Introduction:
A. Let’s start with a question: What’s In A Name?
1. As you know, names are very important to us.
2. In many respects, the most important word in the English language to each of us is our name.
3. The sound of our names has a ring to us that we like to hear – that is, unless we are in trouble.
4. Successful salesman will tell you that using a prospects name over and over again in the conversation helps to make the sale.
B. The naming of children in biblical times was important business; much more so than today.
1. Names were not given to children in that day just because they sounded good or were the popular name that year.
2. Names for children in ancient times were chosen because of their meaning.
3. Sometimes the name that was chosen was intended to affect the child’s identity and character.
4. Sometimes the name was chosen to give explanation of an event at the time of the child’s birth.
C. Today, as we give attention to the birth of Jesus, I want us to pay close attention to the names that were given to this child born to Mary the virgin.
1. In Matthew chapter one, we read that Joseph and Mary were engaged to be married.
2. In that time and culture, the engagement period was more binding than in our time and culture.
3. Today, either party can break the engagement by just saying so – the ring is returned and it is over.
4. During the time when Jesus was born, if an engagement was to be broken, it had to be done by divorce.
D. We are told that before the wedding ceremony had taken place, and before they had had any intimate relations, Mary was found to be with child.
1. How scandalous that was in that day – I wish the moral climate of our day still considered it scandalous.
2. Joseph knew the child was not his, but he was a good and holy man, and didn’t want to make matters any worse for Mary than was necessary, so he planned on divorcing her quietly.
3. Surely, he loved Mary, but he did not think he could trust her.
E. That’s when God stepped in and convinced Joseph, not only of Mary’s innocence, but of God’s big plans for them and the child Mary was carrying.
1. Nothing other than this kind of miraculous activity on God’s part would likely have convinced Joseph to go ahead with the marriage.
2. Look with me at what the angel told Joseph: “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. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Mt. 1:20-21)
3. Then Matthew explains: 22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” - which means, “God with us.” (Mt. 1:22-23)
F. So, in advance of the birth of the Son of God, God himself sent a message to Joseph and Mary about the naming of the special child.
1. The name they were to give him was Jesus.
2. The name others will refer to him as was Immanuel. This would be like a nickname, rather than a formal name.
3. What do these names mean and what is their significance for us?
4. Those are the questions we want to answer in today’s lesson.
I. You are to give him the name “Jesus.”
A. This name has its roots in the Old Testament.
1. Jesus is the Greek form of the O.T. Jewish name Yeshua.
2. In English, most of us know the name better in its biblical form as Joshua.
3. It was translated into the Greek O.T. as Iesous, from which we get our transliteration “Jesus.”
B. The name Joshua was a very common name among the Jews of the first century.
1. This was the case probably due to the importance of Joshua, son of Nun whom God chose to succeed Moses and lead the children of Israel into the Promise Land.
2. The name is found throughout the history of the Mediterranean world.
3. The Jewish historian Josephus, for example, names 19 important individuals who bore the name Jesus.
4. It is also found on numerous grave markers and tombs in and around Jerusalem – sometimes in its Hebrew form and sometimes in its Greek form.
5. Even in the N.T., the name Jesus appears a number of times to identify persons other than Jesus Christ.
6. So isn’t it amazing that the God of the whole universe would choose such a common name for His one and only Son?
C. No doubt the reason that God did this was because of the important meaning of the name.
1. Few, if any, other names could communicate what God wanted communicated.
2. The name means “Jehovah the Savior” or “Jehovah Saves His People.”
3. Jehovah, or Yahweh, was the personal name of God to His people.
4. So you can see why it would be so important for Jesus, the Son of God, to have a name that contained the O.T. name for God.
5. “Savior” in Hebrew thought carried the meaning of “deliverer” and was used in many ways, including deliverer from enemies or personal infirmities.
6. But the angel clearly told Joseph the type of deliverer Jesus would be – “he would save his people from their sins.”
D. Of all the problems that humankind has faced throughout the ages, there has been no greater problem than sin.
1. If we were to take a poll on the streets, and asked what is the greatest problem facing human beings today, what do you think the answer would be?
