December 25: The Name
Merry Christmas Delight family!
We pray that your day is filled with love, peace, and the remembrance of what God did for you when He sent His Son Jesus into the world.
“But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’).”
Matthew 1:20–23
Do you know the story behind your name? Maybe your parents picked a name from the Bible, one they thought would speak into your story of your character. Maybe you have a family name, a heritage you’re obligated to pass down to your children someday. Or, maybe you’re named after an 80’s movie character, a famous singer, or your dad’s favorite baseball player. However you were named, we all can agree: names have power.
Did you know that God named His son? Jesus probably would have been Joseph Jr. if God, through the angel, had not intervened to speak the name of Jesus over Him.
“…and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
Jesus is the Greek form of the name Joshua that you probably know from the Old Testament. It means the Lord saves. We get goosebumps just thinking about it! Jesus was, even before His very first breath, a Savior. God left us no room for doubt! His son would be the salvation of the Lord.
But, Jesus was not the only name given from God, through the angel, to Joseph. Look back at the Scripture to find the other!
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’).”
We love the dichotomy between the two seemingly opposite natures of Jesus. First, He is presented as Savior, His name derived from Joshua, a famous warrior from OT times. He’s the one to come in fire and glory, cleansing the world of its sin. But somehow, He’s also Immanuel–God with us.
There’s a sort of tender intimacy in this other name for Jesus. It’s a hint at the character of the Savior to come. He is a friend of sinners, the one who gets in the boat of fisherman and washes the feet of His disciples. He’s the one who would cry when He sees the waywardness of Jerusalem and who would have compassion on the sick and the hurting. He is God with us in every way, walking the paths we walk, feeling the things we feel, and identifying with the people He came to save.
Today, on this Christmas holiday, we invite you to meditate on Jesus the Savior and Immanuel the intimate friend. Do you tend to see Him as one way or the other? Let today be the day your eyes are opened to see Him as both names. God gave them to Him for a reason!
Merry Christmas!
Pray: Lord, thank you for being our Savior and our intimate friend.
Further Study: This isn’t the first time God chose a name for a baby to be born! Dig around in Luke 1 to see how John the Baptist got his name.
Interact: When you think of Jesus, how do you tend to see Him? Is He more of a Savior to you or Immanuel? Why do you think that is? How might you want to grow in your understanding of Him as both?
