103:3; Isaiah 53:5). But more than that, when I’m in a situation where I don’t know where to turn, what decision to make, or when I feel all alone, He is still God with me (Matthew 28:20). He promises that He will never leave me or forsake me (Hebrews 13:5). He went through everything He went through to make sure we would be together again. And wherever you find yourself today—physically, emotionally, or mentally—He is still God with you. He is and will forever be God with us, Immanuel (John 1:14).
