On Christmas, we celebrate the sacred, the birth of the Savior, the newborn King. Most people, understandably, are ignorant of this. Across the land, Christmas is a secular holiday. Even Christians are not so careful with this.
An occasional "O Holy Night" is followed by five versions of "Baby It’s Cold Outside," and Santa Baby, Jingle Bell Rock, and White Christmas.
Even our decorations blur the lines. Next to a manger scene, Santa and Rudolph tower in the glow of the Christmas tree and the gaze of elf on the shelf.
Lighthearted. Sentimental. Fun stuff. I get it. I do it.
What’s crazy is how many consider these symbols, Santas and Christmas trees, to be Christian symbols. Like this is what Christmas is all about.
This just played out in a public library in Dedham MA. Some felt Christmas trees were blatantly offensive, hateful symbols of Christianity. So for two weeks, before the backlash, they barred displaying the Christmas tree…
But historically, Christmas trees and jolly white-haired Santas are secular symbols having zero to do with the Holy Infant’s birth.
But it’s easy to confuse lighthearted stories with life-changing, historic facts. So it’s important that we revisit the historical Person at the center of it all.
Last week we considered Jesus’ eternal pre-existence. We considered His identity before He was conceived, before the universe came into being.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Before anything else existed, the Word existed. Before He was Jesus, He was with God. From eternity past, the Word was God.
John 1:14 The Word became flesh [God became man], and dwelt among us,…
This is a remarkable statement that should rivet our attention to this Child who was born to us. Come and worship Him who shows us the glory of God.
Today, we look at another NT Christmas name for the Word-become-flesh:
Jesus. His given name.
Matthew records the angel Gabriel speaking to Joseph who was engaged to Mary, whom he discovered was pregnant—and no, he wasn't the father. The angel tells Joseph to go through with the marriage, there’s no other man involved, for she’s been chosen by God to give birth to this Holy Child,
Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
The name of Jesus, which started as a Hebrew name, was originally Yehoshua, which meant, “Yahweh is Salvation.” That's what you said when you stated His name. Over time it was shortened to Yeshua. When things shifted from Hebrew to Greek, Yeshua was transliterated as Yesus. Yesus was transliterated as Jesus in English.
However we enunciate His name, "Jesus" means “Yahweh is Salvation” or “Yahweh Saves.”
When the Eternal Word became mortal man, this is how He chose to identify Himself. Yahweh Saves. This is Jesus’ name. This is who He is. Particularly, Jesus came to save us from our sins.
Matthew 1:21 … You shall call His name Jesus [YHWH Saves], for He will save His people from their sins.
So Jesus’ name tells us a lot about God. His heart. His mercy. His desire to have us with Him forever. Jesus came to exert God’s grace in our salvation. He came to save us from our sins. He came bearing our death, our forgiveness.
The name Jesus also says a lot about us—for one, we are incredibly loved and important to God. For another, we’re not okay as we are. We are affected by sin, guilty of sin. We’ve no answer for it; it’s too powerful for us.
The apostle Paul acknowledged this in Himself, in light of Jesus' advent to save sinners.
1 Timothy 1:15 It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.
Really, "save us"? Yes, there are always consequences to sin. Wrong someone to their face. Slander them. Cheat them. Hurt them. Roll your eyes at them. Sin naturally separates, isolates; it causes distrust, anger, fear, resentment.
Sin is always punishable. You may be yelled at. Given the silent treatment. Forced to sleep on the couch. Or fired. Put on timeout. Or even do time.
That’s what we get if we wrong people who themselves sin. Yet we sin against the Holy One, the Righteous Lord, the infinite and eternal One.
This makes our sin worthy of infinite punishment and eternal death.
But only God could pay an infinite and eternal penalty. And yet, sin is so serious that it requires blood, life, death. And God is Spirit, He cannot die. And God is eternal, He cannot die. So, He cannot save us! Unless, somehow, God were to become man? And took our place. Died for us. Bore our sin.
Hear again the message the angel spoke to Joseph,
Matthew 1:20… “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people [all who believe in Him] from their sins.”
And the Word became flesh. God became man. And He, and He alone, died for your sins. He alone could. This is serious stuff. Let us be reminded.
