In both passages, Joseph and Mary are assures that the conception of this child upon

which such mighty issues would hang was of the Holy Ghost, and that the "Holy thing

Which shall born of thee shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1: 35).

The parties most concerned in this great matter, were perfectly convinced and assured.

Their characters, as given in the Scriptures show that they were honest, godly folk, and

we are therefore confronted with two alternatives. Either we accept the testimony of the

Scriptures, and believe unreservedly in the miracle of the virgin birth, and all the

consequent doctrines and blessings that flow from it, or we reject the statements of

Scripture, are left with a Saviour, Who being of the fallen line of Adam, must need a

Saviour Himself, before He could undertake the Salvation of the world.  With the

rejection of the testimony of the first chapter of Matthew all the subsequent teaching

comes to nothing. We are left with ashes and dead sea fruit, the name Emmanuel is a

mockery, and we are of all men most miserable.

This "sign" of  Isa. 7: 14,  was indeed "in the depth" as "in the height", as

verse eleven puts it, for what could be deeper than the Saviour's condescension when He

laid aside His glory to take upon Himself the form and fashion of a man, and become the

Virgin's Son?

We therefore rejoice that in the Person of Christ, the Virgin's Son, we have the fullest

realization of the prophetic Name "God with us".

There is a world of comfort in the word "with". Many a time when we have prayed

for friends and loved ones in distress and trouble, and not knowing how to frame our

petition, we have fallen back on the simple request to the Lord, "be with them", knowing

that this blessing of personal fellowship with the God of all grace, would sanctify the

deepest distress and give grace to overcome in every difficulty.

We turn the page of our Bible, and from contemplating the chapter that tells us that

"The begetting of Jesus Christ was on this wise" we look at the succeeding chapter that

tells us of the actual birth at Bethlehem and the things that happened to the infant even in

such tender years, that this child was living up to the great title "Emmanuel" or must we

wait until He comes to the cross and becomes the bearer of our sin? We remember that

the name Emmanuel is associated with the fulfillment of prophecy, and our eye is caught

in Matt. 2: with the recurring phrase, "and it was fulfilled", as it is associated with the

birth at Bethlehem, the departure to Egypt, the massacre of the innocents, and the

character and condition of Nazareth (Matt. 2: 5, 6, 15, 17, 18, 23).