Title: What Is In a Name?
Text: Matthew 1:18-25
Thesis: The names of Jesus assure us that God saves us and is with us.
Introduction
When I was a kid, some brave souls dared to call me Sir Isaac or Fig, which I did not appreciate. In our first church, an elderly German lady could never remember my name so she just called me, Pastor Cookie.
My first name is Monty. The Dictionary of First Names, Oxford University Press says that Monty is the short form of Montague or Montgomery, which have gone through the cycle of transformation from French place name, to Norman baronial name, to noble British surname, to modern given name. The full forms of these names are now rare. The name Monty means “of the mountain.” I remember doing a name search a few years ago which appropriately stated the meaning of Monty is “small mountain.”
Newton is an English habitational name from the Old English, which means “new” and “tun” which means enclosure or settlement. It is said to be the most common of English place names because new settlements were often called Newton (or as we might say, Newtown). (Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press)
Earlier this year, Dr. Kelsie Harder died. He was a student of names and their origins. His interest in names was inspired by his own given name. His older sister was named Elsie and when he was born, his parents wanted to give him an unusual name, so they just added a “K” to Elsie and he was dubbed, Kelsie. He was teased a great deal as a boy who had, what many believed to be, a girl’s name. In the books he authored on baby names, “he encouraged parents to give their children names that did not set them up for problems.” (Homiletics, December 2007, PP. 62-63)
In our story today, Joseph had a dream and in his dream an angel of the Lord encouraged him to go ahead and marry Mary and then to name their son, Jesus.
• “And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus…” Matthew 1:21
The angel went on to quote from Isaiah 7, which speaks prophetically of the birth of the Christ saying,
• “a virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel which means, God is with us.” Isaiah 7:14
The names “Jesus” and “Immanuel” did indeed ”set him up” or define who Jesus was and what he did… and does.
One of the things parents do, is name their children.
1. Parents name their children.
And she will have a son, and you are to name him… Matthew 1:21
Kelsey Harder said in an interview, “We are at the mercy of our name givers. These things influence us for the rest of our lives, and we have nothing to do with it.” (Douglas Martin, The New York Times, April 22, 2007)
I don’t know how you went about naming your children. Perhaps you chose an old family name. One of our grandsons is named Newton. Newton being our daughter’s maiden name. One of our grand daughters is named Morgan. Morgan is a maiden name from her father’s side of the family. Another grand daughter is named Lorraine… Lorraine is the given name of her great grandmother and her mother. For some reason our children have been reluctant to name their children after my grandmother who was named Goldie Fern.
The most popular name given to boys in 2006 was Jacob and the most popular name given girls was Emily. I checked to see where my name ranked and discovered that Monty is not ranked in the top 1,000 most popular names in any year for the last fifteen years. What was my mother thinking?
On a web site where prospective parents post the names they are considering for their children in order to get some online feed back, one family chose to name her children after cities: Denver, Carson, and Cody. Another wanted to honor Native Americans so he wanted to name his kiddo Lakota Sioux. Others were out there with names like Paris Jewel, Wild Flower, Legend Derry, and Ocean Blue.
Parents agonize over the names they are considering for their children. The name needs to mean something and be unique or unusual. So they tweak spellings and bend pronunciations for effect. Names are important and we want them to mean something.
One day Jesus asked his disciple, Simon, Who do you say I am?” And Simon answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
And Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon, son of John… Now I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the power of hell will not conquer it.” Matthew 16:15-18
The new name Jesus gave to Simon was Peter, which means “rock.” The name Peter meant something… In Acts 2, we read that as the events of the Day of Pentecost unfolded that, Peter did indeed emerge as the “rock” as he became the spokesperson and leader in the founding of the Christian faith.
Our text says that Mary was engaged to be married to Joseph. But while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit…. and an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Do not be afraid to marry Mary. For the child has been conceived by the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 1:18 and 20 So we see that Jesus comes to us from God, and it is God, the Father, who named his son.
The angel of the Lord instructed Joseph to name the newborn child Jesus, because the name meant something.
