Posted on 12/22/2007 12:03:16 PM PST by Charles Henrickson
“You Shall Call His Name Jesus” (Matthew 1:18-25)
“Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
The ancient Romans had a saying, Nomen est omen. Nomen est omen, which means, “The name,” nomen, “is a sign,” an omen. In other words, a person’s name sometimes, mysteriously, is a sign or omen of what is to come for that person. For example, if a little baby’s name is George, which means, “one who works the ground,” and that child grows up to become a farmer, that would be a case of nomen est omen, the name being a sign of the future for that person. In a town where I used to live, there was a dentist by the name of Dr. Brace. I wonder if he gravitated toward dentistry growing up because of his name. After all, nomen est omen, the name is a sign.
That saying holds true in our text for today, in a way that is far more important--for you--than whether someone becomes a farmer or a dentist. When the angel says to Joseph that his wife is going to have a son and “you shall call his name Jesus,” in this case, too, the name is a sign. In fact, you could even say that it happens twice in this story. Two names, two people whose names tell us something about who they are and what they will do, as God arranges it.
One of these two persons is Joseph, because his name also indicates something of how God will work through his life. His name reminds us of the first Joseph we meet in the Bible, the one in the Book of Genesis. Remember the young man with the coat of many colors? And how God spoke to that Joseph in a dream? In fact, his brothers ridiculed him as “Joseph the Dreamer.”
Well, this Joseph has a dream, too, just like the famous Joseph from long ago. In this case, his name, Joseph, turned out to be a sign of how God would act with him. For God speaks to this Joseph in a dream, again this time to accomplish his saving purpose. An angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream and tells him what to do.
You see, Joseph had a difficult situation he needed guidance on. His betrothed, Mary, turned up pregnant before she and Joseph were officially married. Now in our decadent society, this would be no big deal. Nobody would care. But in most respectable societies, having a child out of wedlock is a shameful thing. And what’s even more shocking, Joseph knew he wasn’t the father.
What to do? On the one hand, Joseph loved Mary. On the other hand, it seemed clear that she had violated their trust, and therefore he should break off the marriage. So he proposed to himself that he would do it quietly, so as not to embarrass her too much in public. That was his plan.
But God had other plans. For this was no ordinary case of an unfaithful spouse. Indeed, Mary had not been unfaithful at all. This was an extraordinary case, the most extraordinary there has ever been. And the angel appears to Joseph in this dream to tell him about it:
“Don’t be afraid, Joseph, Mary hasn’t been unfaithful to you. No, she is pregnant in a most miraculous way, a unique way that has never happened before. This is God’s doing. What is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She’s going to have a son, a little baby boy. And yet you are to have a role in this, Joseph. Even though you’re not the father in a physical way, you are to take the child for your own. Adopt him legally, by giving him his name.”
Now why was it so important that Joseph should adopt the boy legally, making him his legal heir? We get a clue from the way the angel chooses to address Joseph. He doesn’t just say, “Joseph.” Rather, he calls him, “Joseph, son of David.” “Son of David,” that’s significant. For David, as you’ll recall, was the great king of Israel. And the Lord had made a special promise to David that one of his sons would reign on the throne as the great and final king of Israel, the ultimate king who would bring in God’s everlasting kingdom. The Lord would establish his throne and his kingdom forever. All this would come in the person of one of the descendants of David, a “son of David,” if you will.
Now here the angel calls Joseph, “son of David.” Not that Joseph himself would become the king. No, he was just an insignificant carpenter and would remain so. But Joseph was of the house and lineage of David. Now of course David’s throne had been vacant for hundreds of years, the Romans were ruling the country, and there were lots of descendants of David among the citizens of Israel. So it wasn’t like Joseph’s son, and only Joseph’s son, would automatically become king. But if there was to be a king, it would have to come from the line of David, legally. Thus by adopting the child born of Mary and giving him a name, Joseph would be bestowing on that child a legal right to the throne of David. The legal line was traced through the father. So even though Joseph was not the physical father, he had to become the father legally. In this way, the boy to be born would have a legitimate right to the throne of David.
“Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife. Don’t be afraid to take her child as yours. In fact, make it official. Go ahead, and you give him his name. And here is the name you are to give him: Jesus.”
Now you and I, when we hear this, we think, “Wow! ‘Jesus’! What a special name! I wonder what Joseph must have thought when he heard that this little boy was going to be Jesus!” Well, what he might have thought was, “Big deal! What’s so special about that name? It’s fairly common.” And it was. Just as “Joseph” was a common name, honoring one of the heroes from Israel’s past, so was the name “Jesus.” Only they wouldn’t have pronounced it, “Jesus.” Yeshua was more like it, in the Hebrew of the day. Yeshua, a shortened form of the name Yehoshua, or as you recognize it in English, “Joshua.” You see, “Jesus” is simply another way to say “Joshua.” So this name, in itself, was nothing extraordinary. There must have been lots of little boys running around with the name Joshua, just as there are today. Joshua was a big hero to the people of Israel, and therefore the name would have been fairly popular.
