The Sovereignty of God in Christmas (5)

And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. Luke 2.21

What’s in a name?
Recently in our family we went through the joy and anticipation of playing the “name game”, as our daughter Ashley and her husband David awaited the birth of our newest grandchild. Whenever we were together, we would bandy about various names, trying to settle on just the right one for the next Durant child.

“Ralph” was the ultimate winner, and he surely is.

Names matter, as Paul Tournier explained in his book, The Naming of Persons. And names especially matter in Scripture, at least, certain names. We often find names being changed to express the will and purpose of God. So Abram, the father of nations, became Abraham, the father of many nations. Jacob, the deceiver, became Israel, the prince of God who prevailed to receive His blessing. And so also Hoshea, the son of Nun, was renamed by Moses, Joshua, to indicate that the deliverance of the Lord would come about under his hand (Num. 13.16).

Especially when God Himself gets involved in the name game we should pay careful attention to what He intends. And nowhere is this truer than in the names assigned to the Baby born to Mary and Joseph in that lonely Bethlehem manger at the first Christmas. In the names of Jesus, God sovereignly declares His will and purpose in sending His Son and Word to the world.

Jesus
His given name was to be “Jesus.” Jesus is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew, Joshua. Joshua was known and revered by every Jewish believer as the one who delivered the people of God into the promised land of God’s covenant, defeating all Israel’s enemies and establishing the people in the blessings of the Lord. Jesus was the right name for Mary’s Baby since, as the angel explained to Joseph, He would save His people from their sins (Matt. 1.21). Jesus would deliver all who believe in Him from their captivity to sin and the devil into the freedom and blessings of the sons and daughters of God.

Wherever Jesus went, as He preached about the Kingdom of God and the promised salvation of the Lord, people would have associated Him with Joshua, and been encouraged to hope that this Joshua might lead them to victory over their enemies and peace in the blessings of God.

Christ
“Christ” is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word, “Messiah”, which means “anointed.” When Jesus was challenged, during His trial by the high priest, concerning whether or not He was the Christ, no one doubted what the judge was trying to determine: Did this Jesus regard Himself as the One anointed by God, specially chosen, prepared, sent, commissioned, and empowered, for the task of bringing the Kingdom and salvation of God to the people of Israel? Jesus affirmed that it was so, and it was this affirmation that brought the condemnation of death upon Him. Going around claiming to be God’s Anointed One was no light matter in ancient Israel. People who said such things were condemned to die.

But this, as we know, was completely in line with what God intended for His Messiah.

Immanuel
Matthew tells us (1.22, 23) that the birth of Jesus took place as it did to fulfill an ancient prophecy from Isaiah (7.14): “So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel.’” “Immanuel” is a Hebrew word which means, as Matthew explains, “God with us.” “Immanuel” is not so much a name Jesus bore as an explanation for Who He was. Born of a virgin, anointed to bring the salvation and promises of God to His people, Jesus was tasked with a mission only God Himself could perform. And, as John tells us in the prologue to his gospel, this is precisely what God did, sending His Son to “tabernacle” among us – God with us – in order to do for us what we desperately require.

Thus we see the sovereignty of God at work in the names associated with the Baby born in that manger in Bethlehem. Jesus Christ, Immanuel: What Child is this? He’s the One anointed by God, the very Word and Son of God incarnate, sent to bring the people of God into the promised land of saving grace and glory. He vanquishes all our enemies – especially those who hold our souls captive. He overcomes every obstacle to our entering the holy place of the Lord. He is with us to fulfill all righteousness and bear all punishment, so that we might be with Him where He is, forever in glory.

What’s in a name? When it comes to Jesus Christ, the name we will sing over and over during this Christmas season, what’s in a name is everything, all our fondest hopes and most cherished longings.

Next steps: Read through some Christmas carols with some friends. How many different names for Jesus do you encounter? How many ways do the carols represent the work of Jesus as Christ and Immanuel? Then sing the carols together with new appreciation for their profound meaning.

T. M. Moore

We’re taking a 3-week intermission from our series on The Disciplined Life to review three archive series on the meaning of Christmas. This week’s study, The Sovereignty of God in Christmas, is part 3 of a 3-part series on Christmas, As Advertised, and is available as a free download.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.