All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” [Matthew 1:22-23 (NLT)]
In the first century, the prescribed time for a Jewish boy to be circumcised and officially receive his name was eight days after birth. Joseph and Mary brought their baby boy to be circumcised on the eighth day of His life; at that time, they named him Jesus. As with his cousin John (whose name meant “the Lord is gracious”), Jesus’s name was not chosen by His parents but was directed by a visiting angel.
Even if the God hadn’t chosen it, Jesus was the prefect name for this boy. In Hebrew, “Jesus” means “to deliver or to rescue” or “the Lord saves” and the angel told Joseph the child would save His people from their sins. The message in Jesus’s name was that God would deliver mankind. But, truth be told, the baby’s name wasn’t really Jesus! There was no letter J in either the Hebrew or Greek alphabets so our Savior’s name actually would have been Yeshua (a shortened form of Yehoshua) which translates from Hebrew to English as “Joshua.” The New Testament, however, was written in Greek and the Greek translation of Yeshua is Iesous which translates into English as “Jesus.”
While true meaning came with Jesus’s name, that’s not true of all names. My husband’s, for example, is Robert, which comes from the German Hrodebert. Although it means “bright fame,” he’s not famous and I’ve never seen his name in bright lights. He has other, more descriptive names, as well. I call him “honey,” our children call him “Dad,” the grands call him “Poppie,” his mother calls him “son,” his best buddies call him “friend,” and his employees called him “boss” (and maybe other things behind his back).
Just as my husband can be called many names, Jesus had other designations. Both Joseph and Mary were told that the baby would be called “Immanuel,” meaning “God with us,” but “Immanuel” wasn’t His only other name. Mary also was told that her child would be called both “the Son of the Most High” and the “Son of God.” Jesus referred to himself as “the bread of life, the good shepherd, the light of the world, the resurrection and the life, the true vine” and “the alpha and omega.” At Jesus’s baptism, John the Baptist called Him “the Lamb of God” and God called Him “my dearly loved son.” I imagine the Pharisees had several much less pleasant names for Him. Perhaps my favorite titles given to Jesus are from the book of Isaiah. They are the names we recently heard sung so joyfully from Handel’s Messiah: “Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” Jesus is, indeed, all of that and much more!
There are two hundred and fifty-six names given in the Bible for the Lord Jesus Christ, and I suppose this was because He was infinitely beyond all that any one name could express. [Billy Sunday]
I’ve never seen a field of lilies in blossom but they couldn’t be any more beautiful than the field of narrow-leaved sunflowers that surrounded me at the bird sanctuary recently. Standing in wonder as their yellow faces smiled down on me, I was reminded of Jesus’s words about the lilies of the field. When I came upon a cardinal pecking away at a large ripe berry, I remembered His words regarding the birds. While watching the bird enjoy his breakfast, the story of Elijah and the ravens that fed him came to mind and I thought about God’s promise to provide.
Once upon a time, when an acorn fell on Chicken Licken’s head, he thought the sky was falling. In a panic, he ran across the barnyard to tell Henny Penny. After the alarmed twosome told Turkey Lurkey the frightening news, the three sped off to warn the rest of the barnyard. Shocked at the scary news, Ducky Lucky and Goosey Loosey joined them in their panic. When the five distraught birds encountered Foxy Loxy, the sly fellow invited them into the safety of his den. Sadly, that was the end of Chicken Licken and the rest of the barnyard birds—all because they didn’t understand that acorns falling from oak trees are an inevitable part of life.
But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today. [Deuteronomy 8:11 (NLT)]
Our family business recently had their annual summer picnic. As part of the festivities, the employees participated in several team-building activities. Various entertaining games, relay races, and obstacle courses required the team members to collaborate and cooperate in order to complete each task and the afternoon ended with an all-out water balloon battle. Although my husband enjoyed the barbecue, at 75, he no longer participates in the games. He stood on the sidelines with those employees who, because of physical limitations, could only observe the day’s antics. Safe from the water balloons, they each were provided with a tee-shirt identifying them as an “Innocent Bystander.”
When the ushers brought the offering plates forward, the congregation rose and sang “Let the Vineyards be Fruitful.” Often used in Lutheran churches as an offertory hymn when the gifts are presented at the altar, its references to vine, bread, and table make it especially appropriate on Communion Sundays.
Devotions of the Heart 