“God with us” isn’t always comfortable. Isaiah’s prophecy shows Immanuel can be a sanctuary—or a stumbling stone—depending on where we place our trust. Before Advent gives us comfort, it gives us clarity: God steps into our fear and our failures, not to abandon us but to reshape our hope. This is the deeper story behind Christmas, and the pattern Matthew says continues in Jesus.

This Advent, we remember: God keeps fulfilling the pattern—life out of barrenness, hope out of collapse, presence where we fear there is none. God is with us.