December 24, 2004
WHAT IS THE BABY’S NAME?
Selected Scriptures
What is the baby’s name? It is one of the first questions we ask when we hear the news of the birth of a baby, isn’t it? Names are very important to us. Many cultures have very elaborate customs for the giving and announcing of a baby’s name. At Christmas, we celebrate the most important birth in all of human history. It should not surprise us, then, that the names and titles assigned to this baby are loaded with meaning and significance.
What I want to do in the message this morning is to look at the different names and titles that are given to the baby in the birth accounts in Matthew and Luke. In surveying these accounts, it is possible to discern no less than 7 names or titles which are assigned to this infant. As we celebrate his birth this Christmas, I want to pause to consider the significance of these 7 names.
In Matthew 1:22-23 we read: All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” – which means, “God with us.”
Where did this title come from? Matthew tells us that the Lord said it through the prophet. The prophet involved was Isaiah, and this particular prophecy is found in Isaiah 7:14. Matthew takes this prophecy and applies it to the birth of this particular child.
What does it mean? Let’s take apart the Hebrew word: Im = with, manu = us, el = God (the shortened from of Elohim). So, literally, the name Immanuel means “with us, God”.
This is a hugely significant title. Because at Christmas, and in the birth of this one particular baby, God was reaching out to address the fundamental dilemma of the human race. I think that dilemma is captured most poignantly in the Book of Genesis, chapter 3. Adam and Eve had just sinned by eating from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God had expressly instructed them not to eat. The passage tells us that the Lord God came to walk with them in the garden in the cool of the day. Do you know what Adam and Eve did? They hid from God among the trees! They were afraid of him!
Those simple words say so much about the dilemma of the human race. On the one hand, we are created in the image of God and for fellowship with him. There is something in that image of walking with God in the garden in the cool of the evening that beckons us irresistibly. We ache for that closeness with a pain that comes from the deepest part of our being. Yet at the same time we run from it. As much as we long for that closeness, by the same strength of emotion, we fear it. We run and hide from God. In fear and mistrust, we push him away. Yet in doing so, we deny our deepest longing. We cannot truly live without that closeness to God for which we were created. But something within us is repelled by it at the same time. Who will deliver us from this awful spiritual schizophrenia?
The virgin will give birth to a son, and they will call him “Immanuel” – with us – God.
The apostle John puts it this way: The Word (who is God) became flesh and made his dwelling among us. The theological term for that is “incarnation”. God in human flesh. God as a baby. God in a manger. God with us.
This is the actual given name for the baby. This is the name by which his parents, brothers and sisters, and friends no doubt called him in everyday conversation. This is the name that would have appeared on his birth certificate if they had such things in those days. It is a name heavy with significance and meaning.
First of all, who gave him this name? Did Joseph and Mary sit down with a “name book” and try to find one they could agree on? Sometimes parents have difficulty agreeing on a name for their baby. One will propose a boy’s name, only to have the other say, “I can’t stand that name! There was a bully in the 3rd grade who had that name, and ever since then, I haven’t liked the sound of the name.” Or the father to be will propose a girl’s name, only to be quizzed: “So, why is that name so special to you? Did you have a girl friend I don’t know about with that name?” And so the debate goes on. Well, that kind of debate didn’t go on between Joseph and Mary. According to the Biblical record, this name was announced by the angel Gabriel, not once, but twice, and to both parents. You don’t argue with the angel Gabriel, and he clearly told both of them what they were to name the new baby.
Look at Luke 1:30-31: But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.” This was communicated to Mary before the baby was even conceived.
It was also announced to Joseph. Look at Matthew 1:20-21: 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.”
Let’s take a special look at that last statement. You are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. Why does he add that, especially introducing it with the word “because”? The angel is actually expounding on the meaning of the name “Jesus”. Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name “Joshua.” If we take the name Joshua apart we find it is a compound word made up of two parts. The first syllable is Yeh or Jah, short for the Hebrew word “Yahweh” which is the special memorial name for God, the one God revealed to Moses when he appeared to him in the burning bush. It’s the same as the last syllable in the word “Hallelujah” which means praise the Lord or praise Yah! To this syllable,Yah, is added the Hebrew verb “shua” which means to save. Yahweh saves, Yah-shua, becomes Yesus in Greek.
“Call him Jesus, Yahweh saves.” Why? Because he will save his people. From what? From the Romans? From political oppression? He will save his people from their sins. That is his mission, his purpose. That is what he is coming to do. His mission is contained in his name.
This name gives us the rest of the story of Christmas. Immanuel = God with us. The ultimate act of identification. The transcendent God drawing near to his people. But for this to happen, the problem of sin must be dealt with. After all, sin was the problem in the Garden. It was the disobedience of Adam and Eve that broke the fellowship, and that drove them in shame and fear to hide among the trees. It is our sin that continues to separate us from God. What is to be done about the sin problem? Call his name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.
