GOD NAMES HIS SON

     

       Do you remember going through the process of naming your children?  I remember it very well.  There was a great deal of discussion about what we would name the firstborn child.  Of course I was hoping for a son so I spent most of my time thinking about a boy’s name.  I wanted something biblical, something he could live up to.  I wanted to name him after a significant character in the Bible and I wanted the name to have a powerful meaning, something that would be encouraging.  So we named our first son “Aaron.”  It means “exalted” or “enlightened.”  Although he was flawed, Aaron was a powerful, faithful, and important biblical person.  I chose the name because I had hope for my son and I hoped his name would actually challenge him.

            Joseph and Mary did not have to go through that process to find a name for their firstborn!  The angel told them that God had already chosen the name for his son.  The angel told Joseph, “…you are to give him the name Jesus, because…!”  That’s the word we need to examine first.  “Because.”  Did that word ever cause you to pause?  It’s such an innocuous word.  It gives a reason or an explanation for something.  I chose a name for my son because I hoped he would live up to it.  I didn’t know for sure; I just hoped.  God chose a name for his son not because he hoped his son would do something or be something.  He chose a name for his son because of what he was going to do!  The name “Jesus” is a transliteration of the Hebrew name “Yehoshua” which means “the Lord will save.”  Jesus is given a savior’s name because he is going to be the Savior!

            Jesus is the only person who ever came into the world.  We are all born but none of us came into the world from somewhere else!  John the Evangelist opens his gospel with an explanation (John 1:1-14).  Jesus is the Word.  He already was in the beginning.  He has always been with God.  He is the means of creation of all that is.  Then verse fourteen says it all, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  Jesus came into the world for a reason and the name he was given explained the reason he came.  “You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”