The Saving Name of Jesus :: Matthew 1:18-25

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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.


One name, and only one name, is able to deliver true peace to our world. One name and only one name is able to dispel fear. One name and only one name is able to free us from shame. One name and only one name is full of grace and truth.

At first glance, THE name, the ONLY name, seems to be so ordinary. It seems to be completely out of touch with our modern ideals and ambitions. It seems so unlike us.

This name represents earthly poverty ... we crave riches. 

It emphasizes purity and chastity ... we pursue lust and privacy. 

It urges humility ... we applaud pride. 

It pleads for peace ... we engage in war. 

This name is eternal and unchanging and holy and peerless, adored by men of all races and colors, spoken in nearly 3,000 languages. It is the name Jesus. 

Thank God we can speak his name.


Historians tell us when ancient Greek speakers found their audiences inattentive, they used one word to reawaken interest in their message. In the midst of important speeches they would suddenly stop to cry out, “MARATHON!” And the people, recalling their glorious national victory in the marathon, would perk up with renewed attention. 

How much more do we need to cry out the name of JESUS? 

1. As we gather together here to sing His praises, let us hear more of the glorious name at which every knee will bow and every tongue confess. 

Because of its eternal origin, no human title ascribed to The Christ can ever be as blessed or powerful as the name Jesus. 

The world wants to call him Rabbi, Master, and Teacher ... but those are so ... well ... common, earthly, and plain. They want to reduce him to a social justice warrior, YOUR FRIEND, or your ROLE MODEL asking each other WWJD. They want to reduce him to some good man with a good word about good living. 

He is in fact Emmanuel, two Hebrew words which literally me “With Us is God.” There is nothing ordinary about God with us.


Scripture ascribes some 200 other titles to Jesus. We all know the main one. He is the Christ, the Messiah, which means the Anointed One. He is the Lord ... the Son of God ... the Branch of Jesse ... the Key of David ... the Dayspring from on high ... the Desire of the nations ... Redeemer and the Bread of Life.

Let’s not forget he is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last ... Wonderful counselor, mighty God, and prince of peace. ... He is the way, the truth, and the life.

But we do well when we call him Jesus. This is the name given to him by God Himself and delivered by a holy angel, who declared it first to Mary, then to Joseph, You shall call his name Jesus (v.21), the angel declared. 


Two thousand years ago, there was nothing extraordinary about the name Jesus. It was in fact a relatively common Jewish name. 

If we spoke Hebrew, we would pronounce it יְהוֹשׁוּעַ ... Ye-Ho-Shua

If we spoke Greek, we would pronounce it Ἰησοῦς. 

In English, Jesus works just as well. 

No matter what language you speak, his name means “Yahweh is salvation.” 


2. I need hardly explain that the name Jesus is of the utmost importance. 

His name means more than all the other great names of history combined. No man has influenced the world so profoundly as the Babe of Bethlehem. But Jesus is so much more than a miracle worker, and a life changer. As the angel announced: His name is Jesus because He shall save His people from their sins.


The name Jesus appears in the New Testament nearly 900 times. In the New Testament the name Jesus is His first designation (Mt 1:1), and it’s the name that should be first on everyone’s lips. “The Lamb who saves” is His last designation (Rev. 21: 27), and it should be etched into every believer’s heart. Jesus is the Lamb who saves.


So completely did Jesus become man that He took a name common among men. 

Therefore, there should be no surprise that Jesus received such a common name. As the prophet Isaiah reminds us: He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him (Isa 53:2). Even though the world was created through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He was in fact like us in every way ... every way except that he was also at the same time God.

But He had flesh and blood ... 100 percent Man and 100 percent God.

He undoubtedly stubbed his toes and smashed his fingers working with his father Joseph. He became so completely a man, our Lord and God became hungry, sleepy, and he cried. He knows our sorrows and weaknesses, he understands our trials and temptations. He can sympathize and empathize with us in ways we can never understand because he has literally walked a mile in all of our shoes. 


3. His name is Jesus, and He was born to die ... so that he could save His people from their sins. 

“How and to what extent will Jesus save? 

Our heavenly and Holy Father could not overlook our transgressions, like a kind teacher does by closing his eyes to a pupil’s error. He could not simply forget our iniquities, as you overlook each other’s failings. Sin has no place with God. Sin must be punished. The punishment of sin is death. 

Repent therefore and believe in Jesus. 

God gave us His only begotten Son, Jesus, born of a virgin, true God and true Man, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him.

Jesus is the only one who can do this because he is the only one who has ever lived a sinless life. He is the only pure and spotless lamb who can take away sins. More than that He is God With Us, the Great I Am who humbled himself to become the Babe who was born to die on a cross. He is the son of Abraham who became the sacrifice on the mount first called Moriah and later called Calvary. He is the son who blesses many nations, living, dying, rising for you.

His name is Jesus

4. And there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.

Every time you hear His name, you should perceive the promise of God’s divine redemption in this glorious word, this one glorious name. As the angel proclaimed, “He shall save his people from their sins.” 

Jesus means Salvation because He is your salvation. You are God’s people, United in and with Christ through baptism. You, who once were separated from your Father in heaven by your sin, by your blindness, by your deafness, have been called out of darkness into His Great Light to be His true sons and daughters. Now Jesus is leading you out of the wilderness of your sin through your baptismal waters into His Promised Land of new creation.

There’s no guesswork about this gospel, this good news. When you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. His name is Jesus. And you have been saved from your sins.

Amen


Let us pray ...

Blessed are You, Lord of heaven and earth, for You have had mercy on those whom You created and sent Your only-begotten Son into our flesh to bear our sin and be our Savior. With repentant joy we receive the salvation accomplished for us by His sinless life and his all-availing sacrifice on the cross. Gathered in the name and the remembrance of Jesus, we beg You, O Lord, to forgive, renew, and strengthen us with Your Word and Spirit. 

Graciously receive our prayers; 

deliver and preserve us. 

To You alone, O Father, be all glory, honor, and worship, with the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

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