I am glad that here, in the first chapter of our New Testament, that lovely name-- the sweetest name that our ears ever heard-- is given to us twice, in capital letters, so that we may not miss it. It stands there upon the title page of the New Testament as the title of the Book.

But Jesus is Immanuel, and Immanuel is Jesus. God has come to us; none less than He could save us. If men were to be saved, God must come down to men to do it. He must come as a Saviour, or His heart will not be revealed, nor His grace made known.

In the person of Jesus, God is with us, and is with us still, for we Christians have the closing words of this gospel for our constant comfort, words of our Lord Jesus Christ: "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end" (Matthew 28:20). Hence we can with confidence follow the lowly, rejected Nazarene and carry out His word, for God is with us.

... He knew all the sorrows of men; every tear on every cheek had come under His notice, every sigh had entered His heart. He looked upon the world through eyes that saw all and comprehended all, and He offers to relieve all; and we Christians can bear witness to the fact that His deed is as good as His word.

He has never promised what He cannot perform. That invitation alone proves that He is indeed the Everlasting God who opens His hand in infinite kindness to satisfy the needs of the creature that He has made; and that in His bosom there throbs a heart that longs to relieve the sorrows that sin has caused.

But His life and His words alone could not have effected that which had to be accomplished, and so we read in the 27th chapter of Matthew that He was nailed to the cross. They led Him to the place which is called Golgotha, and there they crucified Him. Jesus, whose name is Immanuel, was taken by wicked hands and nailed to the cross, and over His sacred, thorn-crowned head, was this accusation written: "THIS IS JESUS."