Name your name Jesus / Matthew 1:20-21
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Name your name Jesus (Matthew 1:20-21)
Christmas, when Jesus Christ came into the world, is the greatest, supreme, supreme, and final gift that God has given to mankind (John 3:16). This is an expression of God's self-love for the human race. Nevertheless, there were those who rejected this gift of God's love, while others, like King Herod, tried to kill the baby Jesus. Some, like the priests and scribes, knew the Savior's birth but did not receive and worship Jesus (Matt. 2:1-18).
Nevertheless, the angels sent a message of glory and peace to the birth of the baby Jesus (Luke 2:14). The shepherds who were tending the sheep received the message and were blessed to go and tell them. The wise men from the East came to the baby Jesus under the guidance of the stars and worshiped him, offering gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Luke 2:15-18).
Simeon, a devout righteous man in Jerusalem, who was waiting for the comfort of Israel, was instructed by the Holy Spirit, carrying the baby Jesus who came to the temple, and praising, saying, “This is what you have prepared for all people, a light to shine on the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel” (Luke). 2:25-35). Also, after being widowed for 84 years, Anna, who had prayed without leaving the temple in Jerusalem, spoke about this Jesus to all who were hoping for the redemption of Jerusalem (Luke 2:36-38).
The text we are given today is about an angel visiting Joseph, who was betrothed to Mary, in a dream. The angel said to Joseph, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife, for she will be conceived by the Holy Spirit, and she will give birth to a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." He said (Matthew 1:20-21).
Now, when Joseph heard that the virgin Mary, whom he was betrothed to, had conceived, he received this vision from an angel while he was sleeping, thinking about not revealing it to the world and trying to cut it off.
The messages I received during that dream were: ① that the child conceived by Mary was of the Holy Spirit, ② don’t be afraid to bring Mary, and ③ that Mary’s son should be named ‘Jesus’.
Then the name of Jesus was not given by his parents according to the customary custom of the Jewish people. Also, it is not a name given after birth, but a name given before birth. This is the name God gave to him through an angel, saying, ‘Call his name Jesus’. God exercised the authority to name it. Such was the case with John the Baptist. God directly names the elect for a special divine work.
Why?
I. To reveal the supernatural nature of Jesus' birth.
Jesus is the only begotten Son of God the Father, ‘monogene’. That is why he was born by God's unique method, that is, God's supernaturality, rather than by human physiology. That is, she was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:20). Before coming to Joseph, the angel first visited Mary, who was betrothed to Joseph. It was the sixth month after John the Baptist was in the womb of his mother Elizabeth (Luke 1:26).
The angel gave her peace and praised her as a woman who received God's grace. And he reassured her not to be afraid and delivered the message of glory (Luke 1:28-38).
“Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you shall call his name Jesus” (Luke 1:31). “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end” (Luke 1:32-33). . It was indeed a great message. At this time, Mary was amazed and protested to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” (Luke 1:34). At that time, when a virgin gave birth to a child, according to Jewish law, she had to be stoned to death.
At this time, the angel said, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). And he added, “For no word of God is impossible” (Luke 1:37). At this time, Mary said, “I am the maidservant of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). And after that, the angel again went to Joseph and told him about the conception and birth of Jesus by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus' conception did not involve the union of sperm and egg, which normally occurs during conception. Instead, the power of the Holy Spirit, the power of the Most High, overshadowed Mary. It is said that 'the power of the Most High', 'the power of the Holy Spirit', will 'cover' Mary.
“… The Spirit of God moved on the waters” (Genesis 1:2). It means that the Holy Spirit of God has covered the void (sleep). As a result, he brought out the created universe. The word ‘run’ here means ‘covering’. It refers to a state in which the mother bird ‘continues to incubate’ in order to lay or care for the young, or the state in which it ‘continues to flutter’ in order to keep the young safe (Deut. 32:11).
