What’s in a name eh? Who here has a middle name they don’t like, what is it etc?
Well I’ve done a bit of research into some names.
Sydenham Means from the old English, ‘sid’ meaning wide and ‘hamm’ meaning water meadow and here was thinking it had something to do with a bloke called Syd and what he had for Christmas dinner.
So we live or attend this Corps at a place called “the wide water meadow,” sounds like a place of blessing really.
Other names that I did a bit of research on are Moffatt – from the Gaelic words meaning long and field so originally the name meant “from the long field.” It was relief to discover this as I always thought it meant gaseous swamp.
Hylton means “hill town”, Ruth “compassion”, Eric seems to mean “always one ruler”, Bruce was a name that was originally a title for a Norman baron, Brian means “high” or noble”, Carpenter means, worker in wood from the Latin for Cartwright.
If you are keen to discover the meaning of your own name go on line, but be warned it can become time consuming.
In Luke’s gospel reading Chapter 2:21 we read this about the naming of a child. “On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.” So what’s in a name and why wait eight days to give it to this child?
The name Jesus is a Greek name, that is derived from the Hebrew name Joshua.
So why would God have the Angel tell Joseph to name Jesus, Jesus not Matthew of Herbert, or even something really catchy like Zebedee (my favourite Bible name).
The truth of the matter is this; this child was born with a ministry. This child was born to save his people, his name literally means “Yahweh is salvation” or “Yahweh saves.” The name Yahweh is itself a name that causes much controversy as it is the name of God, a name that Orthodox Jews will not speak as it is the Holy name of God and is therefore itself regarded as Holy.
In his life time here on earth this child would have been known as “Jesus the son of Joseph” to distinguish him from other Jesus’ living in the area and in adulthood he would be known, due to his gathering following and fame as “Jesus of Nazareth.”
So Jesus was named as, “God is Salvation.”
In scripture there are many descriptive names for this Jesus around three hundred.
I am going to look at four that link into the Christmas story and that also show how he does save.
1) In Matthews gospel it is recorded that Jesus birth came about as the prophet Isaiah had said in Isaiah chapter 7:14. Matthew records it this way.
“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” – which means, “God with us.” (Matthew 1:23)
Jesus name is a fulfillment of prophecy, not just another baby born, but the baby born and who was and who still is, through The Holy Spirit, God present with us.
It is through Jesus that we can come to relationship with God that we can be connected to and be in a right relationship with God; he truly is God who saves The Saviour of the world.
2) Just prior to Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus told his Lazarus’s sisters this “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25) Two names for Jesus there.
Jesus then proceeded to call Lazarus from his place of rest, from the depth of the tomb. Truly, Jesus is the resurrection and the life.
It is through relationship with the Holy Spirit that we can be assured of our salvation and be firm in the knowledge that we are saved… to quote William Booth.
“There are think-so Christians, and there are hope-so Christians, and there are know-so Christians; thank God we belong to the know-so people – we know we are saved.”
As William Booth said, because Jesus came, because of the coming of ‘God is Salvation’ and our ongoing relationship with him we know we are saved, we know the resurrection and we know the life.
3)Jesus also said this about himself, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. (John 8:12)
Now this was a statement that was challenged by the Pharisees and Jesus replied by saying that he stands with the Father who sent him and that his witness to this statement was, God the Father who sent him.
We know that Jesus is the light of the world. I myself have been greatly encouraged this year by individuals in this Corps who have made statements about their walk with God. With comments like “Things are going great now that I am doing this with Jesus, I know that he is helping me.” Sometimes these comments are about battling an addition or overcoming grief or even relational issues, ‘God who saves’ has shone light on the darkness on people’s lives and this has resulted in people coming into or growing in their relationships with him. Life change has occurred and continues to occur. The darkness and despair of a situation is lifted but not just lifted; we are able to see the situation in the light of God’s love and his desire to be in relationship with us through his only begotten son Jesus, ‘God is Salvation’.
There are many names for Jesus, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Bright Morning Star, Bread of Heaven, Prince of Peace; I could go on and on. We know he is Mighty to save, he is ‘God who saves’.
Many have found that the power of Salvation came through the Christmas Child, Jesus, ‘God who saves.’
Salvation, we are a Salvation Army, if you would like to know what it is to be one of the know so people, as the music team play take the opportunity to come to the mercy seat and enter in to a life changing relationship with God who saves.
