From the time of Abraham, the expectation of a coming savior grew and developed as the great hope of the Jewish people. This “Messiah” or anointed one was promised by God. The prophets kept this hope alive even in Israel’s darkest days. It was a hope and dream passed on from one generation to the next.
Our first witness to the deity of Jesus is the prophet Isaiah. Of all the voices of the prophets that spoke of the anticipated Messiah, Isaiah clearly stands alone in his volume and clarity particularly in reference to the deity of the Messiah. Every Christmas we hear messages, listen to music, and even sing Isaiah’s prophecies of the deity of Jesus. But perhaps in our familiarity and in the festivity of celebrating the birth of Jesus, we miss the significance of the message. "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and will call Him Immanuel." (Is. 7:14 NIV)
At first glance, this verse doesn’t look like a slam-dunk proof positive declaration of the deity of Jesus. But when we look closer, the message becomes clearer. First of course, is the statement that a “virgin” will give birth. While the Hebrew word translated “virgin” does not precisely mean a woman who has never had sexual relations, that is the most common meaning of the word. Second, the title “Immanuel” is a compound word joining the thought “with us” with the Hebrew word, “El” or “God”. Literally, the word means “with us God.” Clearly this is a child who will be born through miraculous circumstances. Clearly, this is a child who will be a unique manifestation of God. If taken literally, at face value, it is a statement that this child will be God himself.
“But,” the skeptic might say, “This verse does not mention Jesus. How do you know it is speaking about Jesus?” This is a very reasonable question don’t you think? We need some proof that this is speaking about Jesus don’t we? And we have it. We have a witness to add to the witness of Isaiah. Matthew speaks of the birth of Jesus and refers to Isaiah’s prophecy stating that Jesus is the “Immanuel” child, born of a virgin. "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us." (Matthew 1:23) Let’s look at this verse in it’s context.
Matthew 1:18-25
Now the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way. While his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph, her husband to be, was a righteous man, and because he did not want to disgrace her, he intended to divorce her privately. When he had contemplated this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." This all happened so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: "Look! The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call him Emmanuel," which means "God with us." When Joseph awoke from sleep he did what the angel of the Lord told him. He took his wife, but did not have marital relations with her until she gave birth to a son, whom he named Jesus.Here’s our witness. Matthew gives testimony that Jesus was born of a virgin. He states it three times! Marry and Joseph had not “come together”, she was a “virgin”, she and Joseph did not have “marital relations” until after she gave birth to Jesus. Matthew also gives testimony two times that the child has been conceived by the Holy Spirit.
The reasonable conclusion to all this is that our witness, Matthew, has testified that Jesus is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, that He was conceived in Mary by the Holy Spirit, and that Jesus is God.
Next: Isaiah: Back on the Stand
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