Acts 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”
But in the Christmas narratives, there are two ways that “Yahweh saves.” The Gospel of Luke mentions a second way that He will save us. The angel Gabriel spoke with Mary about this, and when she consented, He said,
Luke 1:31 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 He will be greatand will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”
His first time here, Jesus saved His people from their sins. When He returns, Jesus will save the whole world, cultures, societies, nations, innocents, and the powerless, from corrupt societies, governments, and world leaders.
Isaiah 9:6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.
This is how Jesus will save us in the future. Jesus will take the seat of government, the throne of David, physically, visibly; and He will calibrate every pocket of culture to the kingdom of God.
The LORD God will give Him the throne of His Father David… He will reign over the house of Jacob, forever… His kingdomwill have no end.
What does the name Jesus tell us about God, and about us?
It tells us God loves us more than we know. And we’re more messed up by sin than we know. We have no answer to it. We need God to save us.
And since the very name that He chose to be called means “Yahweh Saves,” realize, you and the whole world has a standing offer in Jesus to save.
It also means God has an awesome future for us!
Revelation 21:2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
The hopes of all mankind rest on this Child whose birth changed everything. At His return, Jesus, “Yahweh Saves” shall be with us, God Himself will be among us. And He will wipe away all sadness and bring about goodness, justice, righteousness, and everlasting peace. No death, mourning, no pain…
So the thrill of hope this Christmas isn’t that your child gets to sit on Santa’s lap. The thrill of hope is that one day, Jesus, YHWH Saves, shall return. You will be like Him. You will be all that you hope to be. and the world will be right, just, loving, real peace, real joy everlasting and greater than we know.
And it’s hard to imagine, for worldly powers, governments, bow to no one except their own lust for power. Individuals bow to no one except their own wants and desires. Who bows to God today? We ourselves hardly do.
But when He returns, hearts will praise Him. Unparalleled joy will fill every believer's soul. Even those who currently hate Jesus will be in awe of Him, for every knee shall willfully bow to Jesus,
Philippians 2:6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, [held onto] 7 but emptied Himself, takingthe form of a bond-servant and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God [the Father] highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth [everyone who’s ever lived, dead or alive, believer or not], 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the gloryof God the Father.
He shall be called Jesus.
On Christmas, we celebrate the sacred, the birth of the Savior, the newborn King. Most people, understandably, are ignorant of this. Across the land, Christmas is a secular holiday. Even Christians are not so careful with this.
An occasional "O Holy Night" is followed by five versions of "Baby It’s Cold Outside," and Santa Baby, Jingle Bell Rock, and White Christmas.
Even our decorations blur the lines. Next to a manger scene, Santa and Rudolph tower in the glow of the Christmas tree and the gaze of elf on the shelf.
Lighthearted. Sentimental. Fun stuff. I get it. I do it.
What’s crazy is how many consider these symbols, Santas and Christmas trees, to be Christian symbols. Like this is what Christmas is all about.
This just played out in a public library in Dedham MA. Some felt Christmas trees were blatantly offensive, hateful symbols of Christianity. So for two weeks, before the backlash, they barred displaying the Christmas tree…
But historically, Christmas trees and jolly white-haired Santas are secular symbols having zero to do with the Holy Infant’s birth.
But it’s easy to confuse lighthearted stories with life-changing, historic facts. So it’s important that we revisit the historical Person at the center of it all.
Last week we considered Jesus’ eternal pre-existence. We considered His identity before He was conceived, before the universe came into being.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Before anything else existed, the Word existed. Before He was Jesus, He was with God. From eternity past, the Word was God.
John 1:14 The Word became flesh [God became man], and dwelt among us,…
This is a remarkable statement that should rivet our attention to this Child who was born to us. Come and worship Him who shows us the glory of God.
Today, we look at another NT Christmas name for the Word-become-flesh:
Jesus. His given name.
Matthew records the angel Gabriel speaking to Joseph who was engaged to Mary, whom he discovered was pregnant—and no, he wasn't the father. The angel tells Joseph to go through with the marriage, there’s no other man involved, for she’s been chosen by God to give birth to this Holy Child,
Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
The name of Jesus, which started as a Hebrew name, was originally Yehoshua, which meant, “Yahweh is Salvation.” That's what you said when you stated His name. Over time it was shortened to Yeshua. When things shifted from Hebrew to Greek, Yeshua was transliterated as Yesus. Yesus was transliterated as Jesus in English.
