JESUS

"She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)

What's in a name? In the case of our Lord Jesus, quite a lot. His is "the name above every other name" (Philippians 2:9), and "the only name by which men are saved" (Acts 4:12). And His name was not chosen by Joseph or Mary, but rather God Himself gave the command that Jesus (or יֵשׁוּעַ Yeshua) should be His name.

The Father could have given His Son many names: Melchizedek (“the King of Righteousness”), Michael (“Who is like God”), or any other host of powerful-sounding names with powerful meanings. But of all options, it was Yeshua that was chosen—and it is our joy to reflect on the reason why.

Simply, "Yeshua" means "Yahweh Saves." Isn't that such great news for us sinners?! Yes, God judges. Yes, God creates. Yes, God sustains. But for those of us perishing in the guilt of sin, God declares that He saves. 

The angel gives Joseph a little explanation as well. This name is given "because he will save his people from their sins." Sometimes we are frustrated with Jesus, as the first-century Jewish people were, that He does not immediately save us from our problems, from our difficulties, from our persecutors, from our sicknesses, et cetera. Surely, one day He will save us from these things. But first, He is at work saving us from our sins—or perhaps another way to look at it is that He saves us from ourselves.

First, He saves us from the consequences of our sins. On the cross, He removed the barrier of sin between us and the Father, so that we could be adopted into the family of heaven. Hallelujah!

Currently, He is saving us from the power of sin in our lives, so that, through His Spirit, we might live in love, light, righteousness, and every form of goodness. This work—which we call sanctification or discipleship—is not easy because we must cooperate, but make no mistake that all the success we have owes to the work of the Lord Jesus within us.

Finally, in the days to come, Jesus will save us from even the sight of sin in the whole Universe. Yes, one day we will not only be saved from the consequences of our sins and the power of our sinful nature within us, but one day we will be totally set free of the sinful nature. 

All this is the work of Jesus, Yeshua, our Lord and Messiah, who saves His people from their sins. 

Praise the Lord.