The Epiphany of Immanuel: Living in God’s Withness in 2026

We’ve written previously about Epiphany as a New Testament theme and a season of the church year observed by liturgical churches. Baptists like me typically don’t place Epiphany on their short list of major Bible doctrines, but we might be able to make our Christmas experience more than temporary euphoria if we did.

In this post I’m calling the Epiphany of Immanuel the withness of God. Epiphany focuses our attention on the manifestation of Jesus as the Messiah and his ongoing presence in the world. In the west, Epiphany season is understood to begin January 6, after the twelve days of Christmas. It is commonly celebrated on the first Sunday between January 2 and January 8. Epiphany traditionally commemorates the coming of the magi to worship Jesus as the first manifestation of Israel’s Messiah to Gentiles. The arrival of the magi occurred some two years after the birth of Jesus in a Bethlehem manger—when they arrive, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus-Immanuel are living in a house (Matt 2:11, 16).

At our church we lit Advent candles this year as we waited for Christmas eve and the lighting of the Christ candle. Whether your church lit candles or not, you probably sang

O come, O come Immanuel; and ransom captive Israel. That mourns its lonely exile here, until the Son of God Appear. Rejoice, rejoice, Immanuel shall come to thee O Israel.

Hopefully, we sang those haunting words to Immanuel with awareness of the prophet Isaiah’s promise to King Ahaz (Isaiah 7:10-17; cf. 8:5-10; 2 Chron 13:12), a promise fulfilled by the birth of Jesus according to the Gospel of Matthew (1:18-25). The English word Immanuel, as well as the New Testament Greek word Ἐμμανουήλ (Emmanouel), transliterate the Hebrew word עִמָּנוּאֵל in Isaiah 7:14. As Matthew 1:23 says, the word means “God with us.” There’s a good teaching on Immanuel here.

Getting back to the song, Immanuel did come to ransom Israel, and called out a remnant of Jewish people who became the nucleus of the church from all the nations of the earth. And Immanuel will come again to Israel when the nation someday utters “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (Ps 118:26/Matt 23:39; cf. Romans 11:25-27). Paul used the word epiphany to refer to Christ’s future appearing (1 Tim 6:14; 2 Tim 4:1, 8; Tit 2:13) as well as his incarnation (1 Tim 3:16; 2 Tim 1:10).

The birth of Immanuel in Isaiah 7:14 was to signify God’s withness—his gracious presence—to deliver his people. Jesus is the ultimate revelation of that glorious gracious presence. The well-known name Immanuel is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg—God’s being with his people is a familiar teaching of Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Let’s take something like a helicopter flyover of that teaching.

Skip the next section unless you want to land the helicopter for a moment and nerd out on how Jesus fulfills Isaiah 7:14.

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An Aside for Us Hermeneutics Nerds

How the birth of Jesus fulfills Isaiah 7:14 is constantly and hotly debated. There are three main viewpoints:

Most who sit in the pews assume that Isaiah 7:14 is simply a direct prediction of the birth of Jesus some 700 years later. Advent season sermons typically give that impression. The problem with this understanding is that acid test of all biblical interpretation—context. Isaiah 7 seems to be about Judah’s King Ahaz’ fears of an international coalition of Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel (Ephraim). Ahaz apparently is considering an alliance with the powerful Assyrian kingdom to fend off these enemies. How would the miraculous conception and birth of Jesus some 700 years later function as a sign (Isa 7:10, 14; 8:18) that was relevant to Ahaz’ political intrigue?

Some who acknowledge the difficulties of the first view opt for a hermeneutic of having one’s cake and eating it too. They believe Isaiah 7:14 should be understood to be a double prediction in which God promised both a significant birth in Ahaz’ day and a promise of ultimate significance that was fulfilled when Jesus was born. In this view Isaiah 7:14 provides temporary reassurance for Ahaz’ day as well as the ultimate, permanent assurance of the birth of Israel’s Messiah (cf. Isa 9:1-6). But how can Isaiah’s words mean two different things?

