Emmanuel, God with us

Friday June 4, 2021

Emmanuel, God with us

The angel of the Lord appeared to him (to Gideon) and said to him : The Lord is with you, valiant hero ! Gideon said to him : Ah ! my lord, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us ? Or are all his wonderful deeds which our fathers tell us when they say : Did not the Lord bring us out of Egypt ? Now the Lord forsakes us and delivers us into the hand of Midian ! Judges 6:12, 13

We understand Gideon’s bewilderment when he hears the Angel’s words. The country is devastated by the incessant attacks of the enemies who plunder the crops. It is difficult, under these conditions, to think that God is still present with his people. Yet God affirms : You have and deliver Israel from the oppression of Midian... But I will be with you (v. 14-16).

For Christians too, the Lord has left this wonderful promise : I am with you every day, until the end of the world (Matthew 28:20). Yet, when the weight of difficulties weighs heavily on us, doesn't Gideon's complaint cross our minds : If the Lord is with us, why... ? We would like to see the circumstances change, the situation improve... How then to realize the presence of Jesus, called Emmanuel, God with us as soon as he enters the world ? How to make it concrete in our daily life ?

Spiritual realities always escape human sight. It is through the Word of God, applied to our hearts by the Holy Spirit, that we realize the closeness to Jesus. As we read the gospels, we see him approaching everyone and sharing suffering and problems : he stops at the Bethesda pool to heal a man who has been ill for 38 years ; he goes down to Jericho to enter the tax collector Zacchaeus who wants to see who he is ; he goes through despised Samaria to meet a woman with a disorderly life ; he was moved with compassion when he saw the crowd as a flock without a shepherd... After his resurrection, he joined, on the road to Emmaus, two sad and perplexed disciples to warm their hearts and give them courage.

Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). As he was with men when he was here, he is with us today. So let's continue with the courage that the presence of Jesus will give us until the end !

Source (Pleasing the Lord)