God's Names at Christmastime - Jesus

The following is from my book, The Names of God.

Matthew 1:21 (ESV) She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

I couldn’t believe it. As I was working through the “R”s on the Names of God list, it suddenly occurred to me that the name Jesus was omitted. How could that be?

Then a few thoughts came to me. First of all, it is the most familiar name for God that we know. Every thing from lullabies to epic movies has the name of Jesus in them.

Secondly, it is also a name that many avoid because the mere mention of the name evokes a response. For Believers it triggers gratitude. For non-believers it brings conviction. For others it brings anger because of the hardness of their heart.

C. S. Lewis summed up men’s response to Jesus. He said, “He is either Lord, liar, or lunatic.” Jesus is either the Son of God as He claimed, a liar for making such a claim, or a lunatic that has no idea what he is saying. “But,” as Lewis continued, “You cannot call Him just a good man.”

You can speak of “God” to most people and they will politely oblige your conversation, but when you mention Jesus their heart is almost certainly revealed in their response.

We just completed the Christmas season where you see and hear more of the name of Jesus than at any other time (at least in the Western culture). It is after all, the time we celebrate His birth. But Jesus is so much more than a baby in a manger. Even the name Mary was told to give Him at His birth implied there was much more to this child than any before Him.

Since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, God had been working a plan of redemption; a way to bring man back into a right relationship with his Creator. The one that would “crush the head of the serpent” became a baby in a manger; helpless, vulnerable, the embodiment of God’s love. His name, however, caused satan and his kingdom to fear. The Second Adam had been born. The Second Joshua had come to deliver God’s people (this time all of them) from the grasp of sin and darkness that kept them in bondage.

Jesus. His name is from the Hebrew word interpreted as “Joshua,” and means, “Jehovah-saved.” The first Joshua completed the journey of Israel out of bondage from Egypt to Canaan. The Second Joshua, Jesus, paid the penalty for sin and gave mankind a way to escape the second death.

Call out to Him now. Receive the forgiveness provided through the death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and seating of Jesus. Identify yourself with Him in baptism. Receive the Gift He sent to abide in us until He returns: the Holy Spirit. Your life will never be the same.