The Name 'Jesus' (Matthew 1:20-21)

This sermon was preached on 19/12/2010

Two of the four Gospels refer to the birth of Jesus. Luke’s account is more detailed and narrates it from the perspective of Mary (he describes her visit to her relative Elizabeth and the meeting she had with the angel Gabriel in Nazareth). Matthew’s account is from the perspective of Joseph, at least in the first chapter, and Matthew presents Jesus as a King from the line of David (Matt. 1:1-17). So we will consider first some aspects of the character of Joseph before making some comments on the instruction he received regarding the name of Mary’s son.

A Great Privilege

Joseph belonged to an illustrious family line – like all Jews he was descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but in addition he was a descendant of David which meant royal blood was in him. Circumstances had brought great changes to the descendants of David – they were no longer living in palaces. Joseph himself was a humble carpenter.

Joseph’s involvement in the birth of Jesus brings to focus some important matters. First, we can see the kind of person that God uses in the work of his kingdom. Matthew says that Joseph was a just man; this means more than suggesting he wanted to act fairly. This description points to his relationship with God. Joseph possessed a righteous standing with God that worked itself out in a righteous lifestyle. The point is, God always uses such persons in the work of his kingdom.

Second, when did God inform Joseph that he was to play an important role in the divine purpose? The Lord made known his will during a period in which everything in Joseph’s life seemed to have turned upside down. He had been looking forward to marriage with the woman to whom he was engaged. Now it looked as if she had been unfaithful, which meant that all his hopes for the future had been dashed. Is it not often the case that God comes with life-changing purposes at the very moment when many things seem to be going wrong? It may be a time of disappointment or it may be a period in which other changes are going on. Then at that time, God intervenes and reveals that he has another plan for one’s life.

Third, we should note how Joseph responded to this sudden problem. He did not show a spirit of self-righteousness, instead he reacted with compassion towards Mary. Although he could have reacted angrily, he maintained an attitude of grace and determined to make things as easy as possible for her. Further, he responded with careful thought and did not rush into things (no doubt, part of his careful response would have been earnest prayer for guidance). There is an important principle here – if we want God to use us, we must always respond in grace and never in self-righteousness. And grace always is accompanied by careful consideration, even when we suspect we know what we should do.

Fourth, God will reveal his will to those who seek it from him. In Joseph’s case, God sent guidance when an angel spoke to Joseph in a dream. The appearance of this angel is a reminder that God can speak to us anywhere at any time. Of course, we may wish that God would appear to us in such a manner, but I don’t think he will. Special events require special guidance, and Joseph’s situation was very special. He could not abandon the Saviour of the world, even if at that time he was unaware of the identity of Mary’s baby. God will usually speak to us through his Word, through his providences, and through the advice of wise Christians.

So Joseph’s predicament about Mary was solved by divine intervention. And the message from heaven revealed that Joseph had been selected for a special role. He was going to be the husband of the mother of the Saviour and therefore a guardian of him as he grew up. Not only did he have a special role, he was given a particular requirement, to name the baby according to the mind of heaven. This naming would be a departure from the way things were normally done because infants were usually called after relatives. But Joseph put God’s command above traditions and gave to the infant his divinely-chosen name.

A Great Promise

The command given to Joseph also contained a marvellous promise – Jesus would save his people from their sins. The promise contains three details: there is a need of rescue – from their sins; there is the way of rescue – saved by Jesus; and there is the certainty of rescue – shall save his people.

The need of rescue concerns sinners. What do they need to be rescued from? We can answer this question with three brief comments. First, they need to be delivered from the penalty of their sins which they incurred by breaking the law of God. The penalty for their transgressions is endless divine judgement, which is an awful destiny. Second, they needed to be set free from the power of sin. Sin is involved in all that they do, it affects their thoughts, words and actions. Its involvement is seen in many ways but can be summarised as including everything that is not done for the glory of God. Third, they need to be set free from the presence of sin. As long as sin is there in them and around them, they cannot know complete happiness. These three features mean that the child born to Mary would have to deal with each of these aspects of sin. How would he be able to do it? What made him different from all others?

The passage in Matthew mentions two differences between Jesus and others. First, it says that Jesus would be divine (Emmanuel, God with us) and, second, he would have a miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary. These two distinctions mean that the child was sinless at birth and would remain sinless in life. It is impossible for God to sin and Jesus avoided the heredity state of sin that had been the nature of all descendants of Adam. The young child was unique in his origins and therefore unique in his life – he is divine and sinless.

In order to save his people, he became a member of their race. He did so in order to live a perfect life on their behalf and pay the penalty of sin when he suffered divine justice on the cross as their substitute. By his life and death, he also purchased for them the Holy Spirit and he becomes the power that enables them to defeat sin. He comes under the authority of Jesus and regenerates his people, enables them to trust in Jesus and then sanctifies them. As far as deliverance from the presence of sin is concerned, they experience it in their souls when they die and are made perfect in holiness and dwell with Jesus in heaven. Concerning their bodies, the day will yet come when Jesus, when he returns, will fully deliver his people from the presence of sin by resurrecting them, changing them into his likeness, and providing for them the new heavens and earth in which only righteousness will dwell. So Jesus will save his people from their sins.

The certainty of his salvation has been shown in different ways. We see it in the Bible as it describes those who trusted in him in the days of the early church. We see it historically as we read about those who trusted in Jesus throughout past human history. We can see it communally as we live in a Christian church and observe those who are members of it. Hopefully we can sense it personally because we have individually committed ourselves to Jesus for salvation. In the future, we will yet see the number that no one can count who will have exercised faith in Jesus and discovered that he took all of them safely to the eternal world of glory.

A Glad Response
We can imagine the moment when Joseph said about the infant, ‘His name is Jesus.’ In our mind’s eye, we can see him telling the shepherds and the wise men – later on he would tell neighbours and friends. He would have revealed it with wonder, with thanksgiving, with faith. The boy in his home was his Saviour and Joseph depended on him for arriving at the heavenly home. I wonder how Joseph, who seems to have died when Jesus was young, felt on the Ascension Day when Jesus arrived in heaven, and on all other days since, as the one he named saves his people from their sins. And has he been informed, when the inhabitants of heaven rejoice over conversions, that yours has taken place?