A tall, hot cup of coffee at the ready, he 
clicked the icon for the bible software.  With 
the computer whirling his spiritual owner's 
manual into legible digital bits on the monitor, 
he reached over to the steaming cup, took a nice 
caffeinated pull from the fresh brew. Almost as 
if purposefully choreographed, he slowly closed 
his eyes savoring the brew while his favorite cup 
simultaneously delivered its own morning 
stimulant.  Eyes snapping open and flailing left 
hand in front of him in a childish attempt to 
waft the burning fingers received from the 
embossed sides of his prized Guinness cup--gifted 
him by his wife on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to 
Ireland earlier in the year, he was now  fully 
stimulated to receive a morning word.

Reading a familiar set of verses in Matthew, he 
ran across an issue of names which had always 
bothered him. You know, one of those things you 
read in the Bible that seem like a contradiction 
and yet, you know there isn't one simply because 
the Word of God has no contradictions. When they 
are encountered, it requires a deeper look at the 
context, translation, original definition of 
words and that sort of thing. Once that digging is done, revelation will come.

Only in this case, he had no need to dig. The 
answer to his perplexed mention of names abruptly 
stimulated his brain, not much different than the 
stinging finger burn dealt by his coffee cup only a minute prior.

He read:

"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name 
Jesus, for He will save His people from their 
sins." Now all this took place to fulfill what 
was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 
"BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL 
BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME 
IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US."

All his days of reading, looking for the deeper 
meaning and concept and context of the passages, 
he had a glossed over hang-up on the names 
mention. First Jesus, then Emmanuel … Jesus? … 
Emmanuel?  Hmm … Jesus, a word listed in the 
biblical dictionaries as the name for the Lord 
yes, and also two others in scripture. Emmanuel, 
as scripture says meaning God with us, so how can 
his name given him by his parents by direction of 
the Holy Spirit, differ from Emmanuel? Shouldn't 
the prophet's prediction read that the same name was given?

Scratching the back of his head, a little more 
careful now reaching for the near molten ceramic 
cauldron of bean brew, he took another sip and 
then it occurred to him.  Finally, after all 
these years he saw the answer. It was almost as 
embarrassing as it was revealing. It came down to 
two words, and not Jesus and Emmanuel, although 
yes, they were the core of his perplexity.

The two words that made the difference were "you" 
and "they." For the first time he saw where the 
Holy Spirit said: "and you shall call His name 
Jesus," and then it says, "AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL."

You call him Jesus, they call him Emmanuel.

Shaking his head swallowing more coffee, he 
wondered if it took him that long to figure out 
such a simple perplexity, and from something that 
stood out in the open like a deer broadside to 
the arrow, how long it will take to fully 
understand the less obvious precepts of the multi-faceted Word of God.



Brad Dunsé

"Write like you mean it and sing like nobody's watching." --Ben Wakeman

http://www.braddunsemusic.com

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