2. War? Pollution? Hunger? Poverty? Disease?
3. Certainly these are troublesome challenges, but they are earthly, temporal problems.
4. None of them have the eternal consequences that sin has.
5. Sin is not a popular word or concept, but the truth is: sin destroys our relationship with God.
6. Isaiah 59:2 says, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.”
7. Sin has driven a wedge between us and God and until that wedge is removed we stand eternally separated from God.
E. This reality affects us all on an individual basis.
1. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
2. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
3. Acts 4:12 declares, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
F. So how does Jesus save us from our sins?
1. Isaiah 53:5-6 explains it this way:
“But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
2. 2 Corinthians 5:21 explains: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
G. All of us know, deep down in our hearts, that we need saving.
1. We may not understand it. We may try to ignore it, or cover it up.
2. We may desperately try to save ourselves, but we cannot.
3. We need a Savior. We need a deliverer.
H. The story is told of a family that was vacationing at the lake one summer.
1. The father of the family had been puttering in the boat house.
2. Two of his sons, a 12-year old and a 3-year old were playing on the dock.
3. The 12 year old was supposed to be watching his little brother, but he got distracted.
4. The 3 year old, little Billy, thought it would be a good time to check out the shiny aluminum fishing boat tied up at the side of the dock.
5. So he went to the edge of the dock and put one foot on the boat, and one foot on the dock.
6. He lost his balance and fell into the water, which was about 5 or 6 ft deep.
7. The splash alerted the 12-yr old who let out a piercing scream.
8. The dad came running from the boat house, jumped into the water, swam down, but was unable to see anything, and came up for air.
9. Sick with panic, he went right back down into this murky water, and began to feel everywhere around the bottom.
10. He couldn’t feel anything, but finally, on his way up, he felt little Billy’s arms locked in a death grip on one of the posts of the dock, about 4 ft under water.
11. Prying the boy’s fingers loose, they burst up together thru the surface and filled their lungs with life giving air.
12. Finally when the adrenaline had stopped surging, and nerves had calmed down a little bit, the Father asked his son, "What on earth were you doing down there hanging onto the post so far under the water?
13. And little Billy’s answer was a classic, laced with the wisdom only a toddler could give.
14. He said, “I was just waiting for you dad. Just waiting for you.”
I. Two thousand years ago, the God of the universe left the glory and the splendor of heaven, a place where there was no pain and no sickness, no accidents, no hurt, and no death.
1. He plunged into this dark, murky world on a rescue mission.
2. It was a rescue mission to save all of us who are drowning in the lake of sin.
3. It was a rescue mission for all of us who are barely hanging on.
4. A rescue mission for all of us who are lost in the darkness.
(Story told by Gene Appel, Willow Creek Community Church. Contributed by: Dennis Murphy on www.sermoncentral.com)
5. Jesus is our Savior, and oh, how we need saving!!!
6. Jesus came to save his people from their sins – that’s what the name “Jesus” means.
II. Another name they will call him is Immanuel
A. And what does Immanuel mean? “God with us.”
1. Jesus is “God with us.”
2. Why do you think Matthew used an O.T. prophesy to describe Jesus?
3. Because he wants us to know that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise to always be with His people.
B. The promise to be with His people is a promise that God has made on numerous occasions.
1. When God sent Moses to set Israel free from Egyptian Bondage, God promised: “I will be with you.” (Ex. 3:12)
2. When God chose Joshua to replace Moses, God promised: “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Josh. 1:5)
3. And do you remember the promise Jesus gave his disciples just before he left to return to heaven?
4. “And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.” (Mt. 28:20)
C. How is Jesus with us today, you might ask? He is with us through the Holy Spirit.
1. Jesus said: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” (Jn. 14:16-20)
2. And so Jesus is always with us.
3. He is with us through the tough times and trials of our lives.
4. He is with us in the ordinary moments of life.
5. He is even with us when we have failed to be with him.
D. Thomas Dorsey was a jazz musician from Atlanta who was known in the early 1920’s for the suggestive lyrics he combined with original music.
