Christmas Eve 2023

Text: “20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”” (Matthew 1:20-21)

“You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). That’s a fairly small detail, especially compared to 750 year old prophesies being fulfilled, compared to visions of angels, not to mention visits from wise men. But any detail that is considered worthy sending an angel to deliver must certainly be worth our attention, as well.

That must be doubly true here, since the name ‘Jesus’ is not just included in the angel’s message to Joseph, it’s included in the message to Mary, as well. If God considered it important enough to include in two separate messages delivered by angels, it might be worth our attention, too.

It’s also worth a moment of our time, given how carelessly we use God’s name most days. God’s name used to be treated with caution and reverence. Our forefathers invented words like ‘gosh’ and ‘jeeze’ in order to make sure that God’s name was not used thoughtlessly or disrespectfully. We’ve certainly come a long way. Not only do we use it completely carelessly, we’ve invented an abbreviation so that we can misuse God’s name with as little effort as possible.

That would be bad enough, but you and I don’t stop there. Tonight, you happily sing, “Glory to the Newborn King!” But, tomorrow, the name “Jesus Christ” will be a curse word.

Sadly, you do not stop there. You use God’s name, right and left, to ‘damn’ anything and anyone who bothers you. You throw that term around as if it were meant nothing. Do you not realize that you have the power, in God’s name, to do just that? He has given you the power to bind a person’s sins to him. He has given you the power, in His name, to lock the gates of heaven to unrepentant sinners. He has given you the power, in His name, to damn them. God’s name is not a toy for you to toss around carelessly.

But none of that compares to the worst way that you and I profane God’s name: by the way you live. You have been given God’s name. He has written His name upon you. Do you honor that name by the way you speak? Do you honor that name by the way that you act? Do you honor that name by being careful that what you believe about God matches what He has told you about Himself in His Word?

Tonight, if I can turn your attention away from angels and stables and how quiet or noisy that night might have been, let’s consider the mystery and meaning of the name Jesus.

This name really reveals a mystery. That first Christmas, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:1). The Son of God, who has possessed the divine name of God for all eternity, suddenly needs a name. A human name. A name given to Him by a human mother and step-father.

The name ‘Jesus’ reveals a mystery and it reveals a deep meaning. This name was not chosen to honor a grandparent or relative. It wasn’t picked out of a baby name book. It was chosen by God the Father to communicate who that child would be. “21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). For His entire life, everyone who spoke His name was confessing— whether they knew it or not!— was confessing that He is the Savior.

That is how He chose to be known. Not as ‘Sovereign Lord’; not as ‘Mighty God’; not as the ‘Lord of the heavenly hosts’. Those were all fitting names. But the way that He chose for people to know Him was as the Savior of mankind.

When He was circumcised on the eighth day and given that name, He was inaugurated, if you will, into it. From that moment on, that was the purpose of everything He thought, everything He said, and everything that He did. He lived out the full meaning of His name, even to the point of giving His life on the cross to pay for the sins of all humanity.

As if that weren’t enough, He commanded that that name be given to you. In obedience to His command, it was written upon you in baptism when you were baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit as He claimed you as His own. By the power of His name, you were made new. You were born again by the power of that name combined with the waters of baptism through the working of the Holy Spirit (John 3).

By the power of His name, you were made a child of God— born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:12-13).

By the power of His name, you were made holy. He cleansed you by that washing of water combined with His name, so that He might present you to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, holy and without blemish (Eph. 5:27).

That is the mystery and the meaning wrapped up in those five letters. The Virgin has conceived and given birth to a son. Mary and Joseph honored the instructions of the angel and gave Him the name Jesus. You don’t have an angel speaking to you— you’re stuck with me tonight— but the ‘Sovereign Lord’; the ‘Mighty God’; the ‘Lord of the heavenly hosts’ invites you to do the same: to confess Him, not just as the Savior, but as your Savior.

Marvel at the great mystery— the great and mighty wonder— of the eternal Word who now receives a human name to go with His human flesh and blood. Allow that mystery to fill His name with joy and gladness so that, every time you speak the name ‘Jesus’, it is an act of praise and thanksgiving. Allow it to fill His name with glory and honor and power so that you never hesitate to confess Him, and so that you gladly invoke it to unlock and throw open the gates of heaven to repentant sinners.

Celebrate the events of that first Christmas tonight in the knowledge that His birth means your new birth by the power of the Holy Spirit so that your entire life is now transformed and everything you think, everything you say, and everything you do honors that name that you have been given.

“You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). It is a very small detail, especially compared to 750 year old prophesies being fulfilled, to visions of angels, not to mention visits from wise men. But that little detail makes the entire story for you.