He Will Be Great

Luke 1:32

He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.

Luke 1:33

And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

Predestination

Defined (the divine foreordaining of all that will happen, especially with regard to the salvation of some and not others.)

Jeremiah 1:5

“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”

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Jeremiah 29:11

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

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The doctrine of predestination in the Bible is supported by several passages, including:

Ephesians 1:5 "He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will".

Romans 8:29 "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters".

Romans 8:30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified".

Ephesians 1:4–5 "[God] chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him".

Predestination is the idea that God appoints a person's final destiny before creation. However, the Bible also says that people have the choice to believe in Jesus Christ and be saved.

By Society Standards He wasn’t great

Born In Manger

Luke 2:7 which states, "And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.".

Homeless

Matthew 8:20: "And Jesus said to him, 'Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head'"

Money For Taxes

Matthew 17:27 “Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.”

Crowds

Jesus has compassion on the crowds, healing them and feeding them. Yet he also has to work to avoid being crushed by them (Mark 3:9), and people trample on each other as they throng around him (Luke 12:1). Sometimes the crowds are a buffer between Jesus and the officials who want to arrest or kill him (e.g., Mark 11:18), and yet the crowds also shout, “Crucify him!” (Mark 15:13).

In this week’s Gospel text from Luke, Jesus has already done the ancient world’s equivalent of “going viral” after rebuking demons from a man in the synagogue at Capernaum: “And a report about him began to reach every place in the region” (Luke 4:37). The crowd continues to seek him out the next day and to prevail on him to stay with them, even as he seeks out a “deserted place” (Luke 4:42). Now, at the water’s edge, the crowd has Jesus trapped against the lake. There is nowhere for him to go but into the water. He steps inside a boat and resumes his teaching off shore.

His Name Is Great

Philippians 2:9-11: "Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father"

This passage highlights Jesus' exalted status and the authority that comes with his name. The Greek word "hyper" suggests an exaltation above all others. The "name" in the Bible often represents a person's character and authority. In this context, it affirms Jesus' divine identity and his ultimate authority over all creation.

Name Above All Name

Now we know a name that is above all other names given on earth. There is now no situation that is above the name of Jesus. No preacher, doctor or demon’s name can be compared to the name of Jesus Christ, for it is a strong tower where the saints run to.

Whatever we face, our first option should always be to call upon the name of Jesus Christ, for through that name the foundations are shaken and demons tremble.

The Bible teaches us that there is a name above all other names that we know. Whatever circumstances, trials or tribulations we are facing, they are just names which are all under one greater name – Jesus Christ.

So when you are feeling down and out and in need of direction, call upon the name of Jesus and He shall set you free.

Demons Tremble

The Bible verse that says demons tremble at the mention of Jesus' name is James 2:19