I believe Isaiah was promising a birth in Ahaz’ times that signified God’s assuring presence during difficult days of international political intrigue. Ahaz needed to have faith that God would care for his problem with Syria and Ephraim (Isa 7:3-9) before Immanuel’s childhood was over (Isa 7:10-17). Immanuel signified God’s presence and protection from immediate danger. 700 years later, Matthew was led by the Spirit of God to see how this historical event had an uncanny resemblance to the miraculous virginal conception of Jesus the Messiah, the ultimate sign of God’s manifest care for his people. This understanding draws on many parallels between Isaiah 7 and the birth of Jesus. These parallels are not accidental but providential. Jesus is putting his feet into the footprints left by Israel in the sands of history. Jesus fills up Isaiah 7:14 with its ultimate meaning. Hermeneutics nerds call this sort of thing typology.

I’ve written more fully about this in my BECNT Matthew commentary. There’s a similar view here.

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The Withness of God throughout the Bible

As 2026 dawns, we hear the saying, “out with the old, in with the new.” That’s decidedly not what we mean when we use the terms “Old” and “New” Testaments. Israel’s experience of God’s withness in the Old Testament leads us to the ultimate New Testament revelation of God’s withness through Jesus (Hebrews 1:1-2). We can mention only a few examples of how the Old Testament dovetails with the New Testament in teaching us about the withness of God. Notice the common threads which weave these examples together.

1. Gabriel’s announcement. Mary the virgin heard the reassuring message “The Lord is with you” (Luke 1:28) before she was astounded by the revelation that she would miraculously conceive Jesus. This promise of God’s presence echoes previous biblical announcements when God appeared to Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Jeremiah, and others (Exod 3:12; Josh 1:5, 9, 17; Jdg 6:11-16; Jer 1:8). During Advent we commemorate a time of God’s special withness.

2. Creation, Fall, and New Creation. Have you ever noticed that after Adam and Eve sinned, they hid from the presence (withness) of God (Gen 3:8; cf. Cain in 4:8; Jonah in Jon 1:3, 10; Ps 139:7). Soon they were thrown out of the Garden of Eden (Gen 3:22-24). Their sin had horrible consequences that continue to plague humanity until Jesus’ return finishes what he started with the cross and the empty tomb. Think of all the pain, sorrow, and alienation that entered the world due to their sin! Yet God in amazing grace began to restore and reconcile the human race in a grand narrative that will be consummated when the vision of Revelation 21 comes to pass. Ultimately Jesus will transform the entire universe into a place where there are no more tears caused by pain, sorrow and alienation. In that day the withness of God will be consummated by the one Joseph called Immanuel:

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:1-5 NIV, compare Isa 65:17; 66:22; 2 Pet 3:13)

3. Tabernacle and Temple. The mention of the dwelling place of God in Revelation 21 recalls the Old Testament Tabernacle and Temple. God gave Moses the plans to build the Tabernacle as a portable or mobile sanctuary of the presence of God (Exod 25-31; 35-40). As Israel traveled in the wilderness, the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire manifested God’s presence with them (Exod 13:21-22; Num 9:15-23; Neh 9:12, 19; Isa 4:5-6). Later Solomon built the Jerusalem Temple as a more permanent place where the God of heaven manifested his presence on earth (1 Kgs 6-8). After Solomon’s Temple had been destroyed by the Babylonians, Ezekiel envisioned God’s glorious presence departing from the Temple due to Israel’s chronic rebellion against God’s covenant with them (Ezek 10:18-22; 11:23). But that was not the end—Ezekiel also envisioned a repentant Israel and the permanent restoration of God’s glory to the Temple (43:1-9).

Today we rejoice in the birth of Jesus-Immanuel, the Word from the beginning who took on human flesh and dwelt—we could say “tabernacled” or even “pitched his tent”—with us as the ultimate mobile manifestation of God’s withness (John 1:14-18). Jesus life and ministry was such a perfect exegesis of God’s withness that Jesus could say to Philip, “He who has seen me has seen the Father (John 14:9). Experiencing the presence of God no longer requires a Tabernacle or Temple—through Immanuel we worship God in Spirit and truth (John 4:22-24). We long for the day when we do so in the New Jerusalem, where God and the Lamb are the only Temple and light that are needed (Rev 21:22-27; 22:5). In that day we will bask in God’s glorious presence everywhere. The entire world will be God’s sanctuary.

