Was Jesus Really Called Immanuel?

Question from a Site Viewer
Other than Matthew 1:23 that just predicts the birth of the child named IMMANUEL, where does the name Immanuel show up in the New Testament?

How did Jesus fulfill the task of being named Immanuel? He was never called my that name and never referred to himself as such. And Immanuel does not mean Son of God, so don’t tell me that. It means God is with us. Why would God say his name would be one thing, and he was named another? That makes no sense to me whatsoever.

Prophecy In Question

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14 (NKJ)

Fulfillment

“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
Matthew 1:23 (NKJ)

Tim’s Answer
Anyone who has read Scripture understands that God has a multitude of names. At one point, I had listed over 100 different names for God. Jesus, as God, also has many names. In Psalm 2, He is called the Anointed and the Son. Isaiah 9:6 gives us at least 4 and perhaps 5 names. Does this passage mean that the Messiah would be addressed as “Wonderful Counselor,” or “Prince of Peace?” No. His names are his titles. They describe who He is, just as the names of God in the Old Testament describe His character. God in the Old Testament is called “El Shaddai,” “Elohim,” “El,” “Yahweh,” “the Rock,” “Merciful,” etc. In the same fashion, Jesus in the Old and New Testament has many names. Thus, in Revelation 19:16, He has a name written on robe and on His thigh, “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” Yet, in Revelation 19:13, He is called the “Word of God.” And in verse 11, He is called “Faithful and True.” This does not mean that all of His names are spoken. We find in Revelation 3:12 Jesus speaks of His new name, a name apparently not yet known by men. But all of His names describe something about Him.

That He would be called Immanuel is a revelation about who He is. He is the God with us. This is precisely what John picks up in John 1:1-14. The Word was God and became flesh and dwelt among us. He was God with us. Of course, this is no more than what Isaiah had foretold, when He said that a Son would be given to us whose name would be “Mighty God.” As Isaiah is quite insistent that there is only one God, we would have to do a fancy set of dancing around the issue to reach any other conclusion but that Isaiah saw the coming Son to be God. Of course, the prophets long have prophesied that the Lord Himself would one day come to earth, beginning with Enoch and ending with Malachi.

This does not mean that there needs to be other Scriptures recorded where He is called “Immanuel” anymore than there must be other places where God is called “Yahweh Jireh.” (Many names only occur once.) One place is sufficient for us to know this name of Jesus. In the context of Matthew 1:18-23, Matthew uses this Isaiah 7:14 passage to explain to us that the supernatural Spirit-induced conception was a fullfilment of the promise that God would be with us. His supernatural conception brought forth the one who is both Son of God and Son of Man. The supernatural, Spirit caused, birth without an earthly father, brought forth our Immanuel.

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