Illuminations
His Sweet Name
by Anthony Esolen
“She shall bring forth a son,” said the angel to Joseph, “and thou shalt call his name JESUS. For he shall save his people from their sins.” This was done, says the evangelist, “that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying, Behold a virgin shall be with child, and bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (Matt. 1:21–23). One name illuminates the other. Yeshu’ah, the Lord saves, not from without, by the sheer exercise of his might, but from within and from among us. ‘Emmanu-El, God is in our midst, and in the last way that we might suppose. . . .
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Anthony Esolen is a professor at Magdalene College of the Liberal Arts in Warner, New Hampshire, and the author of many books, including Life Under Compulsion (ISI Books), Real Music: A Guide to the Timeless Hymns of the Church (Tan, with a CD), Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture (Regnery), and The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord (Ignatius Press, 2019). He has also translated Dante's Divine Comedy (Random House). He is a senior editor of Touchstone.
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