You remember Joshua, don’t you? The military hero who succeeded Moses as the leader of Israel? Joshua was the one who actually brought the people into the promised land. So for this little child now to be given the name Joshua--nomen est omen, the name is a sign. For this child Jesus will grow up to be the one who brings us into the true promised land, the perfect place of rest and peace in God’s presence.
My friends, Jesus is our Joshua, our victorious general who wins the battle for us, who clears out the enemy in front of us, who leads us forward and brings us in, to the place where we will live in safety forever in the presence of God. That’s what Jesus, our Joshua, does for us. He lives up to and surpasses the greatness of his illustrious predecessor.
Jesus is greater than Joshua; he’s greater than David. Martin Luther says of this Savior: “Be comforted and undaunted, be brave and glad, renewed in courage by him, for it is not Joshua or David whom you have, but the one and only Savior, who is Christ and Lord indeed. He will not cast you into hell; nor judge you and condemn you because of sin, but will forgive you your sins; nor be angry with you, but will greet you with friendly laughter. He is your brother and kinsman, and on top of it, your Savior, King, and Lord. He dies for you and redeems you from sin, death and the devil. Whoever believes on him and rejoices in his birth is saved.”
Yes, Jesus is your Savior. Even his name gives it away. Whether you say Jesus, Joshua, Yeshua, or Yehoshua, it all means the same thing: “Savior.” The Hebrew Yehoshua can be translated, “Yahweh saves,” “The Lord saves.” “Jesus” literally means “Savior.”
And so the angel tells Joseph, “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” His name is his job description: Savior. Here is the mission God sent him to do--to save us from our sins. Our sins are what we need saving from. They cause us great distress and danger. They condemn us to death. They consign us to the devil. And you and I are unable to save ourselves.
For us to be saved, it must be God’s doing, from start to finish. And that’s exactly what God does by sending this little boy into the world. God is giving us the one who will save us from our sins. So God makes sure he gets a name that fits his mission: Jesus, “The Lord saves.”
Jesus did live up to his name. The little baby grew up to be the Savior of the world. He saved us from our sins by taking them on himself, carrying them to the cross, and dying for those sins. The one who was “conceived by the Holy Spirit” and “born of the virgin Mary” went on also to suffer under Pontius Pilate and be crucified, die, and be buried. That saving death was shown to be saving when this same Jesus rose from the dead, thus showing that his death was sufficient to pay for all sins and thereby remove the sting of death. Forgiveness and life come with the death of Jesus, now risen and victorious over death, and that equals eternal salvation for you and me and all who trust in his saving name.
Yes, friends, this Jesus is your Savior. His name gives it away. His name, Jesus, gives away all the gifts he has to give you: Salvation. Rescue from sin, death, and the devil. And a safe haven forever in God’s kingdom.
Nomen est omen. The name is a sign. The name is Jesus, a sign that this child would be your Savior. He saves you from your sins and saves you for life together with God. What a name! What a Savior!
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
Ping.
Merry Christmas, Pastor.
Hark! the herald angels sing
"Glory to the new-born King
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled"
Joyful, all ye nations, rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim
"Christ is born in Bethlehem"
Hark! the herald angels sing
"Glory to the new-born King!"
LENI
Yah'shua means YHvH is my salvation in the Hebrew. also see: Exodus 15:2; Psalm 18:2; Psalm 27:1; Psalm 62:1; Psalm 62:2; Psalm 62:6;Jesus is English for Iesous in the Greek from the Hebrew Yah'shua
b'SHEM Yah'shua
Psalm 62:7; Psalm 118:14; Psalm 119:174; Isaiah 12:2; Isaiah 46:13;
Isaiah 49:6; Isaiah 51:5; Isaiah 56:1; Isaiah 19:20; Isaiah 43:3;
Isaiah 43:11; Isaiah 45:21; Isaiah 49:26; Isaiah 60:16; Hosea 13:4
Joseph, Dearest, Joseph
(Joseph, Lieber; Joseph, Mein)
Joseph, dearest, Joseph sweet,
Help me rock my child to sleep,
God o’er us His watch will keep
In paradise, so sings the mother Mary.
Gladly, Mary, dearest one,
I will rock your little son,
May the will of God be done,
His Kingdom come, Through blessed mother Mary.
Happy carols let us sing,
Happy for this precious thing:
Now is born our heavenly King
In human form, the child of lovely Mary.
Thanks for the Christmas message. Not much time for FR today, but had to read this before Church today.
Merry Christmas to you and yours.
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