1. Then God touched his life and in 1926 he gave up the suggestive music and began to write spiritual music.
2. In 1932 times were hard for Dorsey as they were for nearly everyone trying to survive the depression.
3. Perhaps it was because of his past and also his musical style some said that even his gospel music was too worldly.
4. The most difficult night of his life came one night while in St. Louis when he received a telegram telling him that his pregnant wife had died suddenly and unexpectedly.
5. Dorsey was filled with grief and his faith was shaken, but instead of wallowing in self-pity, he expressed his agony the only way he knew how.
6. He wrote this song that I think you will recognize:
“Precious Lord, take my hand, Lead me on, let me stand. I am tired, I am weak, I am worn. Through the storm, through the night, Lead me on to the light; Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home.
When my way grows drear, Precious Lord linger near. When my life is almost gone; Hear my cry, hear my call, Hold my hand lest I fall. Take my hand Precious Lord, lead me home.”
7. In spite of Dorsey’s checkered past he experienced God’s presence during that crises.
8. That song which came out of his pain and grief has comforted and challenged thousands of people since then because if we are honest, most of us have had a moment, or two or three when God’s presence was all that could get us through.
E. Many of you remember the story Todd Beamer a victim of the United Flight 93 crash that took place as part of the September 11 attacks.
1. Lisa Beamer is the widow of Todd Beamer.
2. In 2003, Lisa, along with co-author Ken Abraham, wrote a book titled Let’s Roll! Ordinary People, Extraordinary Courage.
3. The book is about Todd and the courage it took for him and others to overtake the terrorists who had hijacked their airplane.
4. The book is also about her attempts to deal with her grief over his death.
5. Royalties from the book were donated to the Todd M. Beamer Foundation (since renamed Heroic Choices), which was founded in 2001 by Lisa Beamer and others to build resiliency in children who have suffered trauma.
6. Listen to this quote from the book: “Slowly I began to understand that the plans God has for us don’t just include ‘good things’, but the whole array of human events. The ‘prospering’ he talks about in the book of Jeremiah is often the outcome of a ‘bad’ event. I remember my mom saying that many people look for miracles- things that in their human minds ‘fix’ a difficult situation. Many miracles, however, are not a change to the normal course of human events; they’re found in God’s ability and desire to sustain and nurture people through even the worst situations. Somewhere along the way, I stopped demanding that God fix the problems in my life and started to be thankful for his presence as I endured them.”
F. One of my favorite hymns is “Be With Me Lord.”
1. The third verse is my favorite:
“Be with me, Lord! No other gift or blessing
Thou couldst bestow could with this one compare –
A constant sense of Thy abiding presence,
Wher - e’er I am, to feel that Thou art near.”
2. God’s present to us is His presence with us!
3. “And they will call him Immanuel – which means, ‘God with us.’ ” (Mt. 1:23)
Conclusion:
A. So, What’s In A Name? A lot - Especially when we are talking about the names of the Son of God!
B. I hope that as each of us go through this Christmas Season that these two names of God’s Son will bring us comfort and joy.
C. God’s gift to us in this Season and in every Season is the gift of salvation and serenity.
1. When we put our trust in Jesus as Savior and obey Him as Lord, then God’s power and peace is with us.
2. Have you taken those steps in your life?
3. Have you come to faith in Christ and made a commitment of your life to Him?
4. Have you been baptized for the forgiveness of your sins?
5. Have you been striving to follow the example and commands of Jesus?
D. If you have, then praise God that Jesus Saves and that Immanuel is with us always!
1. If you have not yet done these things, then I wonder what you are waiting for?
2. God has given us the gift that all of us most desperately need – let’s receive it and depend on it and be sure to share it with others.
Resources:
“Name Above All Names: Jesus” Sermon by Jim Black, SermonCentral.com.
“Name Above All Names: Immanuel” Sermon by Jim Black, SermonCentral.com.
“The Names of Jesus” by Rubel Shelly, Howard Publishing, 1999.
“Names of God: Jesus, Savior,” Sermon by Ewen Huffman, SermonCentral.com.
