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During his lifetime, Jesus brought people together -- people of different ages and backgrounds. Immanuel (God with us) is one of the most captivating identifications of Jesus in the Bible, a rich expression that spanned centuries of promise and, at least for Christians, creates one of many fantastic points of intersection between the Old Testament (Isaiah 7:14 and 8:8) and the New Testament (Matthew 1:23).
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In our time, Immanuel is still all about intersections --the promised Jesus being born in our world, we being born again in the name of Jesus, and we as name-bearers striving to love others and care for God's creation because God is with us. So it's only fitting that as we celebrate his birth, Jesus brings people together much like he did when he was a Jewish carpenter from Nazareth. All this to say, the latter half of this month went by happily fast, filled with crafty festivities, food, and, most meaningful of all, Immanuel intersections with groups of men, women, college students, and neighbors.
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