And behold, you will …
bring forth a Son, and
shall call His name Jesus.
Luke 1:31
Adult message
God has many names. On ChristianAnswers.net, I found a page entitled, “948 Names and Titles of God.”
948! Wow!
The list starts with abba which is a familiar Hebrew form of “Father” (thus, “daddy”) and it ends with zur, which is the Hebrew word for “rock” (as in, “the Lord is my rock and salvation").
There are, indeed, nearly a thousand names for God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - but today's lesson (and the whole season of Advent) prompt us to focus specifically on the names for God-the-Son.
· He is the Christ (the anointed one, in Greek).
· He is the Messiah (the anointed one, in Hebrew).
· He is the Alpha and Omega - the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
· He is the Good Shepherd, the Great High Priest, and the Bread of Life.
· He is King of kings and Lord of lords.
· He is the Holy One of Israel.
· He is Immanuel - which means "God with us."
· And ... well ... I'm barely half of the way through the alphabet!
Most of all, however, God-the-Son is "Jesus."
When the angel Gabriel visited Mary, he said to her, “And behold, you will … bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus.”
When the same angel visited Joseph, he added an explanation to this revelation. He said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:20-21).
What does “Jesus” mean? The answer is found in the angel's phrase: "He will save his people from their sins."
The Hebrew way of pronouncing Jesus is “Yeshua” which – with I’s and Y's and J’s interchangeable – is a form of the name “Joshua.” And it literally means “salvation” or “the Lord is salvation.” Thus, Joseph, why are “you … to name him Jesus”? Because “he will [literally] save his people from their sins.”
Why? Because Jesus will literally be the Savior!
In Christ’s Love,
a guy who’s own
name means “kingly”
(feel free to pay your
taxes to "King Edward")
Children's Message
Jesus has many names in the Bible.
· He is the Son of God.
· He is the Christ (which means the anointed one, in Greek).
· He is the Messiah (which means the anointed one, in Hebrew).
· He is the Alpha and Omega - the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
· He is the Good Shepherd, the Great High Priest, and the Bread of Life.
· He is King of kings and Lord of lords.
· He is the Holy One of Israel.
· He is Immanuel - which means "God [is] with us."
Yes, Jesus has lots of names. But do you know where he got the name Jesus?
When the angel Gabriel visited Mary, he said to her, “And behold, you will … bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.”
When this same angel visited Joseph, he added an explanation to this revelation. He said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:20-21).
What does “Jesus” mean? The answer is found in the angel's phrase: "He will save his people from their sins."
The Hebrew way of pronouncing Jesus is “Yeshua," which is a form of the name “Joshua.” And it literally means “he who brings salvation.” Thus, Joseph, why are “you … to name him Jesus”? Because “he will [literally] save his people from their sins.”
Indeed, the baby named "Jesus" will literally be the Savior!
Discussion Questions
1. What is your favorite name for the Son of God? and why?
2. If Jesus means "the Savior," what do you think that you need most to be saved from?
3. How might you thank Jesus today for coming to save us?
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