The Holy Spirit, the power of the Most High God, operated (covered) in the void (sleep), causing the pulse of the universe to beat. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was conceived by covering (embracing) Mary, a country virgin. This word also appears when a cloud, representing God's own presence, covered the tabernacle (Ex. 40:34-35). Also, when God Himself expressed Israel's protection, he said, "He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will take refuge." As a result of that covering, Israel was safe from the dangers of the wilderness and the dangers of its enemies (Psalm 91:4; 140:7). The fact that Jesus' conception was the result of God's power, that is, the Holy Spirit, overshadowing Mary. The commandment to ‘call his name Jesus’ was an announcement of his supernatural birth.
II. This is to show the supernatural purpose of Jesus' birth.
In Matthew 1:21 it says, “You shall give birth to a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. This is a name that confirms the purpose of the Christmas of Jesus. Jesus (=God saves) means that He came with the mission to save His people from their sins. If so, the mission to which that name pointed was glorious.
With the name of ‘Jesus’, we receive wonderful news through his birth.
1. It is announcing the fact that there were ‘his people’ in this world.
In John 13:1, it says, “Before the Passover, Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave the world and return to the Father, and he loved his own who were in the world, but loved him to the end.” He said that in this world there are ‘his people’.
In Jesus' last prayer, "I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world... ’” (John 17:11). He said that he had ‘his own people’ in ‘his land’ (John 1:11). They said they belonged to the Father (John 17:6). It is said that Jesus was sent into the world to give to Jesus his people, which are his Father's (John 17:7-8).
This amazing fact is clearly evident in the parable of finding the lost sheep, the parable of finding the lost coin, and the parable of receiving the son who has left home in Luke 15.
It's amazing. The fact is that there are Jesus' own people in this world. It was revealed through the name of ‘Jesus’. It is said that he became ‘Immanuel’ to be with his people (Matthew 1:23). So Joseph and Mary did not have sex until they had a son, and when they had a son, they named him Jesus (Matthew 1:25).
2. It is the fact that He came to save His people in this world.
“… You will give birth to a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
Then, what kind of people were his people in this world in need of salvation? It is said that Jesus' own people in this world were sinners and that they had fallen into death from sin. In Mark 2:17, it says, "When Jesus heard this, he said to them, "Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners." 1 Timothy 1:15 says, “This is a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners… ' he said. Jesus came to this world to take away those who had the power of death through death, the devil, and to release all those who were enslaved throughout their lives because they were afraid of death (Hebrews 2:14-15).
He said that he came to give his life as a ransom to save his people. In Mark 10:45 it says, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” He referred to his people as “the descendants of Abraham.” This word refers to the “chosen one” and “those who are in the covenant.” In Luke 19:9-10, Jesus said, “Today salvation has come to this house, for this man is also a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Zacchaeus, the tax collector in Jericho, was a sinner. Nevertheless, he was originally a descendant of Abraham. Because of his job as a tax collector, Abraham's descendants were treated as sinners and slaves by his fellow countrymen. Jesus had gone to Jericho to find that man, Zacchaeus, a descendant of Abraham.
Dear saints!
We are now celebrating the year 2000. Christmas is the day when God bestowed upon us mankind the gift of blessing and glory.
The name of that gift is 'Jesus'. God called his name “Jesus”. It was meant to convey the supernatural nature of the name. This is because the child was conceived and born as a result of the power of the Most High God (the Holy Spirit) embracing (covering) the virgin Mary. In addition, the name was a purposeful, missionary name to “save his people from our sins.”
It was a distinct birth, a distinct name, a unique name. It is a Christmas that only those who are covered by the power of the Most High God can receive, believe, and enjoy. Only those who have experienced the forgiveness of sins can boast of the honor and excellence of the name of Jesus. This is a blessing that only those who are “begotten of God, not of blood, of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man” can receive this blessing. This is the right to become a child of God that only those who receive him, “those who believe in his name” (John 1:12-13) enjoy.
I wish you a Christmas of faith in Jesus. I wish you a Christmas of thanksgiving to Jesus. And I wish the Lord who preaches Jesus a Christmas. I wish you a Christmas filled with glory in heaven and peace on earth.
Wonderful grace / Where the Most Holy One tread / The humblest may tread. / This is the wonderful grace revealed to man / When the silver trumpets of Christmas sound / Mankind became the children of God. < by Phillips Brooks >
Christmas is the glorious day when Jesus came to save His people. I bless all of you who have received him from God's grace.