“And His Name Shall Be Called: Jesus”
Matthew 1:21

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
First Sunday after Christmas—December 31, 2017

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

“An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  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.’”

Years ago names were often based upon and directly related to what you did.  Originally, a person named “Smith” was a blacksmith; a person named “Baker” made baked goods; a person named “Taylor” sewed clothes.

In our Advent and Christmas sermons this year we are looking at some of the hundreds of names and titles given in Scripture to the Babe of Bethlehem, whose birth we are celebrating. 

“This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.”

“The Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

“For unto us a Child is born,   unto us a Son is given . . . and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . .  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

Like “Smith,” “Baker,” “Taylor” and many other names, these names and titles given to the Babe of Bethlehem tell us WHO he is and WHAT he will do.  In today’s Gospel Reading, the angel of the Lord explains to Joseph the meaning of his actual name, by which he was known during his life in this world:  “You are to give him the name JESUS, because he will save his people from their sins.”

The name Jesus literally means “The Lord Saves.”  He is to be called “Jesus” because that is WHO he is, and WHAT he will do: He is the LORD, coming into this world to “SAVE his people from their sins.”

It is not just the name “Jesus” that is significant, but also the name of the Virgin chosen to be his mother: “Mary.”  Although we call her “Mary” she would never have been called that during her life.  For, “Mary” is the Greek translation of the Hebrew name by which the mother of our Lord was actually known: “Miriam.”

The first Miriam in the Bible was the sister of Moses, probably the one who watched as he was put into the river, and maneuvered Pharaoh’s daughter into having Moses’ own mother be his nurse.  Miriam was more than Moses’ sister.  She is called a “prophetess,” and, like her brother Aaron, she was also the assistant of Moses, the great giver of the Law.

But, the Law proclaimed by Moses with the help of Aaron and Miriam could never bring us salvation.  For, we are all sinners, we all fall short of the perfect obedience God demands.  And because of our sin we deserve God’s punishment of eternal death and damnation.  But, Moses prophesied that one day the Lord would send a greater Prophet, with a greater message than the Law: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.”

“The angel said to Mary, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.  You will be with child and give birth to a Son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. . . The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.’  ‘I am the Lord’s servant, Mary answered. May it be to me as you have said.’”

Just as Miriam in the Old Testament was the assistant of her brother, the great prophet and giver of the Law, Mary in the New Testament is the servant of her Son, the greater Prophet and giver of the Gospel. 

“You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”  Just as the mother of our Lord during her lifetime was actually called “Miriam,” although we call her Savior Son “Jesus,” he would never have been called that during his life in this world.  Playing as a child with the other children, and throughout his life among his fellow Hebrews, they would have called him “Yeshua.”  He wasn’t really “Jesus of Nazareth” he was “Yeshua of Nazareth.”  For, “Jesus” is simply the Greek translation of that Hebrew name, by which our Lord was actually known: “Yeshua,” which we today pronounce “Joshua.”  Like the names “Smith,” “Baker,” and “Taylor,” “Joshua” is a name with a meaning, Hebrew for “The Lord Saves,” “The Lord Brings Salvation.”

Joshua in the Old Testament was the successor who came after Moses, and led the people to victory over their enemies and into the promised land of Israel.  In the same way, Jesus in the New Testament is the spiritual successor of Moses, bringing to us the Gospel, the Good News of forgiveness, which supersedes and cancels out the threats of the Law.  And, like Joshua in the Old Testament, Jesus gives us victory over our spiritual enemies of sin, death and the devil, and leads us into the promised land of heaven.

So, there is deep meaning and significance in the names of both Mary, or “Miriam,” and Jesus, or “Joshua.”  Their very names are links back to the events and promises of old, which are fulfilled in the coming of the Messiah, the birth of the Babe of Bethlehem.

“Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  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.’”