What Child Is This?

On Wednesday I went down to join the Mother’s Day Out kids for a few minutes and tell them a Bible story. When I was done, Julie Dion wanted to take my picture with the kids, so they crowded around. I told them that my kids were mostly grown up now so I don’t get to have little kids on my lap very often. It didn’t take very along at all before I had three kids all on my lap together. That was a treat. Children are so precious.

That’s a big part of the attraction of the Christmas story. It’s a story about the birth of a baby. And in a sense, every birth is a miracle. Newborns are so precious, so vulnerable. Every child presents us with a mystery. What gifts has God placed in this child? What sufferings will this child have to face? What mark will this child leave on the earth?

But as we see pictures and statutes of the baby Jesus all around us, on Christmas cards, in shop windows, on front lawns, I want us to be sure to remember that this child was so much more.

And I just want to pick out three important pieces of information in the angel, Gabriel’s, message. They tell us of great things to come as this little child grows to manhood.

Listen, now as I read the story, from Luke 1:26-38.

“In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, `Greeting, favored one! The Lord is with you.' But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, `Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.' Mary said to the angel, `How can this be, since I am a virgin?' The angel said to her, `The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.' Then Mary said, `Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.' Then the angel departed from her."

What can we learn about the coming Jesus? First, Gabriel told Mary that she should name this baby Jesus. The name has a meaning. It’s based on the name for God that Moses received at the burning bush, “Yahweh.” And then a verb is added, so that the name Jesus means “Yahweh saves.” It was a common name at the time. It’s the same name as Joshua, in the Old Testament; only in the New Testament it was translated into Greek first and got altered in form just a bit.

This little boy, the son of Mary was born with a tremendous weight on his shoulders. He was to be God’s salvation for his people. His name meant something profound. The Joshua of the Old Testament was a warrior who saved Israel from their enemies by giving them victory in battle and then who led them into a new land, the promised land of Israel.

Jesus would grow up to save us from ourselves, a much harder job. He would save us from our sins. He would save us from our self-centeredness. He would lead his people into a new life in the kingdom of God.

Can you feel the weight of those burdens already on that little newborn child? God Himself sent that little baby to be our savior.

If we call out to God to save us from ourselves: “God, save me from my sin.” “God save me from my self-centeredness.” “God, save me from the bad feelings I have about myself.” If we call out to God today to save us from ourselves, it is to this child, to the life of this person, Jesus of Nazareth, that we need to look to find salvation.

And when you see a baby Jesus in the next few weeks, remember that we serve a God who is profoundly concerned about those who are lost. When he sees anyone lost in any way, whether spiritual blindness, hopeless poverty, destructive family dynamics, addictions, or whatever, God cares. And he looks to send someone to bring salvation.