However we enunciate His name, "Jesus" means “Yahweh is Salvation” or “Yahweh Saves.”
When the Eternal Word became mortal man, this is how He chose to identify Himself. Yahweh Saves. This is Jesus’ name. This is who He is. Particularly, Jesus came to save us from our sins.
Matthew 1:21 … You shall call His name Jesus [YHWH Saves], for He will save His people from their sins.
So Jesus’ name tells us a lot about God. His heart. His mercy. His desire to have us with Him forever. Jesus came to exert God’s grace in our salvation. He came to save us from our sins. He came bearing our death, our forgiveness.
The name Jesus also says a lot about us—for one, we are incredibly loved and important to God. For another, we’re not okay as we are. We are affected by sin, guilty of sin. We’ve no answer for it; it’s too powerful for us.
The apostle Paul acknowledged this in Himself, in light of Jesus' advent to save sinners.
1 Timothy 1:15 It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.
Really, "save us"? Yes, there are always consequences to sin. Wrong someone to their face. Slander them. Cheat them. Hurt them. Roll your eyes at them. Sin naturally separates, isolates; it causes distrust, anger, fear, resentment.
Sin is always punishable. You may be yelled at. Given the silent treatment. Forced to sleep on the couch. Or fired. Put on timeout. Or even do time.
That’s what we get if we wrong people who themselves sin. Yet we sin against the Holy One, the Righteous Lord, the infinite and eternal One.
This makes our sin worthy of infinite punishment and eternal death.
But only God could pay an infinite and eternal penalty. And yet, sin is so serious that it requires blood, life, death. And God is Spirit, He cannot die. And God is eternal, He cannot die. So, He cannot save us! Unless, somehow, God were to become man? And took our place. Died for us. Bore our sin.
Hear again the message the angel spoke to Joseph,
Matthew 1:20… “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people [all who believe in Him] from their sins.”
And the Word became flesh. God became man. And He, and He alone, died for your sins. He alone could. This is serious stuff. Let us be reminded.
Acts 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”
But in the Christmas narratives, there are two ways that “Yahweh saves.” The Gospel of Luke mentions a second way that He will save us. The angel Gabriel spoke with Mary about this, and when she consented, He said,
Luke 1:31 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”
His first time here, Jesus saved His people from their sins. When He returns, Jesus will save the whole world, cultures, societies, nations, innocents, and the powerless, from corrupt societies, governments, and world leaders.
Isaiah 9:6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.
This is how Jesus will save us in the future. Jesus will take the seat of government, the throne of David, physically, visibly; and He will calibrate every pocket of culture to the kingdom of God.
The LORD God will give Him the throne of His Father David… He will reign over the house of Jacob, forever… His kingdom will have no end.
What does the name Jesus tell us about God, and about us?
It tells us God loves us more than we know. And we’re more messed up by sin than we know. We have no answer to it. We need God to save us.
And since the very name that He chose to be called means “Yahweh Saves,” realize, you and the whole world has a standing offer in Jesus to save.
It also means God has an awesome future for us!
Revelation 21:2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
The hopes of all mankind rest on this Child whose birth changed everything. At His return, Jesus, “Yahweh Saves” shall be with us, God Himself will be among us. And He will wipe away all sadness and bring about goodness, justice, righteousness, and everlasting peace. No death, mourning, no pain…
So the thrill of hope this Christmas isn’t that your child gets to sit on Santa’s lap. The thrill of hope is that one day, Jesus, YHWH Saves, shall return. You will be like Him. You will be all that you hope to be. and the world will be right, just, loving, real peace, real joy everlasting and greater than we know.
And it’s hard to imagine, for worldly powers, governments, bow to no one except their own lust for power. Individuals bow to no one except their own wants and desires. Who bows to God today? We ourselves hardly do.
But when He returns, hearts will praise Him. Unparalleled joy will fill every believer's soul. Even those who currently hate Jesus will be in awe of Him, for every knee shall willfully bow to Jesus,
Philippians 2:6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, [held onto] 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God [the Father] highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth [everyone who’s ever lived, dead or alive, believer or not], 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.