The Naming of Jesus

Luke 2:15-21

“What happened to the name Immanuel?”
The most precocious student in my class
reminded me of the passage from Isaiah
that we studied just two weeks before
on the fourth and final Sunday of Advent.
She opened her Bible and read this line:

The young woman is with child and shall
bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.
On this day, we discussed the naming of Jesus
as told in Luke’s Gospel story
where the angel Gabriel comes to Mary
and tells her to name her child Jesus.

Then she threw me another knuckleball.
“Matthew has a different story,” she said.
“The angel of the Lord appears to Joseph
in a dream. There is nothing about Mary.
The angel says, Name him Jesus.
Which of these two stories is true?

Is it possible both stories are true?”
My lesson plan lay in ruins.
Was she destined to be the village agnostic
or the leader of the next Great Awakening?
There was a pause. Then she asked again,
“What happened to the name Immanuel?”

The Holy Name
January 1, 2023