This title is introduced to the text by the wise men, the Magi who came from the east. Let’s read from Matthew 2:1-2: After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews. We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”
We are not sure who these wise men were, or what the source of their knowledge was. But they came from afar to worship this one who was born king of the Jews. This was a powerful, evocative title for a Jew. Notice the response it triggered in verse 3: When King Herod heard this he was disturbed and all Jerusalem with him.
In the Old Testament, God had promised King David a descendant who would sit on David’s throne and rule his people. Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise. He is the son of David. Two of the Gospels (Matthew and Luke) devote considerable space to genealogies which ascertain Jesus’ right to sit on David’s throne, on both his mother’s and his father’s line of descent. The angel Gabriel also confirmed his royal status in Luke 1:32b-33: The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end. This baby will one day sit on David’s throne. At Christmas, we are celebrating a royal birth. A king has been born.
We read this one in Luke 1:32: He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And again, still in the angel’s words in 1:35: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
Son of God. Son of the Most High. As believers in Christ we cannot shy away from this important piece of our theology, however controversial it may be. This was not something the apostles later dreamed up, let alone some church council hundreds of years after Christ. This was right up front, in the very birth announcements made by Gabriel. “Mary, the child to be born of you is the Son of God, the Son of the Most High.” At Christmas, let us never forget, we are celebrating the birth of the Son of God.
This one is found in the angel’s announcement to the shepherds in the fields outside of Bethlehem. Luke 2:10-11: But the angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said tot hem, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you…”
This is truly “good news of great joy.” The birth of the Savior. This turns us back to the significance of “Jesus” as a name. Yahweh saves. This baby is the Savior. He came to save us from our sins. This is something no other religion in the world offers; A Savior. Other religions may offer prophets and teachers, even moral examples. But none offers a Savior except Christianity.
I am not sure of the origin of this quote but it captures the message of Christmas so clearly:
“If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator.
If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist.
If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist.
If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer.
But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior.”
This is what we celebrate at Christmas. The birth of the Savior.
This one is still in the words of the angel to the shepherds in Luke 2:11: Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ.
I think it is probably impossible to recapture the emotion which this announcement must have stirred in those Jewish shepherds on the hill that night. For generation after generation, devout Jews had awaited the coming of the promised Messiah, the promised Christ, the anointed one of God in whom the nation’s hope rested. Now an angel of God stands before them and announces: “He’s been born. The Christ. The Messiah. He has been born this very day, right down there in Bethlehem, the town of David.” Talk about goose bumps! No wonder they hurried off to find this miraculous child. The Messiah has come. He’s here! No wonder they spread the word!
But we’re not quite done. There is one last title given by the angel. It goes hand in hand with the title Christ. It is the title…
Still from Luke 2:11: Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
If he is Christ, Messiah, Son of God, then he must also be Lord and Master, the one who is worthy of all our allegiance, adoration and service. Scripture is very clear, that he will one day command that kind of submission and worship from all creation. Paul describes the very culmination of human history with these words in Philippians 2:9-11: Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
It is almost more than the mind can take in. Is it any wonder we Christians celebrate Christmas? The birth of a baby is always something to celebrate. But this was something special. This was unique. Today, a baby has been born. What is his name?
IMMANUEL – God with us.
JESUS – for he will save his people from their sins.
KING OF THE JEWS
SON OF GOD
SAVIOR
CHRIST/ Messiah
LORD
Two of these titles especially cry out to us for a response this morning. The first is “Savior”. Is Jesus your savior? The Bible makes it very clear. While Jesus died for the sins of the world; while the shedding of his blood was payment enough to forgive every sin that was ever committed, Jesus becomes Savior only to those who will call on him by faith. As Paul says in Romans 10:13: For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But you have to call. You have to stop running and hiding. You have to acknowledge that you are a sinner, that you have fallen short of God’s standard, and that you could never save yourself by your own efforts. You have to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God who died for your sins. And you have to call on him to be your Savior. Have you done that? If not, I think this Christmas would be a great time to take that step.
The second title that calls out for a response is the title “Lord”. I know it has many connotations and theological implications. But one implication cannot be ignored. Lord means master. Is Jesus truly the Lord of your life this Christmas? Are you walking in obedience and submission to him? This baby that was born is the Savior, and he is also Christ, the Lord. Are there areas of your life that you are trying to manage on your own? Arenas of life where you have a better plan or where you have been unable to trust him? If so, I would urge you, this Christmas, to bring those areas. Present them to Jesus as your Christmas gift to him and say to him: “Even here, even in this, I make you Lord of my life.”
In closing prayer, I want to give an opportunity for any who have never trusted Christ as Savior to do so, even in the closing moments of this service. You can do so by repeating the words of this simple prayer silently after me.
Dear Jesus, I confess to you that I am a sinner. I have broken your laws and failed to live up to your standards. Jesus, I believe that you are the Son of God. I believe that you died to pay the penalty for my sins. By faith I ask you to be my Savior and forgive my sins. Come into my life and make me the kind of person you want me to be. Amen.