Names of Jesus-Jesus

There is a lot of information contained in this one verse. There’s the name, Jesus. This single verse contains God’s commandment to name the child Jesus and gives an explanation of that name. And all this has a profound impact on how we live. All of it is contained in one single verse.

From this one verse, we’ll study three things: the name Jesus, why Jesus came and what it means for how we live.

In those days, parents chose names for their significance. Parents might choose to name a newborn son “David” because they had a high regard for King David. Parents might choose to name their daughter Elizabeth because the name means “worshipper of God” in the hopes that their daughter will choose to worship God all her life. Therefore, certain names, loaded with meaning, were popular.

The name Jesus was popular, for it is also loaded with meaning. Jesus is a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name Joshua. The name Joshua means, “Yahweh is salvation.” God deliberately chose to name His Son Jesus, so that the world would know, not only that Yahweh is salvation, but also that salvation comes through Jesus, Yahweh’s Son. And yet, people have a hard time believing this.

What happens when you tell someone something remarkable and true? They have a hard time believing it. Think about it. God creates the world. The last recorded act of creation is people, who are created in His image. People reject God. God keeps on coming back to them, but they still reject him. God sends his only Son to save His people, and even His people refuse to accept him.

It seems like it’s all too simple. Jesus came, lived, died, rose again, and I have to do is trust it? It reminds me of Naaman’s story in 2nd Kings Chapter 5. Naaman, the commander of the Aramean army, a big, important guy, suffered from leprosy, so he went to Elisha for healing. Elisha didn’t even go out to see him, but sent a messenger to tell him to bathe seven times in the Jordan River. Naaman was angry that the prophet didn’t bother to see him personally, and stormed off.

A short distance away, his servants approached him and asked why he was angry. “What’s wrong with the rivers in my country? Why must I bathe in the Jordan?” To which the servant asked, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!”

It’s still true today. Those who suffer from sin, a leprosy of the heart, can’t believe that all they have to do is trust in Jesus and be washed by faith in him. Some want difficult tasks to do, rules, regulations, rituals and tradition. But God has offered salvation in Jesus. Jesus saves his people from their sins.

And that brings us to the second point. Jesus saves his people. Jesus doesn’t save everyone. Jesus saves only His people.

This is an inescapable fact of history. It is a concept hard for us to grasp, and yet it is a principle we follow even in our own dealings with people. We are judicious in how we treat others and how people treat us. We don’t simply let people walk all over us. We don’t simply give to all charities that ask, we check them out, and we confirm their needs, because, honestly, there are all kinds of people waiting to take advantage of others.

So, God deals with his creation judiciously. Whereas we are inconsistent and whimsical in how we deal with others, God is always perfect and true. So, it is no surprise then that in the days of Noah, God saved some and left others to their own ruin. They had 120 years of warning, but they refused to listen.

Throughout Old Testament history, we see how often God saved those who called upon him. Noah walked with the Lord, Noah trusted God with his life. David called upon the Lord to save him in battle, trusting that God would triumph over Goliath.

Throughout the Old Testament, people called on God to save them. They knew that their only hope for deliverance was from God. It was logical to them. They understood who God was. Although there were people all around who worshipped other gods, still there was none like Yahweh, the God of their fathers who delivered them from all kinds of calamity.

With that background, with that track record, of saving his people, God sent His Son Jesus. But this wasn’t just a victory on earth, this wasn’t just a healing of a leper, this was a victory over the powers of darkness, and a cleansing from sin. But again, this wasn’t for everyone, but nor was it just for the people of Israel, this salvation is for His people.

So, who are Jesus’ people? They are those who confess Jesus as Lord and who believe in their hearts that God raised him from the dead. They are those who are willing to take on His name, calling themselves Christians. They are the ones describes in John 3:16, those who believe in Jesus. Jesus described his people as his sheep, saying, “I know my sheep and my sheep know me” (John 10:14). Jesus laid his life down for his sheep.

Now maybe you’re sitting there and you’re wondering, “Am I one of Jesus’ sheep? How can I know that I am one of Jesus’ people? How can I be sure that Jesus died for me?” It is very simple. In fact, being cleansed from sin is far easier for us than it was for Naaman to be cleansed from his leprosy.

It is so simple a child can do it. A few years ago, during supper, Caleb expressed his excitement that it was almost December 1st. I asked him why he was so excited about December 1st. He said because of Christmas. I asked him what was so great about Christmas. He said Jesus was born. And then I asked him the really big question, what’s so important about Jesus being born? And Caleb answered, because he saves us from our sins!

That’s the truth! That’s all it takes to be saved. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved! Believe that because of Christ, you’re forgiven. You don’t have to go wash in the Jordan. You don’t have to climb a mountain. You don’t have to follow a bunch of rules and regulations. You simply have to believe. It really is that simple.

And once you’ve believed, the fun really starts. Once you believe, then comes the challenge. How to live up to that belief!

Now, Matthew 1:21 says that Jesus saves us from our sins. That’s a big concept to grasp. Sin is everywhere. It is prevalent. People have said that we’re living in the same kind of days as Noah. Sin, which has always been everywhere, is now accepted, encouraged, broadcast and celebrated.

But Jesus declares we’ve been saved from our sins. Now there are two ways of looking at this. We can look at life concentrating on what we’ve been saved from, or we can look at life concentrating on what we’ve been saved to do.

Concentrating on what we’ve been saved from is like trying to move ahead while looking behind you. Have you ever tried that? Have you ever tried to walk straight ahead and at the same time kept looking behind you? If you don’t turn your head, you’ll go all wrong. But even if you look forward occasionally to correct your path, you’ll soon develop a crick in your neck.

In our Christian walk of faith, if we keep on looking back, at the sins Jesus saved us from, we’ll develop a spiritual crick in the neck. We won’t be very able to walk straight ahead if we keep trying to look back at all the sin we’re trying to avoid.

You see, not only has Christ saved us from our sin, he’s saved us to do the work God called us to do. He’s called us not to spend enormous hours in powerless remorse, but rather, to have life and live it to the full. He’s called us not to spend all our days filled with sorrow for our sins, but that we might have joy! Jesus saved us from our sin, so that we will be free to serve him with joyful faithfulness.

So, we look forward. We pay attention to the Holy Spirit living inside of us. The Holy Spirit warns us about sin. The Holy Spirit never lets us forget where we’ve come from. For who could forget the pain our sin has caused God? Who could forget that our Sin resulted in Christ’s death? That’s the attitude, which prompts us to sing songs like, “Not What My Hands Have Done”.

But at the same time, we remember these words of Jesus: “No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” We mustn’t look back at our sin with longing, nor should we look at it and still allow it to consume us. We must turn our eyes upon Christ.

So, we look forward, and walk forward, straining for the prize, working out our salvation with fear and trembling.

And we do that by believing in Christ. We accept his promises; God saves us by grace through faith. Through Christ, God has erased all our sin. It’s gone, deleted and shredded. Our focus is not on sin. Our focus is on Christ, and our relationship with him. We love him because He first loved us. And that means we do everything we can to show our love for him. We love him, so therefore we keep his commandments.

Jesus, Yahweh is salvation; he saves his people from their sins. If you call on the Lord Jesus Christ as your saviour, then you are saved. You are a new creation, the old has passed away, and now you are new. Live in that context. Live as people who are saved from sin! Live as though you’ve been given the greatest gift in the world! During this advent season, focus, think; reflect on the gift God sent to an unbelieving, unrepentant, undeserving world! Jesus, Yahweh is salvation! Amen!