Why is Jesus called “Immanuel” if he is the son of God and not God?

The scriptures clearly state that Jesus is the son of God, not God Himself. On many occasions Jesus said that God had “sent me.” (See Matthew 10:40; Luke 4:8; and many others) Jesus was sent by God to accomplish the work of salvation. When telling the disciples he would soon leave them, Jesus said,

“…I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.” (John 14:28)

He was sent to accomplish God’s work. He returned to God when the work was finished. The Son was doing the work of the Father.

In harmony with this, the Apostle Paul said that through Jesus all things will be reconciled to God. (Colossians 1:20) Sin has separated mankind from God. The work of reconciliation will be realized through Christ. For faithful Christians of this time, that is already happening. For mankind, the work of reconciliation will be completed at the end of the Millennium when the kingdom, administered by Christ, will be turned over to God, sinless and restored to perfection. (See 1 Corinthians 15:28)

The prophecy mentioning the name Immanuel is found in Isaiah 7:14. “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

This indicated that a virgin would give birth to the Messiah as a sign that he was sent from God. But when an angel appeared to Mary she was instructed to name the baby “Jesus.” (Matthew 1:21) This can be confusing. Why would the angel not tell Mary to name him Immanuel?

The only reason can be that God never intended his name to be Immanuel, which means, “God with Us.” The name Jesus means, “Jehovah is Salvation.”

The name Immanuel prophesied that someday God will be with us. The name Jesus indicated how that would be accomplished. God will be with us through the plan of salvation He designed.

To learn more about Jesus’ birth listen to, “What is the point of Christmas?”

To learn more about why Jesus was called Jesus instead of Immanuel listen to (at 7:47), “Do the Accounts of Jesus’ Life Contradict Themselves?”