2. The Name Jesus means God is Salvation or more simply, Savior.
“And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21
Joseph was Jesus’ earthly father, so to speak, and he was the one who named him… but Joseph did not go online to find out the latest and greatest and most popular baby names. He was instructed by God to name the newborn child, “Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
In her book, The Last Sin Eater, Francine Rivers wrote of an ancient Celtic ritual the Welsh immigrants brought with them when the settled in America. Whenever someone in the community died, the “Sin Eater” would come and absolve the deceased person of their sins by eating a symbolic meal, often accompanied by bread and wine that was set alongside the corpse.
A young girl in the story who wished to be absolved of her sins before she died called the “Sin Eater” to come and take away her sins. He does, but she gets no relief, the hurt and shame remain.
But then, one day while she is down by the river a man saw her, in obvious anguish, and asked her if he could help her. So she told him her story…
The man said to her, “Cadi, there are some sorrows so deep that only God can touch them. No man can take away your sins. There has already been a Sin Eater sent by God to take away the sins of the world, once and for all.
She asked the man, “Will you tell him how sorry I am and will you ask him to forgive me?”
“Oh beautiful girl,” he said, “He already has and your heart is washed clean of all the black marks this world or you have ever given it.”
And as Cadi hugged the man she asked, “Does this Sin Eater have a name?”
“Yes,” replied the man, “his name is Jesus.” (The Last Sin Eater, Believe Pictures, 2007, Directed by Michael Landon Jr., based on the book The Last Sin Eater by Francine Rivers, PreachingToday Illustrations)
Jesus said, “For even I, the Son of Man, came not to be served but to serve others and to give my life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28 And that, “God so loved the world that he sent his only Son that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
Jesus Christ is the Sin Eater, Savior of the world… The name Jesus tells us that God is our salvation.
But there is also another name given the child.
3. The name Immanuel which means, God with Us
All this happened to fulfill the Lord’s message through the prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and he will be called Immanuel, meaning God is with us.” Matthew 1:22-23
This story tells us of the birth of the Messiah and the meaning of his names. In Christ understand that God saves us and in Christ we understand that God is with us.
When Corrie was a little girl, her father tucked her into bed at night. He would talk with her and pray with her and then place his big hand next to her little face. Years later when she was in a Nazi concentration camp, she would pray asking God to tuck her into bed and lay his hand on her face… and image that brought her great peace and help her go to sleep. (Corrie ten Boom, Each New Day)
David Jeremiah wrote in Turning Point, “One of the Lord’s names is Immanuel, meaning God with us. Our dads or moms may no longer be around to tuck us into bed, but Immanuel never leaves us. Sometimes it helps to envision His presence in the car beside us, sitting by us in the pew at church, or leaning over us and tucking us in at night. It is not a matter of visualizing an imaginary person but of recognizing a real presence.” (David Jeremiah, Turning Point Daily Devotional, 12/18/06)
Before Jesus ascended into heaven he said to his disciples he said, “Be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20
God said through the Prophet Isaiah,
“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my strong right hand.” Isaiah 41:10
Conclusion:
When Bonnie and I were looking for wireless phone service we checked out several cell phone companies. They offered varying degrees of coverage. One was especially good as long as you stayed along the I-80 corridor… as long as you were traveling Interstate 80 between here and Chicago the coverage was great. But if you veered off very far, you began to incur roaming and tower charges and there were places where service was not available. One of the big factors in choosing the phone company we chose was the fact that their service area extended beyond the main Interstate corridors… beyond the Twin Cities to Lake Superior and beyond Chicago and across Lake Michigan and up into the Upper Peninsula and into the remote reaches of the Ottawa National Forest where I like to spend a week or so every year at Beaton’s Lake. I want to know that wherever I go, I have phone service. I want to know that I’m covered.
So when we ask, “What is in a name,” the names Jesus and Immanuel, assure us that wherever we go, we are covered. Where we are, God is… saving us from the consequences of our sinfulness and securing us with his presence.
