“and you shall call his name . . .”

Matthew 1:20-23

But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us).

Tom Wright, Matthew for Everyone (Vol. 1)

The two names together [Jesus, or in Hebrew Joshua from v. 20, and Immanuel from v. 23] express the meaning of the story [Matthew is about to tell, i.e., the gospel]. God is present, with his people; he doesn’t “intervene” from a distance, but is always active, sometimes in most unexpected ways. And God’s actions are aimed at rescuing people from a helpless plight, demanding that he take the initiative and do things people had regarded as (so to speak) inconceivable. . . . This is the God, and this is the Jesus, who comes to us still today when human possibilities have run out, offering new and startling ways forward, in fulfillment of his promises by his powerful love and grace (8).