4. Moses and Jesus. As Moses shepherded his father-in-law Jethro’s sheep in Horeb, God appeared to him and spoke to him from the burning bush, commissioning him to lead Israel out of Egypt (Exod 3:1-4:17). When Moses made excuses, God promised to be with him (3:12), and even to be with his and Aaron’s mouths (4:12, 15). Moses later experienced the awesome presence of God in the Tent of Meeting (Exod 29:42-43; 33:7-11) and in the Tabernacle. Yet he still longed for something more from God to support and sustain him as he led the people to the promised land (Exod 33:12-13). God gave Moses just a glimpse of the fullness of his glorious love and loyalty when he hid Moses in the cleft of the rock (Exod 34:6), but today we see the fullness of God’s glorious grace and truth in the person and work of Jesus (John 1:14-18).

Moses’ immediate successor Joshua experienced God’s withness just like Moses did (Josh 1:5, 9, 17), but Jesus (Joshua in Hebrew) is Moses’ ultimate successor (John 1:16-17; 5:45-47). Jesus ascension to heaven did not leave us alone as orphans (John 14:15-18). Far from abandoning his disciples, Jesus sent the Spirit to meet their needs (John 15:26-28; 16:7-15). Jesus is not really absent from us today. Rather, his presence is transformed and mediated to us through the Holy Spirit.

5. Matthew. The promise of Immanuel, God-with-us, doesn’t end with Matthew 1 quoting Isaiah 7. The theme of God’s withness envelopes the whole Gospel of Matthew and all of our lives as followers of Jesus. Jesus promises he will be with his followers when they handle difficult situations inside the church (Matt 18:20), and that he will be with them when they begin their mission to people outside the church (Matt 28:20). The withness of Jesus at the beginning, middle, and end of Matthew teaches us that he was with us yesterday, is with us today, and will be with us tomorrow.

Who could stand against us?

I get that Home Alone is a funny movie, but being alone is not a plan for most of us. Far from being a fun adventure, being alone usually leads to loneliness, not comedy. God didn’t cut us out for alone-ness but for community. His Word and Spirit (John 16:7-15), along with the sacraments Jesus left with us, sustain us not only in our fellowship with God but also in our fellowship with one another (1 John 1:3). Rugged American individualism and Paul Simon aside, we are not rocks or islands. The Epiphany of Immanuel assures us that our fellowship with one another is enlivened and empowered from above by the manifestation and ongoing presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

With the presence-promise of epiphany imprinted on our minds and with Immanuel on our side, who can be against us? Michael Card may have been thinking of both Isaiah 7:14/Matthew 1:23 and Romans 8:31-39 when he wrote Immanuel as part of his The Promise Album:

A sign shall be given. A virgin will conceive.
A human baby bearing Undiminished deity.
The glory of the nations, A light for all to see
That hope for all who will embrace His warm reality

Immanuel. Our God is with us.
And if God is with us, Who could stand against us?
Our God is with us. Immanuel.

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Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:

He was manifested in the flesh,
    vindicated by the Spirit,
        seen by angels,
proclaimed among the nations,
    believed on in the world,
        taken up in glory. (1 Timothy 3:16 ESV)

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Epiphany Prayer

O God, by the leading of a star you manifested your only Son
to the Peoples of the earth: Lead us, who know you now by
faith, to your presence, where we may see your glory face to
face; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
(Book of Common Prayer, Contemporary Collect for Epiphany)

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Listen and sing along to Michael Card’s Immanuel here.

Listen and sing along to O Come O Come Immanuel:

A bluegrass version by the Petersens

An contemporary acoustic version by Sovereign Grace Music.

A CCM version by for KING + Country

An English/Arabic/Hebrew version sponsored by One for Israel Ministries