The Name of Jesus

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

It’s Christmastime.  The air is filled with songs of joy.  The world sees the commercial side of Christmas. But the believer’s heart can be filled with gratitude to God because Christmas is the expression of God’s love in the Person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  We exclaim with the Apostle Paul, “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift” (2 Cor. 9:15). 

Our Lord’s incarnation on that first Christmas was a display of God’s sovereign omnipotence and excellent glory.  It enveloped the humble shepherds with delightful wonder.  It elicited joyful words of praise and honor from the onlooking angelic host, who proclaimed “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and good will toward men” (Luke 2:14). 

The virgin-born Son of God came out of the ivory palaces down to this earth of sorrow, fulfilling the great prophecy of Isaiah:  “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isa. 7:14).  The word Immanuel means God with us. In the Person of the Lord Jesus, God truly is with us (cf. Matt. 1:23). As Second Corinthians 5:19 says, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.” 

The divine decree was given to Joseph that the Child’s name should be Jesus, meaning God saves. There are three fundamental truths in the name.  

• The deity of Jesus, for in order to save, He must be God.

• The humanity of Jesus, for in order to save, He must be a man. 

• The substitutionary atonement of Jesus, for in order to save, He must die to pay the penalty for sin.

The name, Jesus, proclaims the words of salvation, redemption, and deliverance.  The name of Jesus announces in words of comfort and hope in the message of God’s limitless love, matchless mercy, and granted grace. The miracle of Jesus’ birth clothed Him in sinless flesh (cf. I Tim. 3:16).  He as the divine Son of a human mother, and the human Son of divine Father, holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and higher than the heavens” (Heb. 7:26).  Jesus manifested God to man and brings man to God. 

God promised fallen man a Savior, a Redeemer.  And Jesus came, offering eternal life to all who will receive Him.  The acceptable sacrifice for sin has been provided by God’s redemptive grace. 

In this Christmas time of crisis and confusion, man can find the need of his soul met in the

Lord Jesus Christ.  In Him is salvation from sin, redemption from ruin, and deliverance from death.