Names

What is so wonderful about this story about Joseph’s dream and Jesus’ birth is that there is so much to draw from and really talk about and a lot of it is really important. The frustrating part is that there is so much to pull out of this text that to do it all we would be here for a very long time. So as much as I would love to be able to talk about everything that we read today, I have chosen to focus in on what really hit me this time I read it. What struck me that had I had never really pulled out of this before is how many different names Jesus is given in this very short reading. In just 8 verses we hear these names: Christ, son of David, Jesus, and Emmanuel. If I had to guess, I believe the reason why I never really noticed this before is the pure and simple fact that I grew up with all these names of Jesus being spoken in church. But as I was reading this and really focusing on the fact that this is the opening to Matthew’s gospel and the fact that we are in the season of Advent awaiting his birth, that I realized that these names have such incredible meaning in and of themselves, and yet we hear them not by themselves, but all together, and all talking about the same person. So today I want us to look at these four names of Jesus in both their meaning and in the context of the birth story.

Officially the first name we get is Jesus in verse 18 but we actually get a better understanding of Jesus later so we’re going to skip Jesus for now and jump into the next one which happens to be the very next word: Christ. Christ is the Greek word for what the Hebrews call Messiah, which is why depending on the English translation you read it might say Christ or it might say Messiah. The idea of a messiah is deeply rooted in the Jewish faith and has connotations of a person appointed or anointed by God to bring about God’s plan of redemption. The Christ was the one who was considered to be a prophet, a priest, and a king all rolled into one role and one person. The traditional notion was that the messiah was to come and save the people from whatever oppression and or hardship they were experiencing when he came. The messiah would restore the kingly lineage of David and sit once again on the throne. He was typically thought of as restoring and building the temple again as well.

So when the people reading Matthew’s gospel know about the prophecy of a messiah or the Christ and they read that this Jesus is that person, there are all these kinds of ideas floating around in their mind. Can you imagine the kind of excitement that the talk of a messiah would bring up for the people? Think about how talking about Jesus and all he was and all he did brings up emotions for each of us and how we get excited for all the buildup from the season Advent and finally get to celebrate Christmas. That is the joy that comes when we talk about the messiah the Christ. The one who is our prophet, priest and king. The one who comes to bring about all the justice that we have been looking at as we have studied all the prophets this last month. Think about this: the word Christ/messiah occurs 514 times in the New Testament.

The next name we get for Jesus is son of David. Actually the angel who appears calls Joseph, son of David, but we get to the name son of David for Jesus in a very important way. You see, Joseph was going to quietly divorce Mary because she was found to be with child during their engagement period. They weren’t allowed to live together or have marital relations until after the marriage ceremony so there is no way it was Joseph’s child. The fact that it is not actually his is confirmed by the angel, but the angel informs him it is God’s child from the Holy Spirit. The way that son of David is given to Jesus though is at the very end of our passage. In verse 25 the very last sentence says that Joseph called him Jesus. Which means that Joseph obeyed the angel and by obeying the angel he claimed the child as his own which means that even though they were not related by blood, Jesus was 100% Joseph’s child and fully from the lineage of David. That lineage further shows that he comes from the right family to be the Christ, to be the messiah that Matthew says he is. We also see time and time again that this title of son of David is used to call on Jesus to care for the people of the world.

While all these names are important, this next one is his actual name. All of these names serve the purpose of describing this person and who he is in relation to God and to people, this is the name that Joseph will give him on the day of his circumcision. The angel tells him that the earthly name of the Christ, the son of David will be Jesus. The name of a person was not just what you called them, but it revealed their true identity and their purpose in the world. So the name Jesus literally means: God is salvation or God saves. So the angel tells Joseph the name of this child will be Jesus and then immediately gives the definition of the name by saying that he will save.

What is so dramatic though is what this saving entails. Remember how the name messiah or Christ instilled this idea of a priestly, prophet-king that would save the people from occupation and restore the dynasty? The angel doesn’t say that. The angel agrees that the messiah will save, and that he will save people, but the salvation they will receive is from their sins. Jesus, son of David, the Christ will save the people from their sins. This messiah is the messiah, but he has come to save people from themselves and from their bondage to sin and death, not from Roman occupation. This may have been a different view of the messiah than people may have imagined, but what a profound way to save not just people from occupation of Rome, but from bondage to sin and death. A freedom that is for all people and goes beyond a specific time and space. That is true salvation.

Lastly we have our final name for Jesus: Emmanuel. Thankfully Matthew tells us exactly what Emmanuel means which is: God with us. This messiah who is the son of David who’s name will be Jesus is God with us. God made flesh in this world. This God made flesh in the world is here to fulfill the words of God as spoken by Isaiah and the other prophets. Again, if we look back to the prophet Isaiah from last week we see how Isaiah says that the promise of a servant will come true because everything God has spoken in the past has come true. Now the servant has come, and that servant is Emmanuel - God with us.

Think about this: the angel promises that Jesus our Emmanuel is God made flesh here on this earth and will be with us is the same Jesus that at the end of Matthew’s gospel promises to be with us always - until the end of the age. At the end of what we call Jesus’ great commission Jesus tells us in Matthew 28:20 “20b Look, I myself will be with you every day until the end of this present age.” The very essence of Jesus as God is promised to be with us always from the beginning of his life here on earth, until the end of this age.

I have always known that the names of Jesus were important and special, but to hear all four of these names given to us in one small passage just gives me goosebumps. The very presence of God made flesh fulfilling the promise of a messiah, fulfilling the promise to be from the line of David, to be called God is salvation, and to promise to be with us, then, now, and forever is more than any person could possibly ask for. As we prepare for this Christ to be born again into our hearts and lives in just a few short days think about, rest in the comfort of all that Jesus was, is and will be for you, for me, and for this whole world both now and forever. Amen.

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